Olfactory Reference Syndrome: A Case Report and Screening Tool.

Olfactory reference syndrome (ORS) is a lesser known disorder that is related to obsessive-compulsive disorder. ORS is the obsessional and inaccurate belief that one is emitting a foul odor leading to embarrassment or concern about offending others, excessive hygiene behaviors, and social avoidance that significantly interferes with daily functioning. Although ORS is rare, it is challenging to diagnose. ORS-sufferers first seek treatment from non-psychiatric providers (e.g., dermatologists, dentists.) to alleviate the perceived odor, which frequently leads to misdiagnosis and unnecessary treatments. Additionally, because ORS-sufferers can have limited insight and ideas of reference, they can be misdiagnosed as having a psychotic or delusional disorder. We present a case report of a 42-year-old woman with ORS, and how the correct diagnosis of ORS provided with psychiatric treatment led to significant improvement in her daily functioning. We provide a literature review on the disorder as well as a short screener to assess ORS.

Shooting with sound: optimizing an affordable ballistic gelatin recipe in a graded ultrasound phantom education program.

OBJECTIVES: The goal of this study was to investigate the durability and longevity of gelatin formulas for the production of staged ultrasound phantoms for education. METHODS: Gelatin phantoms were prepared from Knox gelatin (Kraft Foods, Northfield, IL) and a standard 10%-by-mass ordinance gelatin solution. Phantoms were durability tested by compressing to a 2-cm depth until cracking was visible. Additionally, 16 containers with varying combinations of phenol, container type, and storage location were tested for longevity against desiccation and molding. Once formulation was determined, 4 stages of phantoms from novice to clinically relevant were poured, and clinicians with ultrasound training ranked them on a 7-point Likert scale based on task difficulty, phantom suitability, and fidelity. RESULTS: On durability testing, the ballistic gelatin outperformed the Knox gelatin by more than 200 compressions. On longevity testing, gelatin with a 0.5% phenol concentration stored with a lid and refrigeration lasted longest, whereas containers without a lid had desiccation within 1 month, and those without phenol became moldy within 6 weeks. Ballistic gelatin was more expensive when buying in small quantities but was 7.4% less expensive when buying in bulk. The staged phantoms were deemed suitable for training, but clinicians did not consistently rank the phantoms in the intended order of 1 to 4 (44%). CONCLUSIONS: Refrigerated and sealed ballistic gelatin with phenol was a cost-effective method for creating in-house staged ultrasound phantoms suitable for large-scale ultrasound educational training needs. Clinician ranking of phantoms may be influenced by current training methods that favor biological tissue scanning as easier.