WorldWideScience

Sample records for medical applications electronic

  1. Photon and electron interaction databases and their use in medical applications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cullen, D.E.

    1994-05-01

    This paper discusses the All Particle-Method photon and electron interaction, and atomic relaxation data bases, that were initially developed for use in medical applications. Currently these data bases are being used in both medical and industrial applications. The All Particle Method data bases are designed to allow modelling of individual collisions in as much detail as possible. Elastic scattering can be modelled as single, as opposed to multiple, scattering events. Ionization can be modelled at the atomic subshell level, to define which subshell was ionized, spectrum of the initially emitted electron, as well as the spectra of electron and photons emitted as the atom relaxes back to neutrality. These data bases are currently being used in applications involving rather small spatial regions, where detailed calculations of individual events are required. While initially designed for use in medical applications, these data bases are now being used in a variety of industrial applications, e.g., transport in microelectronics

  2. Image-based electronic patient records for secured collaborative medical applications.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Jianguo; Sun, Jianyong; Yang, Yuanyuan; Liang, Chenwen; Yao, Yihong; Cai, Weihua; Jin, Jin; Zhang, Guozhen; Sun, Kun

    2005-01-01

    We developed a Web-based system to interactively display image-based electronic patient records (EPR) for secured intranet and Internet collaborative medical applications. The system consists of four major components: EPR DICOM gateway (EPR-GW), Image-based EPR repository server (EPR-Server), Web Server and EPR DICOM viewer (EPR-Viewer). In the EPR-GW and EPR-Viewer, the security modules of Digital Signature and Authentication are integrated to perform the security processing on the EPR data with integrity and authenticity. The privacy of EPR in data communication and exchanging is provided by SSL/TLS-based secure communication. This presentation gave a new approach to create and manage image-based EPR from actual patient records, and also presented a way to use Web technology and DICOM standard to build an open architecture for collaborative medical applications.

  3. Implantable electronic medical devices

    CERN Document Server

    Fitzpatrick, Dennis

    2014-01-01

    Implantable Electronic Medical Devices provides a thorough review of the application of implantable devices, illustrating the techniques currently being used together with overviews of the latest commercially available medical devices. This book provides an overview of the design of medical devices and is a reference on existing medical devices. The book groups devices with similar functionality into distinct chapters, looking at the latest design ideas and techniques in each area, including retinal implants, glucose biosensors, cochlear implants, pacemakers, electrical stimulation t

  4. INTERFACE ELECTRONIC MEDICAL CARD ON MOBILE DEVICE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Y. L. Nechyporenko

    2013-05-01

    Full Text Available The concept designed by electronic medical card for heterogeneous environment of medical information systems at various levels. Appropriate model and technical solution. Done evaluating operating systems for mobile devices. Designed and produced by the project mobile application on Android OS as an electronic medical record on a Tablet PC Acer.

  5. Usability Evaluation of An Electronic Medication Administration Record (eMAR) Application

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guo, J.; Iribarren, S.; Kapsandoy, S.; Perri, S.; Staggers, N.

    2011-01-01

    Background Electronic medication administration records (eMARs) have been widely used in recent years. However, formal usability evaluations are not yet available for these vendor applications, especially from the perspective of nurses, the largest group of eMAR users. Objective To conduct a formal usability evaluation of an implemented eMAR. Methods Four evaluators examined a commercial vendor eMAR using heuristic evaluation techniques. The evaluators defined seven tasks typical of eMAR use and independently evaluated the application. Consensus techniques were used to obtain 100% agreement of identified usability problems and severity ratings. Findings were reviewed with 5 clinical staff nurses and the Director of Clinical Informatics who verified findings with a small group of clinical nurses. Results Evaluators found 60 usability problems categorized into 233 heuristic violations. Match, Error, and Visibility heuristics were the most frequently violated. Administer Medication and Order and Modify Medications tasks had the highest number of heuristic violations and usability problems rated as major or catastrophic. Conclusion The high number of usability problems could impact the effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction of nurses’ medication administration activities and may include concerns about patient safety. Usability is a joint responsibility between sites and vendors. We offer a call to action for usability evaluations at all sites and eMAR application redesign as necessary to improve the user experience and promote patient safety. PMID:23616871

  6. Accelerator development for medical applications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tanabe, Eiji

    2007-01-01

    Electron linear accelerators have been widely used in medical applications, especially in radiation therapy for cancer treatment. There are more than 7,000 medical electron linear accelerators in the world, treating over 250,000 patients per day. This paper reviews the current status of accelerator applications and technologies in radiation therapy, and presents the anticipated requirements for advanced radiation therapy technology in the foreseeable future. (author)

  7. Advanced Accelerators for Medical Applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Uesaka, Mitsuru; Koyama, Kazuyoshi

    We review advanced accelerators for medical applications with respect to the following key technologies: (i) higher RF electron linear accelerator (hereafter “linac”); (ii) optimization of alignment for the proton linac, cyclotron and synchrotron; (iii) superconducting magnet; (iv) laser technology. Advanced accelerators for medical applications are categorized into two groups. The first group consists of compact medical linacs with high RF, cyclotrons and synchrotrons downsized by optimization of alignment and superconducting magnets. The second group comprises laser-based acceleration systems aimed of medical applications in the future. Laser plasma electron/ion accelerating systems for cancer therapy and laser dielectric accelerating systems for radiation biology are mentioned. Since the second group has important potential for a compact system, the current status of the established energy and intensity and of the required stability are given.

  8. Production of Medical Isotopes with Electron Linacs

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rotsch, D A; Alford, K.; Bailey, J. L.; Bowers, D. L.; Brossard, T.; Brown, M. A.; Chemerisov, S. D.; Ehst, D.; Greene, J.; Gromov, R. G.; Grudzinski, J.J.; Hafenrichter, L.; Hebden, A. S.; Henning, W.; Heltemes, T. A.; Jerden, J.; Jonah, C. D.; Kalensky, M.; Krebs, J. F.; Makarashvili, V.; Micklich, B.; Nolen, J.; Quigley, K. J.; Schneider, J. F.; Smith, N. A.; Stepinski, D. C.; Sun, Z.; Tkac, P.; Vandegrift, G. F.; Virgo, M J; Wesolowski, K. A.; Youker, A. J.

    2017-06-01

    Radioisotopes play important roles in numerous areas ranging from medical treatments to national security and basic research. Radionuclide production technology for medical applications has been pursued since the early 1900s both commercially and in nuclear science centers. Many medical isotopes are now in routine production and are used in day-to-day medical procedures. Despite these advancements, research is accelerating around the world to improve the existing production methodologies as well as to develop novel radionuclides for new medical appli-cations. Electron linear accelerators (linacs) represent a unique method for the production of radioisotopes. Even though the basic technology has been around for decades, only recently have electron linacs capable of producing photons with sufficient energy and flux for radioisotope production become available. Housed in Argonne Nation-al Laboratory’s Low Energy Accelerator Facility (LEAF) is a newly upgraded 55 MeV/25-kW electron linear ac-celerator, capable of producing a wide range of radioiso-topes. This talk will focus on the work being performed for the production of the medical isotopes 99Mo (99Mo/99mTc generator), 67Cu, and 47Sc.

  9. Medical Application of Free Electron Laser Trasmittance using Hollow Optical Fiber

    CERN Document Server

    Suzuki, Sachiko; Ishii, Katsonuri

    2004-01-01

    Mid-infrared Free Electron Laser (FEL) is expected as new application for biomedical surgery. However, delivery of MIR-FEL into the body is difficult because the common glass optical fibers have strong absorption at MIR region. A good operational and flexible line for FEL is required at medical field. A Hollow optical fiber is developed for IR laser and high-power laser delivery. We evaluated the fiber for FEL transmission line. This fiber is coated with cyclic olefin polymer (COP) and silver thin film on the inside of glass capillary tube. It is 700 μm-bore and 1m in lengths. The fiber transmission loss of the measured wavelength region of 5.5 μm to 12 μm is less than 1dB/m when the fiber is straight and 1.2 dB/m when bent to radius of 20 cm. Additionally, the output beam profile and the pulse structure is not so different form incidence beam. In conclusion, the fiber is suitable for delivery of the FEL energy for applications in medical and laser surgery.

  10. Summary Report of Consultants' Meeting on Auger Electron Emission Data Needs for Medical Applications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Noy, Roberto Capote; Chung, Hyun Kyung; Bartschat, Klaus; Dong, Chenzhong; Jonsson, Per; Kibedi, Tibor; Kondev, Filip G.; Nikjoo, Hooshang; Palffy, Adriana

    2013-11-01

    A summary is given of a Consultants' Meeting on 'Auger Electron Emission Data Needs for Medical Applications'. Participants assessed and reviewed detailed atomic and nuclear data needs for a number of Auger emitters deemed as potentially suitable for applications in nuclear medicine and radiotherapy. Technical discussions are described in this report, along with recommendations for future work, along with recommendations for future work. Presentations by the consultants at the meeting are available at http://www-nds.iaea.org/index-meeting-crp/CM-Auger-2013/. (author)

  11. Linacs for medical and industrial applications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hamm, R.W.

    1986-01-01

    Linear accelerators for medical and industrial applications have become an important commercial business. Microwave electron linacs for cancer radiation therapy and high-energy industrial radiography form the bulk of this market, but these, as well as induction linacs, are now being offered for radiation processing applications such as sterilization of disposable medical products, food preservation and material modifications. The radio frequency quadrupole (RFQ) linac has now made the ion linac also practical for commercial applications in medicine and industry, including radiation therapy, isotope production, neutron production, materials modification, and energy transfer processes. Ion linacs for several of these applications will soon be commercially available. The market for both ion and electron linacs is expected to significantly grow in several exciting and important areas

  12. 1st International Conference on Advancements of Medical Electronics

    CERN Document Server

    Bag, Sandip; Ganguly, Karabi; Sarkar, Indranath; Biswas, Papun

    2015-01-01

    The book is a collection of peer-reviewed scientific papers submitted by active researchers in the 1st International Conference on Advancements of Medical Electronics (ICAME2015). The conference is organized jointly by the Department of Biomedical Engineering and Electronics and Communication Engineering, JIS College of Engineering, West Bengal, India. The primary objective of the conference is to strengthen interdisciplinary research and its applications for the welfare of humanity. A galaxy of academicians, professionals, scientists, statesman and researchers from different parts of the country and abroad got together and shared their knowledge. The book presents research articles of medical image processing & analysis, biomedical instrumentation & measurements, DSP & clinical applications, embedded systems & its applications in healthcare. The book can be referred as a tool for further research.

  13. Microwave system of the 7-10 MeV electron linear accelerator ALIN for medical applications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Martin, D.; Iliescu, E.; Stirbet, M.; Oproiu, C.; Vintan, I.

    1978-01-01

    A detailed description of the Central Institute of Physics 10 MeV linear microwave system and its associated subsystems are presented. Methods of impedance matching to obtain maximum power transfer are described along with broadband design methods for transmission-line impedance transformers. Experimental results for such microwave devices are included. With respect to microwave device performances, simultaneous high efficiency and high power capability with reliability and long life at relatively low unit cost have only recently been achieved as typical device characteristics. Industrial, medical and scientific application of microwave electron accelerators have markedly influenced microwave research progress. Radiographic linear accelerators have grown substantially mainly during the past few years. Following this, the improvements of microwave device performances solicit our attention. The first electron therapy Linear Accelerator ALIN 10 marks a new stage in the development of such instrumentation. Its subsequent ALIN 15 is designed to produce a maximum energy of 18 MeV to widen its applicability in radiotherapy. In addition, a new electron linear accelerator of 8 MeV for nondestructive testing has been started. (author)

  14. Hospital electronic medical record enterprise application strategies: do they matter?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fareed, Naleef; Ozcan, Yasar A; DeShazo, Jonathan P

    2012-01-01

    Successful implementations and the ability to reap the benefits of electronic medical record (EMR) systems may be correlated with the type of enterprise application strategy that an administrator chooses when acquiring an EMR system. Moreover, identifying the most optimal enterprise application strategy is a task that may have important linkages with hospital performance. This study explored whether hospitals that have adopted differential EMR enterprise application strategies concomitantly differ in their overall efficiency. Specifically, the study examined whether hospitals with a single-vendor strategy had a higher likelihood of being efficient than those with a best-of-breed strategy and whether hospitals with a best-of-suite strategy had a higher probability of being efficient than those with best-of-breed or single-vendor strategies. A conceptual framework was used to formulate testable hypotheses. A retrospective cross-sectional approach using data envelopment analysis was used to obtain efficiency scores of hospitals by EMR enterprise application strategy. A Tobit regression analysis was then used to determine the probability of a hospital being inefficient as related to its EMR enterprise application strategy, while moderating for the hospital's EMR "implementation status" and controlling for hospital and market characteristics. The data envelopment analysis of hospitals suggested that only 32 hospitals were efficient in the study's sample of 2,171 hospitals. The results from the post hoc analysis showed partial support for the hypothesis that hospitals with a best-of-suite strategy were more likely to be efficient than those with a single-vendor strategy. This study underscores the importance of understanding the differences between the three strategies discussed in this article. On the basis of the findings, hospital administrators should consider the efficiency associations that a specific strategy may have compared with another prior to moving toward

  15. A continuous usability evaluation of an electronic medication administration record application.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vicente Oliveros, Noelia; Gramage Caro, Teresa; Pérez Menéndez-Conde, Covadonga; Álvarez-Diaz, Ana María; Martín-Aragón Álvarez, Sagrario; Bermejo Vicedo, Teresa; Delgado Silveira, Eva

    2017-12-01

    The complexity of an electronic medication administration record (eMAR) has been underestimated by most designers in the past. Usability issues, such as poorly designed user application flow in eMAR, are therefore of vital importance, since they can have a negative impact on nursing activities and result in poor outcomes. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the usability of an eMAR application during its development. A usability evaluation was conducted during the development of the eMAR application. Two usability methods were used: a heuristic evaluation complemented by usability testing. Each eMAR application version provided by the vendor was evaluated by 2 hospital pharmacists, who applied the heuristic method. They reviewed the eMAR tasks, detected usability problems and their heuristic violations, and rated the severity of the usability problems. Usability testing was used to assess the final application version by observing how 3 nurses interacted with the application. Thirty-four versions were assessed before the eMAR application was considered usable. During the heuristic evaluation, the usability problems decreased from 46 unique usability problems in version 1 (V1) to 9 in version 34 (V34). In V1, usability problems were categorized into 154 heuristic violations, which decreased to 27 in V34. The average severity rating also decreased from major usability problem (2.96) to no problem (0.23). During usability testing, the 3 nurses did not encounter new usability problems. A thorough heuristic evaluation is a good method for obtaining a usable eMAR application. This evaluation points key areas for improvement and decreases usability problems and their severity. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  16. Industrial applications of electron accelerators

    CERN Document Server

    Cleland, M R

    2006-01-01

    This paper addresses the industrial applications of electron accelerators for modifying the physical, chemical or biological properties of materials and commercial products by treatment with ionizing radiation. Many beneficial effects can be obtained with these methods, which are known as radiation processing. The earliest practical applications occurred during the 1950s, and the business of radiation processing has been expanding since that time. The most prevalent applications are the modification of many different plastic and rubber products and the sterilization of single-use medical devices. Emerging applications are the pasteurization and preservation of foods and the treatment of toxic industrial wastes. Industrial accelerators can now provide electron energies greater than 10 MeV and average beam powers as high as 700 kW. The availability of high-energy, high-power electron beams is stimulating interest in the use of X-rays (bremsstrahlung) as an alternative to gamma rays from radioactive nuclides.

  17. Facility to disinfect medical wastes by 10 MeV electron beam

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kerluke, D.R.

    1998-01-01

    As regulations related to the disposal of infectious hospital and other medical waste are become increasingly stringent, hospitals and governments worldwide are looking to develop more effective and economical means to disinfect such waste materials prior to them being ultimately landfilled, incinerated or recycled. With the advent of reliable high-energy, high-power industrial electron accelerators, the prospect now exists to centralize collection of much of the infectious medical waste for major metropolitan areas at a single facility, and render it harmless using irradiation. Using much of the same or similar methodologies already developed for single-use medical device sterilization and for bioburden reduction in other goods, high energy electron beam treatment offers unique process advantages which become increasingly attractive with the economies of scale available at higher power. This paper will explore some of the key issues related to the safe disposition of infectious hospital and other medical waste, related irradiation research projects, and the design and economic factors related to an electron beam facility dedicated to this application. This will be presented in the context of the Rhodotron family of electron beam accelerators manufactured by Ion Beam Applications s.a. (author)

  18. Accelerator for medical applications and electron acceleration by laser plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hosokai, Tomonao; Uesaka, Mitsuru

    2006-01-01

    In this article, the current status of radiation therapies in Japan and updated medical accelerators are reviewed. For medical use, there is a strong demand of a compact and flexible accelerator. At present, however, we have only two choices of the S-band linac with one or two rotation axis combined with the multi leaf collimator, or the X-band linac with a rather flexible robotic arm. In addition, the laser plasma cathode that is the second generation of the laser wake-field accelerator (LWFA) is studied as a high-quality electron source for medical use though it is still at the stage of the basic research. The potential of LWFA as medical accelerator near future is discussed based on updated results of laser plasma cathode experiment in Univ. of Tokyo. (author)

  19. The electronic residency application service application can predict accreditation council for graduate medical education competency-based surgical resident performance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tolan, Amy M; Kaji, Amy H; Quach, Chi; Hines, O Joe; de Virgilio, Christian

    2010-01-01

    Program directors often struggle to determine which factors in the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS) application are important in the residency selection process. With the establishment of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) competencies, it would be important to know whether information available in the ERAS application can predict subsequent competency-based performance of general surgery residents. This study is a retrospective correlation of data points found in the ERAS application with core competency-based clinical rotation evaluations. ACGME competency-based evaluations as well as technical skills assessment from all rotations during residency were collected. The overall competency score was defined as an average of all 6 competencies and technical skills. A total of77 residents from two (one university and one community based university-affiliate) general surgery residency programs were included in the analysis. Receiving honors for many of the third year clerkships and AOA membership were associated with a number of the individual competencies. USMLE scores were predictive only of Medical Knowledge (p = 0.004). Factors associated with higher overall competency were female gender (p = 0.02), AOA (p = 0.06), overall number of honors received (p = 0.04), and honors in Ob/Gyn (p = 0.03) and Pediatrics (p = 0.05). Multivariable analysis showed honors in Ob/Gyn, female gender, older age, and total number of honors to be predictive of a number of individual core competencies. USMLE scores were only predictive of Medical Knowledge. The ERAS application is useful for predicting subsequent competency based performance in surgical residents. Receiving honors in the surgery clerkship, which has traditionally carried weight when evaluating a potential surgery resident, may not be as strong a predictor of future success. Copyright © 2010 Association of Program Directors in Surgery. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights

  20. [Security specifications for electronic medical records on the Internet].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mocanu, Mihai; Mocanu, Carmen

    2007-01-01

    The extension for the Web applications of the Electronic Medical Record seems both interesting and promising. Correlated with the expansion of Internet in our country, it allows the interconnection of physicians of different specialties and their collaboration for better treatment of patients. In this respect, the ophthalmologic medical applications consider the increased possibilities for monitoring chronic ocular diseases and for the identification of some elements for early diagnosis and risk factors supervision. We emphasize in this survey some possible solutions to the problems of interconnecting medical information systems to the Internet: the achievement of interoperability within medical organizations through the use of open standards, the automated input and processing for ocular imaging, the use of data reduction techniques in order to increase the speed of image retrieval in large databases, and, last but not least, the resolution of security and confidentiality problems in medical databases.

  1. Industrial applications of electron accelerators

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Singh, A.

    1994-01-01

    The interaction of high-energy radiation with organic systems produces very reactive, short-lived, ionic and free-radical species. The chemical changes brought about by these species are very useful in several systems, and are the basis of the growth of the electron processing industry. Some typical areas of the industrial use of electron accelerators are crosslinking wire and cable insulation, manufacturing heat shrink plastic items, curing coatings, and partially curing rubber products. Electron accelerators are also being considered in other areas such as sewage treatment, sterilizing medical disposables, and food irradiation. An emerging application of industrial electron accelerators is the production of advanced composites for the aerospace and other industries. Traditionally, the carbon-, aramid- and glass-fibre-reinforced composites with epoxy matrices are produced by thermal curing. However, equivalent composites with acrylated-epoxy matrices can be made by electron curing. Cost estimates suggest that electron curing could be more economical than thermal curing. Food irradiation has traditionally been an application for 60 Co γ-radiation. With the increasing demand for food irradiation in various countries, it may become necessary to use electron accelerators for this purpose. Since the dose rate during gamma and electron irradiation are generally very different, a review of the relevant work on the effect of dose rates has been done. This paper presents an overview of the industrial applications of electron accelerator for radiation processing, emphasises the electron curing of advanced composites and, briefly reviews the dose-rate effects in radiation processing of advanced composites and food irradiation. (author). 84 refs., 8 tabs

  2. Electron accelerators: History, applications, and perspectives

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martins, M. N.; Silva, T. F.

    2014-02-01

    This paper will present an outlook on sources of radiation, focusing on electron accelerators. We will review advances that were important for the development of particle accelerators, concentrating on those that led to modern electron accelerators. Electron accelerators are multipurpose machines that deliver beams with energies spanning five orders of magnitude, and are used in applications that range from fundamental studies of particle interactions to cross-linking polymer chains in industrial plants. Each accelerator type presents specific characteristics that make it more suitable for certain applications. Our work will focus on radiation sources for medical applications, dominated by electron linacs (linear accelerators), and those used for research, field where electron rings dominate. We will outline the main technological advances that occurred in the past decades, which made possible the construction of machines fit for clinical environments. Their compactness, efficiency and reliability have been key to their acceptance in clinical applications. This outline will include advances that allowed for the construction of brighter synchrotron light sources, where the relevant beam characteristics are good optical quality and high beam current. The development of insertion devices will also be discussed, as well the development of Free Electron Lasers (FEL). We conclude the review with an outline of the new developments of electron accelerators and the expectations for Energy Recovery Linacs.

  3. Electronic Procedures for Medical Operations

    Science.gov (United States)

    2015-01-01

    Electronic procedures are replacing text-based documents for recording the steps in performing medical operations aboard the International Space Station. S&K Aerospace, LLC, has developed a content-based electronic system-based on the Extensible Markup Language (XML) standard-that separates text from formatting standards and tags items contained in procedures so they can be recognized by other electronic systems. For example, to change a standard format, electronic procedures are changed in a single batch process, and the entire body of procedures will have the new format. Procedures can be quickly searched to determine which are affected by software and hardware changes. Similarly, procedures are easily shared with other electronic systems. The system also enables real-time data capture and automatic bookmarking of current procedure steps. In Phase II of the project, S&K Aerospace developed a Procedure Representation Language (PRL) and tools to support the creation and maintenance of electronic procedures for medical operations. The goal is to develop these tools in such a way that new advances can be inserted easily, leading to an eventual medical decision support system.

  4. Electronic medical devices: a primer for pathologists.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weitzman, James B

    2003-07-01

    Electronic medical devices (EMDs) with downloadable memories, such as implantable cardiac pacemakers, defibrillators, drug pumps, insulin pumps, and glucose monitors, are now an integral part of routine medical practice in the United States, and functional organ replacements, such as the artificial heart, pancreas, and retina, will most likely become commonplace in the near future. Often, EMDs end up in the hands of the pathologist as a surgical specimen or at autopsy. No established guidelines for systematic examination and reporting or comprehensive reviews of EMDs currently exist for the pathologist. To provide pathologists with a general overview of EMDs, including a brief history; epidemiology; essential technical aspects, indications, contraindications, and complications of selected devices; potential applications in pathology; relevant government regulations; and suggested examination and reporting guidelines. Articles indexed on PubMed of the National Library of Medicine, various medical and history of medicine textbooks, US Food and Drug Administration publications and product information, and specifications provided by device manufacturers. Studies were selected on the basis of relevance to the study objectives. Descriptive data were selected by the author. Suggested examination and reporting guidelines for EMDs received as surgical specimens and retrieved at autopsy. Electronic medical devices received as surgical specimens and retrieved at autopsy are increasing in number and level of sophistication. They should be systematically examined and reported, should have electronic memories downloaded when indicated, will help pathologists answer more questions with greater certainty, and should become an integral part of the formal knowledge base, research focus, training, and practice of pathology.

  5. Application of Electron Accelerators in Conjunction with Microwave Sources in Medical Studies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Martin, D.; Craciun, G.; Manaila, E.; Ighigeanu, D.; Margaritescu, I.; Chirita, D.; Neagu, M.

    2009-01-01

    Electron beams (EB) are presently used, in addition to the routine conventional radiotherapy techniques, for cancer specialized therapies (intensity modulated radiation therapy [1] and total body electron irradiation [2]), the irradiation of blood and blood components, vaccine preparation, and other. Microwaves (MW) are presently used for therapeutic applications in cardiology, urology, surgery, ophthalmology, cancer therapy, and others, and for diagnostic applications such as cancer detection, organ imaging, and more [3]. The reported data show that low dose-all body irradiation with ionizing as well as with nonionizing irradiation may enhance the tumoricidal effects of radiation or chemotherapy, overcome acquired drug resistance and can stimulate certain components of the immune system that may aid in destroying cancer cells. These data suggested that application of low-dose total body EB + MW irradiation in conjunction with chemotherapy could contribute by novel effects to the cancer therapies. In view of this argument two specifically designed radiation exposure devices (REDs) were carried out for separate, successive and simultaneous irradiation with EB of 6.23 MeV and MW of 2.45 GHz in vivo (RED-vivo) and in vitro (RED-vitro) for the following medical studies: 1) The effects of low-dose EB + MW total body irradiation without/with drugs administration on the C57 BL/6 mice bearing malignant melanoma (MM); 2) The effects of separate and simultaneous MW and EB irradiation on MM cells culture without/with drugs incubation and on human blood components (proteins and cells) irradiated in samples of integral blood from healthy donors and from donors with MM. Both REDs consist of the following units: 1) An accelerated EB source: ALIN-10 electron linear accelerator of 6.23 MeV and adjustable absorbed dose rate from 0.002 Gy s-1 up to 70 Gy s-1 (built in the NILPRP, Bucharest, Romania); 2) A special designed exposure chamber that permits inside separate, successive or

  6. Electron accelerators: History, applications, and perspectives

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Martins, M.N.; Silva, T.F.

