Discovery rt

The clinical data of SSc patients were collected through retrospective medical records. Disease duration, which is the clinical period of the disease, was defined as the period from the first appearance of symptoms and signs to this visit. Esophageal dysfunction was defined as symptoms of acid reflux heartburn or findings of reflux esophagitis on gastrointestinal endoscopy. Cardiovascular diseases were assessed by color Doppler echocardiography (EF, ECO, PHILIPS EPIQ7C). The diagnosis of interstitial lung disease (ILD) was determined by a review of a high-resolution computed tomography scan (HRCT, GE DiscoveryRT). Lung involvement and fibrosis were evaluated using HRCT, which has four features: single ground glass lesions, ground glass lesions and reticular nodular lesions (mixed pattern), single reticular nodular lesions (reticular-nodular), and honeycomb changes. Diagnosed renal involvement with blood pressure exceeding 140/90 mmHg and decreased renal function (Renal dysfunction was defined as an increase in serum creatinine concentration of more than 30% above baseline levels at any study time point). In addition, the presence of joint contractures and Raynaud’s phenomenon were noted.

Each implant in the sheep model was imaged at day zero using clinical resolution computed tomography (CT) (Discovery RT, GE Healthcare, ON, Canada) for confirmation of appropriate defect fill. Clinical CTs were not recorded for the rabbit model given the smaller implant size rendering the image resolution too low for effective analysis. Following animal sacrifice of both the rabbits and sheep, microCT imaging was performed on a General Electric Medical Systems Locus Explore Scanner at 45-micron isotropic pixel resolution using an 18 min protocol (Kv = 80, mA = 450). Image slices were reconstructed into 3D images after calibration using a hydroxyapatite (HA) phantom and subsequent image analysis was performed using MicroView (Parallax Innovations, version 2.5.1, Ilderton, Ontario, Canada).