Packaging assemblies for storing and shipping surgical staple cartridges containing bio-absorbable staples.

The use of dianhydrogalactitol provides a novel therapeutic modality for the treatment of malignancies of the central nervous system in pediatric patients, including glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) high grade glioma, and medulloblastoma. Dianhydrogalactitol acts as an alkylating agent on DNA that creates N.sup.7 methylation and that can induce double-stranded breaks in DNA. Dianhydrogalactitol is effective in suppressing the growth of cancer stem cells and is active against tumors that are refractory to temozolomide, cisplatin, and tyrosine kinase inhibitors; the drug acts independently of the MGMT repair mechanism. Dianhydrogalactitol can be used together with other anti-neoplastic agents (e.g. cisplatin) and can possess additive or super-additive effects.

A neutron capture therapy system includes an accelerator for generating a charged particle beam, a neutron generator for generating a neutron beam having neutrons after irradiation by the charged particle beam, and a beam shaping assembly for shaping the neutron beam. The beam shaping assembly includes a moderator and a reflecting assembly surrounding the moderator. The neutron generator generates the neutrons after irradiation by the charged particle beam. The moderator moderates the neutrons generated by the neutron generator to a preset energy spectrum. The reflecting assembly includes a plurality of reflectors configured to guide deflected neutrons back to the neutron beam and a supporting member to support the plurality of reflectors. A lead-antimony alloy is for the reflecting assembly to mitigate a creep effect that occurs when only a lead material is for the plurality of reflectors, thereby improving the structural strength of a beam shaping assembly.

The present disclosure provides methods and systems for treating tumors with radiotherapy, wherein a first dose of radiation is administered to a first sub-volume of the tumor and a second dose of radiation is administered to a second sub-volume of the tumor.

A radiation irradiation system including a radiation generating device and a carrying table, a beam generated by the radiation generating device irradiates an irradiated object on the carrying table, the radiation irradiation system further includes a carrying table positioning device, the carrying table is supported by the carrying table positioning device, the carrying table positioning device includes a positioning mechanism, the positioning mechanism includes a linear axis, the carrying table positioning device may horizontally move along the linear axis, and an extending direction of the linear axis is parallel to an irradiation direction of beams generated by the radiation generating device. In the positioning process of the carrying table, most of the carrying table positioning device is located in the space between the linear axis and the beam outlet, the radioactivity and life-span shortening caused by the radiation of the various components of the carrying table positioning device are reduced.

The present invention includes new medical techniques involving radiation and electromagnetic actuation of reagents deployed and directed within bodily fluids (e.g., the bloodstream, digestive tract, or lymph ducts) of a patient. In one aspect of the invention, a medical reagent and/or particle is provided with multiple dipoles, oriented differently in three-dimensional space, allowing a remote control system to drive the acceleration and three-dimensional orientation of the medical agent or particle according to a three-dimensional path. In some embodiments, the medical reagent and/or particle is energized remotely to an activation energy level, and then driven into the treatment target. The design of each small-scale machine may include different sub-devices and electrostatic charges or magnetic dipoles, at different surface or internal locations. In some aspects, the sub-devices include actuable housings and other sub-devices, to deliver drugs or other factors at specific locations commanded by the control system or a user.

Disclosed herein are methods of increasing response to radiation therapy in subjects afflicted with cancer. In some embodiments, the method comprises reducing the ability of an immune suppressor cell (e.g., MDSC) to migrate to the microenvironment of the cancer. In some embodiments, the method further comprises suppressing the migration of the immune suppressor cell to a non-malignant cell and/or suppressing the malignant transformation of the non-malignant cells.

Products, compositions, systems, and methods for modifying a target structure which mediates or is associated with a biological activity, including treatment of conditions, disorders, or diseases mediated by or associated with a target structure, such as a virus, cell, subcellular structure or extracellular structure. The methods may be performed in situ in a non-invasive manner by placing a nanoparticle having a metallic shell on at least a fraction of a surface in a vicinity of a target structure in a subject and applying an initiation energy to a subject thus producing an effect on or change to the target structure directly or via a modulation agent. The nanoparticle is configured, upon exposure to a first wavelength λ.sub.1, to generate a second wavelength λ.sub.2 of radiation having a higher energy than the first wavelength λ.sub.1. The methods may further be performed by application of an initiation energy to a subject in situ to activate a pharmaceutical agent directly or via an energy modulation agent, optionally in the presence of one or more plasmonics active agents, thus producing an effect on or change to the target structure. Kits containing products or compositions formulated or configured and systems for use in practicing these methods.

Disclosed herein are methods and compositions related to combination therapy for cancer. More specifically, several treatment modalities are used in combination to induce an effective anti-tumor immune response.

A method for treating a diseased site in a human or animal body is provided which includes injecting in a diseased site one or more phosphors which are capable of emitting ultraviolet or visible light into the body;

infusing the diseased site with a photoactivatable drug;

applying an initiation energy from an initiation energy source comprising an x-ray, gamma ray, or electron source to thereby initiate emission of ultraviolet or visible light into the body; and

controlling a dose of the initiation energy with a processor to produce (i) a cytotoxicity inside the diseased site of greater than 20% or (ii) a day-25 stable tumor volume,

wherein the processor is programmed to apply the initiation energy in a pulsed manner, wherein the initiation energy is delivered in either (i) a radiograph mode, or (ii) a pulsed fluoroscopy mode.