Technology and Health Care最新文献

{"title":"Effects of Bushen Huoxue on integrin β3 and integrin β5 in the placental tissue of mice with repeated implantation failure caused by phospholipid antibodies.","authors":"Yongmei Han, Xinyu Liu, Xinwan Meng","doi":"10.3233/THC-241179","DOIUrl":"10.3233/THC-241179","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>This study aimed to investigate the effects of the Kidney-Tonifying and Blood-Activating Formula on combating the downregulation of integrin β3 and integrin β5 in mouse placental tissue induced by phospholipid antibodies.</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>This study aimed to investigate the effects of kidney-tonifying and blood-activating formulations on combating the downregulation of integrin β3 and integrin β5 in mouse placental tissue induced by phospholipid antibodies.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Mice in the phospholipid antibody group and phospholipid antibody + kidney-tonifying and blood-activating formula group underwent repeated implantation experiments, and the expression of integrin β3 and integrin β5 in placental tissue was observed. The effects of the kidney-tonifying and blood-activating formula on mouse placental tissue were evaluated through biochemical index tests, histopathological observations, and immunohistochemical staining.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>After intervention with the kidney-tonifying and blood-activating formula, the expression of integrin β3 and integrin β5 in placental tissue was notably upregulated, and placental structure was restored. Kidney-Tonifying and Blood-Activating Formula significantly improved abnormal biochemical indices and exerted a remarkable protective effect on placental tissue pathology.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>The kidney-tonifying and blood-activating formula effectively counteracted the downregulation of integrin β3 and integrin β5 in mouse placental tissue induced by phospholipid antibodies and alleviated placental tissue pathology through structural improvement and protection. Therefore, kidney-tonifying and blood-activating formulas may serve as potential therapeutic agents for recurrent implantation failure, offering new insights and approaches for clinical treatment.</p>","PeriodicalId":48978,"journal":{"name":"Technology and Health Care","volume":" ","pages":"495-507"},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142141468","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Research progress of music intervention in nursing of premature infants in neonatal intensive care unit.","authors":"Qiong Xiang, Jia-Jia Chen, Ni-Na Feng, Xian-Hui Li","doi":"10.3233/THC-241263","DOIUrl":"10.3233/THC-241263","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>With the continuous advancement of medical technology, the survival rate of preterm infants is gradually improving, However, due to the underdeveloped function of various organs and systems, preterm infants are often exposed to light, noise, medical as well as nursing operations and other stimuli during their hospitalization in neonatal intensive care unit (NICU); it is highly susceptible to a number of problems, such as pain, unstable vital signs, growth retardation, and sleep disruption.</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>This article reviews the research progress of music intervention in nursing of premature infants in NICU with both traditional and conventional care.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>This article reviews the research background, methodology/design, and measurement/application effects of music interventions, including Chinese and Western traditional music, in the care of preterm infants in NICU. All scholarly literature retrieved from MEDLINEPubMed, Science Citation Index Expanded, Google scholar, CNKI scholar, Scopus and PubsHub.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>As a simple and effective non-pharmacological intervention, music intervention can effectively alleviate neonatal surgical pain, increase heart rate and oxygen saturation, promote sleep, growth and development, and improve neurological development.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>This review provide theoretical references for clinical practice.</p>","PeriodicalId":48978,"journal":{"name":"Technology and Health Care","volume":" ","pages":"555-566"},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142299198","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Elephant herding optimized features-based fast RCNN for classifying leukemia stages.","authors":"Della Reasa Valiaveetil, Kanimozhi T","doi":"10.3233/THC-240750","DOIUrl":"10.3233/THC-240750","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Leukemia is a cancer that develops in the bone marrow and blood that is brought on by an excessive generation of abnormal white blood cells. This disease damages deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), which is associated with immature cells, particularly white blood cells. It is time-consuming and requires enhanced accuracy for radiologists to diagnose acute leukemia cells.