    2014-01-01

    This paper will present an outlook on sources of radiation, focusing on electron accelerators. We will review advances that were important for the development of particle accelerators, concentrating on those that led to modern electron accelerators. Electron accelerators are multipurpose machines that deliver beams with energies spanning five orders of magnitude, and are used in applications that range from fundamental studies of particle interactions to cross-linking polymer chains in industrial plants. Each accelerator type presents specific characteristics that make it more suitable for certain applications. Our work will focus on radiation sources for medical applications, dominated by electron linacs (linear accelerators), and those used for research, field where electron rings dominate. We will outline the main technological advances that occurred in the past decades, which made possible the construction of machines fit for clinical environments. Their compactness, efficiency and reliability have been key to their acceptance in clinical applications. This outline will include advances that allowed for the construction of brighter synchrotron light sources, where the relevant beam characteristics are good optical quality and high beam current. The development of insertion devices will also be discussed, as well the development of Free Electron Lasers (FEL). We conclude the review with an outline of the new developments of electron accelerators and the expectations for Energy Recovery Linacs. - Highlights: ► We present an outlook on sources of radiation, focusing on electron accelerators. ► We review important advances for the development of modern electron accelerators. ► We outline advances that allowed for brighter synchrotron light sources. ► We describe the history of the development of electron accelerators in Brazil

  7. Usability inspection to improve an electronic provincial medication repository.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kitson, Nicole A; Price, Morgan; Bowen, Michael; Lau, Francis

    2013-01-01

    Medication errors are a significant source of actual and potential harm for patients. Community medication records have the potential to reduce medication errors, but they can also introduce unintended consequences when there is low fit to task (low cognitive fit). PharmaNet is a provincially managed electronic repository that contains the records for community-based pharmacy-dispensed medications in British Columbia. This research explores the usability of PharmaNet, as a representative community-based medication repository. We completed usability inspections of PharmaNet through vendor applications. Vendor participants were asked to complete activity-driven scenarios, which highlighted aspects of medication management workflow. Screen recording was later reviewed. Heuristics were applied to explore usability issues and improvement opportunities. Usability inspection was conducted with four PharmaNet applications. Ninety-six usability issues were identified; half of these had potential implications for patient safety. These were primarily related to login and logout procedures; display of patient name; display of medications; update and display of alert information; and the changing or discontinuation of medications. PharmaNet was designed primarily to support medication dispensing and billing activities by community pharmacies, but is also used to support care providers with monitoring and prescribing activities. As such, some of the features do not have a strong fit for other clinical activities. To improve fit, we recommend: having a Current Medications List and Displaying Medication Utilization Charts.

  8. Electron Beam Scanning in Industrial Applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jongen, Yves; Herer, Arnold

    1996-05-01

    Scanned electron beams are used within many industries for applications such as sterilization of medical disposables, crosslinking of wire and cables insulating jackets, polymerization and degradation of resins and biomaterials, modification of semiconductors, coloration of gemstones and glasses, removal of oxides from coal plant flue gasses, and the curing of advanced composites and other molded forms. X-rays generated from scanned electron beams make yet other applications, such as food irradiation, viable. Typical accelerators for these applications range in beam energy from 0.5MeV to 10 MeV, with beam powers between 5 to 500kW and scanning widths between 20 and 300 cm. Since precise control of dose delivery is required in many of these applications, the integration of beam characteristics, product conveyance, and beam scanning mechanisms must be well understood and optimized. Fundamental issues and some case examples are presented.

  9. Industrial applications or electron beams

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Martin, J. I.

    2001-01-01

    Industrial use of electron beams began in the 1950's with the crosslinking of polyethylene film and wire insulation. Today the number of electron beam Processing Systems installed for industrial applications throughout the world has grown to more than six hundred stations in over 35 countries. Total installed power is now approaching 40 megawatts (over 8 million tons of products per year). Electron beam is now utilized by many major industries including plastics, automotive, rubber goods, wire and cable, electrical insulation, semiconductor, medical, packaging, or pollution control. The principal effect of high-energy electrons is to produce ions in the materials treated, resulting in the liberation of orbital electrons. As a result, the original molecule is modified and the ree radicals combine to form new molecules with new chemical reactions or dis organisation od the DNA chains of living organisms (insects, fungus, microorganisms, etc.). (Author) 8 refs

  10. Progress on channel spark development and application of pulsed electron beam deposition (PED) in the field of medical coating work

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schultheiss, Christoph; Buth, Lothar-H.-O.; Frey, Wolfgang; Bluhm, Hansjoachim; Mayer, Hanns-G.

    2002-01-01

    A promising source for Pulsed Electron Beam Deposition (PED) is the channel spark. Recent improvements helped to reduce beam instabilities which up to now have limited the life time of the system. The beam power could be increased and because of better beam quality the transport length of the beam is increased from 1 to several centimeters (up to 10 cm). Together with other improvements on the triggering system and beam transport in dielectric tubes, the channel spark approaches industrial standards. An overview of actual applications in research and industry will be presented. An attractive feature of the pulsed electron beam thin film deposition is the conservation of stoichiometry even during deposition of multi-component earth-alkali and alkali glasses. Specially developed glasses like BIOGLAS registered have the ability to anchor soft living tissue at the surface. In form of a bulk material bio active glasses are brittle limiting its applications. Contrary to brittle bulk material a thin layers on medical implants exhibits reliable bio-functionality. Coating of implants with this category of materials is subject of the European INCOMED project (Innovative Coating of Medical Implants with Soft Tissue Anchoring Ability) which just has started

  11. Low power signal processing electronics for wearable medical devices.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Casson, Alexander J; Rodriguez-Villegas, Esther

    2010-01-01

    Custom designed microchips, known as Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), offer the lowest possible power consumption electronics. However, this comes at the cost of a longer, more complex and more costly design process compared to one using generic, off-the-shelf components. Nevertheless, their use is essential in future truly wearable medical devices that must operate for long periods of time from physically small, energy limited batteries. This presentation will demonstrate the state-of-the-art in ASIC technology for providing online signal processing for use in these wearable medical devices.

  12. ON EXPERIENCE OF THE ELECTRONIC DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM IMPLEMENTATION IN THE MEDICAL UNIVERSITY

    OpenAIRE

    A. V. Semenets; V. Yu. Kovalok

    2015-01-01

    An importance of the application of the electronic document management to the Ukraine healthcare is shown. The electronic document management systems market overview is presented. Example of the usage of the open-source electronic document management system in the Ternopil State Medical University by I. Ya. Horbachevsky is shown. The implementation capabilities of the electronic document management system within a cloud services are shown. The electronic document management features of the Mi...

  13. Organic transistors with high thermal stability for medical applications.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kuribara, Kazunori; Wang, He; Uchiyama, Naoya; Fukuda, Kenjiro; Yokota, Tomoyuki; Zschieschang, Ute; Jaye, Cherno; Fischer, Daniel; Klauk, Hagen; Yamamoto, Tatsuya; Takimiya, Kazuo; Ikeda, Masaaki; Kuwabara, Hirokazu; Sekitani, Tsuyoshi; Loo, Yueh-Lin; Someya, Takao

    2012-03-06

    The excellent mechanical flexibility of organic electronic devices is expected to open up a range of new application opportunities in electronics, such as flexible displays, robotic sensors, and biological and medical electronic applications. However, one of the major remaining issues for organic devices is their instability, especially their thermal instability, because low melting temperatures and large thermal expansion coefficients of organic materials cause thermal degradation. Here we demonstrate the fabrication of flexible thin-film transistors with excellent thermal stability and their viability for biomedical sterilization processes. The organic thin-film transistors comprise a high-mobility organic semiconductor, dinaphtho[2,3-b:2',3'-f]thieno[3,2-b]thiophene, and thin gate dielectrics comprising a 2-nm-thick self-assembled monolayer and a 4-nm-thick aluminium oxide layer. The transistors exhibit a mobility of 1.2 cm(2) V(-1)s(-1) within a 2 V operation and are stable even after exposure to conditions typically used for medical sterilization.

  14. Development of electron beam facilities for research and applications in Thailand

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vilaithong, Thiraphat

    2004-01-01

    Linear accelerators (linac) were introduced into the Kingdom of Thailand almost twenty years ago. They were installed at major hospitals around the country for radiotherapy. At present there are 20 medical electron linacs in Thailand. Three of the new linacs are recently installed at Chiang Mai University Hospital. The first industrial electron accelerator was commissioned in 1997 for sterilization of medical products such as doctor gown, pampas etc. for export. It has accelerating voltage in the range between 1.8 to 2.4 MeV and power of 10 kW. The second electron accelerator was introduced in the year 2000 for gemstone enhancement. This one is a 15 MeV, 8.5 kW electron linac. Since 2000 a program to generate electron beams for research and industrial application has been realized at Chiang Mai University. Both high (10-30 MeV) and low (300 keV) energy electron accelerating systems are being explored. Here we describe the present development status and near future applications. (author)

  15. The Impact of the Acquisition of Electronic Medical Texts on the Usage of Equivalent Print Books in an Academic Medical Library

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pamela S. Morgan

    2010-09-01

    Full Text Available Objectives – This study examines whether acquiring a text in electronic format effects the usage of the print version of the text, focusing specifically on medical texts. Studies in the literature dealt specifically with general collections and it was not clear if they were applicable to medical collections. It was also not clear if these studies should play a role in determining whether a medical library should purchase electronic texts or whether reserve collections are still needed for print texts.Methods – Four usage studies were conducted using data from the circulation system and the electronic vendor systems. These were 1 trends of print usage; 2 trends of electronic usage; 3 a comparison of electronic usage with print usage of the same title in the reserve collection; 4 a comparison of electronic usage with print usage of the same title in the general collection.Results – In comparison to print, substantial usage is being made of electronic books. Print is maintaining a level pattern of usage while electronic usage is increasing steadily. There was a noticeable difference in the usage levels of the electronic texts as regards to the package in which they are contained. Usage of print texts both on reserve and in the general collection has decreased over time, however the acquisition of the electronic version of a medical title had little impact on the usage of the equivalent print version. Conclusion – There is a demand for medical texts in medical libraries. Electronic versions can replace print versions of texts in reserve. Further investigation is needed of current patterns of print collection usage, with particular emphasis on trends in reserve collection usage.

  16. Medical Applications

    OpenAIRE

    Biscari, C.; Falbo, L.

    2016-01-01

    The use of accelerators for medical applications has evolved from initial experimentation to turn-key devices commonly operating in hospitals. New applications are continuously being developed around the world, and the hadrontherapy facilities of the newest generation are placed at the frontier between industrial production and advanced R&D. An introduction to the different medical application accelerators is followed by a description of the hadrontherapy facilities, with special emphasis on ...

  17. Technology and applications of electron accelerator

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Natsir, M.

    1998-01-01

    Technology of electron accelerator have been developed so fast in advanced countries. It was applied in the research and development (R and D) and comercially in various industries. The industries applying electron accelerator includes polymers industry, sterilization of medical tools, material surface modification, and environmental management. The radiation process using electron beam is an ionization radiation process. Two facilities of electron accelerator have been established in pilot scale at the Centre for the Application of Isotope and Radiation CAIR-BATAN, Jakarta, for the RandD of radiation process technology and in demonstrating the electron accelerator application in industry in Indonesia. The first has low energy specification of 300 keV, 50 mA, EPS-300 type and the second has medium energy specification of 2 MeV, 10 mA dynamitron model GJ-2 type. Both the electron accelerators have an electron penetration depth capability of 0.6 and 12 mm, respectively, for the double side irradiation in the materials with density of 1 g/cm 3 . They also highly capacity production and electron beam cross-section of 120 cm length and 10 cm width. The beam will go through the atmosphere for irradiation samples or industrial products. The radiation dose can be selected precisely by adjusting the electron beam current and conveyor speed. Both of these facilities were applied in many aspects RandD, for examples dosimetry, wood surface coating, cross-linking of polymer, heatshrincable tube, polymer grafting, plastic degradation, food preservation, sterilization and so on. Engineering factors of radiation design process and general observation of electron accelerator application in RandD for various industries in Indonesia are briefly discussed

  18. Paper versus computer: Feasibility of an electronic medical record in general pediatrics

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    J. Roukema (Jolt); R.K. Los (Renske); S.E. Bleeker (Sacha); A.M. van Ginneken (Astrid); J. van der Lei (Johan); H.A. Moll (Henriëtte)

    2006-01-01

    textabstractBACKGROUND. Implementation of electronic medical record systems promises significant advances in patient care, because such systems enhance readability, availability, and data quality. Structured data entry (SDE) applications can prompt for completeness, provide greater accuracy and

  19. Biological applications of ultraviolet free-electron lasers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sutherland, J.C.

    1997-10-01

    This review examines the possibilities for biological research using the three ultraviolet free-electron lasers that are nearing operational status in the US. The projected operating characteristics of major interest in biological research of the free-electron lasers at Brookhaven National Laboratory, the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, and Duke University are presented. Experimental applications in the areas of far- and vacuum ultraviolet photophysics and photochemistry, structural biology, environmental photobiology, and medical research are discussed and the prospects for advances in these areas, based upon the characteristics of the new ultraviolet free-electron lasers, are evaluated

  20. Applications of artificial neural networks in medical science.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Patel, Jigneshkumar L; Goyal, Ramesh K

    2007-09-01

    Computer technology has been advanced tremendously and the interest has been increased for the potential use of 'Artificial Intelligence (AI)' in medicine and biological research. One of the most interesting and extensively studied branches of AI is the 'Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs)'. Basically, ANNs are the mathematical algorithms, generated by computers. ANNs learn from standard data and capture the knowledge contained in the data. Trained ANNs approach the functionality of small biological neural cluster in a very fundamental manner. They are the digitized model of biological brain and can detect complex nonlinear relationships between dependent as well as independent variables in a data where human brain may fail to detect. Nowadays, ANNs are widely used for medical applications in various disciplines of medicine especially in cardiology. ANNs have been extensively applied in diagnosis, electronic signal analysis, medical image analysis and radiology. ANNs have been used by many authors for modeling in medicine and clinical research. Applications of ANNs are increasing in pharmacoepidemiology and medical data mining. In this paper, authors have summarized various applications of ANNs in medical science.

  1. Implementation of an Electronic Medical Records System

    Science.gov (United States)

    2008-05-07

    Hartman, MAJ Roddex Barlow , CPT Christopher Besser and Capt Michael Emerson...thank you I am truly honored to call each of you my friends. Electronic... abnormal findings are addressed. 18 Electronic Medical Record Implementation Barriers of the Electronic Medical Records System There are several...examination findings • Psychological and social assessment findings N. The system provides a flexible mechanism for retrieval of encounter

  2. 10 MeV RF electron linac for industrial applications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2017-01-01

    Electron linacs have found numerous applications in the field of radiation processing on an industrial scale. High power RF electron linacs are commonly used for food irradiation, medical sterilization, cross-linking of polymers, etc. For this purpose, the 10 MeV RF linac has been indigenously designed, developed, commissioned and is being used regularly at 3 kW beam power. This paper gives a brief description of the linac and its utilization for various applications. Safety considerations and regulatory aspects of the linac are also discussed

  3. Standardizing terminology and definitions of medication adherence and persistence in research employing electronic databases.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Raebel, Marsha A; Schmittdiel, Julie; Karter, Andrew J; Konieczny, Jennifer L; Steiner, John F

    2013-08-01

    To propose a unifying set of definitions for prescription adherence research utilizing electronic health record prescribing databases, prescription dispensing databases, and pharmacy claims databases and to provide a conceptual framework to operationalize these definitions consistently across studies. We reviewed recent literature to identify definitions in electronic database studies of prescription-filling patterns for chronic oral medications. We then develop a conceptual model and propose standardized terminology and definitions to describe prescription-filling behavior from electronic databases. The conceptual model we propose defines 2 separate constructs: medication adherence and persistence. We define primary and secondary adherence as distinct subtypes of adherence. Metrics for estimating secondary adherence are discussed and critiqued, including a newer metric (New Prescription Medication Gap measure) that enables estimation of both primary and secondary adherence. Terminology currently used in prescription adherence research employing electronic databases lacks consistency. We propose a clear, consistent, broadly applicable conceptual model and terminology for such studies. The model and definitions facilitate research utilizing electronic medication prescribing, dispensing, and/or claims databases and encompasses the entire continuum of prescription-filling behavior. Employing conceptually clear and consistent terminology to define medication adherence and persistence will facilitate future comparative effectiveness research and meta-analytic studies that utilize electronic prescription and dispensing records.

  4. Electronic Nose Technology and its Applications

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Esmaeil MAHMOUDI

    2009-08-01

    Full Text Available In the past decade, Electronic Nose instrumentation has generated much interest internationally for its potential to solve a wide variety of problems in fragrance and cosmetics production, food and beverages manufacturing, chemical engineering, environmental monitoring and more recently medical diagnostic, bioprocesses and clinical diagnostic plant diseases. This instrument measure electrical resistance changes generated by adsorption of volatiles to the surface of electro active- polymer coated sensor- unique digital electronic fingerprint of aroma derived from multi-sensor- responses to distinct mixture of microbial volatiles. Major advances in information and gas sensor technology could enhance the diagnostic power of future bio-electronic nose and facilitate global surveillance mode of disease control and management. Several dozen companies are now designed and selling electronic nose units globally for a wide variety of expending markets. The present review includes principles of electronic nose technology, biosensor structure and applications of electronic nose in many fields.

  5. Integrated medication management in mHealth applications.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ebner, Hubert; Modre-Osprian, Robert; Kastner, Peter; Schreier, Günter

    2014-01-01

    Continuous medication monitoring is essential for successful management of heart failure patients. Experiences with the recently established heart failure network HerzMobil Tirol show that medication monitoring limited to heart failure specific drugs could be insufficient, in particular for general practitioners. Additionally, some patients are confused about monitoring only part of their prescribed drugs. Sometimes medication will be changed without informing the responsible physician. As part of the upcoming Austrian electronic health record system ELGA, the eMedication system will collect prescription and dispensing data of drugs and these data will be accessible to authorized healthcare professionals on an inter-institutional level. Therefore, we propose two concepts on integrated medication management in mHealth applications that integrate ELGA eMedication and closed-loop mHealth-based telemonitoring. As a next step, we will implement these concepts and analyze--in a feasibility study--usability and practicability as well as legal aspects with respect to automatic data transfer from the ELGA eMedication service.

  6. Medical Applications

    CERN Document Server

    Biscari, C.

    2014-12-19

    The use of accelerators for medical applications has evolved from initial experimentation to turn-key devices commonly operating in hospitals. New applications are continuously being developed around the world, and the hadrontherapy facilities of the newest generation are placed at the frontier between industrial production and advanced R&D. An introduction to the different medical application accelerators is followed by a description of the hadrontherapy facilities, with special emphasis on CNAO, and the report closes with a brief outlook on the future of this field.

  7. Medical Applications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Biscari, C; Falbo, L

    2014-01-01

    The use of accelerators for medical applications has evolved from initial experimentation to turn-key devices commonly operating in hospitals. New applications are continuously being developed around the world, and the hadrontherapy facilities of the newest generation are placed at the frontier between industrial production and advanced R&D. An introduction to the different medical application accelerators is followed by a description of the hadrontherapy facilities, with special emphasis on CNAO, and the report closes with a brief outlook on the future of this field

  8. Secure and Trustable Electronic Medical Records Sharing using Blockchain

    OpenAIRE

    Dubovitskaya, Alevtina; Xu, Zhigang; Ryu, Samuel; Schumacher, Michael; Wang, Fusheng

    2017-01-01

    Electronic medical records (EMRs) are critical, highly sensitive private information in healthcare, and need to be frequently shared among peers. Blockchain provides a shared, immutable and transparent history of all the transactions to build applications with trust, accountability and transparency. This provides a unique opportunity to develop a secure and trustable EMR data management and sharing system using blockchain. In this paper, we present our perspectives on blockchain based healthc...

  9. Bidirectional RNN for Medical Event Detection in Electronic Health Records.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jagannatha, Abhyuday N; Yu, Hong

    2016-06-01

    Sequence labeling for extraction of medical events and their attributes from unstructured text in Electronic Health Record (EHR) notes is a key step towards semantic understanding of EHRs. It has important applications in health informatics including pharmacovigilance and drug surveillance. The state of the art supervised machine learning models in this domain are based on Conditional Random Fields (CRFs) with features calculated from fixed context windows. In this application, we explored recurrent neural network frameworks and show that they significantly out-performed the CRF models.

  10. ON EXPERIENCE OF THE ELECTRONIC DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM IMPLEMENTATION IN THE MEDICAL UNIVERSITY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. V. Semenets

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available An importance of the application of the electronic document management to the Ukraine healthcare is shown. The electronic document management systems market overview is presented. Example of the usage of the open-source electronic document management system in the Ternopil State Medical University by I. Ya. Horbachevsky is shown. The implementation capabilities of the electronic document management system within a cloud services are shown. The electronic document management features of the Microsoft Office 365 and Google Apps For Education are compared. Some results of the usage of the Google Apps For Education inTSMUas electronic document management system are presented.

  11. Application of electron accelerator worldwide

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Machi, Sueo

    2003-01-01

    Electron accelerator is an important radiation source for radiation technology, which covers broad fields such as industry, health care, food and environmental protection. There are about 1,000 electron accelerators for radiation processing worldwide. Electron accelerator has advantage over Co-60 irradiator in term of high dose rate and power, assurance of safety, and higher economic performance at larger volume of irradiation. Accelerator generating higher energy in the range of 10 MeV and high power electron beam is now commercially available. There is a trend to use high-energy electron accelerator replacing Co-60 in case of large through-put of medical products. Irradiated foods, in particular species, are on the commercial market in 35 countries. Electron accelerator is used efficiently and economically for production of new or modified polymeric materials through radiation-induced cross-linking, grafting and polymerization reaction. Another important application of electron beam is the curing of surface coatings in the manufacture of products. Electron accelerators of large capacity are used for cleaning exhaust gases in industrial scale. Economic feasibility studies of this electron beam process have shown that this technology is more cost effective than the conventional process. It should be noted that the conventional limestone process produce gypsum as a by-product, which cannot be used in some countries. By contrast, the by-product of the electron beam process is a valuable fertilizer. (Y. Tanaka)

  12. Application of electron accelerator worldwide

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Machi, Sueo [Japan Atomic Industrial Forum, Inc., Tokyo (Japan)

    2003-02-01

    Electron accelerator is an important radiation source for radiation technology, which covers broad fields such as industry, health care, food and environmental protection. There are about 1,000 electron accelerators for radiation processing worldwide. Electron accelerator has advantage over Co-60 irradiator in term of high dose rate and power, assurance of safety, and higher economic performance at larger volume of irradiation. Accelerator generating higher energy in the range of 10 MeV and high power electron beam is now commercially available. There is a trend to use high-energy electron accelerator replacing Co-60 in case of large through-put of medical products. Irradiated foods, in particular species, are on the commercial market in 35 countries. Electron accelerator is used efficiently and economically for production of new or modified polymeric materials through radiation-induced cross-linking, grafting and polymerization reaction. Another important application of electron beam is the curing of surface coatings in the manufacture of products. Electron accelerators of large capacity are used for cleaning exhaust gases in industrial scale. Economic feasibility studies of this electron beam process have shown that this technology is more cost effective than the conventional process. It should be noted that the conventional limestone process produce gypsum as a by-product, which cannot be used in some countries. By contrast, the by-product of the electron beam process is a valuable fertilizer. (Y. Tanaka)

  13. Hiding Electronic Patient Record (EPR) in medical images: A high capacity and computationally efficient technique for e-healthcare applications.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Loan, Nazir A; Parah, Shabir A; Sheikh, Javaid A; Akhoon, Jahangir A; Bhat, Ghulam M

    2017-09-01

    A high capacity and semi-reversible data hiding scheme based on Pixel Repetition Method (PRM) and hybrid edge detection for scalable medical images has been proposed in this paper. PRM has been used to scale up the small sized image (seed image) and hybrid edge detection ensures that no important edge information is missed. The scaled up version of seed image has been divided into 2×2 non overlapping blocks. In each block there is one seed pixel whose status decides the number of bits to be embedded in the remaining three pixels of that block. The Electronic Patient Record (EPR)/data have been embedded by using Least Significant and Intermediate Significant Bit Substitution (ISBS). The RC4 encryption has been used to add an additional security layer for embedded EPR/data. The proposed scheme has been tested for various medical and general images and compared with some state of art techniques in the field. The experimental results reveal that the proposed scheme besides being semi-reversible and computationally efficient is capable of handling high payload and as such can be used effectively for electronic healthcare applications. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  14. A Solid Trap and Thermal Desorption System with Application to a Medical Electronic Nose

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xuntao Xu

    2008-11-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, a solid trap/thermal desorption-based odorant gas condensation system has been designed and implemented for measuring low concentration odorant gas. The technique was successfully applied to a medical electronic nose system. The developed system consists of a flow control unit, a temperature control unit and a sorbent tube. The theoretical analysis and experimental results indicate that gas condensation, together with the medical electronic nose system can significantly reduce the detection limit of the nose system and increase the system’s ability to distinguish low concentration gas samples. In addition, the integrated system can remove the influence of background components and fluctuation of operational environment. Even with strong disturbances such as water vapour and ethanol gas, the developed system can classify the test samples accurately.

  15. Perspectives on electronic medical records adoption: electronic medical records (EMR in outcomes research

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dan Belletti

    2010-04-01

    Full Text Available Dan Belletti1, Christopher Zacker1, C Daniel Mullins21Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, East Hanover, NJ, USA; 2University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, Baltimore, MD, USAAbstract: Health information technology (HIT is engineered to promote improved quality and efficiency of care, and reduce medical errors. Healthcare organizations have made significant investments in HIT tools and the electronic medical record (EMR is a major technological advance. The Department of Veterans Affairs was one of the first large healthcare systems to fully implement EMR. The Veterans Health Information System and Technology Architecture (VistA began by providing an interface to review and update a patient’s medical record with its computerized patient record system. However, since the implementation of the VistA system there has not been an overall substantial adoption of EMR in the ambulatory or inpatient setting. In fact, only 23.9% of physicians were using EMRs in their office-based practices in 2005. A sample from the American Medical Association revealed that EMRs were available in an office setting to 17% of physicians in late 2007 and early 2008. Of these, 17% of physicians with EMR, only 4% were considered to be fully functional EMR systems. With the exception of some large aggregate EMR databases the slow adoption of EMR has limited its use in outcomes research. This paper reviews the literature and presents the current status of and forces influencing the adoption of EMR in the office-based practice, and identifies the benefits, limitations, and overall value of EMR in the conduct of outcomes research in the US.Keywords: electronic medical records, health information technology, medical errors

  16. Application of electron accelerator for thin film in Indonesia

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Danu, Sugiarto; Darsono, Dadang

    2004-01-01

    Electron accelerator is widely used for the crosslinking of wire and cable insulation, the treatment of heat shrinkable products, precuring of tire components, and the sterilization of medical products. Research and development the use of electron accelerator for thin film in Indonesia covered radiation curing of surface coating, crosslinking of poly (butylenes succinate), crosslinking of wire, cable and heat shrinkable, sterilization of wound dressing, and prevulcanization of tire. In general, comparing with conventional method, electron beam processing have some advantages, such as, less energy consumption, much higher production rate, processing ability at ambient temperature and environmental friendly. Indonesia has a great potential to develop the application of electron accelerator, due to the remarkable growth industrial sector, the abundant of natural resources and the increasing demand of the high quality products. This paper describes the activities concerning with R and D, and application of electron accelerator for processing of thin film. (author)

  17. Development of an electronic medical report delivery system to 3G GSM mobile (cellular) phones for a medical imaging department.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lim, Eugene Y; Lee, Chiang; Cai, Weidong; Feng, Dagan; Fulham, Michael

    2007-01-01

    Medical practice is characterized by a high degree of heterogeneity in collaborative and cooperative patient care. Fast and effective communication between medical practitioners can improve patient care. In medical imaging, the fast delivery of medical reports to referring medical practitioners is a major component of cooperative patient care. Recently, mobile phones have been actively deployed in telemedicine applications. The mobile phone is an ideal medium to achieve faster delivery of reports to the referring medical practitioners. In this study, we developed an electronic medical report delivery system from a medical imaging department to the mobile phones of the referring doctors. The system extracts a text summary of medical report and a screen capture of diagnostic medical image in JPEG format, which are transmitted to 3G GSM mobile phones.

