The formation of a dense fibrous capsule around the foreign body and its contracture is the most common complication of biomaterial implantation. The aim of our research is to find out how the surface of the implant influences the inflammatory and fibrotic reactions in the surrounding tissues. We made three types of implants with a remote surface topography formed of polylactide granules with different diameters: large (100–200 µm), medium (56–100 µm) and small (1–56 µm). We placed these implants in skin pockets in the ears of six chinchilla rabbits. We explanted the implants on the 7th, 14th, 30th and 60th days and performed optical coherence tomography, and histological, immunohistochemical and morphometric studies. We examined 72 samples and compared the composition of immune cell infiltration, vascularization, the thickness of the peri-implant tissues, the severity of fibrotic processes and α-SMA expression in myofibroblasts. We analyzed the scattering coefficient of tissue layers on OCT scans. We found that implants made from large granules induced a milder inflammatory process and slower formation of a connective tissue capsule around the foreign body. Our results prove the importance of assessing the surface texture in order to avoid the formation of capsular contracture after implantation.

Background: Difficulties in the treatment of purulent wounds are caused by bacterial biofilms, which results in decontamination limitations. Infected wounds are not sufficiently susceptible to existing antibiotics, necessitating the search for alternative approaches to reduce the concentration of pathogenic microflora. Methods: This study describes an approach to the effective treatment of wounds by photodynamic inactivation or therapy (PDI/PDT) of antibiotic-resistant microflora under fluorescence control. For this purpose, laser and LED light (660–680 nm) and different groups of photosensitizers (PS) (1% solutions of methylene blue, aluminum phthalocyanine, chlorine e6 and nanocomposites containing these groups of PS) were used. The study included 90 patients with various wounds. Some patients were subjected to fluorescence diagnosis by laser spectral analysis before the PDT. Results: Positive results were achieved in 76 patients (84%, p < 0.05). After the first PDT session, a decrease in the concentration of microflora was noticeable. By the third and seventh days, a significant to complete inactivation of bacteria was obtained. In all patients who were photo-diagnosed before PDT, a significant PS concentration decrease of more than 75% after PDT was obtained. Conclusion: PDT is an effective method for the inactivation of antibiotic-resistant pathogens, including in long non-healing wounds, contributing also to early tissue regeneration.

Background/Objectives: Robotic breast reconstruction is an innovative surgical technique that integrates robotic technology into breast reconstruction procedures, offering several advantages over conventional approaches. These benefits include enhanced visualization, increased surgical dexterity, and superior cosmetic outcomes. This study aims to comprehensively compare robotic-assisted and conventional breast reconstruction approaches in terms of complication profiles and operation-related measurements. Methods: A comprehensive search was conducted in PubMed, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science, Google Scholar, CENTRAL, and VHL from inception to October 2024 to identify relevant studies. Risk ratios for the following complications were calculated between the groups: donor site seroma, hematoma, infection, and unplanned reoperation. Mean differences were also calculated for the duration of surgery, length of postoperative hospital stays, and opioid use. Results: A meta-analysis was performed on 9 studies including a total of 1094 patients. No significant differences were found between the groups in the risk ratios for reoperation, seroma formation, delayed healing, infections, and hematomas. Similarly, there were no significant differences in postoperative opioid use. The duration of surgery was longer in the robot-assisted reconstruction group, whereas the duration of hospital stay was shorter compared to the conventional group. Meta-regression analysis for the duration of surgery model showed that none of the moderators had a statistically significant effect on this outcome. ROBINS-I assessment indicated that all the included studies had a serious risk of bias. Conclusions: Our results suggest that using a robot-assisted approach is associated with a shorter duration of hospital stay and a longer duration of surgery.

PDT using PSs based on polycationic derivatives of synthetic bacteriochlorin against Lewis lung carcinoma provides effective inhibition of tumor growth with an increase in the lifespan and survival of mice in the group. PDT with polycationic photosensitizers destroys CSCs and tumor neovascularization, and activates the desmoplastic reaction. These results open up new opportunities for increasing the effectiveness of treatment and reducing the incidence of relapses and metastases after PDT.

New research on Methylene Blue (MB), carried out in 2020, shows that it can be an effective antiviral drug as part of COVID-19 treatment. According to the research findings, MB has potential as a direct antiviral drug for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19 in the first stages of the disease. However, the MB accumulation by various types of tissues, as well as by immune cells, has not been previously studied. Therefore, the objective of this study was to obtain spectral data on the interstitial distribution of the administered drug in endothelial tissues in primates. The data on interstitial MB distribution obtained by spectroscopic measurement at both macro- and microlevels during oral administration to Hamadryas baboon individuals demonstrate that MB accumulates in mucous membranes of gastrointestinal tract and the tissues of the respiratory, cardiovascular, immune, and nervous systems. Additionally, it was found that MB was present in lung and brain myeloid cells in significant concentrations, which makes it potentially useful for protection from autoimmune response (cytokine storm) and as a tool for the correction of immunocompetent cells’ functional state during laser irradiation. Since the cytokine storm starts from monocytic cells during SARS-CoV-2 cellular damage and since tumor-associated macrophages can significantly alter tumor metabolism, accumulation of MB in these cells provides a reason to conclude that the immune response correction in COVID-19 patients and change in macrophages phenotype can be achieved by deactivation of inflammatory macrophages in tissues with MB using laser radiation of red spectral range.

Sarcomas are a leading cause of cancer death in individuals younger than 20 years of age and represent the largest group of rare solid tumors. To date, more than 100 morphological subtypes of sarcomas have been described, among which epidemiology, clinical features, management, and prognosis differ significantly. Delays and errors in the diagnosis of sarcomas limit the number of effective therapeutic modalities and catastrophically worsen the prognosis. Therefore, the development of an algorithm for the early accurate diagnosis of sarcomas seems to be as important as the development of novel therapeutic advances. This literature review aims to summarize the results of recent investigations regarding the imaging of sarcoma progression based on the use of X-ray computed tomography (CT) in preclinical studies and in current clinical practice through the lens of cancer hallmarks. We attempted to summarize the main CT imaging features of soft-tissue and bone sarcomas. We noted the development of new molecular markers with high specificity to antibodies and chemokines, which are expressed in particular sarcoma subtypes to reach tumor type-specific imaging. We demonstrate the possibility of the use of X-ray computed microtomography (micro-CT) for non-destructive 3D visualization of solid tumors by increasing the visibility of soft tissues with X-ray scattering agents. Based on the results of recent studies, we hypothesize that micro-CT enables the visualization of neovascularization and stroma formation in sarcomas at high-resolution in vivo and ex vivo, including the novel techniques of whole-block and whole-tissue imaging. Finding correlations between CT, PET/CT, and micro-CT imaging features, the results of the histopathological specimen examination and clinical outcomes may significantly increase the accuracy of soft-tissue and bone tumor diagnostics, which leads to the initiation of appropriate histotype-specific management in a timely manner and, consequently, to improved outcomes.