A system for increasing rates at which fluids may be manually forced through injection/aspiration elements, such as catheters and needles, includes the injection/aspiration elements, as well as a syringe including a pair of crossed handles, one associated with the barrel of the syringe, the other associated with the plunger of the syringe, to provide a mechanical advantage. The system may include and injection/aspiration element of small (e.g., 0.052 inch or smaller) inner diameter and small outer diameter (e.g., 5 French or less). Such systems enable the use of a single hand to hold and operate a syringe in a variety or procedures, including angiography, angioplasty, discography, glue/cement injection, and a variety of aspiration procedures (e.g., biopsy, sampling, media removal, etc.).

Techniques for analyzing ordered tissue to calculate an orientation-independent order parameter S that is sensitive to the collagen microstructural integrity in cartilage are provided. An magnetic resonance image of ordered tissue may be acquired, and based on the image, an R.sub.1ρ dispersion of the ordered tissue may be measured. R.sub.2.sup.a(α) and τ.sub.b(α) values for the ordered tissue may be derived based on the measured R.sub.1ρ dispersion of the ordered tissue. An orientation-independent order parameter S may be calculated for the ordered tissue using the following equation:

[00001]$S=\sqrt{\frac{2}{3d^2}\frac{R_2^a\left(\alpha \right)}{{\tau }_b\left(\alpha \right)}}.$

The level of degeneration of the ordered tissue may be determined based on the orientation-independent order parameter S for the ordered tissue. In order to derive this valuable order parameter efficiently and reliably in clinical studies, an optimized spin-lock preparation strategy was introduced, including a novel fully-refocused spin-locking pulse sequence and a constant R.sub.1ρ weighting with both spin-lock duration and strength being altered simultaneously.

Determining a composite score includes deriving, based on an image set that includes at least one three-dimensional image of the synovial joint, first and second information. The first information indicates cumulative damage to the synovial joint. The second information indicates either one or both joint pain and loss of function of the synovial joint. The resulting composite score provides an objective measure of joint damage or an extent of joint disease.

An MR Spectroscopy (MRS) system and approach is provided for diagnosing painful and non-painful discs in chronic, severe low back pain patients (DDD-MRS). A DDD-MRS pulse sequence generates and acquires DDD-MRS spectra within intervertebral disc nuclei for later signal processing and diagnostic analysis. An interfacing DDD-MRS signal processor receives output signals of the DDD-MRS spectra acquired and is configured to optimize signal-to-noise ratio by an automated system that selectively conducts optimal channel selection, phase and frequency correction, and frame editing as appropriate for a given acquisition series. A diagnostic processor calculates a diagnostic value for the disc based upon a weighted factor set of criteria that uses MRS data extracted from the acquired and processed MRS spectra for multiple chemicals that have been correlated to painful vs. non-painful discs. A display provides an indication of results for analyzed discs as an overlay onto a MRI image of the lumbar spine.

A method of manufacturing an arthroplasty jig is disclosed herein. The method may include the following: generate a bone model, wherein the bone model includes a three dimensional computer model of at least a portion of a joint surface of a bone of a patient joint to undergo an arthroplasty procedure; generate an implant model, wherein the implant model includes a three dimensional computer model of at least a portion of a joint surface of an arthroplasty implant to be used in the arthroplasty procedure; assess a characteristic associated with the patient joint; generate a modified joint surface of the implant model by modifying at least a portion of a joint surface of the implant model according to the characteristic; and shape match the modified joint surface of the implant model and a corresponding joint surface of the bone model.

A brace configured for attachment to a joint of a subject is provided. The brace includes a first arm having a first end and a second end. The brace includes a second arm having a first end and a second end. The brace includes a hinge assembly coupling the first end of the first arm with the first end of the second arm such that the first arm and the second arm are movable to different relative angular orientations. The brace includes a potentiometer coupled to the hinge assembly. A method of monitoring a relative angular orientation of a first arm of a brace relative to a second arm of the brace is also provided. The method includes monitoring an output of a potentiometer coupled to one of the first arm and the second arm.

A completely non-invasive diagnostic toolset and method to image and localize degeneration and/or pain. Extent of degeneration is determined based on NMR spectroscopy of intervertebral disc tissue. Correlation between NMR spectral regions and at least one of tissue degeneration and pain are made. Accordingly, NMR spectroscopy is used to determine location and/or extent of at least one of degeneration or pain associated with a region of tissue, such as for example in particular disc degeneration, or discogenic pain. NMR spectral peak ratios, such as between N-Acetyl/cho and cho/carb, are acquired and analyzed to predict degree of tissue degeneration and/or pain for: tissue samples using HR-MAS spectroscopy; and larger portions of anatomy such as joint segments such as a spine, using clinical 3T MRI systems with surface head or knee coils; and tissue regions such as discs within spines of living patients using 3T MRI systems with a surface spine coil.

A method of visualizing a property of cartilage, comprising: generating, by a processing circuit, a plurality of slices, based on a magnetic resonance, MR, sequence of a portion comprising cartilage, wherein each slice represents a layer of the portion; for each slice, generating, by the processing circuit, a cartilage line representing cartilage of the slice; for the cartilage line of each slice, generating, by the processing circuit, an image column for visualizing a cartilage property of the cartilage of the slice; and generating, by the processing circuit, a two-dimensional, 2D, image for visualizing the cartilage property of the cartilage of the portion, based on the generated image columns.

A monitoring apparatus for a human body includes a node network with at least one motion sensor and at least one acoustic sensor. A processor is coupled to the node network, and receives motion information and acoustic information from the node network. The processor determines from the motion information and the acoustic information a source of acoustic emissions within the human body by analyzing the acoustic information in the time domain to identify an event envelope representing an acoustic event, determining a feature vector related to the event envelope, calculating a distance between the feature vector and each of a set of predetermined event silhouettes, and identifying one of the predetermined event silhouettes for which the distance is a minimum.

In a method for generating a surrogate marker based on medical image data mapping an image region, the medical image data is detected using a first interface, a first subregion of the image region is selected by segmenting a first structure included in the image region, a first property of the first subregion is extracted, the surrogate marker is determined based on the first property, and the surrogate marker is provided using a second interface.