  18. SeCD electronic folder: CADMIO's application for the medical folder of a service for the care of drug addicts.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Della Valle, R M; Baldoni, A; De Rossi, M; Ferri, F

    1998-01-01

    In this paper we will describe the SeCD (Service for the Care of Drug addicts) electronic folder, a specific application of CADMIO [1] (Computer Aided Design for Medical Information Objects) system. CADMIO is a system for the definition, construction and management of multimedia clinical folders. The Ser.T. (Servizio per la Tossicodipendenza/Service for Drug Addicts) has earned a very special place within the Italian clinical structures as well as any service for drug addicts has done in the rest of the world. Such a structure has special needs and the characteristics of its medical folders are very different from any other folder. Actually, a Ser.T. has to keep updated the patient situation either from the clinical point of view as well as the psychiatric one. Moreover, it must keep track of the clinician subjective considerations about the patient psychic state and his situation in regard of the law. So, we had to redesign some of the features of the existing CADMIO application, to accommodate such highly not structured data into objects easily manipulated by an informative system. The objectives we hope to achieve were mainly two: To show that a well designed adaptive system can be easily exploited to support even very complex and poorly structured data types and actions To design data structures able to accommodate medical, psychiatric and administrative data in an homogeneous manner.

  19. Implantable medical electronics prosthetics, drug delivery, and health monitoring

    CERN Document Server

    Khanna, Vinod Kumar

    2016-01-01

    This book is a comprehensive, interdisciplinary resource for the latest information on implantable medical devices, and is intended for graduate students studying electrical engineering, electronic instrumentation, and biomedical engineering. It is also appropriate for academic researchers, professional engineers, practicing doctors, and paramedical staff. Divided into two sections on Basic Concepts and Principles, and Applications, the first section provides an all-embracing perspective of the electronics background necessary for this work. The second section deals with pacing techniques used for the heart, brain, spinal cord, and the network of nerves that interlink the brain and spinal cord with the major organs, including ear and eye prostheses. The four main offshoots of implantable electronics, which this book discusses, are: The insertion of an implantable neural amplifier for accurate recording of neural signals for neuroengineering studies The use of implantable pulse generators for pacing the activi...

  20. Electronic medical records for otolaryngology office-based practice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chernobilsky, Boris; Boruk, Marina

    2008-02-01

    Pressure is mounting on physicians to adopt electronic medical records. The field of health information technology is evolving rapidly with innovations and policies often outpacing science. We sought to review research and discussions about electronic medical records from the past year to keep abreast of these changes. Original scientific research, especially from otolaryngologists, is lacking in this field. Adoption rates are slowly increasing, but more of the burden is shouldered by physicians despite policy efforts and the clear benefits to third-party payers. Scientific research from the past year suggests lack of improvements and even decreasing quality of healthcare with electronic medical record adoption in the ambulatory care setting. The increasing prevalence and standardization of electronic medical record systems results in a new set of problems including rising costs, audits, difficulties in transition and public concerns about security of information. As major players in healthcare continue to push for adoption, increased effort must be made to demonstrate actual improvements in patient care in the ambulatory care setting. More scientific studies are needed to demonstrate what features of electronic medical records actually improve patient care. Otolaryngologists should help each other by disseminating research about improvement in patient outcomes with their systems since current adoption and outcomes policies do not apply to specialists.

  1. Applications of electron linacs to ADS: one potential path forward

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wells, D.P.; Harmon, J.F.

    2011-01-01

    The application of electron linac accelerators to ADS systems offers a number of advantages for ADS applications. We propose a path forward with electron linac-driven ADS that takes advantage of those important ADS applications that are most easily achieved at relatively low cost, and then building on those successes to enable the more difficult applications with larger impact. We argue that the applications that are most easily achieved are medical isotope production, materials irradiation and environmental applications. The accelerator and target demands for each of these applications are essentially the same as for the ADS needs in energy production and the transmutation of waste. The successful demonstration of these important and highly-visible applications will, in turn, lead to greater visibility and funding to further major advances of ADS systems in energy production, nuclear waste transmutation, and applications to the thorium fuel cycle. (author)

  2. The application of accelerator for medical therapy in Indonesia

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yunasfi; Mudjiono; Irwati, Dwi; Hanifa

    2003-01-01

    The study of the application of accelerator for medical therapy in Indonesia was carried out. Accelerator that used for therapy is an electron lintier accelerator (Linac) which can radiate electron beam and X-ray. This study shows that there are 8 unit of Linac distributed at 6 big hospitals in Indonesia, especially in Jakarta. This study also shows that radiotherapy facilities in Indonesia is un sufficient of. Therefore, providing radiotherapy facilities for hospitals, especially the big hospitals in Indonesia is necessary

  3. USE OF ELECTRONIC CASE HISTORIES IN OPERATION OF MEDICAL UNITS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    I. B. Boltenkova

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Introduction of electronic case histories to medical units including TB units is one of the factors allowing enhancing quality of medical care provision. Use of the electronic case histories provides conditions for information transparency improvement in a medical unit: financial, statistic and medico-technological. Information contained in the electronic case history is important and required both for internal and external use. Use of electronic case histories contributes to reduction of labor costs of workers in medical units, provides fast access of medical personnel to information, formalizes data, provides preservation, invariance and reliability of the information entered into electronic case history during the whole period of storage, regulates the access rights and confidentiality, personifies data and allows unifying health data of all Russian population into one pool.

  4. Technology Acceptance of Electronic Medical Records by Nurses

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stocker, Gary

    2010-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to evaluate the Technology Acceptance Model's (TAM) relevance of the intention of nurses to use electronic medical records in acute health care settings. The basic technology acceptance research of Davis (1989) was applied to the specific technology tool of electronic medical records (EMR) in a specific setting…

  5. Application of NCRP REPORT No.151 for evaluating the radiation level at the ambience of megavoltage medical electron linear accelerator treatment room

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yang Haiyou; Yu Shui

    2011-01-01

    Objective: The estimation model,on radiation level at the ambience of medical electron linear accelerator treatment rooms, is derived on the basis of NCRP REPORT No.151, which presents the calculation model of shielding design about barrier thicknesses of megavoltage medical electron linear accelerator treatment rooms. Methods: The estimation model comes from NCRP REPORT No.151- S tructural Shielding Design and Evaluation for Megavoltage X-and Gamma-Ray Radiotherapy Facilities , which presents the calculation model of shielding design about megavoltage medical electron linear accelerator treatment rooms, and the dose rate at isocenter replaces the workload, and the occupancy factor and the use factor are forsaken, then the converse deduction is done according to barrier thicknesses of shielding materials. Ultimately, the estimation model, on radiation level at the ambience of medical electron linear accelerator treatment rooms, is derived. Results: It can be regarded as a systematic estimation model for calculating the radiation level at the ambience of medical electron linear accelerator treatment room. Conclusion: The estimation model has certain practical value to evaluate the radiation level at the ambience of medical electron linear accelerator treatment room. (authors)

  6. Incidence and cost of medications dispensed despite electronic medical record discontinuation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baranowski, Patrick J; Peterson, Kristin L; Statz-Paynter, Jamie L; Zorek, Joseph A

    2015-01-01

    To determine the incidence and cost of medications dispensed despite discontinuation (MDDD) of the medications in the electronic medical record within an integrated health care organization. Dean Health System, with medical clinics and pharmacies linked by an electronic medical record, and a shared health plan and pharmacy benefits management company. Pharmacist-led quality improvement project using retrospective chart review. Electronic medical records, pharmacy records, and prescription claims data from patients 18 years of age or older who had a prescription filled for a chronic condition from June 2012 to August 2013 and submitted a claim through the Dean Health Plan were aggregated and cross-referenced to identify MDDD. Descriptive statistics were used to characterize demographics and MDDD incidence. Fisher's exact test and independent samples t tests were used to compare MDDD and non-MDDD groups. Wholesale acquisition cost was applied to each MDDD event. 7,406 patients met inclusion criteria. For 223 (3%) patients with MDDD, 253 independent events were identified. In terms of frequency per category, antihypertensive agents topped the list, followed, in descending order, by anticonvulsants, antilipemics, antidiabetics, and anticoagulants. Nine medications accounted for 59% (150 of 253) of all MDDD events; these included (again in descending order): gabapentin, atorvastatin, simvastatin, hydrochlorothiazide, lisinopril, warfarin, furosemide, metformin, and metoprolol. Mail-service pharmacies accounted for the highest incidence (5.3%) of MDDD, followed by mass merchandisers (4.6%) and small chains (3.9%). The total cost attributable to MDDD was $9,397.74. Development of a technology-based intervention to decrease the incidence of MDDD may be warranted to improve patient safety and decrease health care costs.

  7. [Nurse's coworking to electronic medical record].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maresca, M; Gavaciuto, D; Cappelli, G

    2007-01-01

    Nephrologists need to register and look at a great number of clinical data. The use of electronic medical records may improve efficiency and reduce errors. Aim of our work is to report the experience of Villa Scassi Hospital in Genoa, where a "patient file" has been performed to improve nephrology practice management. The file contains all clinical records, laboratory and radiology data, therapy, dialysis clinics, in addition to reports of out-patients department. This system allowed a better efficiency in diagnosis and treatment of the patient. Moreover experience of nurses in employing electronic medical records is reported. A reduced number of errors was found in therapy administering, because of a only one data source for physicians and nurses.

  8. Applications of Free Electron Lasers in Biology and Medicine

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pelka, J.B.; Tybor, K.R.; Nietubyc, R.; Wrochna, G.

    2010-01-01

    The advent of free electron lasers opens up new opportunities to probe the dynamics of ultrafast processes and the structure of matter with unprecedented spatial and temporal resolution. New methods inaccessible with other known types of radiation sources can be developed, resulting in a breakthrough in deep understanding the fundamentals of life as well as in numerous medical and biological applications. In the present work the properties of free electron laser radiation that make the sources excellent for probing biological matter at an arbitrary wavelength, in a wide range of intensities and pulse durations are briefly discussed. A number of biophysical and biomedical applications of the new sources, currently considered among the most promising in the field, are presented. (author)

  9. Trends for Electron Beam Accelerator Applications in Industry

    Science.gov (United States)

    Machi, Sueo

    2011-02-01

    Electron beam (EB) accelerators are major pieces of industrial equipment used for many commercial radiation processing applications. The industrial use of EB accelerators has a history of more than 50 years and is still growing in terms of both its economic scale and new applications. Major applications involve the modification of polymeric materials to create value-added products, such as heat-resistant wires, heat-shrinkable sheets, automobile tires, foamed plastics, battery separators and hydrogel wound dressing. The surface curing of coatings and printing inks is a growing application for low energy electron accelerators, resulting in an environmentally friendly and an energy-saving process. Recently there has been the acceptance of the use of EB accelerators in lieu of the radioactive isotope cobalt-60 as a source for sterilizing disposable medical products. Environmental protection by the use of EB accelerators is a new and important field of application. A commercial plant for the cleaning flue gases from a coal-burning power plant is in operation in Poland, employing high power EB accelerators. In Korea, a commercial plant uses EB to clean waste water from a dye factory.

  10. The social act of electronic medication prescribing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aarts, Jos

    2013-01-01

    Prescribing medication is embedded in social norms and cultures. In modern Western health care professionals and policy makers have attempted to rationalize medicine by addressing cost-effectiveness of diagnostic and therapeutic treatments and the development of guidelines and protocols based on the outcomes of clinical studies. These notions of cost-effectiveness and evidence-based medicine have also been embedded in technology such as electronic prescribing systems. Such constraining systems may clash with the reality of clinical practice, where formal boundaries of responsibility and authorization are often blurred. Such systems may therefore even impede patient care. Medication is seen as the essence of medical practice. Prescribing is a social act. In a hospital medications may be aimed at treating a patient for a specific condition, in primary care the professional often meets the patient with her or his social and cultural notions of a health problem. The author argues that the design and implementation of electronic prescribing systems should address the social and cultural context of prescribing. Especially in primary care, where health problems are often ill defined and evidence-based medicine guidelines do not always work as intended, studies need to take into account the sociotechnical character of electronic prescribing systems.

  11. Medical Applications of Remote Electronic Browsing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chadwick, Joseph

    The purposes of this study are to identify and define viable remote browsing techniques and the requirements for an interactive medical information system that would permit the use of such techniques. The main emphasis is in the areas of: (1) remote viewing of page material; and (2) remote interrogation of fact banks with question-answering…

  12. Estimating morbidity rates from electronic medical records in general practice: evaluation of a grouping system.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Biermans, M.C.J.; Verheij, R.A.; Bakker, D.H. de; Zielhuis, G.A.; Vries Robbé, P.F. de

    2008-01-01

    Objectives: In this study, we evaluated the internal validity of EPICON, an application for grouping ICPCcoded diagnoses from electronic medical records into episodes of care. These episodes are used to estimate morbidity rates in general practice. Methods: Morbidity rates based on EPICON were

  13. Application of electron beam irradiation, (1). Development and application of electron beam processors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Katsumura, Yosuke

    1994-01-01

    This paper deals with characteristics, equipment (principle and kinds), present conditions, and future issues in the application of electron beam irradiation. Characteristics of electron beams are described in terms of the following: chemical and biological effects of radiation; energy and penetrating power of electron beams; and principle and kinds of electron beam accelerator. Industrial application of electron beam irradiation has advantages of high speed procedure and producibility, less energy, avoidance of poisonous gas, and extreme reduction of organic solvents to be used. The present application of electron beam irradiation cen be divided into the following: (1) hardening of resin or coated membrane; (2) improvement of macromolecular materials; (3) environmental protection; (4) sterilization; (5) food sterilization. The present equipment for electron beam irradiation is introduced according to low energy, medium energy, and high energy equipment. Finally, future issues focuses on (1) the improvement of traceability system and development of electron dosimetric techniques and (2) food sterilization. (N.K.)

  14. Extracurricular activities of medical school applicants

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sang Hyun Kim

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate medical school applicants’ involvements in extracurricular activities including medical volunteering/community services, nonmedical community services, club activities, leadership role, and research. Methods: Extracurricular characteristics were compared for 448 applicants (223 males and 225 females who applied to Kangwon Medical School in 2013 to 2014. Frequency analysis, chi-square test, and simple correlation were conducted with the collected data. Results: The 448 applicants participated in medical volunteer/community services (15.3%, nonmedical community services (39.8%, club activities (22.9%, club officials (10%, and research (13.4%. On average, applicants from foreign universities participated in 0.9 medical volunteer/community service, 0.8 nonmedical community service, 1.7 club activities, and 0.6 research work. On the other hand, applicants from domestic universities reported 0.2 medical volunteer/community service, 1.0 nonmedical community service, 0.7 club activity, and 0.3 research. Conclusion: Involvement in extracurricular activities was extensive for medical school applicants. Participation in extracurricular activities differed between applicants from foreign and domestic universities. Females consistently reported greater participation in extracurricular activities than males. The data can be helpful for admission committees to recruit well-rounded applicants and compare between applicants with similar academic backgrounds.

  15. AN APPLICATION OF ELECTRONIC AMPLIFIER STETHOSCOPE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alper KAÇAR

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available Electronic stethoscopes are one of the important medical devices which affects the self-diagnostic or remote diagnostic in medical area. Rather the general stethoscopes, electronic ones increases the sound amplitude and quality. By filtering ambient noise, they can be used for advance analysis of heart or lung related diseases.

  16. Family Registration Card as electronic medical carrier in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Novo, Ahmed; Masic, Izet; Toromanovic, Selim; Loncarevic, Nedim; Junuzovic, Dzelaludin; Dizdarevic, Jadranka

    2004-01-01

    Medical documentation is a very important part of the medical documentalistics and is occupies a large part of daily work of medical staff working in Primary Health Care. Paper documentation is going to be replaced by electronic cards in Bosnia and Herzegovina and a new Health Care System is under development, based on an Electronic Family Registration Card. Developed countries proceeded from the manual and semiautomatic method of medical data processing to the new method of entering, storage, transferring, searching and protecting data, using electronic equipment. Currently, many European countries have developed a Medical Card Based Electronic Information System. Three types of electronic card are currently in use: a Hybrid Card, a Smart Card and a Laser Card. The dilemma is which card should be used as a data carrier. The Electronic Family Registration Cared is a question of strategic interest for B&H, but also a great investment. We should avoid the errors of other countries that have been developing card-based system. In this article we present all mentioned cards and compare advantages and disadvantages of different technologies.

  17. Electronic Submissions of Pesticide Applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Applications for pesticide registration can be submitted electronically, including forms, studies, and draft product labeling. Applicants need not submit multiple electronic copies of any pieces of their applications.

  18. Secure and Trustable Electronic Medical Records Sharing using Blockchain.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dubovitskaya, Alevtina; Xu, Zhigang; Ryu, Samuel; Schumacher, Michael; Wang, Fusheng

    2017-01-01

    Electronic medical records (EMRs) are critical, highly sensitive private information in healthcare, and need to be frequently shared among peers. Blockchain provides a shared, immutable and transparent history of all the transactions to build applications with trust, accountability and transparency. This provides a unique opportunity to develop a secure and trustable EMR data management and sharing system using blockchain. In this paper, we present our perspectives on blockchain based healthcare data management, in particular, for EMR data sharing between healthcare providers and for research studies. We propose a framework on managing and sharing EMR data for cancer patient care. In collaboration with Stony Brook University Hospital, we implemented our framework in a prototype that ensures privacy, security, availability, and fine-grained access control over EMR data. The proposed work can significantly reduce the turnaround time for EMR sharing, improve decision making for medical care, and reduce the overall cost.

  19. Electronic word of mouth about medical services

    OpenAIRE

    Hinz, Vera; Drevs, Florian; Wehner, Jürgen

    2012-01-01

    Electronic word of mouth (eWOM) about medical services gains growing popularity from the part of health care users, accompanied with a high reluctance of health care providers towards existing platforms, fearing unqualified, negative reviews driven by motives of vengeance. Purpose of this research is to shed light on the characteristics, content, and motives of eWOM about medical services. Using primary and secondary data of 822 reviews, this study shows that reviews about medical services ar...

  20. Moving electronic medical records upstream: incorporating social determinants of health.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gottlieb, Laura M; Tirozzi, Karen J; Manchanda, Rishi; Burns, Abby R; Sandel, Megan T

    2015-02-01

    Knowledge of the biological pathways and mechanisms connecting social factors with health has increased exponentially over the past 25 years, yet in most clinical settings, screening and intervention around social determinants of health are not part of standard clinical care. Electronic medical records provide new opportunities for assessing and managing social needs in clinical settings, particularly those serving vulnerable populations. To illustrate the feasibility of capturing information and promoting interventions related to social determinants of health in electronic medical records. Three case studies were examined in which electronic medical records have been used to collect data and address social determinants of health in clinical settings. From these case studies, we identified multiple functions that electronic medical records can perform to facilitate the integration of social determinants of health into clinical systems, including screening, triaging, referring, tracking, and data sharing. If barriers related to incentives, training, and privacy can be overcome, electronic medical record systems can improve the integration of social determinants of health into healthcare delivery systems. More evidence is needed to evaluate the impact of such integration on health care outcomes before widespread adoption can be recommended. Copyright © 2015 American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  1. Validation of a Delirium Risk Assessment Using Electronic Medical Record Information.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rudolph, James L; Doherty, Kelly; Kelly, Brittany; Driver, Jane A; Archambault, Elizabeth

    2016-03-01

    Identifying patients at risk for delirium allows prompt application of prevention, diagnostic, and treatment strategies; but is rarely done. Once delirium develops, patients are more likely to need posthospitalization skilled care. This study developed an a priori electronic prediction rule using independent risk factors identified in a National Center of Clinical Excellence meta-analysis and validated the ability to predict delirium in 2 cohorts. Retrospective analysis followed by prospective validation. Tertiary VA Hospital in New England. A total of 27,625 medical records of hospitalized patients and 246 prospectively enrolled patients admitted to the hospital. The electronic delirium risk prediction rule was created using data obtained from the patient electronic medical record (EMR). The primary outcome, delirium, was identified 2 ways: (1) from the EMR (retrospective cohort) and (2) clinical assessment on enrollment and daily thereafter (prospective participants). We assessed discrimination of the delirium prediction rule with the C-statistic. Secondary outcomes were length of stay and discharge to rehabilitation. Retrospectively, delirium was identified in 8% of medical records (n = 2343); prospectively, delirium during hospitalization was present in 26% of participants (n = 64). In the retrospective cohort, medical record delirium was identified in 2%, 3%, 11%, and 38% of the low, intermediate, high, and very high-risk groups, respectively (C-statistic = 0.81; 95% confidence interval 0.80-0.82). Prospectively, the electronic prediction rule identified delirium in 15%, 18%, 31%, and 55% of these groups (C-statistic = 0.69; 95% confidence interval 0.61-0.77). Compared with low-risk patients, those at high- or very high delirium risk had increased length of stay (5.7 ± 5.6 vs 3.7 ± 2.7 days; P = .001) and higher rates of discharge to rehabilitation (8.9% vs 20.8%; P = .02). Automatic calculation of delirium risk using an EMR algorithm identifies patients at

  2. Perspectives for medical informatics. Reusing the electronic medical record for clinical research.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prokosch, H U; Ganslandt, T

    2009-01-01

    Even though today most university hospitals have already implemented commercial hospital information systems and started to build up comprehensive electronic medical records, reuse of such data for data warehousing and research purposes is still very rare. Given this situation, the focus of this paper is to present an overview on exemplary projects, which have already tackled this challenge, reflect on current initiatives within the United States of America and the European Union to establish IT infrastructures for clinical and translational research, and draw attention to new challenges in this area. This paper does not intend to provide a fully comprehensive review on all the issues of clinical routine data reuse. It is based, however, on a presentation of a large variety of historical, but also most recent activities in data warehousing, data retrieval and linking medical informatics with translational research. The article presents an overview of the various international approaches to this issue and illustrates concepts and solutions which have been published, thus giving an impression of activities pursued in this field of medical informatics. Further, problems and open questions, which have also been named in the literature, are presented and three challenges (to establish comprehensive clinical data warehouses, to establish professional IT infrastructure applications supporting clinical trial data capture and to integrate medical record systems and clinical trial databases) related to this area of medical informatics are identified and presented. Translational biomedical research with the aim "to integrate bedside and biology" and to bridge the gap between clinical care and medical research today and in the years to come, provides a large and interesting field for medical informatics researchers. Especially the need for integrating clinical research projects with data repositories built up during documentation of routine clinical care, today still leaves

  3. Privacy, confidentiality, and electronic medical records.

    OpenAIRE

    Barrows, R C; Clayton, P D

    1996-01-01

    The enhanced availability of health information in an electronic format is strategic for industry-wide efforts to improve the quality and reduce the cost of health care, yet it brings a concomitant concern of greater risk for loss of privacy among health care participants. The authors review the conflicting goals of accessibility and security for electronic medical records and discuss nontechnical and technical aspects that constitute a reasonable security solution. It is argued that with gui...

  4. AVAILABILITY, ACCESSIBILITY, PRIVACY AND SAFETY ISSUES FACING ELECTRONIC MEDICAL RECORDS

    OpenAIRE

    Nisreen Innab

    2018-01-01

    Patient information recorded in electronic medical records is the most significant set of information of the healthcare system. It assists healthcare providers to introduce high quality care for patients. The aim of this study identifies the security threats associated with electronic medical records and gives recommendations to keep them more secured. The study applied the qualitative research method through a case study. The study conducted seven interviews with medical staff and informatio...

  5. CERN's role in medical applications

    CERN Multimedia

    Antonella Del Rosso

    2014-01-01

    Last week, CERN hosted the first meeting of the International Strategy Committee for medical applications. This Committee will help CERN establish its roadmap in the field of research and development activities for medical applications. Here the CERN Bulletin speaks with the Chair of the Committee as he shares his expectations and his vision.   Dr Michael Baumann is the Director of the Radiation Oncology department at the Carl Gustav Carus University Hospital in Dresden and of the Institute for Radiooncology of the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (Germany). He has recently been appointed Chair of CERN’s International Strategy Committee for medical applications – the team of experts who will advise the CERN Medical Applications Study Group led by Steve Myers. “CERN has a tremendous record in physics and basic research,” says Baumann. “I think that it has a very important role in steering some of the R&D that cannot be done at universities ...

  6. Implementation of an Electronic Medical Records System

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Fletcher, Chadwick B

    2008-01-01

    .... Substantial benefits are realized through routine use of electronic medical records include improved quality, safety, and efficiency, along with the increased ability to conduct education and research...

  7. Using an electronic prescribing system to ensure accurate medication lists in a large multidisciplinary medical group.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stock, Ron; Scott, Jim; Gurtel, Sharon

    2009-05-01

    Although medication safety has largely focused on reducing medication errors in hospitals, the scope of adverse drug events in the outpatient setting is immense. A fundamental problem occurs when a clinician lacks immediate access to an accurate list of the medications that a patient is taking. Since 2001, PeaceHealth Medical Group (PHMG), a multispecialty physician group, has been using an electronic prescribing system that includes medication-interaction warnings and allergy checks. Yet, most practitioners recognized the remaining potential for error, especially because there was no assurance regarding the accuracy of information on the electronic medical record (EMR)-generated medication list. PeaceHealth developed and implemented a standardized approach to (1) review and reconcile the medication list for every patient at each office visit and (2) report on the results obtained within the PHMG clinics. In 2005, PeaceHealth established the ambulatory medication reconciliation project to develop a reliable, efficient process for maintaining accurate patient medication lists. Each of PeaceHealth's five regions created a medication reconciliation task force to redesign its clinical practice, incorporating the systemwide aims and agreed-on key process components for every ambulatory visit. Implementation of the medication reconciliation process at the PHMG clinics resulted in a substantial increase in the number of accurate medication lists, with fewer discrepancies between what the patient is actually taking and what is recorded in the EMR. The PeaceHealth focus on patient safety, and particularly the reduction of medication errors, has involved a standardized approach for reviewing and reconciling medication lists for every patient visiting a physician office. The standardized processes can be replicated at other ambulatory clinics-whether or not electronic tools are available.

  8. Applications for detection of acute kidney injury using electronic medical records and clinical information systems: workgroup statements from the 15(th) ADQI Consensus Conference.

    Science.gov (United States)

    James, Matthew T; Hobson, Charles E; Darmon, Michael; Mohan, Sumit; Hudson, Darren; Goldstein, Stuart L; Ronco, Claudio; Kellum, John A; Bagshaw, Sean M

    2016-01-01

    Electronic medical records and clinical information systems are increasingly used in hospitals and can be leveraged to improve recognition and care for acute kidney injury. This Acute Dialysis Quality Initiative (ADQI) workgroup was convened to develop consensus around principles for the design of automated AKI detection systems to produce real-time AKI alerts using electronic systems. AKI alerts were recognized by the workgroup as an opportunity to prompt earlier clinical evaluation, further testing and ultimately intervention, rather than as a diagnostic label. Workgroup members agreed with designing AKI alert systems to align with the existing KDIGO classification system, but recommended future work to further refine the appropriateness of AKI alerts and to link these alerts to actionable recommendations for AKI care. The consensus statements developed in this review can be used as a roadmap for development of future electronic applications for automated detection and reporting of AKI.

