University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital

3 ARTICLES PUBLISHED IN JoVE

Medicine

An Ex Vivo Tissue Culture Model for Fibrovascular Complications in Proliferative Diabetic Retinopathy

Erika Gucciardo¹, Sirpa Loukovaara², Ani Korhonen¹, Kaisa Lehti^1,3

¹Research Programs Unit, Genome-Scale Biology, Biomedicum Helsinki, University of Helsinki, ²Unit of Vitreoretinal Surgery, Ophthalmology, University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital, ³Department of Microbiology, Tumor, and Cell Biology (MTC), Karolinska Institutet

Here, we present a protocol to study the pathophysiology of proliferative diabetic retinopathy by using patient-derived, surgically-excised, fibrovascular tissues for three-dimensional native tissue characterization and ex vivo culture. This ex vivo culture model is also amenable for testing or developing new treatments.

Medicine

Study Design for Navigated Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation for Speech Cortical Mapping

Pantelis Lioumis^1,2, Salla Autti^1,2, Juha Wilenius^2,3, Selja Vaalto^1,2,3, Henri Lehtinen^3,5, Aki Laakso⁴, Erika Kirveskari³, Jyrki P. Mäkelä², Mia Liljeström^1,2, Hanna Renvall^1,2

¹Department of Neuroscience and Biomedical Engineering, Aalto University School of Science, ²BioMag Laboratory, HUS Diagnostic Center, University of Helsinki, Aalto University, and Helsinki University Hospital, ³Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, HUS Diagnostic Center, University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital, ⁴Department of Neurosurgery, University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital, ⁵Department of Child Neurology, University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital

Navigated repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation is a highly efficient non-invasive tool for mapping speech-related cortical areas. It helps in designing brain surgery and speeds up the direct cortical stimulation conducted during the surgery. This report describes how to perform speech cortical mapping reliably for preoperative evaluation and research.

Developmental Biology

Z-Scores for Assessing Ovarian Reserve in Young Patients Undergoing Fertility Preservation

Jasmin Hassan^1,2, Pauliina Damdimopoulou^1,2, Atte Lahtinen^3,4, Kirsi Jahnukainen^5,6, Katri Knuus⁷, Ganesh Acharya¹, Richelle D. Björvang^1,8,9

¹Division of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Department of Clinical Science, Intervention and Technology, Karolinska Institutet, ²Department of Gynecology and Reproductive Medicine, Karolinska University Hospital, ³Applied Tumor Genomics Research Program, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, ⁴Department of Medical and Clinical Genetics, Medicum, Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, ⁵Children's Hospital, Pediatric Research Centre, University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital, ⁶NORDFERTIL Research Lab Stockholm, Department of Women's, and Children's Health, Karolinska Institutet, and Karolinska University Hospital, ⁷Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Helsinki University Hospital, University of Helsinki, ⁸Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Uppsala University, ⁹Department of Women's and Children's Health, Uppsala University

The present protocol describes a method for assessing ovarian reserve in patients under 25 years old who require fertility preservation through ovarian tissue cryopreservation. This method involves: (1) histological assessment of ovarian reserve in cortical samples, (2) comparison to a reference dataset, and (3) calculation of Z-scores.