</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>To overcome this issue, we have studied the use of a novel proposed LEU-EHO NET.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>LEU-EHO NET has been proposed for classifying blood smear images based on leukemia-free and leukemia-infected images. Initially, the input blood smear images are pre-processed using two techniques: normalization and cropping black edges in images. The pre-processed images are then subjected to MobileNet for feature extraction. After that, Elephant Herding Optimization (EHO) is used to select the relevant feature from the retrieved characteristics. Finally, Faster RCNN is trained with the selected features to perform the classification task and discriminate between Normal and Abnormal.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The total accuracy of the proposed LEU-EHO NET is 99.30%. The proposed LEU-EHO NET model enhances the overall accuracy by 0.69%, 16.21%, 1.10%, 1.71%, and 1.38% better than Inception v3 XGBoost, VGGNet, DNN, SVM and MobilenetV2 respectively.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>The approach needs to be improved so that overlapped cells can be segmented more accurately. Additionally, future work might improve classification accuracy by utilizing different deep learning models.</p>","PeriodicalId":48978,"journal":{"name":"Technology and Health Care","volume":" ","pages":"167-183"},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142562982","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Microbial community composition in subgingival plaques and heterogeneity of tumor tissue TCRβ CDR3 repertoire in patients with moderate-to-severe periodontitis and oral squamous cell carcinoma.","authors":"Jie Huang, Kun Yang, Li Gao, Quanmin He, Song Ge","doi":"10.3233/THC-240218","DOIUrl":"10.3233/THC-240218","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>The human oral cavity contains over 700 types of bacteria that may protect the body against colonization by exogenous pathogens and maintain relative homeostasis. However, alterations in the immune status can disrupt the balance between microorganisms and the host, inducing various diseases such as oral cancer and diabetes mellitus. The mechanism underlying this process is not clearly understood.</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between subgingival bacteria, T-cell receptor β-chain complementarity-determining region 3 (TCRβ CDR3), and the development oforal squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC).</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We grouped patients as \"healthy periodontal\" (H), \"moderate-to-severe chronic periodontitis\" (C), and \"moderate-to-severe chronic periodontitis with OSCC\" (T). Bacterial groups were \"subgingival plaque\" (bp) and \"gingival/tumor tissue\" (g). We also recorded patients' age, gender, attachment level (AL), bleeding on probing (BOP), and probing depth (PD). We extracted and sequenced RNA from plaques, gingival tissues, tumors, and teeth. We performed high-throughput sequencing on TCRβ CDR3 and plaque bacteria.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Synergistetes and Veillonella parvula were more abundant in the H group than in the T group. Granulicatella, Peptostreptococcus, and Streptococcus infantis were enriched in the T-bp group. AL, BOP, and PD were positively correlated with Granulicatella, Peptostreptococcus, and Pseudomonas but negatively correlated with Prevotella nigrescens and V. parvula. TCRβ CDR3 diversity was C > H > T. TCR β-chain Variable gene (TRBV)20-1 usage varied among the H, C, and T groups. TRBV2 and TRBV5-1 usage was greater in the T group than in the C group. TRBJ1-1, TRBJ1-2, TRBJ2-2, TRBJ2-7, and TRBJ2-5 were most frequently used.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>These trends and the reduction of gingival Synergistetes were correlated with OSCC. TCRβ CDR3 diversity was the lowest in patients in the T group, and there were considerable changes in the expression of TRBV2 and TRBJ. Therefore, plaque bacterial composition can influence TCRβ CDR3.</p>","PeriodicalId":48978,"journal":{"name":"Technology and Health Care","volume":" ","pages":"25-51"},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142330592","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Bronchial lavage tNGS in the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis.","authors":"Zhongpeng Yang, Yucong Tang, Shuxiang Shan","doi":"10.3233/THC-240823","DOIUrl":"10.3233/THC-240823","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Tuberculosis (TB), primarily caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, remains a significant global health concern. Targeted Next-Generation Sequencing (tNGS) has emerged as a rapid and comprehensive diagnostic tool for tuberculosis, offering advantages over traditional methods and serving as an effective alternative for drug susceptibility testing and the detection of drug-resistant tuberculosis.