  9. Laser-driven electron beam and radiation sources for basic, medical and industrial sciences

    Science.gov (United States)

    NAKAJIMA, Kazuhisa

    2015-01-01

    To date active research on laser-driven plasma-based accelerators have achieved great progress on production of high-energy, high-quality electron and photon beams in a compact scale. Such laser plasma accelerators have been envisaged bringing a wide range of applications in basic, medical and industrial sciences. Here inheriting the groundbreaker’s review article on “Laser Acceleration and its future” [Toshiki Tajima, (2010)],1) we would like to review recent progress of producing such electron beams due to relativistic laser-plasma interactions followed by laser wakefield acceleration and lead to the scaling formulas that are useful to design laser plasma accelerators with controllability of beam energy and charge. Lastly specific examples of such laser-driven electron/photon beam sources are illustrated. PMID:26062737

  10. Radiation protection in medical applications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Maldonado M, H.

    2008-12-01

    The justification of the practices is the fundamental principle on which rests the peaceful use of ionizing radiations. They actually contain as aspirations to improve the quality of people's lives, contributing to sustainable development through environmental protection, so that the sources security and the individuals protection will be conditions which are not and should can not be operated. For medical applications is a highly illustrative example of this, since both for the diagnosis and therapy, the goal is to achieve what is sought for the white tissue, secured the least possible damage to the neighboring tissues so that in turn reduce the negative effects for the patient. As a basis for achieving the above, it is essential to have qualified personnel in all areas incidents, for example users, workers, officials and staff members. There are a variety of specialists in the field of medical applications as, nuclear chemistry, nuclear engineering, radiation protection, medical physics, radiation physics and others. Among the human resource in the country must make up the majority are medical radiologists, highlighting gaps in the number of radiotherapy and nuclear medicine but specially in the medical physics, who is in some way from a special viewpoint of the formal school, new to the country. This is true for the number of facilities which are in the country. The radiation protection responsibilities in medical applications focus primarily on two figures: the radiology safety manager, who is primarily dedicated to the protection of occupationally exposed personnel and the public, and the medical physicist whose functions are geared towards the radiological protection of the patient. The principal legislation in the medical applications area has been enacted and is monitored by the Health Secretary and National Commission on Nuclear Safety and Safeguards, entities that have reached agreements to avoid overlap and over-regulation. Medical applications in the

  11. Controlled dissemination of Electronic Medical Records

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van 't Noordende, G.

    2011-01-01

    Building upon a security analysis of the Dutch electronic patient record system, this paper describes an approach to construct a fully decentralized patient record system, using controlled disclosure of references to medical records. This paper identifies several paths that can be used to disclose

  12. Design of a compact application-oriented free-electron laser

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chan, K.C.D.; Meier, K.; Nguyen, D.; Sheffield, R.; Wang, T.S.; Warren, R.W.; Wilson, W.; Young, L.M.

    1992-01-01

    The goal of the Advanced Free-Electron Laser Project at the Los Alamos National Laboratory is to demonstrate that a free-electron laser (FEL) suitable for industrial, medical, and research applications can be built. This FEL system should be efficient, compact, robust, and user-friendly. To achieve this goal, we have incorporated advanced components presently available. Electrons produced by a photoelectron source are accelerated to 20 MeV by a high-brightness accelerator. They are transported by an emittance-preserving beamline with permanent-magnet quadrupoles and dipoles. The electron beam has excellent instantaneous beam quality better than: 2.5 π mm mrad in transverse emittance and 0.3% in energy spread at a Peak current up to 310 A. It is used to excite a FEL oscillator with a pulsed-current microwiggler. Including operation at higher harmonics, the laser wavelength extends from 3.7 μm to 0.4 μm

  13. Design of a compact application-oriented free-electron laser

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chan, K. C. D.; Meier, K.; Nguyen, D.; Sheffield, R.; Wang, T. S.; Warren, R. W.; Wilson, W.; Young, L. M.

    The goal of the Advanced Free-Electron Laser Project at the Los Alamos National Laboratory is to demonstrate that a free-electron laser (FEL) suitable for industrial, medical, and research applications can be built. This FEL system should be efficient, compact, robust, and user-friendly. To achieve this goal, we have incorporated advanced components presently available. Electrons produced by a photoelectron source are accelerated to 20 MeV by a high-brightness accelerator. They are transported by an emittance-preserving beamline with permanent-magnet quadrupoles and dipoles. The electron beam has excellent instantaneous beam quality better than: 2.5 (pi) mm mrad in transverse emittance and 0.3 percent in energy spread at a Peak current up to 310 A. It is used to excite a FEL oscillator with a pulsed-current microwiggler. Including operation at higher harmonics, the laser wavelength extends from 3.7 to 0.4 microns.

  14. Electronic Procedures for Medical Operations, Phase II

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Electronic procedures are currently being used to document the steps in performing medical operations for the Space Shuttle and/or the International Space Station...

  15. Medical applications of cyclotrons

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jean, R.; Fauchet, M.

    1978-01-01

    Isochronous cyclotrons used to accelerate different charged particles (protons, deuterons, alphas...) at variable energies, have important medical applications, for neutron teletherapy, in vivo or in vitro activation analysis or production of short-lived radioisotopes for nuclear medicine. The characteristics of the cyclotron presently available are described for these three applications (low energy 'compact' cyclotrons, cyclotrons of intermediate and high energies), and their advantages are discussed from the points of view of the medical requirements, the financial investments and the results obtained. (orig.) [de

  16. Pharmacist-led admission medication reconciliation before and after the implementation of an electronic medication management system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sardaneh, Arwa A; Burke, Rosemary; Ritchie, Angus; McLachlan, Andrew J; Lehnbom, Elin C

    2017-05-01

    To investigate the impact of the introduction of an electronic medication management system on the proportion of patients with a recorded medication reconciliation on admission, the time from admission to when medication reconciliation was performed, and the characteristics of patients receiving this intervention pre-and post-implementation. An electronic medication management system was implemented in an Australian hospital from May to July 2015. A retrospective observational study was conducted in three wards across two phases; pre- (August 2014) and post- (August 2015) implementation. The study sample included every second patient admitted to these wards. A total of 370 patients were included, 179 pre- and 191 post-implementation. The proportion of recorded admission medication reconciliation significantly increased post-implementation in all study wards; coronary care unit (40 vs 68%, p=0.004), gastroenterology ward (39 vs 59%, p=0.015), and the neurology ward (19 vs 45%, p=0.002). The proportion of patients with recorded medication reconciliation within 24h of weekday admissions, or 48-72h of weekend admissions, increased from 47% pre- to 84% post-implementation. Admission medication reconciliation was recorded within a median of 1.0day for weekday admissions pre- and post-implementation (IQR 1.1 vs 0.2, respectively), and 3.5days (IQR 2.0) pre-implementation vs 1.5days (IQR 2.0) post-implementation for weekend admissions. Overall, across both phases pre-and post-implementation, admission medication reconciliation was recorded for patients who were significantly older (median 77 and 71 years, p<0.001), had a higher number of preadmission medications (median 6.5 and 5.0 medicines, p=0.001), and had a longer hospital stay (median 6.5 and 5.1days, p=0.003). A significantly higher proportion of patients with recorded medication reconciliation in the pre-implementation phase experienced polypharmacy (61%, p=0.002), hyperpolypharmacy (15%, p=0.001), and used a high

  17. Electronic signature for medical documents--integration and evaluation of a public key infrastructure in hospitals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brandner, R; van der Haak, M; Hartmann, M; Haux, R; Schmücker, P

    2002-01-01

    Our objectives were to determine the user-oriented and legal requirements for a Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) for electronic signatures for medical documents, and to translate these requirements into a general model for a signature system. A prototype of this model was then implemented and evaluated in clinical routine use. Analyses of documents, processes, interviews, observations, and of the available literature supplied the foundations for the development of the signature system model. Eight participants of the Department of Dermatology of the Heidelberg University Medical Center evaluated the implemented prototype from December 2000 to January 2001, during the course of an intervention study. By means of questionnaires, interviews, observations and database analyses, the usefulness and user acceptance of the electronic signature and its integration into electronic discharge letters were established. Since the major part of medical documents generated in a hospital are signature-relevant, they will require electronic signatures in the future. A PKI must meet the multitude of responsibilities and security needs required in a hospital. Also, the signature functionality must be integrated directly into the workflow surrounding document creation. A developed signature model, fulfilling user-oriented and legal requirements, was implemented using hard and software components that conform to the German Signature Law. It was integrated into the existing hospital information system of the Heidelberg University Medical Center. At the end of the intervention study, the average acceptance scores achieved were mean = 3.90; SD = 0.42 on a scale of 1 (very negative attitude) to 5 (very positive attitude) for the electronic signature procedure. Acceptance of the integration into computer-supported discharge letter writing reached mean = 3.91; SD = 0.47. On average, the discharge letters were completed 7.18 days earlier. The electronic signature is indispensable for the

  18. Environmental applications of electron-beam technology

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pikaev, A.K.

    2001-01-01

    The main directions of modern environmental applications of electron-beam technology are the following: 1) treatment of polluted natural and drinking water, municipal and industrial wastewater, other liquid wastes; 2) purification of gases; 3) treatment of sewage sludges; 4) treatment of solid wastes (medical wastes, contaminated soil and so on). In some cases, the results of respective researches and developments found a large-scale application. For example, recently several industrial plants for electron-beam purification of flue gases of thermal power plants from SO2 and NOx were created in China, Poland and Japan. In the report, a brief summary of the most important results obtained in the mentioned directions will be presented. A special attention will be paid to the data in the first direction. In particular, the recent results on radiation treatment of some liquid systems obtained in the laboratory under author's leadership will be considered. One of them is water polluted with petroleum products (motor oil, diesel fuel, residual fuel oil). The pollutants were present in water in dissolved form and as a separate phase. It was found that irradiation (dose 25-40 kGy) decomposes and removes the pollutants as a precipitate. The second system is natural oil gas consisting of gaseous and low-boiling hydrocarbons, water and so on. Laboratory- and pilot-scale (with electron accelerator of 0.7 MeV and 30 kW) studies have shown that electron-beam treatment (in a recycling regime with continuous sampling the liquid phase) of this gas leads to the formation of a mixture of liquid branched hydrocarbons, alcohols, ethers and so on, i.e., there is a radiation-induced liquefaction of the natural oil gas. The mechanism of radiolytic conversions occurring in the mentioned systems will be discussed

  19. Automatic prediction of rheumatoid arthritis disease activity from the electronic medical records.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chen Lin

    Full Text Available We aimed to mine the data in the Electronic Medical Record to automatically discover patients' Rheumatoid Arthritis disease activity at discrete rheumatology clinic visits. We cast the problem as a document classification task where the feature space includes concepts from the clinical narrative and lab values as stored in the Electronic Medical Record.The Training Set consisted of 2792 clinical notes and associated lab values. Test Set 1 included 1749 clinical notes and associated lab values. Test Set 2 included 344 clinical notes for which there were no associated lab values. The Apache clinical Text Analysis and Knowledge Extraction System was used to analyze the text and transform it into informative features to be combined with relevant lab values.Experiments over a range of machine learning algorithms and features were conducted. The best performing combination was linear kernel Support Vector Machines with Unified Medical Language System Concept Unique Identifier features with feature selection and lab values. The Area Under the Receiver Operating Characteristic Curve (AUC is 0.831 (σ = 0.0317, statistically significant as compared to two baselines (AUC = 0.758, σ = 0.0291. Algorithms demonstrated superior performance on cases clinically defined as extreme categories of disease activity (Remission and High compared to those defined as intermediate categories (Moderate and Low and included laboratory data on inflammatory markers.Automatic Rheumatoid Arthritis disease activity discovery from Electronic Medical Record data is a learnable task approximating human performance. As a result, this approach might have several research applications, such as the identification of patients for genome-wide pharmacogenetic studies that require large sample sizes with precise definitions of disease activity and response to therapies.

  20. Customization of electronic medical record templates to improve end-user satisfaction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gardner, Carrie Lee; Pearce, Patricia F

    2013-03-01

    Since 2004, increasing importance has been placed on the adoption of electronic medical records by healthcare providers for documentation of patient care. Recent federal regulations have shifted the focus from adoption alone to meaningful use of an electronic medical record system. As proposed by the Technology Acceptance Model, the behavioral intention to use technology is determined by the person's attitude toward usage. The purpose of this quality improvement project was to devise and implement customized templates into an existent electronic medical record system in a single clinic and measure the satisfaction of the clinic providers with the system before and after implementation. Provider satisfaction with the electronic medical record system was evaluated prior to and following template implementation using the current version 7.0 of the Questionnaire for User Interaction Satisfaction tool. Provider comments and improvement in the Questionnaire for User Interaction Satisfaction levels of rankings following template implementation indicated a positive perspective by the providers in regard to the templates and customization of the system.

  1. Medical applications of accelerators

    CERN Document Server

    Rossi, Sandro

    1998-01-01

    At Present, about five thousands accelerators are devoted to biomedical applications. They are mainly used in radiotherapy, research and medical radioisotopes production. In this framework oncological hadron-therapy deserves particular attention since it represents a field in rapid evolution thanks to the joint efforts of laboratories with long experiences in particle physics. It is the case of CERN where the design of an optimised synchrotron for medical applications has been pursued. These lectures present these activities with particular attention to the new developments which are scientifically interesting and/or economically promising.

  2. Monte Carlo calculation of scattered radiation from applicators in low energy clinical electron beams

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jabbari, N.; Hashemi-Malayeri, B.; Farajollahi, A. R.; Kazemnejad, A.

    2007-01-01

    In radiotherapy with electron beams, scattered radiation from an electron applicator influences the dose distribution in the patient. The contribution of this radiation to the patient dose is significant, even in modern accelerators. In most of radiotherapy treatment planning systems, this component is not explicitly included. In addition, the scattered radiation produced by applicators varies based on the applicator design as well as the field size and distance from the applicators. The aim of this study was to calculate the amount of scattered dose contribution from applicators. We also tried to provide an extensive set of calculated data that could be used as input or benchmark data for advanced treatment planning systems that use Monte Carlo algorithms for dose distribution calculations. Electron beams produced by a NEPTUN 10PC medical linac were modeled using the BEAMnrc system. Central axis depth dose curves of the electron beams were measured and calculated, with and without the applicators in place, for different field sizes and energies. The scattered radiation from the applicators was determined by subtracting the central axis depth dose curves obtained without the applicators from that with the applicator. The results of this study indicated that the scattered radiation from the electron applicators of the NEPTUN 10PC is significant and cannot be neglected in advanced treatment planning systems. Furthermore, our results showed that the scattered radiation depends on the field size and decreases almost linearly with depth. (author)

  3. Developing the Medication Reminder Mobile Application "Seeb".

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saghaeiannejad-Isfahani, Sakineh; Ehteshami, Asghar; Savari, Ebtesam; Samimi, Ali

    2017-06-01

    Today, the structure of comprehensive health care emphasizes self-care more than therapy. Medication therapy is a strong instrument for therapy received through the health setting, especially in medication area. Error in medication administration has produced different problems and they cost billions of dollars every year. Regarding mobile phone extensions, we developed a local medication reminder mobile application called "Seeb" as a suitable solution for decreasing medication errors for Iranians. We conducted a mixed methods study in three Phases: 1) Comparative study of existing mobile applications; 2) developed its object-oriented model; 3) Developed the initial version of "Seeb" that was approved for production. This application was designed for the appropriate medication administration including time and dosages through: recording patient and medication data; scheduling patients' medication; and reporting medication administration on progress. "Seeb" has been designed in compliance with Iranian health information technologists and pharmacists requirements. It is expected to reduce medication error and improve patient adherence to medical prescriptions.

  4. Improving admission medication reconciliation compliance using the electronic tool in admitted medical patients

    Science.gov (United States)

    Taha, Haytham; abdulhay, dana; Luqman, Neama; Ellahham, Samer

    2016-01-01

    Sheikh Khalifa Medical City (SKMC) in Abu Dhabi is the main tertiary care referral hospital in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with 560 bed capacity that is fully occupied most of the time. SKMC senior management has made a commitment to make quality and patient safety a top priority. Our governing body Abu Dhabi Health Services Company has identified medication reconciliation as a critical patient safety measure and key performance indicator (KPI). The medication reconciliation electronic form a computerized decision support tool was introduced to improve medication reconciliation compliance on transition of care at admission, transfer and discharge of patients both in the inpatient and outpatient settings. In order to improve medication reconciliation compliance a multidisciplinary task force team was formed and led this quality improvement project. The purpose of this publication is to indicate the quality improvement interventions implemented to enhance compliance with admission medication reconciliation and the outcomes of those interventions. We chose to conduct the pilot study in general medicine as it is the busiest department in the hospital, with an average of 390 patients admitted per month during the study period. The study period was from April 2014 till October 2015 and a total of 8576 patients were evaluated. The lessons learned were disseminated throughout the hospital. Our aim was to improve admission medication reconciliation compliance using the electronic form in order to ensure patient safety and reduce preventable harm in terms of medication errors. Admission medication reconciliation compliance improved in general medicine from 40% to above 85%, and this improvement was sustained for the last four months of the study period. PMID:27822371

  5. Electron beam ion sources for use in second generation synchrotrons for medical particle therapy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zschornack, G.; Ritter, E.; Schmidt, M.; Schwan, A.

    2014-02-01

    Cyclotrons and first generation synchrotrons are the commonly applied accelerators in medical particle therapy nowadays. Next generation accelerators such as Rapid Cycling Medical Synchrotrons (RCMS), direct drive accelerators, or dielectric wall accelerators have the potential to improve the existing accelerator techniques in this field. Innovative accelerator concepts for medical particle therapy can benefit from ion sources which meet their special requirements. In the present paper we report on measurements with a superconducting Electron Beam Ion Source, the Dresden EBIS-SC, under the aspect of application in combination with RCMS as a well proven technology. The measurements indicate that this ion source can offer significant advantages for medical particle therapy. We show that a superconducting EBIS can deliver ion pulses of medically relevant ions such as protons, C4 + and C6 + ions with intensities and frequencies required for RCMS [S. Peggs and T. Satogata, "A survey of Hadron therapy accelerator technology," in Proceedings of PAC07, BNL-79826- 2008-CP, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA, 2007; A. Garonna, U. Amaldi et al., "Cyclinac medical accelerators using pulsed C6 +/H+_2 ion sources," in Proceedings of EBIST 2010, Stockholm, Sweden, July 2010]. Ion extraction spectra as well as individual ion pulses have been measured. For example, we report on the generation of proton pulses with up to 3 × 109 protons per pulse and with frequencies of up to 1000 Hz at electron beam currents of 600 mA.

  6. Solid-state pulse modulator using Marx generator for a medical linac electron-gun

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lim, Heuijin; Hyeok Jeong, Dong; Lee, Manwoo; Lee, Mujin; Yi, Jungyu; Yang, Kwangmo; Ro, Sung Chae

    2016-04-01

    A medical linac is used for the cancer treatment and consists of an accelerating column, waveguide components, a magnetron, an electron-gun, a pulse modulator, and an irradiation system. The pulse modulator based on hydrogen thyratron-switched pulse-forming network is commonly used in linac. As the improvement of the high power semiconductors in switching speed, voltage rating, and current rating, an insulated gate bipolar transistor has become the more popular device used for pulsed power systems. We propose a solid-state pulse modulator to generator high voltage by multi-stacked storage-switch stages based on the Marx generator. The advantage of our modulator comes from the use of two semiconductors to control charging and discharging of the storage capacitor at each stage and it allows to generate the pulse with various amplitudes, widths, and shapes. In addition, a gate driver for two semiconductors is designed to reduce the control channels and to protect the circuits. It is developed for providing the pulsed power to a medical linac electron-gun that requires 25 kV and 1 A as the first application. In order to improve the power efficiency and achieve the compactness modulator, a capacitor charging power supply, a Marx pulse generator, and an electron-gun heater isolated transformer are constructed and integrated. This technology is also being developed to extend the high power pulsed system with > 1 MW and also other applications such as a plasma immersed ion implantation and a micro pulse electrostatic precipitator which especially require variable pulse shape and high repetition rate > 1 kHz. The paper describes the design features and the construction of this solid-state pulse modulator. Also shown are the performance results into the linac electron-gun.

  7. Solid-state pulse modulator using Marx generator for a medical linac electron-gun

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lim, Heuijin; Jeong, Dong Hyeok; Lee, Manwoo; Lee, Mujin; Yi, Jungyu; Yang, Kwangmo; Ro, Sung Chae

    2016-01-01

    A medical linac is used for the cancer treatment and consists of an accelerating column, waveguide components, a magnetron, an electron-gun, a pulse modulator, and an irradiation system. The pulse modulator based on hydrogen thyratron-switched pulse-forming network is commonly used in linac. As the improvement of the high power semiconductors in switching speed, voltage rating, and current rating, an insulated gate bipolar transistor has become the more popular device used for pulsed power systems. We propose a solid-state pulse modulator to generator high voltage by multi-stacked storage-switch stages based on the Marx generator. The advantage of our modulator comes from the use of two semiconductors to control charging and discharging of the storage capacitor at each stage and it allows to generate the pulse with various amplitudes, widths, and shapes. In addition, a gate driver for two semiconductors is designed to reduce the control channels and to protect the circuits. It is developed for providing the pulsed power to a medical linac electron-gun that requires 25 kV and 1 A as the first application. In order to improve the power efficiency and achieve the compactness modulator, a capacitor charging power supply, a Marx pulse generator, and an electron-gun heater isolated transformer are constructed and integrated. This technology is also being developed to extend the high power pulsed system with > 1 MW and also other applications such as a plasma immersed ion implantation and a micro pulse electrostatic precipitator which especially require variable pulse shape and high repetition rate > 1 kHz. The paper describes the design features and the construction of this solid-state pulse modulator. Also shown are the performance results into the linac electron-gun

  8. Application of Irradiation. Application to polymer processing, exhaust gas treatment, sterilization of medical instruments and food

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sawai, Takeshi; Sawai, Teruko

    2000-03-01

    Many fields such as industry, agriculture, medical treatment and environment use radiation. This report explained some examples of irradiation applications. Radiation source is {sup 60}Co {gamma}-ray. Polymer industry use radiation for radiation curing (thermally stable polymer), tire, expanded polymer, radiation induced graft copolymerization and electron beam curing. On environmental conservation, radiation is used for elimination of NOx and SOx in exhaust combustion gas. In the medical treatment, radiation is applied to sterilization of medical instruments, that occupied about 50% volume, and blood for transfusion, which is only one method to prevent GVHD after transfusion. On agriculture, irradiation to spice, dry vegetable, frozen kitchen, potato and garlic are carried out in 30 countries. However, potato is only a kind food in Japan. Radiation breeding and pest control are put in practice. (S.Y.)

  9. Electronic medical records: a developing and developed country analysis

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Sikhondze, NC

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available of Electronic Medical Records (EMR) systems in developed and developing countries. There is a direct relationship between the income of the country and the use of electronic information and communication systems as part of healthcare systems hence the division...

  10. Visual servoing in medical robotics: a survey. Part II: tomographic imaging modalities--techniques and applications.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Azizian, Mahdi; Najmaei, Nima; Khoshnam, Mahta; Patel, Rajni

    2015-03-01

    Intraoperative application of tomographic imaging techniques provides a means of visual servoing for objects beneath the surface of organs. The focus of this survey is on therapeutic and diagnostic medical applications where tomographic imaging is used in visual servoing. To this end, a comprehensive search of the electronic databases was completed for the period 2000-2013. Existing techniques and products are categorized and studied, based on the imaging modality and their medical applications. This part complements Part I of the survey, which covers visual servoing techniques using endoscopic imaging and direct vision. The main challenges in using visual servoing based on tomographic images have been identified. 'Supervised automation of medical robotics' is found to be a major trend in this field and ultrasound is the most commonly used tomographic modality for visual servoing. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  11. Evaluation of a hybrid paper-electronic medication management system at a residential aged care facility.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Elliott, Rohan A; Lee, Cik Yin; Hussainy, Safeera Y

    2016-06-01

    Objectives The aims of the study were to investigate discrepancies between general practitioners' paper medication orders and pharmacy-prepared electronic medication administration charts, back-up paper charts and dose-administration aids, as well as delays between prescribing, charting and administration, at a 90-bed residential aged care facility that used a hybrid paper-electronic medication management system. Methods A cross-sectional audit of medication orders, medication charts and dose-administration aids was performed to identify discrepancies. In addition, a retrospective audit was performed of delays between prescribing and availability of an updated electronic medication administration chart. Medication administration records were reviewed retrospectively to determine whether discrepancies and delays led to medication administration errors. Results Medication records for 88 residents (mean age 86 years) were audited. Residents were prescribed a median of eight regular medicines (interquartile range 5-12). One hundred and twenty-five discrepancies were identified. Forty-seven discrepancies, affecting 21 (24%) residents, led to a medication administration error. The most common discrepancies were medicine omission (44.0%) and extra medicine (19.2%). Delays from when medicines were prescribed to when they appeared on the electronic medication administration chart ranged from 18min to 98h. On nine occasions (for 10% of residents) the delay contributed to missed doses, usually antibiotics. Conclusion Medication discrepancies and delays were common. Improved systems for managing medication orders and charts are needed. What is known about the topic? Hybrid paper-electronic medication management systems, in which prescribers' orders are transcribed into an electronic system by pharmacy technicians and pharmacists to create medication administration charts, are increasingly replacing paper-based medication management systems in Australian residential aged care

  12. 21 CFR 515.10 - Medicated feed mill license applications.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 21 Food and Drugs 6 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Medicated feed mill license applications. 515.10... (CONTINUED) ANIMAL DRUGS, FEEDS, AND RELATED PRODUCTS MEDICATED FEED MILL LICENSE Applications § 515.10 Medicated feed mill license applications. (a) Medicated feed mill license applications (Forms FDA 3448) may...

  13. Discovering disease associations by integrating electronic clinical data and medical literature.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Antony B Holmes

    Full Text Available Electronic health record (EHR systems offer an exceptional opportunity for studying many diseases and their associated medical conditions within a population. The increasing number of clinical record entries that have become available electronically provides access to rich, large sets of patients' longitudinal medical information. By integrating and comparing relations found in the EHRs with those already reported in the literature, we are able to verify existing and to identify rare or novel associations. Of particular interest is the identification of rare disease co-morbidities, where the small numbers of diagnosed patients make robust statistical analysis difficult. Here, we introduce ADAMS, an Application for Discovering Disease Associations using Multiple Sources, which contains various statistical and language processing operations. We apply ADAMS to the New York-Presbyterian Hospital's EHR to combine the information from the relational diagnosis tables and textual discharge summaries with those from PubMed and Wikipedia in order to investigate the co-morbidities of the rare diseases Kaposi sarcoma, toxoplasmosis, and Kawasaki disease. In addition to finding well-known characteristics of diseases, ADAMS can identify rare or previously unreported associations. In particular, we report a statistically significant association between Kawasaki disease and diagnosis of autistic disorder.

