We developed a monolateral external fixation system for bone elongation easier to assemble than commercial systems since the clamps can be laterally assembled to the rail in contrast to the commercial systems where the clamps can only be assembled from the ends. The system is formed by clamps, screws, and a rail. The rail is composed of two carbon fiber circular rods of ½” diameter and 42-cm length. The clamps can slide with respect to the rail to allow bone distraction or may be fixed to the rail by using a wedge and a screw. The prototype was mechanically evaluated under the ASTM F1541 standard. The stiffness in axial, Medio Lateral bending (ML), Antero Posterior bending (AP), and flexo-torsional load were 117 N/mm, 46 N/mm, 8.7 N/mm, and 5.8 N-mm/°, respectively, which are on the range of stiffness of commercial systems.
Convection-enhanced delivery (CED) is a promising method to deliver therapeutic drugs directly into the brain that has shown limited efficacy, mainly attributed to backflow, in which the infused drug flows back along the needle track rather than forward into tissue. This study evaluates the effect of sharp and blunt needle tips on backflow length under different flow rates via CED. Infusions were performed in a transparent 0.6% (w/v) brain phantom agarose hydrogel. Backflow length was significantly higher using sharp-tip needles for higher flow rates. No significant differences were observed between tip shapes for lower flow rates. In conclusion, sharp-tip needles present limitations for higher flow rates, which are needed to deliver more drug during shortest times.
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