</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>This study aimed to retrospectively analyze the clinical characteristics of pulmonary tuberculosis patients. After explore the application value of targeted next-generation sequencing technology in this patient population, providing valuable insights for clinical diagnosis and treatment.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>In this retrospective study, we analyzed data from 65 patients with laboratory-confirmed tuberculosis admitted to Tianjin Baodi Hospital from November 14, 2020, to February 1, 2023. Patients underwent bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) testing, including acid-fast staining, culture, and tNGS. Biopsies and histopathological examinations were performed on some patients, along with comprehensive radiological assessments for all.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Among the 65 pulmonary tuberculosis patients, targeted next-generation sequencing detected pathogens in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid with a positivity rate of 93.8%, significantly higher than traditional methods such as acid-fast staining, culture, and pathology. Compared to bronchoalveolar lavage fluid smear, targeted next-generation sequencing demonstrated significantly higher diagnostic sensitivity (98.46% vs. 26.15%) and accuracy (98.46% vs. 26.15%).</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Targeted next-generation sequencing, with its high sensitivity and specificity compared to traditional methods, provides unique advantages in detecting pathogens among these patients, highlighting its importance in disease management.</p>","PeriodicalId":48978,"journal":{"name":"Technology and Health Care","volume":" ","pages":"215-223"},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141876452","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Comparison between laparoscopic complete mesocolic excision and D2 radical operation in colon carcinoma resection: A propensity score matching analysis.","authors":"Zhen Han, Yangan Liu, Ming Tan, Zhaolai Hua, Chun Dai","doi":"10.3233/THC-241149","DOIUrl":"10.3233/THC-241149","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Surgery remains the most effective treatment for colon cancer. However, there are still controversies regarding the tumor treatment effect, prognosis, and perioperative impact of complete mesocolic excision (CME) surgery in colon carcinoma resection.</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>This study aims to compare laparoscopic complete mesocolic excision (LCME) and traditional open D2 radical surgery in colon carcinoma resection through a retrospective analysis using 1:1 propensity score matching (PSM).</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>98 cases undergoing LCME or open D2 colon carcinoma resection at our hospital from January 2014 to November 2021 were retrospectively collected. After excluding cases and 1:1 matching using PSM based on baseline clinical data, 86 patients were assigned in research queue. 43 patients were in each group. Two groups were compared for general clinical baseline indicators. Surgical results and postoperative adverse events of patients were also compared. Disease-free survival (DFS) rate and overall survival (OS) rate was analyzed.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>After 1:1 PSM matching, there was no statistically significant differences in baseline data between the LCME group and D2 group (P> 0.05). LCME was characterized by longer total duration of surgery (P< 0.001), less intraoperative bleeding volume (P< 0.001), more postoperative drainage fluid volume (P< 0.001), greater number of lymph nodes retrieved (P= 0.014). No statistically differences was observed regarding intraoperative blood transfusion, hospital stay, Clavien-Dindo complicating disease classification (all P> 0.05), 1 and 3-year DFS rate (P= 0.84) and OS rate (P⩾ 0.1).</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>LCME had a longer duration of surgery but less intraoperative bleeding volume and more postoperative drainage fluid volume and retrieved lymph nodes compared to D2 radical surgery. LCME surgery is comparable to D2 surgery in terms of postoperative prognosis, but LCME surgery shows a positive trend in the overall survival curve.</p>","PeriodicalId":48978,"journal":{"name":"Technology and Health Care","volume":" ","pages":"449-462"},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142037422","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Early decompressive surgery improves long-term prognosis in patients with intracerebral hemorrhage.","authors":"Weichuan Wu, Chengyan Li, Donghai Men, Xiaopeng Li, Baqi Huang","doi":"10.3233/THC-240766","DOIUrl":"10.3233/THC-240766","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Multiple studies have shown that early decompressive surgery in patients with intracerebral hemorrhage can effectively limit hematoma expansion, reduce perihematomal edema, and improve prognosis. However, these studies are limited by small sample sizes and short follow-up times.