  14. The Internet and healthcare in Taiwan: value-added applications on the medical network in the National Health Insurance smart card system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tsai, Wen-Hsien; Kuo, Hsiao-Chiao

    2007-01-01

    The introduction of smart card technology has ushered in a new era of electronic medical information systems. Taiwan's Bureau of National Health Insurance (BNHI) implemented the National Health Insurance (NHI) smart card project in 2004. The purpose of the project was to replace all paper cards with one smart card. The NHI medical network now provides three kinds of services. In this paper, we illustrate the status of the NHI smart card system in Taiwan and propose three kinds of value-added applications for the medical network, which are electronic exchange of medical information, retrieval of personal medical records and medical e-learning for future development of health information systems.

  15. Factors affecting the utilisation of electronic medical records system ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Malawi Medical Journal 29 (3): September 2017. Electronic medical ... care, as they enable storage of large amounts of data and ... EMRs. This study assessed factors that affect the use of EMRs in Malawi, particularly at Queen Elizabeth and Kamuzu Central ..... paperless hospitals in Norway : A socio-technical perspective.

  16. Trials and tribulations with electronic medication adherence monitoring in kidney transplantation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Williams, Allison; Low, Jac Kee; Manias, Elizabeth; Dooley, Michael; Crawford, Kimberley

    2016-01-01

    Medication adherence in kidney transplantation is critical to prevent graft rejection. Testing interventions designed to support patients to take their prescribed medications following a kidney transplant require an accurate measure of medication adherence. In research, the available methods for measuring medication adherence include self-report, pill counts, prescription refill records, surrogate measures of medication adherence and medication bottles with a microchip-embedded cap to record bottle openings. Medication bottles with a microchip-embedded cap are currently regarded as the gold standard measure. This commentary outlines the challenges in measuring medication adherence using electronic medication monitoring of kidney transplant patients recruited from five sites. The challenges included obtaining unanimous stakeholder support for using this method, agreement on an index medication to measure, adequate preparation of the patient and training of pharmacy staff, and how to analyze data when periods of time were not recorded using the electronic adherence measure. Provision of this information will enable hospital and community pharmacists to implement approaches that promote the effective use of this adherence measure for optimal patient outcomes. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  17. Electron beam simulation applicators

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Purdy, J.A.

    1983-01-01

    A system for simulating electron beam treatment portals using low-temperature melting point alloy is described. Special frames having the same physical dimensions as the electron beam applicators used on the Varian Clinac 20 linear accelerator were designed and constructed

  18. Polymers for electronic & photonic application

    CERN Document Server

    Wong, C P

    2013-01-01

    The most recent advances in the use of polymeric materials by the electronic industry can be found in Polymers for Electronic and Photonic Applications. This bookprovides in-depth coverage of photoresis for micro-lithography, microelectronic encapsulants and packaging, insulators, dielectrics for multichip packaging,electronic and photonic applications of polymeric materials, among many other topics. Intended for engineers and scientists who design, process, and manufacturemicroelectronic components, this book will also prove useful for hybrid and systems packaging managers who want to be info

  19. Photonuclear and Radiation Effects Testing with a Refurbished 20 MeV Medical Electron Linac

    CERN Document Server

    Webb, Timothy; Beezhold, Wendland; De Veaux, Linda C; Harmon, Frank; Petrisko, Jill E; Spaulding, Randy

    2005-01-01

    An S-band 20 MeV electron linear accelerator formerly used for medical applications has been recommissioned to provide a wide range of photonuclear activation studies as well as various radiation effects on biological and microelectronic systems. Four radiation effect applications involving the electron/photon beams are described. Photonuclear activation of a stable isotope of oxygen provides an active means of characterizing polymer degradation. Biological irradiations of microorganisms including bacteria were used to study total dose and dose rate effects on survivability and the adaptation of these organisms to repeated exposures. Microelectronic devices including bipolar junction transistors (BJTs) and diodes were irradiated to study photocurrent from these devices as a function of peak dose rate with comparisons to computer modeling results. In addition, the 20 MeV linac may easily be converted to a medium energy neutron source which has been used to study neutron damage effects on transistors.

  20. Current trend of robotics application in medical

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Olanrewaju, O A; Faieza, A A; Syakirah, K

    2013-01-01

    The applications of robotics in recent years has emerged beyond the field of manufacturing or industrial robots itself. Robotics applications are now widely used in medical, transport, underwater, entertainment and military sector. In medical field, these applications should be emphasized in view of the increasing challenges due to the variety of findings in the field of medicine which requires new inventions to ease work process. The objective of this review paper is to study and presents the past and on-going research in medical robotics with emphasis on rehabilitation (assistive care) and surgery robotics which are certainly the two main practical fields where robots application are commonly used presently. The study found that, rehabilitation and surgery robotics applications grow extensively with the finding of new invention, as well as research that is being undertaken and to be undertaken. The importance of medical robot in medical industry is intended to offer positive outcomes to assist human business through a complicated task that involves a long period, accuracy, focus and other routines that cannot be accomplished by human ability alone.

  1. An Evaluation of Free Medical Applications for Android Smartphones

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Roxana D. CAPRAŞ

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available ntroduction: The field of healthcare applications (apps currently holds potential to improve the daily medical practice by implementing evidence-based healthcare tools. The purpose of this study was to describe the main characteristics of Android-based healthcare applications available in Google Play and to identify those applications that are evidence-based. Methods: The study was undertaken between the 1st of July and the 30th of August 2016. An evaluation form was developed to characterize the healthcare apps available in Google Play retrieved for the following keywords: (medical apps and (evidence based medical apps respectively. Only the free apps were considered eligible for the purpose of our study. Besides the general characteristics, several criteria with regards to interactivity, functionality, esthetics, contents, benefits, as well as evidence-based aspects were considered. Results: A number of 147 healthcare apps were displayed based on the used keywords and were included in the analysis. 42 of them were excluded due to the need for payment, malfunction after installation or games/animations that used medical terms. The remaining 105 apps were then analyzed by the evaluation criteria established in the research protocol. This study shows that until this point, mobile medical applications are mostly designed for consumers or medical students and less for medical professionals. 2 medical application include evidence based medical information and 19 applications were developed in this direction. The majority of the applications were developed in USA. 60% of the analyzed applications have the capacity of improving the quality of medical care. Conclusions: We found only 2 "ideal" mobile medical applications that brought together all the requirements that every application designed for medical use should fulfill.

  2. Clinical Assistant Diagnosis for Electronic Medical Record Based on Convolutional Neural Network.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Zhongliang; Huang, Yongfeng; Jiang, Yiran; Sun, Yuxi; Zhang, Yu-Jin; Luo, Pengcheng

    2018-04-20

    Automatically extracting useful information from electronic medical records along with conducting disease diagnoses is a promising task for both clinical decision support(CDS) and neural language processing(NLP). Most of the existing systems are based on artificially constructed knowledge bases, and then auxiliary diagnosis is done by rule matching. In this study, we present a clinical intelligent decision approach based on Convolutional Neural Networks(CNN), which can automatically extract high-level semantic information of electronic medical records and then perform automatic diagnosis without artificial construction of rules or knowledge bases. We use collected 18,590 copies of the real-world clinical electronic medical records to train and test the proposed model. Experimental results show that the proposed model can achieve 98.67% accuracy and 96.02% recall, which strongly supports that using convolutional neural network to automatically learn high-level semantic features of electronic medical records and then conduct assist diagnosis is feasible and effective.

  3. Value of pharmacist medication interviews on optimizing the electronic medication reconciliation process.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Audrey; Varma, Arjun; Boro, Maureen; Korman, Nancy

    2014-06-01

    Few studies have explored the impact of using different methods for obtaining accurate medication histories on medication safety. This study was conducted to compare the accuracy and clinical impact of pharmacist medication histories obtained by electronic medical record review (EMRR) alone with those obtained by direct interviews combined with EMRR. This 18-week prospective study included patients who were admitted to the Inpatient Medicine Service at the study institution and who had a pharmacist-conducted medication reconciliation EMRR within 48 hours of hospital admission. A chart review was performed to collect data to determine whether differences existed in the number of discrepancies, recommendations, and medication errors between the EMRR alone group compared to the EMRR combined with the patient interview group. Five hundred thirteen discrepancies were identified with the EMRR group compared to 986 from the combined EMRR and patient interview group (P < .001). Significantly more recommendations were made in the combination interview group compared to the EMRR alone group (260 vs 97; P < .001). Fewer medication errors were identified for the EMRR alone group compared to the combination interview group (55 vs 134; P < .001). The most common errors were omitted medications followed by extra dose/failure to discontinue therapy and wrong dose/frequency errors. Pharmacist-conducted admission medication interviews combined with EMRR can potentially identify harmful medication discrepancies and prevent medication errors.

  4. Preparing for Electronic Medical Record Implementation: Carolina Care Communication in an Electronic Environment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carroll, Tracy; Tonges, Mary; Ray, Joel

    2017-11-01

    This article describes 1 organization's successful approach to mitigating the potential negative effects of a new electronic medical record on patient experience. The Carolina Care model, developed at the University of North Carolina Hospitals to actualize caring theory in practice, helped to structure and greatly facilitate this work. Seven focus areas were integrated to create the "Communication in an Electronic Environment" program with a strong emphasis on nurse-patient communication.

  5. The Application of Use Case Modeling in Designing Medical Imaging Information Systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Safdari, Reza; Farzi, Jebraeil; Ghazisaeidi, Marjan; Mirzaee, Mahboobeh; Goodini, Azadeh

    2013-01-01

    Introduction. The essay at hand is aimed at examining the application of use case modeling in analyzing and designing information systems to support Medical Imaging services. Methods. The application of use case modeling in analyzing and designing health information systems was examined using electronic databases (Pubmed, Google scholar) resources and the characteristics of the modeling system and its effect on the development and design of the health information systems were analyzed. Results. Analyzing the subject indicated that Provident modeling of health information systems should provide for quick access to many health data resources in a way that patients' data can be used in order to expand distant services and comprehensive Medical Imaging advices. Also these experiences show that progress in the infrastructure development stages through gradual and repeated evolution process of user requirements is stronger and this can lead to a decline in the cycle of requirements engineering process in the design of Medical Imaging information systems. Conclusion. Use case modeling approach can be effective in directing the problems of health and Medical Imaging information systems towards understanding, focusing on the start and analysis, better planning, repetition, and control

  6. Beneficial Effects of Two Types of Personal Health Record Services Connected With Electronic Medical Records Within the Hospital Setting.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Jisan; Kim, James G Boram; Jin, Meiling; Ahn, Kiwhan; Kim, Byungjun; Kim, Sukwha; Kim, Jeongeun

    2017-11-01

    Healthcare consumers must be able to make decisions based on accurate health information. To assist with this, we designed and developed an integrated system connected with electronic medical records in hospitals to ensure delivery of accurate health information. The system-called the Consumer-centered Open Personal Health Record platform-is composed of two services: a portal for users with any disease and a mobile application for users with cleft lip/palate. To assess the benefits of these services, we used a quasi-experimental, pretest-posttest design, assigning participants to the portal (n = 50) and application (n = 52) groups. Both groups showed significantly increased knowledge, both objective (actual knowledge of health information) and subjective (perceived knowledge of health information), after the intervention. Furthermore, while both groups showed higher information needs satisfaction after the intervention, the application group was significantly more satisfied. Knowledge changes were more affected by participant characteristics in the application group. Our results may be due to the application's provision of specific disease information and a personalized treatment plan based on the participant and other users' data. We recommend that services connected with electronic medical records target specific diseases to provide personalized health management to patients in a hospital setting.

  7. Radioisotopes for medical applications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Carr, S.

    1998-01-01

    For more than 3 decades, the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation has been the country's main supplier of radioisotopes for medical applications. The use of radioisotopes in medicine has revolutionised the diagnosis, management and treatment of many serious diseases such as cancer, heart disease and stroke. It is also beginning to play a key role in neurological disorders such as Parkinson and Alzheimers disease and epilepsy. More recently there has been considerable growth in the application of nuclear medicine to treat sport-related injuries - especially wrist, ankle and knees where more common techniques do not always enable accurate diagnosis. Australia is a recognised leader in nuclear medicine. This can be partially attributed to the close relationship between ANSTO and the medical community in providing opportunities to develop and evaluate new agents to support more effective patient care. A list of commercial isotopes produced in the reactor or the cyclotron and used in medical applications is given. Nuclear medicine plays an important role in the clinical environment and the timely supply of radioisotopes is a key element. ANSTO will continue to be the premier supplier of currently available and developing isotopes to support the health and well being of the Australian community

  8. Radioisotopes for medical applications

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Carr, S. [Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, Lucas Heights, NSW (Australia). Radiopharmaceuticals Division

    1998-03-01

    For more than 3 decades, the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation has been the country`s main supplier of radioisotopes for medical applications. The use of radioisotopes in medicine has revolutionised the diagnosis, management and treatment of many serious diseases such as cancer, heart disease and stroke. It is also beginning to play a key role in neurological disorders such as Parkinson and Alzheimers disease and epilepsy. More recently there has been considerable growth in the application of nuclear medicine to treat sport-related injuries - especially wrist, ankle and knees where more common techniques do not always enable accurate diagnosis. Australia is a recognised leader in nuclear medicine. This can be partially attributed to the close relationship between ANSTO and the medical community in providing opportunities to develop and evaluate new agents to support more effective patient care. A list of commercial isotopes produced in the reactor or the cyclotron and used in medical applications is given. Nuclear medicine plays an important role in the clinical environment and the timely supply of radioisotopes is a key element. ANSTO will continue to be the premier supplier of currently available and developing isotopes to support the health and well being of the Australian community 2 tabs., 1 fig.

  9. Towards Semantic Search and Inference in Electronic Medical Records

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bevan Koopman

    2012-09-01

    Full Text Available Background This paper presents a novel approach to searching electronic medical records that is based on concept matching rather than keyword matching. Aims The concept-based approach is intended to overcome specific challenges we identified in searching medical records. Method Queries and documents were transformed from their term-based originals into medical concepts as defined by the SNOMED-CT ontology. Results Evaluation on a real-world collection of medical records showed our concept-based approach outperformed a keyword baseline by 25% in Mean Average Precision. Conclusion The concept-based approach provides a framework for further development of inference based search systems for dealing with medical data.

  10. Electronic circuits fundamentals & applications

    CERN Document Server

    Tooley, Mike

    2015-01-01

    Electronics explained in one volume, using both theoretical and practical applications.New chapter on Raspberry PiCompanion website contains free electronic tools to aid learning for students and a question bank for lecturersPractical investigations and questions within each chapter help reinforce learning Mike Tooley provides all the information required to get to grips with the fundamentals of electronics, detailing the underpinning knowledge necessary to appreciate the operation of a wide range of electronic circuits, including amplifiers, logic circuits, power supplies and oscillators. The

  11. Quality assurance in medical radiation applications. The medical and dental appointment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ernst-Elz, Andreas

    2017-01-01

    Medical radiation applications cause averaged over the German population an annual exposure of almost 2 mSv. Medical authorities have the assignment to assure and control the diagnostic and therapeutic quality of these applications and to provide recommendations for operators with respect to dose reductions and radiation protection, including guidance for radiotherapy planning aimed to questions of dose and therapy optimization.

  12. Use of electronic medical record-enhanced checklist and electronic dashboard to decrease CLABSIs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pageler, Natalie M; Longhurst, Christopher A; Wood, Matthew; Cornfield, David N; Suermondt, Jaap; Sharek, Paul J; Franzon, Deborah

    2014-03-01

    We hypothesized that a checklist enhanced by the electronic medical record and a unit-wide dashboard would improve compliance with an evidence-based, pediatric-specific catheter care bundle and decrease central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI). We performed a cohort study with historical controls that included all patients with a central venous catheter in a 24-bed PICU in an academic children's hospital. Postintervention CLABSI rates, compliance with bundle elements, and staff perceptions of communication were evaluated and compared with preintervention data. CLABSI rates decreased from 2.6 CLABSIs per 1000 line-days before intervention to 0.7 CLABSIs per 1000 line-days after intervention. Analysis of specific bundle elements demonstrated increased daily documentation of line necessity from 30% to 73% (P < .001), increased compliance with dressing changes from 87% to 90% (P = .003), increased compliance with cap changes from 87% to 93% (P < .001), increased compliance with port needle changes from 69% to 95% (P < .001), but decreased compliance with insertion bundle documentation from 67% to 62% (P = .001). Changes in the care plan were made during review of the electronic medical record checklist on 39% of patient rounds episodes. Use of an electronic medical record-enhanced CLABSI prevention checklist coupled with a unit-wide real-time display of adherence was associated with increased compliance with evidence-based catheter care and sustained decrease in CLABSI rates. These data underscore the potential for computerized interventions to promote compliance with proven best practices and prevent patient harm.

  13. Applications and research on nano power electronics: an adventure beyond quantum electronics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chakraborty, Arindam; Emadi, Ali

    2005-06-01

    This paper is a roadmap to the exhaustive role of the newly emerging field of nanotechnology in various application and research areas. Some of the today's important topics are plasma, dielectric layer semiconductor, and carbon nanoparticle based technologies. Carbon nanotubes are very useful for the purpose of fabricating nano opto power devices. The basic concept behind tunneling of electrons has been utilized to define another scope of this technology, and thus came many quantum scale tunneling devices and elements. Fabrication of crystal semiconductors of high quality along with oxides of nano aspect would give rise to superior device performance and find applications such as LEDs, LASER, VLSI technology and also in highly efficient solar cells. Many nano-research based organizations are fully devoted to develop nano power cells, which would give birth to new battery cells, tunneling devises, with high power quality, longer lives, and higher activation rates. Different electronics industries as well as the military organizations would be largely benefited due to this major component and system design ideas of 'Smart Power' technologies. The contribution of nano scale power electronics would be realized in various fields like switching devices, electromechanical systems and quantum science. Such a sophisticated technology will have great impact on the modernization of robotics; space systems, automotive systems and many other fields. The highly emerging field of nanomedicine according to specialists would bring a dramatic revolution in the present century. However nanomedicine is nothing but an integration of biology, medicine and technology. Thermoelectric materials as been referred earlier also are used in case of implantable medical equipments for generation of electric power sufficient for those equipments.

  14. BOOK REVIEW: Light, Visible and Invisible and its Medical Applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Newing, Angela

    2000-09-01

    This book is based on various lectures given by Professor Newing over the last few years covering the centenaries of the discovery of x-rays, radioactivity, the electron and radium. It is a splendid follow-up read after studying the more formal presentations in A-level textbooks. The theory of each technique is touched on and the reader is provided with a full list of references for deeper analysis. Intermittently within the text are paragraphs of historical and developmental details, illustrated by contemporary drawings and photographs. These passages, which appear in a different typeface, add greatly to the enjoyment of the book, but could be skipped by an impatient reader seeking to gain an appropriate review knowledge of the subject of medical radiation physics. The areas of physiological measurement and medical engineering are not covered, neither is medical computing. Chapters discuss the diagnostic and therapeutic applications of x-rays. Different methods of scanning are outlined and the appropriateness of techniques brought up-to-date. Treatment with ionizing radiations is expanded to touch on electron radiotherapy, neutron therapy and brachytherapy. Phototherapy and photochemotherapy are considered in the section on treatments using non-ionizing radiations. The story starts with evidence from the ancient worlds of Egypt and Greece, accelerating through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries to the many treatments around today. The laser is shown to be a versatile and exact tool, available in a complete range of wavelengths for different surgical uses. The scientific principles and current applications of nuclear medicine, ultrasound and MRI are described. For each type of procedure, the author includes comments on advantages, disadvantages and operational safety. Dosimetry and quality assurance are touched upon. The book reflects Professor Newing's enthusiasm for her role as a medical physicist both as practitioner and teacher. To any students studying

  15. Seminar Pediatrics. Medical and Technical Applications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Montivero, M.; Nespral, D.O.; Alak, Maria del Carmen

    2012-01-01

    The Association of Biology and Nuclear Medicine has organized the 'Seminar Pediatrics - Medical and Technical Applications', held in Buenos Aires in May 2012, in order to collaborate with the scientific growth of nuclear medicine in pediatrics. The main topics covered were: management of pediatric patients and medical application in childhood, dosimetry in pediatric nuclear medicine, scope of radioisotope - studies in nephrourological pathologies, PET in pediatrics, among others.

  16. Modeling Medical Services with Mobile Health Applications

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zhenfei Wang

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available The rapid development of mobile health technology (m-Health provides unprecedented opportunities for improving health services. As the bridge between doctors and patients, mobile health applications enable patients to communicate with doctors through their smartphones, which is becoming more and more popular among people. To evaluate the influence of m-Health applications on the medical service market, we propose a medical service equilibrium model. The model can balance the supply of doctors and demand of patients and reflect possible options for both doctors and patients with or without m-Health applications in the medical service market. In the meantime, we analyze the behavior of patients and the activities of doctors to minimize patients’ full costs of healthcare and doctors’ futility. Then, we provide a resolution algorithm through mathematical reasoning. Lastly, based on artificially generated dataset, experiments are conducted to evaluate the medical services of m-Health applications.

  17. Industrial applications or electron beams; Aplicaciones industriales de la irradiacion como servicio

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Martin, J. I.

    2001-07-01

    Industrial use of electron beams began in the 1950's with the crosslinking of polyethylene film and wire insulation. Today the number of electron beam Processing Systems installed for industrial applications throughout the world has grown to more than six hundred stations in over 35 countries. Total installed power is now approaching 40 megawatts (over 8 million tons of products per year). Electron beam is now utilized by many major industries including plastics, automotive, rubber goods, wire and cable, electrical insulation, semiconductor, medical, packaging, or pollution control. The principal effect of high-energy electrons is to produce ions in the materials treated, resulting in the liberation of orbital electrons. As a result, the original molecule is modified and the ree radicals combine to form new molecules with new chemical reactions or dis organisation od the DNA chains of living organisms (insects, fungus, microorganisms, etc.). (Author) 8 refs.

  18. Medical isotope applications in Iceland

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1962-10-15

    About $ 12 000 worth of equipment and the services of an expert in the medical applications of radioisotopes were provided by IAEA to the Government of Iceland. The expert was primarily concerned with the establishment of a medical radioisotope laboratory at the State Hospital, Reykjavik. His specific tasks included the setting up of the equipment furnished by IAEA for radioactive measurements in medical work, the establishment of techniques for the routine uses of radioisotopes in medicine, and the training of personnel. The apparatus installed includes a well-type scintillation counter for small samples, a directional scintillation counter, and Geiger counters of different types. The laboratory is thus well equipped for nearly all the conventional applications of radioisotopes in medicine, except those involving very soft beta-ray emitting isotopes

  19. Design of Electronic Medical Record User Interfaces: A Matrix-Based Method for Improving Usability

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kushtrim Kuqi

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available This study examines a new approach of using the Design Structure Matrix (DSM modeling technique to improve the design of Electronic Medical Record (EMR user interfaces. The usability of an EMR medication dosage calculator used for placing orders in an academic hospital setting was investigated. The proposed method captures and analyzes the interactions between user interface elements of the EMR system and groups elements based on information exchange, spatial adjacency, and similarity to improve screen density and time-on-task. Medication dose adjustment task time was recorded for the existing and new designs using a cognitive simulation model that predicts user performance. We estimate that the design improvement could reduce time-on-task by saving an average of 21 hours of hospital physicians’ time over the course of a month. The study suggests that the application of DSM can improve the usability of an EMR user interface.

  20. Visual servoing in medical robotics: a survey. Part I: endoscopic and direct vision imaging - techniques and applications.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Azizian, Mahdi; Khoshnam, Mahta; Najmaei, Nima; Patel, Rajni V

    2014-09-01

    Intra-operative imaging is widely used to provide visual feedback to a clinician when he/she performs a procedure. In visual servoing, surgical instruments and parts of tissue/body are tracked by processing the acquired images. This information is then used within a control loop to manoeuvre a robotic manipulator during a procedure. A comprehensive search of electronic databases was completed for the period 2000-2013 to provide a survey of the visual servoing applications in medical robotics. The focus is on medical applications where image-based tracking is used for closed-loop control of a robotic system. Detailed classification and comparative study of various contributions in visual servoing using endoscopic or direct visual images are presented and summarized in tables and diagrams. The main challenges in using visual servoing for medical robotic applications are identified and potential future directions are suggested. 'Supervised automation of medical robotics' is found to be a major trend in this field. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  1. Medical Applications and Toxicities of Gallium Compounds

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Christopher R. Chitambar

    2010-05-01

    Full Text Available Over the past two to three decades, gallium compounds have gained importance in the fields of medicine and electronics. In clinical medicine, radioactive gallium and stable gallium nitrate are used as diagnostic and therapeutic agents in cancer and disorders of calcium and bone metabolism. In addition, gallium compounds have displayed anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive activity in animal models of human disease while more recent studies have shown that gallium compounds may function as antimicrobial agents against certain pathogens. In a totally different realm, the chemical properties of gallium arsenide have led to its use in the semiconductor industry. Gallium compounds, whether used medically or in the electronics field, have toxicities. Patients receiving gallium nitrate for the treatment of various diseases may benefit from such therapy, but knowledge of the therapeutic index of this drug is necessary to avoid clinical toxicities. Animals exposed to gallium arsenide display toxicities in certain organ systems suggesting that environmental risks may exist for individuals exposed to this compound in the workplace. Although the arsenic moiety of gallium arsenide appears to be mainly responsible for its pulmonary toxicity, gallium may contribute to some of the detrimental effects in other organs. The use of older and newer gallium compounds in clinical medicine may be advanced by a better understanding of their mechanisms of action, drug resistance, pharmacology, and side-effects. This review will discuss the medical applications of gallium and its mechanisms of action, the newer gallium compounds and future directions for development, and the toxicities of gallium compounds in current use.

