Conservatively Treated Orbital Blowout Fractures: Spontaneous Radiologic Improvement.

PURPOSE: To determine if conservatively treated blowout fractures of the orbit undergo spontaneous improvement based on radiologic findings. DESIGN: Prospective, noncomparative series. PARTICIPANTS: Patients with conservatively treated orbital blowout fractures in a single tertiary institution from 2012 through 2016 with initial and follow-up computed tomography (CT) scans. METHODS: Comparison of initial and follow-up CT to assess for smoothening of bony contour, joining of bony edges, reduction in herniation of orbital contents, and new bone formation. Orbital and fracture volumes were calculated using a 3-dimensional reconstruction software program (3D Workstation; TeraRecon, Foster City, CA). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Change in bony contour, new bone formation, and decrease in orbital and fracture volumes. RESULTS: Our study comprised 41 patients and 44 orbits, with 38 unilateral and 3 bilateral cases. Most were men (65.9%; n = 27), and the mean age was 34.3±13.5 years. The mean time from injury to follow-up scan was 4.6 months (range, 1-15 months). All orbits showed changes in bony contour from initial to follow up CT, including smoothening of the orbital contour (88.6%), joining of bony edges (90.9%), and reduction in herniation of orbital contents (65.9%). Most of the orbits (n = 41; 93.2%) showed features of neobone formation. Of the 44 orbits, 91.4% showed a decrease in orbital volume, whereas 94.3% showed a decrease in fracture volume. The reduction in volume was statistically significant for both orbital (from 23.7±4.0 to 21.8±3.9 ml) as well as fracture (from 1.2±0.8 to 0.7±0.6 ml) volumes from initial to follow-up scans, respectively (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: A large proportion of patients showed improvement in radiologic findings despite being treated conservatively. This highlights the spontaneous improvement that can occur in untreated blowout fractures not just clinically, but radiologically, in terms of soft tissue and bony findings.

Fabrication of TiO2 nano-to-microscale structures using UV nanoimprint lithography.

TiO2-nanoparticle-dispersed resin was prepared to form various nanoscaled structures using UV nanoimprint lithography (UV NIL). This resin-made of TiO2 nanoparticles, a monomer, solvent, and UV initiator-showed variations in refractive index depending on the nanoparticle concentration. TiO2 nano-to-microscale patterns were fabricated on various substrates such as Si wafer and glass, and even on flexible substrates, by using UV NIL, which offers advantages such as low cost, large area, and high throughput. Low-aspect-ratio, high-aspect-ratio, and microconvex patterns were fabricated using the NIL process. The optical properties of the patterns were analyzed using UV-vis spectrophotometry.