</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>To analyze the effect of early decompressive surgery on the long-term prognosis of patients with cerebral hemorrhage and identify the influencing factors for poor prognosis.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A retrospective analysis of 78 patients with cerebral hemorrhage admitted between January 2020 and December 2022 was conducted. Patients were divided into early and delayed surgery groups for comparison of outcomes such as mortality rate, modified Rankin Scale score, and Short Form-36 scores. Additionally, factors influencing long-term prognosis were analyzed through logistic regression based on significant differences observed between groups.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The early decompressive surgery group showed superior outcomes with lower mortality rates, modified Rankin Scale (mRS) scores, hematoma expansion rates, and perihematomal edema volumes compared to the delayed surgery group (P< 0.05). Additionally, age, preoperative Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score, preoperative hematoma volume, and a history of hypertension or diabetes were identified as independent prognostic factors for patients with cerebral hemorrhage, with odds ratios (ORs) greater than 1.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Early decompressive surgery can improve the long-term prognosis and quality of life of patients with cerebral hemorrhage, reduce mortality rates, and decrease hematoma expansion and perihematomal edema. Older patients, those with higher preoperative hematoma volume and GCS score, and those with coexisting hypertension and diabetes should be given special attention to decrease the occurrence of adverse prognosis.</p>","PeriodicalId":48978,"journal":{"name":"Technology and Health Care","volume":" ","pages":"185-194"},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142037424","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Automatic anal sphincter integrity detection from ultrasound images via convolutional neural networks.","authors":"Bin Chen, Yinqiao Yi, Chengxiu Zhang, Yulin Yan, Xia Wang, Wen Shui, Minzhi Zhou, Guang Yang, Tao Ying","doi":"10.3233/THC-240569","DOIUrl":"10.3233/THC-240569","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>The anal sphincter complex comprises the anal sphincter and the U-shaped deep and superficial puborectalis muscle. As an important supporting structure of the posterior pelvic floor, together with its surrounding tissues and muscles, the anal sphincter complex maintains the normal physiological functions of defecation and continence.</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>The plane required for diagnosing anal sphincter injury and the diagnosis of anal sphincter integrity through pelvic floor ultrasound are highly dependent on sonographers' experience. We developed a deep learning (DL) tool for the automatic diagnosis of anal sphincter integrity via pelvic floor ultrasound.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A 2D detection network was trained to detect the bounding box of the anal sphincter. The pelvic floor ultrasound image and its corresponding oval mask were input into a 2D classification network to determine the integrity of the anal sphincter. The average precision (AP) and intersection over union (IoU) were used to evaluate the performance of anal sphincter detection. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was used to evaluate the performance of the classification model.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The Pearson correlation coefficients (r values) of the topmost and bottommost layers detected by the CNN and sonographers were 0.932 and 0.978, respectively. The best DL model yielded the highest area under the curve (AUC) of 0.808 (95% CI: 0.698-0.921) in the test cohort. The results from the CNN agreed well with the diagnostic results of experienced sonographers.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>We proposed, for the first time, a CNN to obtain the plane required for diagnosing anal sphincter injury on the basis of pelvic floor ultrasound and for preliminarily diagnosing anal sphincter injury.</p>","PeriodicalId":48978,"journal":{"name":"Technology and Health Care","volume":" ","pages":"103-114"},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142113869","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"PIAA: Pre-imaging all-round assistant for digital radiography.","authors":"Jie Zhao, Jianqiang Liu, Shijie Wang, Pinzheng Zhang, Wenxue Yu, Chunfeng Yang, Yudong Zhang, Yang Chen","doi":"10.3233/THC-240639","DOIUrl":"10.3233/THC-240639","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>In radiography procedures, radiographers' suboptimal positioning and exposure parameter settings may necessitate image retakes, subjecting patients to unnecessary ionizing radiation exposure. Reducing retakes is crucial to minimize patient X-ray exposure and conserve medical resources.