  2. Building a national electronic medical record exchange system - experiences in Taiwan.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Yu-Chuan Jack; Yen, Ju-Chuan; Chiu, Wen-Ta; Jian, Wen-Shan; Syed-Abdul, Shabbir; Hsu, Min-Huei

    2015-08-01

    There are currently 501 hospitals and about 20,000 clinics in Taiwan. The National Health Insurance (NHI) system, which is operated by the NHI Administration, uses a single-payer system and covers 99.9% of the nation's total population of 23,000,000. Taiwan's NHI provides people with a high degree of freedom in choosing their medical care options. However, there is the potential concern that the available medical resources will be overused. The number of doctor consultations per person per year is about 15. Duplication of laboratory tests and prescriptions are not rare either. Building an electronic medical record exchange system is a good method of solving these problems and of improving continuity in health care. In November 2009, Taiwan's Executive Yuan passed the 'Plan for accelerating the implementation of electronic medical record systems in medical institutions' (2010-2012; a 3-year plan). According to this plan, a patient can, at any hospital in Taiwan, by using his/her health insurance IC card and physician's medical professional IC card, upon signing a written agreement, retrieve all important medical records for the past 6 months from other participating hospitals. The focus of this plan is to establish the National Electronic Medical Record Exchange Centre (EEC). A hospital's information system will be connected to the EEC through an electronic medical record (EMR) gateway. The hospital will convert the medical records for the past 6 months in its EMR system into standardized files and save them on the EMR gateway. The most important functions of the EEC are to generate an index of all the XML files on the EMR gateways of all hospitals, and to provide search and retrieval services for hospitals and clinics. The EEC provides four standard inter-institution EMR retrieval services covering medical imaging reports, laboratory test reports, discharge summaries, and outpatient records. In this system, we adopted the Health Level 7 (HL7) Clinical Document

  3. Scattered radiation from applicators in clinical electron beams

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Battum, L J van; Zee, W van der; Huizenga, H

    2003-01-01

    In radiotherapy with high-energy (4-25 MeV) electron beams, scattered radiation from the electron applicator influences the dose distribution in the patient. In most currently available treatment planning systems for radiotherapy this component is not explicitly included and handled only by a slight change of the intensity of the primary beam. The scattered radiation from an applicator changes with the field size and distance from the applicator. The amount of scattered radiation is dependent on the applicator design and on the formation of the electron beam in the treatment head. Electron applicators currently applied in most treatment machines are essentially a set of diaphragms, but still do produce scattered radiation. This paper investigates the present level of scattered dose from electron applicators, and as such provides an extensive set of measured data. The data provided could for instance serve as example input data or benchmark data for advanced treatment planning algorithms which employ a parametrized initial phase space to characterize the clinical electron beam. Central axis depth dose curves of the electron beams have been measured with and without applicators in place, for various applicator sizes and energies, for a Siemens Primus, a Varian 2300 C/D and an Elekta SLi accelerator. Scattered radiation generated by the applicator has been found by subtraction of the central axis depth dose curves, obtained with and without applicator. Scattered radiation from Siemens, Varian and Elekta electron applicators is still significant and cannot be neglected in advanced treatment planning. Scattered radiation at the surface of a water phantom can be as high as 12%. Scattered radiation decreases almost linearly with depth. Scattered radiation from Varian applicators shows clear dependence on beam energy. The Elekta applicators produce less scattered radiation than those of Varian and Siemens, but feature a higher effective angular variance. The scattered

  4. Medical applications in a nuclear research centre

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vanhavere, F.; Eggermont, G.

    2001-01-01

    In these days of public aversion to nuclear power, it can be important to point at the medical applications of ionising radiation. Not only the general public, but also the authorities and research centres have to be aware of these medical applications, which are not without risk for public health. Now that funding for nuclear research is declining, an opening to the medical world can give new opportunities to a nuclear research centre. A lot of research could be done where the tools developed for the nuclear power world are very useful. Even new applications for the research reactors like BNCT (boron neutron capture therapy) can be envisaged for the near future. In this contribution an overview will be given of the different techniques used in the medical world with ionising radiation. The specific example of the Belgian Nuclear Research Centre will be given where the mission statement was changed to include a certain number of medical research topics. (authors)

  5. Applications of Particle Accelerators in Medical Physics

    CERN Document Server

    Cuttone, G

    2008-01-01

    Particle accelerators are often associated to high energy or nuclear physics. As well pointed out in literature [1] if we kindly analyse the number of installation worldwide we can easily note that about 50% is mainly devoted to medical applications (radiotherapy, medical radioisotopes production, biomedical research). Particle accelerators are also playing an important indirect role considering the improvement of the technical features of medical diagnostic. In fact the use of radionuclide for advanced medical imaging is strongly increasing either in conventional radiography (CT and MRI) and also in nuclear medicine for Spect an PET imaging. In this paper role of particle accelerators for medical applications will be presented together with the main solutions applied.

  6. Use of Electronic Medical Record–Enhanced Checklist and Electronic Dashboard to Decrease CLABSIs

    Science.gov (United States)

    Longhurst, Christopher A.; Wood, Matthew; Cornfield, David N.; Suermondt, Jaap; Sharek, Paul J.; Franzon, Deborah

    2014-01-01

    OBJECTIVES: We hypothesized that a checklist enhanced by the electronic medical record and a unit-wide dashboard would improve compliance with an evidence-based, pediatric-specific catheter care bundle and decrease central line–associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI). METHODS: We performed a cohort study with historical controls that included all patients with a central venous catheter in a 24-bed PICU in an academic children’s hospital. Postintervention CLABSI rates, compliance with bundle elements, and staff perceptions of communication were evaluated and compared with preintervention data. RESULTS: CLABSI rates decreased from 2.6 CLABSIs per 1000 line-days before intervention to 0.7 CLABSIs per 1000 line-days after intervention. Analysis of specific bundle elements demonstrated increased daily documentation of line necessity from 30% to 73% (P < .001), increased compliance with dressing changes from 87% to 90% (P = .003), increased compliance with cap changes from 87% to 93% (P < .001), increased compliance with port needle changes from 69% to 95% (P < .001), but decreased compliance with insertion bundle documentation from 67% to 62% (P = .001). Changes in the care plan were made during review of the electronic medical record checklist on 39% of patient rounds episodes. CONCLUSIONS: Use of an electronic medical record–enhanced CLABSI prevention checklist coupled with a unit-wide real-time display of adherence was associated with increased compliance with evidence-based catheter care and sustained decrease in CLABSI rates. These data underscore the potential for computerized interventions to promote compliance with proven best practices and prevent patient harm. PMID:24567021

  7. Application of stereo-imaging technology to medical field.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nam, Kyoung Won; Park, Jeongyun; Kim, In Young; Kim, Kwang Gi

    2012-09-01

    There has been continuous development in the area of stereoscopic medical imaging devices, and many stereoscopic imaging devices have been realized and applied in the medical field. In this article, we review past and current trends pertaining to the application stereo-imaging technologies in the medical field. We describe the basic principles of stereo vision and visual issues related to it, including visual discomfort, binocular disparities, vergence-accommodation mismatch, and visual fatigue. We also present a brief history of medical applications of stereo-imaging techniques, examples of recently developed stereoscopic medical devices, and patent application trends as they pertain to stereo-imaging medical devices. Three-dimensional (3D) stereo-imaging technology can provide more realistic depth perception to the viewer than conventional two-dimensional imaging technology. Therefore, it allows for a more accurate understanding and analysis of the morphology of an object. Based on these advantages, the significance of stereoscopic imaging in the medical field increases in accordance with the increase in the number of laparoscopic surgeries, and stereo-imaging technology plays a key role in the diagnoses of the detailed morphologies of small biological specimens. The application of 3D stereo-imaging technology to the medical field will help improve surgical accuracy, reduce operation times, and enhance patient safety. Therefore, it is important to develop more enhanced stereoscopic medical devices.

  8. Attitudes of Medical Graduate and Undergraduate Students toward the Learning and Application of Medical Statistics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Yazhou; Zhang, Ling; Liu, Ling; Zhang, Yanqi; Liu, Xiaoyu; Yi, Dong

    2015-01-01

    It is clear that the teaching of medical statistics needs to be improved, yet areas for priority are unclear as medical students' learning and application of statistics at different levels is not well known. Our goal is to assess the attitudes of medical students toward the learning and application of medical statistics, and discover their…

  9. Architecture of portable electronic medical records system integrated with streaming media.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Wei; Shih, Chien-Chou

    2012-02-01

    Due to increasing occurrence of accidents and illness during business trips, travel, or overseas studies, the requirement for portable EMR (Electronic Medical Records) has increased. This study proposes integrating streaming media technology into the EMR system to facilitate referrals, contracted laboratories, and disease notification among hospitals. The current study encoded static and dynamic medical images of patients into a streaming video format and stored them in a Flash Media Server (FMS). Based on the Taiwan Electronic Medical Record Template (TMT) standard, EMR records can be converted into XML documents and used to integrate description fields with embedded streaming videos. This investigation implemented a web-based portable EMR interchanging system using streaming media techniques to expedite exchanging medical image information among hospitals. The proposed architecture of the portable EMR retrieval system not only provides local hospital users the ability to acquire EMR text files from a previous hospital, but also helps access static and dynamic medical images as reference for clinical diagnosis and treatment. The proposed method protects property rights of medical images through information security mechanisms of the Medical Record Interchange Service Center and Health Certificate Authorization to facilitate proper, efficient, and continuous treatment of patients.

  10. Design and implementation of an affordable, public sector electronic medical record in rural Nepal.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Raut, Anant; Yarbrough, Chase; Singh, Vivek; Gauchan, Bikash; Citrin, David; Verma, Varun; Hawley, Jessica; Schwarz, Dan; Harsha Bangura, Alex; Shrestha, Biplav; Schwarz, Ryan; Adhikari, Mukesh; Maru, Duncan

    2017-06-23

    Globally, electronic medical records are central to the infrastructure of modern healthcare systems. Yet the vast majority of electronic medical records have been designed for resource-rich environments and are not feasible in settings of poverty. Here we describe the design and implementation of an electronic medical record at a public sector district hospital in rural Nepal, and its subsequent expansion to an additional public sector facility.DevelopmentThe electronic medical record was designed to solve for the following elements of public sector healthcare delivery: 1) integration of the systems across inpatient, surgical, outpatient, emergency, laboratory, radiology, and pharmacy sites of care; 2) effective data extraction for impact evaluation and government regulation; 3) optimization for longitudinal care provision and patient tracking; and 4) effectiveness for quality improvement initiatives. For these purposes, we adapted Bahmni, a product built with open-source components for patient tracking, clinical protocols, pharmacy, laboratory, imaging, financial management, and supply logistics. In close partnership with government officials, we deployed the system in February of 2015, added on additional functionality, and iteratively improved the system over the following year. This experience enabled us then to deploy the system at an additional district-level hospital in a different part of the country in under four weeks. We discuss the implementation challenges and the strategies we pursued to build an electronic medical record for the public sector in rural Nepal.DiscussionOver the course of 18 months, we were able to develop, deploy and iterate upon the electronic medical record, and then deploy the refined product at an additional facility within only four weeks. Our experience suggests the feasibility of an integrated electronic medical record for public sector care delivery even in settings of rural poverty.

  11. A study of RFID application impacts on medical safety.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chang, She-I; Ou, Chin-Shyh; Ku, Cheng-Yuan; Yang, Morris

    2008-01-01

    With the international reform in medical management systems gaining ground worldwide, hospital management has gradually begun to shift its focus from providing expensive medical treatment to improving medical service quality and patient safety. In this study, we discuss the application of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) and data integrating technology with the medical service, and examine whether or not this technology can enhance medical safety. We also discuss the possible benefits following the application of the RFID system. The findings show that the application of RFID to hospitals can actually generate benefits, which can be further divided into operational structure benefits, users' structure benefits, and organisational and environmental benefits. However, not all these benefits can achieve medical safety. Among them, only the operator and environmental benefits can play such roles. Nevertheless, the application of RFID can bring hospitals towards the integration of technology benefits and improved medical safety.

  12. From papyrus to the electronic tablet: a brief history of the clinical medical record with lessons for the digital age.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gillum, Richard F

    2013-10-01

    A major transition is underway in documentation of patient-related data in clinical settings with rapidly accelerating adoption of the electronic health record and electronic medical record. This article examines the history of the development of medical records in the West in order to suggest lessons applicable to the current transition. The first documented major transition in the evolution of the clinical medical record occurred in antiquity, with the development of written case history reports for didactic purposes. Benefiting from Classical and Hellenistic models earlier than physicians in the West, medieval Islamic physicians continued the development of case histories for didactic use. A forerunner of modern medical records first appeared in Paris and Berlin by the early 19th century. Development of the clinical record in America was pioneered in the 19th century in major teaching hospitals. However, a clinical medical record useful for direct patient care in hospital and ambulatory settings was not developed until the 20th century. Several lessons are drawn from the 4000-year history of the medical record that may help physicians improve patient care in the digital age. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  13. Medical and biomedical applications of shock waves

    CERN Document Server

    Loske, Achim M

    2017-01-01

    This book provides current, comprehensive, and clear explanations of the physics behind medical and biomedical applications of shock waves. Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy is one of the greatest medical advances of our time, and its techniques and clinical devices are continuously evolving. Further research continues to improve the understanding of calculi fragmentation and tissue-damaging mechanisms. Shock waves are also used in orthopedics and traumatology. Possible applications in oncology, cardiology, dentistry, gene therapy, cell transfection, transformation of fungi and bacteria, as well as the inactivation of microorganisms are promising approaches for clinical treatment, industrial applications and research. Medical and Biomedical Applications of Shock Waves is useful as a guide for students, technicians and researchers working in universities and laboratories. Chemists, biologists, physicians and veterinarians, involved in research or clinical practice will find useful advice, but also engineer...

  14. Ionizing radiations: medical and industrial applications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vidal, H.

    1994-01-01

    Medical diagnosis with X-rays is the best known use of ionizing radiations on account of its wide diffusion (about 57 500 units in France). Other medical applications of artificial radionuclides involving a smaller number of installations are also well known, i.e. gamma teletherapy (167 units), brachytherapy (119 units) or therapy using unsealed sources (257 units). The industrial uses of ionising radiation, the diversity of which is very large, are generally less well known. The use of X- and gamma rays for non-destructive testing or food preservation and the use of tracers have some notoriety, but few people know that radioactive sources are involved in the measurement of parameters controlling industrial processes. The number of persons authorized to hold, use and/or sell artificial radionuclides amounts to about 4 800, all applications included. Approximately 650 of them are involved in therapy and 500 in medical research. The aim of this paper, which is not exhaustive, is to review a few typical applications of radionuclides both in the medical and industrial fields. It also supplies data both on the number of people authorized to use each technique and the radionuclides involved. (author). 10 tabs

  15. Personnel hazards from medical electron accelerator photoneutrons

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    McCall, R.C.; Jenkins, T.M.; Shore, R.A.; LaRiviere, P.D.

    1979-12-01

    For medical accelerators, neutron penetration through the room entry door is the major personnel hazard. Most therapy accelerator rooms are designed with at least a rudimentary maze to avoid the use of massive doors. Often, however, the maze may be similar to those shown in scale outline drawings of some medical electron accelerator rooms where the authors have made neutron measurements outside the doors which were of different thicknesses and compositions. The results are tabulated. It should be noted that there can be significant dose equivalents (H) at the door when a maze is inadequate, and that all three components - fast neutron, thermal neutron, and neutron capture γ rays - can be equally important

  16. The regulation of mobile medical applications.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yetisen, Ali Kemal; Martinez-Hurtado, J L; da Cruz Vasconcellos, Fernando; Simsekler, M C Emre; Akram, Muhammad Safwan; Lowe, Christopher R

    2014-03-07

    The rapidly expanding number of mobile medical applications have the potential to transform the patient-healthcare provider relationship by improving the turnaround time and reducing costs. In September 2013, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued guidance to regulate these applications and protect consumers by minimising the risks associated with their unintended use. This guidance distinguishes between the subset of mobile medical apps which may be subject to regulation and those that are not. The marketing claims of the application determine the intent. Areas of concern include compliance with regular updates of the operating systems and of the mobile medical apps themselves. In this article, we explain the essence of this FDA guidance by providing examples and evaluating the impact on academia, industry and other key stakeholders, such as patients and clinicians. Our assessment indicates that awareness and incorporation of the guidelines into product development can hasten the commercialisation and market entry process. Furthermore, potential obstacles have been discussed and directions for future development suggested.

  17. Organizational Change and How It Affects Healthcare Employees: A Study on Employee Resistance to Change in Electronic Medical Record Implementation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Adeyemi, Oluwakemi A.

    2017-01-01

    The purpose of the exploratory qualitative study was to explore the strategies for reducing employee resistance to Electronic Medical Record (EMR) technology changes in a healthcare organization during implementation. The study focused on EPIC as the EMR application. Ten healthcare participants who had experienced a change to EMR were selected in…

  18. Medical applications of colloids

    CERN Document Server

    Matijevic, Egon

    2008-01-01

    The first book of its type on the medical and biomedical applications of colloids, although there are some related titles on different topicsDiscusses the effects of uniform particles in drug formulations and releaseEvaluates particle transport and deposition in the human body.

  19. [New model of doctor-nurse communication based on electronic medical advice platform].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cao, Yang; Ding, Aimin; Wang, Yan

    2012-01-01

    This article introduces a new model of the communication between doctors and nurses, with the aid of the electronic medical advice platform. This model has achieved good results in improving doctor and nurse's co-working efficiency, treating patients safely, preventing medical accidents, reducing medical errors and so on.

  20. Does electronic clinical microbiology results reporting influence medical decision making: a pre- and post-interview study of medical specialists.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bruins, Marjan J; Ruijs, Gijs J H M; Wolfhagen, Maurice J H M; Bloembergen, Peter; Aarts, Jos E C M

    2011-03-30

    Clinicians view the accuracy of test results and the turnaround time as the two most important service aspects of the clinical microbiology laboratory. Because of the time needed for the culturing of infectious agents, final hardcopy culture results will often be available too late to have a significant impact on early antimicrobial therapy decisions, vital in infectious disease management. The clinical microbiologist therefore reports to the clinician clinically relevant preliminary results at any moment during the diagnostic process, mostly by telephone. Telephone reporting is error prone, however. Electronic reporting of culture results instead of reporting on paper may shorten the turnaround time and may ensure correct communication of results. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of the implementation of electronic reporting of final microbiology results on medical decision making. In a pre- and post-interview study using a semi-structured design we asked medical specialists in our hospital about their use and appreciation of clinical microbiology results reporting before and after the implementation of an electronic reporting system. Electronic reporting was highly appreciated by all interviewed clinicians. Major advantages were reduction of hardcopy handling and the possibility to review results in relation to other patient data. Use and meaning of microbiology reports differ significantly between medical specialties. Most clinicians need preliminary results for therapy decisions quickly. Therefore, after the implementation of electronic reporting, telephone consultation between clinician and microbiologist remained the key means of communication. Overall, electronic reporting increased the workflow efficiency of the medical specialists, but did not have an impact on their decision-making. © 2011 Bruins et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

  1. Does electronic clinical microbiology results reporting influence medical decision making: a pre- and post-interview study of medical specialists

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bloembergen Peter

    2011-03-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Clinicians view the accuracy of test results and the turnaround time as the two most important service aspects of the clinical microbiology laboratory. Because of the time needed for the culturing of infectious agents, final hardcopy culture results will often be available too late to have a significant impact on early antimicrobial therapy decisions, vital in infectious disease management. The clinical microbiologist therefore reports to the clinician clinically relevant preliminary results at any moment during the diagnostic process, mostly by telephone. Telephone reporting is error prone, however. Electronic reporting of culture results instead of reporting on paper may shorten the turnaround time and may ensure correct communication of results. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of the implementation of electronic reporting of final microbiology results on medical decision making. Methods In a pre- and post-interview study using a semi-structured design we asked medical specialists in our hospital about their use and appreciation of clinical microbiology results reporting before and after the implementation of an electronic reporting system. Results Electronic reporting was highly appreciated by all interviewed clinicians. Major advantages were reduction of hardcopy handling and the possibility to review results in relation to other patient data. Use and meaning of microbiology reports differ significantly between medical specialties. Most clinicians need preliminary results for therapy decisions quickly. Therefore, after the implementation of electronic reporting, telephone consultation between clinician and microbiologist remained the key means of communication. Conclusions Overall, electronic reporting increased the workflow efficiency of the medical specialists, but did not have an impact on their decision-making.

  2. [VR and AR Applications in Medical Practice and Education].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hsieh, Min-Chai; Lin, Yu-Hsuan

    2017-12-01

    As technology advances, mobile devices have gradually turned into wearable devices. Furthermore, virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR) are being increasingly applied in medical fields such as medical education and training, surgical simulation, neurological rehabilitation, psychotherapy, and telemedicine. Research results demonstrate the ability of VR, AR, and MR to ameliorate the inconveniences that are often associated with traditional medical care, reduce incidents of medical malpractice caused by unskilled operations, and reduce the cost of medical education and training. What is more, the application of these technologies has enhanced the effectiveness of medical education and training, raised the level of diagnosis and treatment, improved the doctor-patient relationship, and boosted the efficiency of medical execution. The present study introduces VR, AR, and MR applications in medical practice and education with the aim of helping health professionals better understand the applications and use these technologies to improve the quality of medical care.

  3. Development of mobile electronic health records application in a secondary general hospital in Korea.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Choi, Wookjin; Park, Min Ah; Hong, Eunseok; Kim, Sunhyu; Ahn, Ryeok; Hong, Jungseok; Song, Seungyeol; Kim, Tak; Kim, Jeongkeun; Yeo, Seongwoon

    2013-12-01

    The recent evolution of mobile devices has opened new possibilities of providing strongly integrated mobile services in healthcare. The objective of this paper is to describe the decision driver, development, and implementation of an integrated mobile Electronic Health Record (EHR) application at Ulsan University Hospital. This application helps healthcare providers view patients' medical records and information without a stationary computer workstation. We developed an integrated mobile application prototype that aimed to improve the mobility and usability of healthcare providers during their daily medical activities. The Android and iOS platform was used to create the mobile EHR application. The first working version was completed in 5 months and required 1,080 development hours. The mobile EHR application provides patient vital signs, patient data, text communication, and integrated EHR. The application allows our healthcare providers to know the status of patients within and outside the hospital environment. The application provides a consistent user environment on several compatible Android and iOS devices. A group of 10 beta testers has consistently used and maintained our copy of the application, suggesting user acceptance. We are developing the integrated mobile EHR application with the goals of implementing an environment that is user-friendly, implementing a patient-centered system, and increasing the hospital's competitiveness.

  4. Medical applications of multi-wire proportional chambers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Reading, D.H.

    1976-05-01

    The adaption of Multi-Wire Proportional Chambers (MWPC) for medical applications has necessitated bi-dimensional readout. This is achieved by analysing signals induced onto the cathode planes. At a useful X-ray energy of 40 to 45 keV, just above the K absorption edge in Xenon, the efficiency and resolution are both optimized. Poor resolution events due to K shell fluorescent capture and Auger emission, or L shell photo-electron emission, may be rejected by using energy discrimination - resulting in approximately halving the efficiency to 8% for a 1.6 cm thick atmospheric pressure chamber, but with sub millimeter inherent resolution. This is still far inferior to film resolution, but the MWPC is useful when numbers are required for computation or retrieval. Short descriptions of the MWPC applications to bone density measurements and tomography are given. Its use when pressurized as a gamma camera is discussed, and it is concluded that it may prove useful as a portable special purpose camera, or as one with a very large area thus compensating for low efficiency. Developments with liquid filled chambers are given and also the promising positron imaging hybrid MWPC. (author)

  5. Taiwan's perspective on electronic medical records' security and privacy protection: lessons learned from HIPAA.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Che-Ming; Lin, Herng-Ching; Chang, Polun; Jian, Wen-Shan

    2006-06-01

    The protection of patients' health information is a very important concern in the information age. The purpose of this study is to ascertain what constitutes an effective legal framework in protecting both the security and privacy of health information, especially electronic medical records. All sorts of bills regarding electronic medical data protection have been proposed around the world including Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of the U.S. The trend of a centralized bill that focuses on managing computerized health information is the part that needs our further attention. Under the sponsor of Taiwan's Department of Health (DOH), our expert panel drafted the "Medical Information Security and Privacy Protection Guidelines", which identifies nine principles and entails 12 articles, in the hope that medical organizations will have an effective reference in how to manage their medical information in a confidential and secured fashion especially in electronic transactions.

  6. Electron-molecule interactions and their applications

    CERN Document Server

    Christophorou, L G

    1984-01-01

    Electron-Molecule Interactions and Their Applications, Volume 2 provides a balanced and comprehensive account of electron-molecule interactions in dilute and dense gases and liquid media. This book consists of six chapters. Chapter 1 deals with electron transfer reactions, while Chapter 2 discusses electron-molecular positive-ion recombination. The electron motion in high-pressure gases and electron-molecule interactions from single- to multiple-collision conditions is deliberated in Chapter 3. In Chapter 4, knowledge on electron-molecule interactions in gases is linked to that on similar proc

  7. How to identify, assess and utilise mobile medical applications in clinical practice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aungst, T D; Clauson, K A; Misra, S; Lewis, T L; Husain, I

    2014-02-01

    There are thousands of medical applications for mobile devices targeting use by healthcare professionals. However, several factors related to the structure of the existing market for medical applications create significant barriers preventing practitioners from effectively identifying mobile medical applications for individual professional use. To define existing market factors relevant to selection of medical applications and describe a framework to empower clinicians to identify, assess and utilise mobile medical applications in their own practice. Resources available on the Internet regarding mobile medical applications, guidelines and published research on mobile medical applications. Mobile application stores (e.g. iTunes, Google Play) are not effective means of identifying mobile medical applications. Users of mobile devices that desire to implement mobile medical applications into practice need to carefully assess individual applications prior to utilisation. Searching and identifying mobile medical applications requires clinicians to utilise multiple references to determine what application is best for their individual practice methods. This can be done with a cursory exploration of mobile application stores and then moving onto other available resources published in the literature or through Internet resources (e.g. blogs, medical websites, social media). Clinicians must also take steps to ensure that an identified mobile application can be integrated into practice after carefully reviewing it themselves. Clinicians seeking to identify mobile medical application for use in their individual practice should use a combination of app stores, published literature, web-based resources, and personal review to ensure safe and appropriate use. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  8. A Primer on Endoscopic Electronic Medical Records

    OpenAIRE

    Atreja, Ashish; Rizk, Maged; Gurland, Brooke

    2010-01-01

    Endoscopic electronic medical record systems (EEMRs) are now increasingly utilized in many endoscopy centers. Modern EEMRs not only support endoscopy report generation, but often include features such as practice management tools, image and video clip management, inventory management, e-faxes to referring physicians, and database support to measure quality and patient outcomes. There are many existing software vendors offering EEMRs, and choosing a software vendor can be time consuming and co...

  9. Electronic conferencing for continuing medical education: a resource survey.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sternberg, R J

    1986-10-01

    The use of electronic technologies to link participants for education conferences is an option for providers of Continuing Medical Education. In order to profile the kinds of electronic networks currently offering audio- or videoteleconferences for physician audiences, a survey was done during late 1985. The information collected included range of services, fees, and geographic areas served. The results show a broad diversity of providers providing both interactive and didactic programming to both physicians and other health care professionals.

  10. Calibration services for medical applications of radiation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    DeWerd, L.A.

    1993-12-31

    Calibration services for the medical community applications of radiation involve measuring radiation precisely and having traceability to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Radiation therapy applications involve the use of ionization chambers and electrometers for external beams and well-type ionization chamber systems as well as radioactive sources for brachytherapy. Diagnostic x-ray applications involve ionization chamber systems and devices to measure other parameters of the x-ray machine, such as non-invasive kVp meters. Calibration laboratories have been established to provide radiation calibration services while maintaining traceability to NIST. New radiation applications of the medical community spur investigation to provide the future calibration needs.

  11. Calibration services for medical applications of radiation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    DeWerd, L.A.