</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>We propose a Digital Radiography (DR) Pre-imaging All-round Assistant (PIAA) that leverages Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology to enhance traditional DR.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>PIAA consists of an RGB-Depth (RGB-D) multi-camera array, an embedded computing platform, and multiple software components. It features an Adaptive RGB-D Image Acquisition (ARDIA) module that automatically selects the appropriate RGB camera based on the distance between the cameras and patients. It includes a 2.5D Selective Skeletal Keypoints Estimation (2.5D-SSKE) module that fuses depth information with 2D keypoints to estimate the pose of target body parts. Thirdly, it also uses a Domain expertise (DE) embedded Full-body Exposure Parameter Estimation (DFEPE) module that combines 2.5D-SSKE and DE to accurately estimate parameters for full-body DR views.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Optimizes DR workflow, significantly enhancing operational efficiency. The average time required for positioning patients and preparing exposure parameters was reduced from 73 seconds to 8 seconds.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>PIAA shows significant promise for extension to full-body examinations.</p>","PeriodicalId":48978,"journal":{"name":"Technology and Health Care","volume":" ","pages":"127-142"},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142141472","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Three-dimensional printed apical barrier model technology for pre-clinical dental education.","authors":"Haojie Zou, Lei Wang, Xiaolu Zhou, Ling Zhang, Shida Wang, Qinghua Zheng, Ling Ye, Chenglin Wang","doi":"10.3233/THC-241483","DOIUrl":"10.3233/THC-241483","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Clinically, apical barrier procedure can be adopted to create an immediate artificial barrier for tooth with an open apex. Given that the quality of the barrier is crucial, the apical barrier procedure is known for its high technical sensitivity, posing significant learning challenges for dental students. Therefore, a new dental teaching model not only effectively enhances the future clinical skills of dental students but also benefits a wider range of patients.</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>A new dental model for simulating apical barrier procedure in vitro, is helpful for dental students to practice apical barrier procedure. This study aims to design, assess, and evaluate the feasibility of a three-dimensional (3D) printed apical barrier model for pre-clinical dental education.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A novel 3D-printed apical barrier model was developed, consisting of a tooth model and a matching blind box. Total 200 3D-printed apical barrier models were used to train dental students, and fifty fifth-year dental students participated in this voluntary hands-on course. Each student performed apical barrier procedures on four 3D-printed models. The outcome of the first model served as the representative result for the \"direct barrier group\", whereas the outcome of the fourth model represented the result of the \"post-training barrier group\". The quality of the apical barrier procedure was assessed through X-ray examination, and a questionnaire was used to evaluate the 3D-printed model's benefits, with scores ranging from 1 (strongly agree) to 5 (strongly disagree).</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The overall rating for the 3D-printed model was 2.0 ± 0.6. The model was noted for its high degree of realism, ease of use, and practical applicability. Post-training assessments showed significant improvements in the density of apical barrier fillings (P< 0.05), reduction in underfilling rates (P< 0.05), and decrease in overfilling distances (P< 0.05). Students overwhelmingly agreed that the model was beneficial for training in apical barrier procedures (1.06 ± 0.24), helped identify their shortcomings (1.62 ± 0.53), and improved their operational skills (1.90 ± 0.51).</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Both the questionnaire feedback and the quality of the fillings confirmed the feasibility and efficacy of the 3D-printed apical barrier model for dental education. The students had the possibility to learn the correct apical barrier procedure on printed dental models.</p>","PeriodicalId":48978,"journal":{"name":"Technology and Health Care","volume":" ","pages":"659-669"},"PeriodicalIF":1.4,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142639983","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}