    1993-01-01

    Calibration services for the medical community applications of radiation involve measuring radiation precisely and having traceability to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Radiation therapy applications involve the use of ionization chambers and electrometers for external beams and well-type ionization chamber systems as well as radioactive sources for brachytherapy. Diagnostic x-ray applications involve ionization chamber systems and devices to measure other parameters of the x-ray machine, such as non-invasive kVp meters. Calibration laboratories have been established to provide radiation calibration services while maintaining traceability to NIST. New radiation applications of the medical community spur investigation to provide the future calibration needs

  12. Walter Reed Army Medical Center's Internet-based electronic health portal.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abbott, Kevin C; Boocks, Carl E; Sun, Zhengyi; Boal, Thomas R; Poropatich, Ronald K

    2003-12-01

    Use of the World Wide Web (WWW) and electronic media to facilitate medical care has been the subject of many reports in the popular press. However, few reports have documented the results of implementing electronic health portals for essential medical tasks, such as prescription refills and appointments. At Walter Reed Army Medical Center, "Search & Learn" medical information, Internet-based prescription refills and patient appointments were established in January 2001. A multiphase retrospective analysis was conducted to determine the use of the "Search & Learn" medical information and the relative number of prescription refills and appointments conducted via the WWW compared with conventional methods. From January 2001 to May 2002, there were 34,741 refills and 819 appointments made over the Internet compared with 2,275,112 refills and approximately 500,000 appointments made conventionally. WWW activity accounted for 1.52% of refills and 0.16% of appointments. There was a steady increase in this percentage over the time of the analysis. In April of 2002, the monthly average of online refills had risen to 4.57% and online appointments were at 0.27%. Online refills were projected to account for 10% of all prescriptions in 2 years. The "Search & Learn" medical information portion of our web site received 147,429 unique visits during this same time frame, which was an average of 326 visitors per day. WWW-based methods of conducting essential medical tasks accounted for a small but rapidly increasing percentage of total activity at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Subsequent phases of analysis will assess demographic and geographic factors and aid in the design of future systems to increase use of the Internet-based systems.

  13. Health Care Consumer's Perception of the Electronic Medical Record

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Method: A structured questionnaire was developed, validated and utilized in this quantitative research project. Quantitative data were collected ... Electronic Medical Records (EMR), as a health information technology innovation, has ... EMR will provide a highly effective, reliable, secure, and innovative information system.

  14. Neutron yield of medical electron accelerators

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    McCall, R.C.

    1988-01-01

    Shielding calculations for medical electron accelerators above about 10 MeV require some knowledge of the neutron emission from the machine. This knowledge might come from the manufacturer's specifications or from published measurements of the neutron leakage of that particular model and energy of accelerator. In principle, the yield can be calculated if details of the accelerator design are known. These details are often not available because the manufacturer considers them proprietary. A broader knowledge of neutron emission would be useful and it is the purpose of this paper to present such information

  15. Using the NASA Task Load Index to Assess Workload in Electronic Medical Records.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hudson, Darren; Kushniruk, Andre W; Borycki, Elizabeth M

    2015-01-01

    Electronic medical records (EMRs) has been expected to decrease health professional workload. The NASA Task Load Index has become an important tool for assessing workload in many domains. However, its application in assessing the impact of an EMR on nurse's workload has remained to be explored. In this paper we report the results of a study of workload and we explore the utility of applying the NASA Task Load Index to assess impact of an EMR at the end of its lifecycle on nurses' workload. It was found that mental and temporal demands were the most responsible for the workload. Further work along these lines is recommended.

  16. Present and perspective medical applications of microbial exopolysaccharides

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Misu - Moscovici

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available Microbial exopolysaccharides (EPS have found outstanding medical applications since the mid-twentieth century, with the first clinical trials on dextran solutions as plasma expanders. Other EPS entered medicine firstly as conventional pharmaceutical excipients (e.g., xanthan - as suspension stabilizer, or pullulan – in capsules and oral care products. Polysaccharides, initially obtained from plant or animal sources, became easily available for a wide range of applications, especially when they were commercially produced by microbial fermentation. Alginates are used as anti-reflux, dental impressions, or as matrix for tablets. Hyaluronic acid and derivatives are used in surgery, arthritis treatment or wound healing. Bacterial cellulose is applied in wound dressings or scaffolds for tissue engineering. The development of drug controlled-release systems and of micro- and nanoparticulated ones, has opened a new era of medical applications for biopolymers. EPS and their derivatives are well suited potentially non-toxic, biodegradable drug carriers. Such systems concern rating and targeting of controlled release. Their large area of applications is explained by the available manifold series of derivatives, whose useful properties can be thereby controlled. From matrix inclusion to conjugates, different systems have been designed to solubilize, and to assure stable transport in the body, target accumulation and variable rate-release of a drug substance. From controlled drug delivery, EPS potential applications expanded to vaccine adjuvants and diagnostic imaging systems. Other potential applications are related to the bioactive (immunomodulator, antitumor, antiviral characteristics of EPS. The numerous potential applications still wait to be developed into commercial pharmaceuticals and medical devices. Based on previous and recent results in important medical-pharmaceutical domains, one can undoubtedly state that EPS medical applications have a

  17. Microfluidics for medical applications

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van den Berg, Albert; van den Berg, A.; Segerink, L.I.; Segerink, Loes Irene; Unknown, [Unknown

    2015-01-01

    Lab-on-a-chip devices for point of care diagnostics have been present in clinics for several years now. Alongside their continual development, research is underway to bring the organs and tissue on-a-chip to the patient, amongst other medical applications of microfluidics. This book provides the

  18. Factors Influencing Electronic Clinical Information Exchange in Small Medical Group Practices

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kralewski, John E.; Zink, Therese; Boyle, Raymond

    2012-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify the organizational factors that influence electronic health information exchange (HIE) by medical group practices in rural areas. Methods: A purposive sample of 8 small medical group practices in 3 experimental HIE regions were interviewed to determine the extent of clinical information exchange…

  19. 21 CFR 515.11 - Supplemental medicated feed mill license applications.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 21 Food and Drugs 6 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Supplemental medicated feed mill license... SERVICES (CONTINUED) ANIMAL DRUGS, FEEDS, AND RELATED PRODUCTS MEDICATED FEED MILL LICENSE Applications § 515.11 Supplemental medicated feed mill license applications. (a) After approval of a medicated feed...

  20. Applications and Advances in Electronic-Nose Technologies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Manuela Baietto

    2009-06-01

    Full Text Available Electronic-nose devices have received considerable attention in the field of sensor technology during the past twenty years, largely due to the discovery of numerous applications derived from research in diverse fields of applied sciences. Recent applications of electronic nose technologies have come through advances in sensor design, material improvements, software innovations and progress in microcircuitry design and systems integration. The invention of many new e-nose sensor types and arrays, based on different detection principles and mechanisms, is closely correlated with the expansion of new applications. Electronic noses have provided a plethora of benefits to a variety of commercial industries, including the agricultural, biomedical, cosmetics, environmental, food, manufacturing, military, pharmaceutical, regulatory, and various scientific research fields. Advances have improved product attributes, uniformity, and consistency as a result of increases in quality control capabilities afforded by electronic-nose monitoring of all phases of industrial manufacturing processes. This paper is a review of the major electronic-nose technologies, developed since this specialized field was born and became prominent in the mid 1980s, and a summarization of some of the more important and useful applications that have been of greatest benefit to man.

  1. Proposed Electronic Medical Record with Emphasis on Hepatitis Diagnosis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Georgios Skapetis

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Introduction Medical domain is characterized, like many other domains, by an exponential evolution of the knowledge. There are a lot of tools which try to reduce the risk of error apparition in medical life. Medical decision becomes a very hard activity because the human experts, who have to make decisions, can hardly process the huge amounts of data. Diagnosis has a very important role here. It is the first step from a set of therapeutic actions, an error at this level can have dramatic consequences.The aim of this paper is to present a new electronic medical system for using it on patients with hepatitis virusinfection.Results: Hepatitis is a very complicated disease with numerous different types many of them can lead to serious diseases like cirrhosis and liver cancer. An early correct diagnosis and an adequate treatment could reduce the risks of liver cancer apparition or other severe diseases. The main goal of the system is to use artificial intelligence in order to offer predictions about patients infected with hepatitis virus and also to follow the healthcondition of the patient reevaluating at every time the initial diagnosis and suggesting tests and treatment. Our effort is to present a new electronic medical record that will “borrow” data from the standard health record of the patient and other resources where information is saved and will process it and give suggestions for the diagnosis and treatment of the patient and at the same time will use a simple operating environment, such as the internet, thus making it easy to use.Conclusions The medical record is a big step in improving health services in public hospitals. The proposed EMR with the use of artificial intelligence is the next logical step that will help in the diagnosis and early treatment of disease.

  2. Applications and advances in electronic-nose technologies

    Science.gov (United States)

    A. D. Wilson; M. Baietto

    2009-01-01

    Electronic-nose devices have received considerable attention in the field of sensor technology during the past twenty years, largely due to the discovery of numerous applications derived from research in diverse fields of applied sciences. Recent applications of electronic nose technologies have come through advances in sensor design, material improvements, software...

  3. Design and implementation of an affordable, public sector electronic medical record in rural Nepal

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anant Raut

    2017-06-01

    Over the course of 18 months, we were able to develop, deploy and iterate upon the electronic medical record, and then deploy the refined product at an additional facility within only four weeks. Our experience suggests the feasibility of an integrated electronic medical record for public sector care delivery even in settings of rural poverty.

  4. Views of patients and professionals about electronic multicompartment medication devices: a qualitative study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hall, Jill; Bond, Christine; Kinnear, Moira; McKinstry, Brian

    2016-10-17

    To explore the perceived acceptability, advantages and disadvantages of electronic multicompartment medication devices. Qualitative study using 8 focus groups and 10 individual semistructured interviews. Recordings were transcribed and analysed thematically. Strategies were employed to ensure the findings were credible and trustworthy. Community pharmacists (n=11), general practitioners (n=9), community nurses (n=12) and social care managers (n=8) were recruited from the National Health Service (NHS) and local authority services. Patients (n=15) who were current conventional or electronic multicompartment medication device users or had medication adherence problems were recruited from community pharmacies. 3 informal carers participated. Electronic multicompartment medication devices which prompt the patient to take medication may be beneficial for selected individuals, particularly those with cognitive impairment, but who are not seriously impaired, provided they have a good level of dexterity. They may also assist individuals where it is important that medication is taken at fixed time intervals. These are likely to be people who are being supported to live alone. No single device suited everybody; smaller/lighter devices were preferred but their usefulness was limited by the small number/size of storage compartments. Removing medications was often challenging. Transportability was an important factor for patients and carers. A carer's alert if medication is not taken was problematic with multiple barriers to implementation and no consensus as to who should receive the alert. There was a lack of enthusiasm among professionals, particularly among pharmacists, due to concerns about responsibility and funding for devices as well as ensuring devices met regulatory standards for storage and labelling. This study provides indicators of which patients might benefit from an electronic multicompartment medication device as well as the kinds of features to consider when

  5. Anonymization of Electronic Medical Records to Support Clinical Analysis

    CERN Document Server

    Gkoulalas-Divanis, Aris

    2013-01-01

    Anonymization of Electronic Medical Records to Support Clinical Analysis closely examines the privacy threats that may arise from medical data sharing, and surveys the state-of-the-art methods developed to safeguard data against these threats. To motivate the need for computational methods, the book first explores the main challenges facing the privacy-protection of medical data using the existing policies, practices and regulations. Then, it takes an in-depth look at the popular computational privacy-preserving methods that have been developed for demographic, clinical and genomic data sharing, and closely analyzes the privacy principles behind these methods, as well as the optimization and algorithmic strategies that they employ. Finally, through a series of in-depth case studies that highlight data from the US Census as well as the Vanderbilt University Medical Center, the book outlines a new, innovative class of privacy-preserving methods designed to ensure the integrity of transferred medical data for su...

  6. Industrial applications of electron beam technology

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Khairul Zaman Mohd Dahlan

    1997-01-01

    Electron beam technology was first introduced in Malaysia in 1989 with the conclusion of the bilateral cooperation between the Malaysian Institute for Nuclear Technology Research (MINT) and Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA) on Radiation Application Projects. Two electron beam accelerators with energy of 3.0 MeV and 200 keV were installed at MINT. These two accelerators pave the way for R and D to be carried out in radiation processing of polymers for cross-linking and surface curing. In 1994, another electron beam accelerator was installed in the private sector for cross-linking of home appliance wires. Since then, two more accelerators were installed in the private sector for cross-linking of heat shrinkable plastic films. Recently, a local company has acquired a low energy electron beam machine for cross-linking of plastic film. Within a period of 7 years, industrial applications of electron beam technology in Malaysia have increased significantly

  7. Access control based on attribute certificates for medical intranet applications.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mavridis, I; Georgiadis, C; Pangalos, G; Khair, M

    2001-01-01

    Clinical information systems frequently use intranet and Internet technologies. However these technologies have emphasized sharing and not security, despite the sensitive and private nature of much health information. Digital certificates (electronic documents which recognize an entity or its attributes) can be used to control access in clinical intranet applications. To outline the need for access control in distributed clinical database systems, to describe the use of digital certificates and security policies, and to propose the architecture for a system using digital certificates, cryptography and security policy to control access to clinical intranet applications. We have previously developed a security policy, DIMEDAC (Distributed Medical Database Access Control), which is compatible with emerging public key and privilege management infrastructure. In our implementation approach we propose the use of digital certificates, to be used in conjunction with DIMEDAC. Our proposed access control system consists of two phases: the ways users gain their security credentials; and how these credentials are used to access medical data. Three types of digital certificates are used: identity certificates for authentication; attribute certificates for authorization; and access-rule certificates for propagation of access control policy. Once a user is identified and authenticated, subsequent access decisions are based on a combination of identity and attribute certificates, with access-rule certificates providing the policy framework. Access control in clinical intranet applications can be successfully and securely managed through the use of digital certificates and the DIMEDAC security policy.

  8. Mammalian synthetic biology: emerging medical applications.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kis, Zoltán; Pereira, Hugo Sant'Ana; Homma, Takayuki; Pedrigi, Ryan M; Krams, Rob

    2015-05-06

    In this review, we discuss new emerging medical applications of the rapidly evolving field of mammalian synthetic biology. We start with simple mammalian synthetic biological components and move towards more complex and therapy-oriented gene circuits. A comprehensive list of ON-OFF switches, categorized into transcriptional, post-transcriptional, translational and post-translational, is presented in the first sections. Subsequently, Boolean logic gates, synthetic mammalian oscillators and toggle switches will be described. Several synthetic gene networks are further reviewed in the medical applications section, including cancer therapy gene circuits, immuno-regulatory networks, among others. The final sections focus on the applicability of synthetic gene networks to drug discovery, drug delivery, receptor-activating gene circuits and mammalian biomanufacturing processes. © 2015 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.

  9. Perspectives of healthcare practitioners: An exploration of interprofessional communication using electronic medical records.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bardach, Shoshana H; Real, Kevin; Bardach, David R

    2017-05-01

    Contemporary state-of-the-art healthcare facilities are incorporating technology into their building design to improve communication and patient care. However, technological innovations may also have unintended consequences. This study seeks to better understand how technology influences interprofessional communication within a hospital setting based in the United States. Nine focus groups were conducted including a range of healthcare professions. The focus groups explored practitioners' experiences working on two floors of a newly designed hospital and included questions about the ways in which technology shaped communication with other healthcare professionals. All focus groups were recorded, transcribed, and coded to identify themes. Participant responses focused on the electronic medical record, and while some benefits of the electronic medical record were discussed, participants indicated use of the electronic medical record has resulted in a reduction of in-person communication. Different charting approaches resulted in barriers to communication between specialties and reduced confidence that other practitioners had received one's notes. Limitations in technology-including limited computer availability, documentation complexity, and sluggish sign-in processes-also were identified as barriers to effective and timely communication between practitioners. Given the ways in which technology shapes interprofessional communication, future research should explore how to create standardised electronic medical record use across professions at the optimal level to support communication and patient care.

  10. The realization of the storage of XML and middleware-based data of electronic medical records

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liu Shuzhen; Gu Peidi; Luo Yanlin

    2007-01-01

    In this paper, using the technology of XML and middleware to design and implement a unified electronic medical records storage archive management system and giving a common storage management model. Using XML to describe the structure of electronic medical records, transform the medical data from traditional 'business-centered' medical information into a unified 'patient-centered' XML document and using middleware technology to shield the types of the databases at different departments of the hospital and to complete the information integration of the medical data which scattered in different databases, conducive to information sharing between different hospitals. (authors)

  11. Patients prefer electronic medical records - fact or fiction?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Masiza, Melissa; Mostert-Phipps, Nicky; Pottasa, Dalenca

    2013-01-01

    Incomplete patient medical history compromises the quality of care provided to a patient while well-kept, adequate patient medical records are central to the provision of good quality of care. According to research, patients have the right to contribute to decision-making affecting their health. Hence, the researchers investigated their views regarding a paper-based system and an electronic medical record (EMR). An explorative approach was used in conducting a survey within selected general practices in the Nelson Mandela Metropole. The majority of participants thought that the use of a paper-based system had no negative impact on their health. Participants expressed concerns relating to the confidentiality of their medical records with both storage mediums. The majority of participants indicated they prefer their GP to computerise their consultation details. The main objective of the research on which this poster is based was to investigate the storage medium of preference for patients and the reasons for their preference. Overall, 48% of the 85 participants selected EMRs as their preferred storage medium and the reasons for their preference were also uncovered.

  12. Adoption and use of electronic information resources by medical ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    This study investigated the adoption and use of electronic information resources by medical science students of the University of Benin. The descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study and 390 students provided the data. Data collected were analysed with descriptive Statistics(Simple percentage and ...

  13. Developing a model for application of electronic banking based on electronic trust

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Amir Hooshang Nazarpoori

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available This study develops a model for application of electronic banking based on electronic trust among costumers of Day bank in KhoramAbad city. A sample of 150 people was selected based on stratified random sampling. Questionnaires were used for the investigation. Results indicate that technology-based factors, user-based factors, and trust had negative relationships with perceived risk types including financial, functional, personal, and private. Moreover, trust including trust in system and trust in bank had a positive relationship with tendency to use and real application of electronic banking.

  14. Radiation leakage from linac electron applicator assembly

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Keys, R.A.; Purdy, J.A.

    1984-01-01

    The electron beam applicator system currently in use on the linear accelerator is constructed of light-weight fiberglass and aluminum. With an applicator in place on the accelerator, the photon collimator jaws are automatically set several centimeters greater than the electron field size projected at the patient's surface. To ensure that no regions of high dose levels exist outside the useful beam, ionization and film measurements were made to quantitate the amount of leakage radiation through the 10 cm x 10 cm and 25 cm x 25 cm applicators. In most regions, the ionization levels at the patient's surface were below 5% of the central axis dose. In one area for the 25 cm applicator, the percentage ionization was 8.5%, which could be reduced by the addition of a small piece of 1/8 inch thick lead. However, ionization levels on the outside surface of the applicator were found to be considerably higher at certain locations for the 25 cm applicator. Results for 6, 9, 12 and 20 MeV electrons are reported here

  15. Mass-Gathering Medical Care in Electronic Dance Music Festivals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    FitzGibbon, Kathleen M; Nable, Jose V; Ayd, Benjamin; Lawner, Benjamin J; Comer, Angela C; Lichenstein, Richard; Levy, Matthew J; Seaman, Kevin G; Bussey, Ian

    2017-10-01

    Introduction Electronic dance music (EDM) festivals represent a unique subset of mass-gathering events with limited guidance through literature or legislation to guide mass-gathering medical care at these events. Hypothesis/Problem Electronic dance music festivals pose unique challenges with increased patient encounters and heightened patient acuity under-estimated by current validated casualty predication models. This was a retrospective review of three separate EDM festivals with analysis of patient encounters and patient transport rates. Data obtained were inserted into the predictive Arbon and Hartman models to determine estimated patient presentation rate and patient transport rates. The Arbon model under-predicted the number of patient encounters and the number of patient transports for all three festivals, while the Hartman model under-predicted the number of patient encounters at one festival and over-predicted the number of encounters at the other two festivals. The Hartman model over-predicted patient transport rates for two of the three festivals. Electronic dance music festivals often involve distinct challenges and current predictive models are inaccurate for planning these events. The formation of a cohesive incident action plan will assist in addressing these challenges and lead to the collection of more uniform data metrics. FitzGibbon KM , Nable JV , Ayd B , Lawner BJ , Comer AC , Lichenstein R , Levy MJ , Seaman KG , Bussey I . Mass-gathering medical care in electronic dance music festivals. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2017;32(5):563-567.

  16. Infant feeding practices within a large electronic medical record database.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bartsch, Emily; Park, Alison L; Young, Jacqueline; Ray, Joel G; Tu, Karen

    2018-01-02

    The emerging adoption of the electronic medical record (EMR) in primary care enables clinicians and researchers to efficiently examine epidemiological trends in child health, including infant feeding practices. We completed a population-based retrospective cohort study of 8815 singleton infants born at term in Ontario, Canada, April 2002 to March 2013. Newborn records were linked to the Electronic Medical Record Administrative data Linked Database (EMRALD™), which uses patient-level information from participating family practice EMRs across Ontario. We assessed exclusive breastfeeding patterns using an automated electronic search algorithm, with manual review of EMRs when the latter was not possible. We examined the rate of breastfeeding at visits corresponding to 2, 4 and 6 months of age, as well as sociodemographic factors associated with exclusive breastfeeding. Of the 8815 newborns, 1044 (11.8%) lacked breastfeeding information in their EMR. Rates of exclusive breastfeeding were 39.5% at 2 months, 32.4% at 4 months and 25.1% at 6 months. At age 6 months, exclusive breastfeeding rates were highest among mothers aged ≥40 vs. database.

  17. Industrial application of electron sources with plasma emitters

    CERN Document Server

    Belyuk, S I; Rempe, N G

    2001-01-01

    Paper contains a description, operation, design and parameters of electron sources with plasma emitters. One presents examples of application of these sources as part of automated electron-beam welding lines. Paper describes application of such sources for electron-beam deposition of composite powders. Electron-beam deposition is used to rebuild worn out part and to increase strength of new parts of machines and tools. Paper presents some examples of rebuilding part and the advantages gained in this case

  18. Power electronics handbook components, circuits and applications

    CERN Document Server

    Mazda, F F

    1993-01-01

    Power Electronics Handbook: Components, Circuits, and Applications is a collection of materials about power components, circuit design, and applications. Presented in a practical form, theoretical information is given as formulae. The book is divided into three parts. Part 1 deals with the usual components found in power electronics such as semiconductor devices and power semiconductor control components, their electronic compatibility, and protection. Part 2 tackles parts and principles related to circuits such as switches; link frequency chargers; converters; and AC line control, and Part 3

  19. Improvement of medication event interventions through use of an electronic database.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Merandi, Jenna; Morvay, Shelly; Lewe, Dorcas; Stewart, Barb; Catt, Char; Chanthasene, Phillip P; McClead, Richard; Kappeler, Karl; Mirtallo, Jay M

    2013-10-01

    Patient safety enhancements achieved through the use of an electronic Web-based system for responding to adverse drug events (ADEs) are described. A two-phase initiative was carried out at an academic pediatric hospital to improve processes related to "medication event huddles" (interdisciplinary meetings focused on ADE interventions). Phase 1 of the initiative entailed a review of huddles and interventions over a 16-month baseline period during which multiple databases were used to manage the huddle process and staff interventions were assigned via manually generated e-mail reminders. Phase 1 data collection included ADE details (e.g., medications and staff involved, location and date of event) and the types and frequencies of interventions. Based on the phase 1 analysis, an electronic database was created to eliminate the use of multiple systems for huddle scheduling and documentation and to automatically generate e-mail reminders on assigned interventions. In phase 2 of the initiative, the impact of the database during a 5-month period was evaluated; the primary outcome was the percentage of interventions documented as completed after database implementation. During the postimplementation period, 44.7% of assigned interventions were completed, compared with a completion rate of 21% during the preimplementation period, and interventions documented as incomplete decreased from 77% to 43.7% (p Process changes, education, and medication order improvements were the most frequently documented categories of interventions. Implementation of a user-friendly electronic database improved intervention completion and documentation after medication event huddles.

  20. 78 FR 29390 - Applications; SHINE Medical Technologies, Inc.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-05-20

    ... NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION [Proj-0792; NRC-2013-0053] Applications; SHINE Medical Technologies... (ADAMS) Accession No. ML13088A192), SHINE Medical Technologies (SHINE) filed with the U.S. Nuclear... for a medical radioisotope production facility in Janesville, Wisconsin. An exemption from certain...

  1. Measuring emotional intelligence of medical school applicants.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carrothers, R M; Gregory, S W; Gallagher, T J

    2000-05-01

    To discuss the development, pilot testing, and analysis of a 34-item semantic differential instrument for measuring medical school applicants' emotional intelligence (the EI instrument). The authors analyzed data from the admission interviews of 147 1997 applicants to a six-year BS/MD program that is composed of three consortium universities. They compared the applicants' scores on traditional admission criteria (e.g., GPA and traditional interview assessments) with their scores on the EI instrument (which comprised five dimensions of emotional intelligence), breaking the data out by consortium university (each of which has its own educational ethos) and gender. They assessed the EI instrument's reliability and validity for assessing noncognitive personal and interpersonal qualities of medical school applicants. The five dimensions of emotional intelligence (maturity, compassion, morality, sociability, and calm disposition) indicated fair to excellent internal consistency: reliability coefficients were .66 to .95. Emotional intelligence as measured by the instrument was related to both being female and matriculating at the consortium university that has an educational ethos that values the social sciences and humanities. Based on this pilot study, the 34-item EI instrument demonstrates the ability to measure attributes that indicate desirable personal and interpersonal skills in medical school applicants.

  2. An injector system of a NDZ-20 medical electron linear accelerator

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang Houwen; Lai Qiji; Zhu Yizhang; Yang Fangxin

    1987-01-01

    The structure and characteristic of an injector system of a NDZ-20 medical electron linear accelerator are described. A bombarded type of Pierce electron gun is used. There are pre-focusing coil, deflecting coil, steering coil and beam pulse lead cutting coil in drift tube region. They control electron beam efficiently for ARC, ADC and BLC of the accelerator. ARC and ADC can increase stability and reliability of the accelerator operation, and BLC improves energy spectrum of the back feed accelerator

  3. Nano crystals for Electronic and Optoelectronic Applications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhu, T.; Cloutier, S.G.; Ivanov, I; Knappenberger Jr, K.L.; Robel, I.; Zhang, F

    2012-01-01

    Electronic and optoelectronic devices, from computers and smart cell phones to solar cells, have become a part of our life. Currently, devices with featured circuits of 45 nm in size can be fabricated for commercial use. However, further development based on traditional semiconductor is hindered by the increasing thermal issues and the manufacturing cost. During the last decade, nano crystals have been widely adopted in various electronic and optoelectronic applications. They provide alternative options in terms of ease of processing, low cost, better flexibility, and superior electronic/optoelectronic properties. By taking advantage of solution-processing, self-assembly, and surface engineering, nano crystals could serve as new building blocks for low-cost manufacturing of flexible and large area devices. Tunable electronic structures combined with small exciton binding energy, high luminescence efficiency, and low thermal conductivity make nano crystals extremely attractive for FET, memory device, solar cell, solid-state lighting/display, photodetector, and lasing applications. Efforts to harness the nano crystal quantum tunability have led to the successful demonstration of many prototype devices, raising the public awareness to the wide range of solutions that nano technology can provide for an efficient energy economy. This special issue aims to provide the readers with the latest achievements of nano crystals in electronic and optoelectronic applications, including the synthesis and engineering of nano crystals towards the applications and the corresponding device fabrication, characterization and computer modeling.

  4. Identification and Evaluation of Medical Translator Mobile Applications Using an Adapted APPLICATIONS Scoring System.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khander, Amrin; Farag, Sara; Chen, Katherine T

    2017-12-22

    With an increasing number of patients requiring translator services, many providers are turning to mobile applications (apps) for assistance. However, there have been no published reviews of medical translator apps. To identify and evaluate medical translator mobile apps using an adapted APPLICATIONS scoring system. A list of apps was identified from the Apple iTunes and Google Play stores, using the search term, "medical translator." Apps not found on two different searches, not in an English-based platform, not used for translation, or not functional after purchase, were excluded. The remaining apps were evaluated using an adapted APPLICATIONS scoring system, which included both objective and subjective criteria. App comprehensiveness was a weighted score defined by the number of non-English languages included in each app relative to the proportion of non-English speakers in the United States. The Apple iTunes and Google Play stores. Medical translator apps identified using the search term "medical translator." Main Outcomes and Measures: Compilation of medical translator apps for provider usage. A total of 524 apps were initially found. After applying the exclusion criteria, 20 (8.2%) apps from the Google Play store and 26 (9.2%) apps from the Apple iTunes store remained for evaluation. The highest scoring apps, Canopy Medical Translator, Universal Doctor Speaker, and Vocre Translate, scored 13.5 out of 18.7 possible points. A large proportion of apps initially found did not function as medical translator apps. Using the APPLICATIONS scoring system, we have identified and evaluated medical translator apps for providers who care for non-English speaking patients.

  5. Optical Fibre Pressure Sensors in Medical Applications

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sven Poeggel

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available This article is focused on reviewing the current state-of-the-art of optical fibre pressure sensors for medical applications. Optical fibres have inherent advantages due to their small size, immunity to electromagnetic interferences and their suitability for remote monitoring and multiplexing. The small dimensions of optical fibre-based pressure sensors, together with being lightweight and flexible, mean that they are minimally invasive for many medical applications and, thus, particularly suited to in vivo measurement. This means that the sensor can be placed directly inside a patient, e.g., for urodynamic and cardiovascular assessment. This paper presents an overview of the recent developments in optical fibre-based pressure measurements with particular reference to these application areas.

  6. Optical Fibre Pressure Sensors in Medical Applications.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Poeggel, Sven; Tosi, Daniele; Duraibabu, DineshBabu; Leen, Gabriel; McGrath, Deirdre; Lewis, Elfed

    2015-07-15

    This article is focused on reviewing the current state-of-the-art of optical fibre pressure sensors for medical applications. Optical fibres have inherent advantages due to their small size, immunity to electromagnetic interferences and their suitability for remote monitoring and multiplexing. The small dimensions of optical fibre-based pressure sensors, together with being lightweight and flexible, mean that they are minimally invasive for many medical applications and, thus, particularly suited to in vivo measurement. This means that the sensor can be placed directly inside a patient, e.g., for urodynamic and cardiovascular assessment. This paper presents an overview of the recent developments in optical fibre-based pressure measurements with particular reference to these application areas.

  7. Optical Fibre Pressure Sensors in Medical Applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Poeggel, Sven; Tosi, Daniele; Duraibabu, DineshBabu; Leen, Gabriel; McGrath, Deirdre; Lewis, Elfed

    2015-01-01

    This article is focused on reviewing the current state-of-the-art of optical fibre pressure sensors for medical applications. Optical fibres have inherent advantages due to their small size, immunity to electromagnetic interferences and their suitability for remote monitoring and multiplexing. The small dimensions of optical fibre-based pressure sensors, together with being lightweight and flexible, mean that they are minimally invasive for many medical applications and, thus, particularly suited to in vivo measurement. This means that the sensor can be placed directly inside a patient, e.g., for urodynamic and cardiovascular assessment. This paper presents an overview of the recent developments in optical fibre-based pressure measurements with particular reference to these application areas. PMID:26184228

  8. Biomagnetics and bioimaging for medical applications

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ueno, Shoogo [Department of Biomedical Engineering, Graduate School of Medicine, University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033 (Japan)]. E-mail: ueno@medes.m.u-tokyo.ac.jp; Sekino, Masaki [Department of Biomedical Engineering, Graduate School of Medicine, University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033 (Japan)

    2006-09-15

    This paper reviews medical applications of the recently developed techniques in biomagnetics and bioimaging such as transcranial magnetic stimulation, magnetoencephalography, magnetic resonance imaging, cancer therapy based on magnetic stimulation, and magnetic control of cell orientation and cell growth. These techniques are leading medicine and biology into a new horizon through the novel applications of magnetism.

  9. Biomagnetics and bioimaging for medical applications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ueno, Shoogo; Sekino, Masaki

    2006-01-01

    This paper reviews medical applications of the recently developed techniques in biomagnetics and bioimaging such as transcranial magnetic stimulation, magnetoencephalography, magnetic resonance imaging, cancer therapy based on magnetic stimulation, and magnetic control of cell orientation and cell growth. These techniques are leading medicine and biology into a new horizon through the novel applications of magnetism

  10. Rapid application design of an electronic clinical skills portfolio for undergraduate medical students.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dornan, Tim; Lee, Catherine; Stopford, Adam; Hosie, Liam; Maredia, Neil; Rector, Alan

    2005-04-01

    The aim was to find how to use information and communication technology to present the clinical skills content of an undergraduate medical curriculum. Rapid application design was used to develop the product, and technical action research was used to evaluate the development process. A clinician-educator, two medical students, two computing science masters students, two other project workers, and a hospital education informatics lead, formed a design team. A sample of stakeholders took part in requirements planning workshops and continued to advise the team throughout the project. A university hospital had many features that favoured fast, inexpensive, and successful system development: a clearly defined and readily accessible user group; location of the development process close to end-users; fast, informal communication; leadership by highly motivated and senior end-users; devolved authority and lack of any rigidly imposed management structure; cooperation of clinicians because the project drew on their clinical expertise to achieve scholastic goals; a culture of learning and involvement of highly motivated students. A detailed specification was developed through storyboarding, use case diagramming, and evolutionary prototyping. A very usable working product was developed within weeks. "SkillsBase" is a database web application using Microsoft Active Server Pages, served from a Microsoft Windows 2000 Server operating system running Internet Information Server 5.0. Graphing functionality is provided by the KavaChart applet. It presents the skills curriculum, provides a password-protected portfolio function, and offers training materials. The curriculum can be presented in several different ways to help students reflect on their objectives and progress towards achieving them. The reflective portfolio function is entirely private to each student user and allows them to document their progress in attaining skills, as judged by self, peer and tutor assessment, and

  11. Medical Guidelines Presentation and Comparing with Electronic Health Record

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Veselý, Arnošt; Zvárová, Jana; Peleška, Jan; Buchtela, David; Anger, Z.

    2006-01-01

    Roč. 75, č. 3-4 (2006), s. 240-245 ISSN 1386-5056 R&D Projects: GA AV ČR 1ET200300413 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z10300504 Keywords : medical guidelines * electronic health record * GLIF model * reminder facility Subject RIV: IN - Informatics, Computer Science Impact factor: 1.726, year: 2006

  12. Electronic Attendance Application Using Raspberry Pi

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mohd Dzul Aiman Aslan; Saaidi Ismail; Mohamad Safuan Sulaiman

    2016-01-01

    Raspberry Pi is a cheap mini-computer that officially runs on a Linux distribution Operating System (OS) such as Raspbian. It has many input and output mechanisms simulating a computer which make it useful replacement for a computer system. SimpleCV, an open source python-based image processing software and Telegram, a popular social application provide API that allow communication trough a device such as Raspberry Pi. Combining these two, an electronic attendance has been developed using open source basis, and the electronic attendance also provide enhancement of current system that is to record the person face and sending information through Telegram application. The methodology include gathering requirements on remaining system and test it on Linux which will discuss further. This project is serve as a prototype for enhancement of current Commersial Of The Shelf (COTS) electronic attendance that only record ID of the attendees. In the future, the electronic attendance can be enhanced with many features and should be make in-a-box for commercialization. (author)

  13. Applications of VLSI circuits to medical imaging

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    O'Donnell, M.

    1988-01-01

    In this paper the application of advanced VLSI circuits to medical imaging is explored. The relationship of both general purpose signal processing chips and custom devices to medical imaging is discussed using examples of fabricated chips. In addition, advanced CAD tools for silicon compilation are presented. Devices built with these tools represent a possible alternative to custom devices and general purpose signal processors for the next generation of medical imaging systems

  14. Polyetheretherketone (PEEK) for medical applications.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Panayotov, Ivan Vladislavov; Orti, Valérie; Cuisinier, Frédéric; Yachouh, Jacques

    2016-07-01

    Polyetheretherketone (PEEK) is a polyaromatic semi-crystalline thermoplastic polymer with mechanical properties favorable for bio-medical applications. Polyetheretherketone forms: PEEK-LT1, PEEK-LT2, and PEEK-LT3 have already been applied in different surgical fields: spine surgery, orthopedic surgery, maxillo-facial surgery etc. Synthesis of PEEK composites broadens the physicochemical and mechanical properties of PEEK materials. To improve their osteoinductive and antimicrobial capabilities, different types of functionalization of PEEK surfaces and changes in PEEK structure were proposed. PEEK based materials are becoming an important group of biomaterials used for bone and cartilage replacement as well as in a large number of diverse medical fields. The current paper describes the structural changes and the surface functionalization of PEEK materials and their most common biomedical applications. The possibility to use these materials in 3D printing process could increase the scientific interest and their future development as well.

  15. The Physics and Applications of High Brightness Electron Beams

    Science.gov (United States)

    Palumbo, Luigi; Rosenzweig, J.; Serafini, Luca

    2007-09-01

    Plenary sessions. RF deflector based sub-Ps beam diagnostics: application to FEL and advanced accelerators / D. Alesini. Production of fermtosecond pulses and micron beam spots for high brightness electron beam applications / S.G. Anderson ... [et al.]. Wakefields of sub-picosecond electron bunches / K.L.F. Bane. Diamond secondary emitter / I. Ben-Zvi ... [et al.]. Parametric optimization for an X-ray free electron laser with a laser wiggler / R. Bonifacio, N. Piovella and M.M. Cola. Needle cathodes for high-brightness beams / C.H. Boulware ... [et al.]. Non linear evolution of short pulses in FEL cascaded undulators and the FEL harmonic cascade / L. Giannessi and P. Musumeci. High brightness laser induced multi-meV electron/proton sources / D. Giulietti ... [et al.]. Emittance limitation of a conditioned beam in a strong focusing FEL undulator / Z. Huang, G. Stupakov and S. Reiche. Scaled models: space-charge dominated electron storage rings / R.A. Kishek ... [et al.]. High brightness beam applications: energy recovered linacs / G.A. Krafft. Maximizing brightness in photoinjectors / C. Limborg-Deprey and H. Tomizawa. Ultracold electron sources / O.J. Luiten ... [et al.]. Scaling laws of structure-based optical accelerators / A. Mizrahi, V. Karagodsky and L. Schächter. High brightness beams-applications to free-electron lasers / S. Reiche. Conception of photo-injectors for the CTF3 experiment / R. Roux. Superconducting RF photoinjectors: an overview / J. Sekutowicz. Status and perspectives of photo injector developments for high brightness beams / F. Stephan. Results from the UCLA/FNLP underdense plasma lens experiment / M.C. Thompson ... [et al.]. Medical application of multi-beam compton scattering monochromatic tunable hard X-ray source / M. Uesaka ... [et al.]. Design of a 2 kA, 30 fs RF-photoinjector for waterbag compression / S.B. Van Der Geer, O.J. Luiten and M.J. De Loos. Proposal for a high-brightness pulsed electron source / M. Zolotorev ... [et al

  16. Industrial applications of electron beam

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chmielewski, A.G.

    1997-01-01

    The review of industrial applications with use of electron beams has been done. Especially the radiation technologies being developed in Poland have been shown. Industrial installations with electron accelerators as radiation source have been applied for: modification of polymers; modification of thyristors; sterilization of health care materials; radiopreservation of food and other consumer products; purification of combustion flue gases in heat and power plants. 14 refs, 6 tabs, 7 figs

  17. National electronic medical records integration on cloud computing system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mirza, Hebah; El-Masri, Samir

    2013-01-01

    Few Healthcare providers have an advanced level of Electronic Medical Record (EMR) adoption. Others have a low level and most have no EMR at all. Cloud computing technology is a new emerging technology that has been used in other industry and showed a great success. Despite the great features of Cloud computing, they haven't been utilized fairly yet in healthcare industry. This study presents an innovative Healthcare Cloud Computing system for Integrating Electronic Health Record (EHR). The proposed Cloud system applies the Cloud Computing technology on EHR system, to present a comprehensive EHR integrated environment.

  18. Medical applications with synchrotron radiation in Japan

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Takeda, T.; Itai, Y. [Univ. of Tsukuba, Inst. of Clinical Medicine, Tsukuba (Japan); Hyodo, K.; Ando, M. [KEK, Tsukuba (Japan); Akatsuka, T. [Yamagata Univ., Faculty of Engineering, Yamagata (Japan); Uyama, C. [National Cardiovascular Centre, Suita (Japan)

    1998-05-01

    In Japan, various medical applications of synchrotron X-ray imaging, such as angiography, monochromatic X-ray computed tomography (CT), radiography and radiation therapy, are being developed. In particular, coronary arteriography (CAG) is quite an important clinical application of synchrotron radiation. Using a two-dimensional imaging method, the first human intravenous CAG was carried out at KEK in May 1996; however, further improvements of image quality are required in clinical practice. On the other hand, two-dimensional aortographic CAG revealed canine coronary arteries as clearly as those on selective CAG, and coronary arteries less than 0.2 mm in diameter. Among applications of synchrotron radiation to X-ray CT, phase-contrast X-ray CT and fluorescent X-ray CT are expected to be very interesting future applications of synchrotron radiation. For actual clinical applications of synchrotron radiation, a medical beamline and a laboratory are now being constructed at SPring-8 in Harima. 55 refs.

  19. Viewpoints on Medical Image Processing: From Science to Application

    Science.gov (United States)

    Deserno (né Lehmann), Thomas M.; Handels, Heinz; Maier-Hein (né Fritzsche), Klaus H.; Mersmann, Sven; Palm, Christoph; Tolxdorff, Thomas; Wagenknecht, Gudrun; Wittenberg, Thomas

    2013-01-01

    Medical image processing provides core innovation for medical imaging. This paper is focused on recent developments from science to applications analyzing the past fifteen years of history of the proceedings of the German annual meeting on medical image processing (BVM). Furthermore, some members of the program committee present their personal points of views: (i) multi-modality for imaging and diagnosis, (ii) analysis of diffusion-weighted imaging, (iii) model-based image analysis, (iv) registration of section images, (v) from images to information in digital endoscopy, and (vi) virtual reality and robotics. Medical imaging and medical image computing is seen as field of rapid development with clear trends to integrated applications in diagnostics, treatment planning and treatment. PMID:24078804

  20. Viewpoints on Medical Image Processing: From Science to Application.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Deserno Né Lehmann, Thomas M; Handels, Heinz; Maier-Hein Né Fritzsche, Klaus H; Mersmann, Sven; Palm, Christoph; Tolxdorff, Thomas; Wagenknecht, Gudrun; Wittenberg, Thomas

    2013-05-01

    Medical image processing provides core innovation for medical imaging. This paper is focused on recent developments from science to applications analyzing the past fifteen years of history of the proceedings of the German annual meeting on medical image processing (BVM). Furthermore, some members of the program committee present their personal points of views: (i) multi-modality for imaging and diagnosis, (ii) analysis of diffusion-weighted imaging, (iii) model-based image analysis, (iv) registration of section images, (v) from images to information in digital endoscopy, and (vi) virtual reality and robotics. Medical imaging and medical image computing is seen as field of rapid development with clear trends to integrated applications in diagnostics, treatment planning and treatment.

  1. Medical image informatics infrastructure design and applications.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, H K; Wong, S T; Pietka, E

    1997-01-01

    Picture archiving and communication systems (PACS) is a system integration of multimodality images and health information systems designed for improving the operation of a radiology department. As it evolves, PACS becomes a hospital image document management system with a voluminous image and related data file repository. A medical image informatics infrastructure can be designed to take advantage of existing data, providing PACS with add-on value for health care service, research, and education. A medical image informatics infrastructure (MIII) consists of the following components: medical images and associated data (including PACS database), image processing, data/knowledge base management, visualization, graphic user interface, communication networking, and application oriented software. This paper describes these components and their logical connection, and illustrates some applications based on the concept of the MIII.

  2. Applications of Particle Accelerators in Medical Physics

    OpenAIRE

    Cuttone, G

    2008-01-01

    Particle accelerators are often associated to high energy or nuclear physics. As well pointed out in literature [1] if we kindly analyse the number of installation worldwide we can easily note that about 50% is mainly devoted to medical applications (radiotherapy, medical radioisotopes production, biomedical research). Particle accelerators are also playing an important indirect role considering the improvement of the technical features of medical diagnostic. In fact the use of radionuclide f...

  3. A study of general practitioners' perspectives on electronic medical records systems in NHSScotland.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bouamrane, Matt-Mouley; Mair, Frances S

    2013-05-21

    Primary care doctors in NHSScotland have been using electronic medical records within their practices routinely for many years. The Scottish Health Executive eHealth strategy (2008-2011) has recently brought radical changes to the primary care computing landscape in Scotland: an information system (GPASS) which was provided free-of-charge by NHSScotland to a majority of GP practices has now been replaced by systems provided by two approved commercial providers. The transition to new electronic medical records had to be completed nationally across all health-boards by March 2012. We carried out 25 in-depth semi-structured interviews with primary care doctors to elucidate GPs' perspectives on their practice information systems and collect more general information on management processes in the patient surgical pathway in NHSScotland. We undertook a thematic analysis of interviewees' responses, using Normalisation Process Theory as the underpinning conceptual framework. The majority of GPs' interviewed considered that electronic medical records are an integral and essential element of their work during the consultation, playing a key role in facilitating integrated and continuity of care for patients and making clinical information more accessible. However, GPs expressed a number of reservations about various system functionalities - for example: in relation to usability, system navigation and information visualisation. Our study highlights that while electronic information systems are perceived as having important benefits, there remains substantial scope to improve GPs' interaction and overall satisfaction with these systems. Iterative user-centred improvements combined with additional training in the use of technology would promote an increased understanding, familiarity and command of the range of functionalities of electronic medical records among primary care doctors.

  4. Perception of electronic medical records (EMRs by nursing staff in a teaching hospital in India

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Naveen Kumar Pera

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Background: Currently, in India, many healthcare organizations and their managements appreciate the advantages of electronic medical records, but they often use them. The current push for universal health coverage in India with National Rural Health Mission (NRHM and National Urban Health Mission (NUHM helping toward healthcare reforms highlights the importance of implementing information technology as a means of cutting costs and improving efficiency in healthcare field. The quality of documentation of patient care rendered at healthcare destinations is very important to showcase the growing stature of healthcare in India. Aims: As maintaining the medical records is very important, storage and retrieval of the information is also important for future patient care. In this regard, implementation of electronic medical records in hospitals is essential. Through this study, we wanted to highlight the perceptions of healthcare personnel, who are in the core team of delivering healthcare, toward implementation of electronic medical records. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out among doctors (post-graduates and staff nurses. The sample size for post-graduate students and nurses was 164 and 296, respectively, in this study. The study was carried out during the period from January to June 2013, and a survey was conducted with the help of a validated, pre-tested questionnaire in a tertiary care medical college hospital in India. Results: The results showed that 75% of the study population are comfortable working with electronic medical records. They mentioned that display of diagnosis, medications, and allergies of patients on the records was most important. Their perception was that electronic medical records improve timely decision-making and patient care due to immediate access to the patient′s disease history. Conclusion: The major problems faced by nurses, as per our study, are delay in services due to dispersion of records

  5. Incorporation of medical informatics and information technology as core components of undergraduate medical education - time for change!

    Science.gov (United States)

    Otto, Anthony; Kushniruk, Andre

    2009-01-01

    It is generally accepted that Information Technology (IT) is a highly desirable and a very necessary ingredient of modern health care. Review of available literature reveals a paucity of medical informatics and information technology courses in undergraduate medical curricula and a lack of research to assess the effectiveness of medical informatics in undergraduate medical education. The need for such initiatives is discussed and a pilot project is described that evaluated the effectiveness of education in the use of Electronic Medical Record (EMR) applications. Educational activities, for example, could be medical students conducting virtual medical encounters or interacting with EMR applications. An EMR application, which was used in several related projects, has been adapted to the educational environment: standardized patient records can be created and cloned so that individual students can interact with a "standard" patient and alter the patient's data.

  6. Medical applications for biomaterials in Bolivia

    CERN Document Server

    Arias, Susan

    2015-01-01

    This book investigates the potential medical benefits natural biomaterials can offer in developing countries by analyzing the case of Bolivia. The book explores the medical and health related applications of Bolivian commodities: quinoa, barley, sugarcane, corn, sorghum and sunflower seeds. This book helps readers better understand some of the key health concerns facing countries like Bolivia and how naturally derived biomaterials and therapeutics could help substantially alleviate many of their problems.

  7. Medication-use evaluation with a Web application.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Burk, Muriel; Moore, Von; Glassman, Peter; Good, Chester B; Emmendorfer, Thomas; Leadholm, Thomas C; Cunningham, Francesca

    2013-12-15

    A Web-based application for coordinating medication-use evaluation (MUE) initiatives within the Veterans Affairs (VA) health care system is described. The MUE Tracker (MUET) software program was created to improve VA's ability to conduct national medication-related interventions throughout its network of 147 medical centers. MUET initiatives are centrally coordinated by the VA Center for Medication Safety (VAMedSAFE), which monitors the agency's integrated databases for indications of suboptimal prescribing or drug therapy monitoring and adverse treatment outcomes. When a pharmacovigilance signal is detected, VAMedSAFE identifies "trigger groups" of at-risk veterans and uploads patient lists to the secure MUET application, where locally designated personnel (typically pharmacists) can access and use the data to target risk-reduction efforts. Local data on patient-specific interventions are stored in a centralized database and regularly updated to enable tracking and reporting for surveillance and quality-improvement purposes; aggregated data can be further analyzed for provider education and benchmarking. In a three-year pilot project, the MUET program was found effective in promoting improved prescribing of erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESAs) and enhanced laboratory monitoring of ESA-treated patients in all specified trigger groups. The MUET initiative has since been expanded to target other high-risk drugs, and efforts are underway to refine the tool for broader utility. The MUET application has enabled the increased standardization of medication safety initiatives across the VA system and may serve as a useful model for the development of pharmacovigilance tools by other large integrated health care systems.

  8. Using electronic clinical practice audits as needs assessment to produce effective continuing medical education programming.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Klein, Doug; Staples, John; Pittman, Carmen; Stepanko, Cheryl

    2012-01-01

    The traditional needs assessment used in developing continuing medical education programs typically relies on surveying physicians and tends to only capture perceived learning needs. Instead, using tools available in electronic medical record systems to perform a clinical audit on a physician's practice highlights physician-specific practice patterns. The purpose of this study was to test the feasibility of implementing an electronic clinical audit needs assessment process for family physicians in Canada. A clinical audit of 10 preventative care interventions and 10 chronic disease interventions was performed on family physician practices in Alberta, Canada. The physicians used the results from the audit to produce personalized learning needs, which were then translated into educational programming. A total of 26 family practices and 4489 patient records were audited. Documented completion rates for interventions ranged from 13% for ensuring a patient's tetanus vaccine is current to 97% of pregnant patients receiving the recommended prenatal vitamins. Electronic medical record-based needs assessments may provide a better basis for developing continuing medical education than a more traditional survey-based needs assessment. This electronic needs assessment uses the physician's own patient outcome information to assist in determining learning objectives that reflect both perceived and unperceived needs.

  9. Quality of Co-Prescribing NSAID and Gastroprotective Medications for Elders in The Netherlands and Its Association with the Electronic Medical Record

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Opondo, Dedan; Visscher, Stefan; Eslami, Saeid; Verheij, Robert A.; Korevaar, Joke C.; Abu-Hanna, Ameen

    2015-01-01

    To assess guideline adherence of co-prescribing NSAID and gastroprotective medications for elders in general practice over time, and investigate its potential association with the electronic medical record (EMR) system brand used. We included patients 65 years and older who received NSAIDs between

  10. Quality of co-prescribing NSAID and gastroprotective medications for elders in The Netherlands and its association with the electronic medical record.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Opondo, D.; Visscher, S.; Eslami, S.; Verheij, R.A.; Korevaar, J.C.; Abu-Hanna, A.

    2015-01-01

    Objective: To assess guideline adherence of co-prescribing NSAID and gastroprotective medications for elders in general practice over time, and investigate its potential association with the electronic medical record (EMR) system brand used. Methods: We included patients 65 years and older who

  11. Stretchable electronics for wearable and high-current applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hilbich, Daniel; Shannon, Lesley; Gray, Bonnie L.

    2016-04-01

    Advances in the development of novel materials and fabrication processes are resulting in an increased number of flexible and stretchable electronics applications. This evolving technology enables new devices that are not readily fabricated using traditional silicon processes, and has the potential to transform many industries, including personalized healthcare, consumer electronics, and communication. Fabrication of stretchable devices is typically achieved through the use of stretchable polymer-based conductors, or more rigid conductors, such as metals, with patterned geometries that can accommodate stretching. Although the application space for stretchable electronics is extensive, the practicality of these devices can be severely limited by power consumption and cost. Moreover, strict process flows can impede innovation that would otherwise enable new applications. In an effort to overcome these impediments, we present two modified approaches and applications based on a newly developed process for stretchable and flexible electronics fabrication. This includes the development of a metallization pattern stamping process allowing for 1) stretchable interconnects to be directly integrated with stretchable/wearable fabrics, and 2) a process variation enabling aligned multi-layer devices with integrated ferromagnetic nanocomposite polymer components enabling a fully-flexible electromagnetic microactuator for large-magnitude magnetic field generation. The wearable interconnects are measured, showing high conductivity, and can accommodate over 20% strain before experiencing conductive failure. The electromagnetic actuators have been fabricated and initial measurements show well-aligned, highly conductive, isolated metal layers. These two applications demonstrate the versatility of the newly developed process and suggest potential for its furthered use in stretchable electronics and MEMS applications.

  12. User experience integrated life-style cloud-based medical application.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Serban, Alexandru; Lupşe, Oana Sorina; Stoicu-Tivadar, Lăcrămioara

    2015-01-01

    Having a modern application capable to automatically collect and process data from users, based on information and lifestyle answers is one of current challenges for researchers and medical science. The purpose of the current study is to integrate user experience design (UXD) in a cloud-based medical application to improve patient safety, quality of care and organizational efficiency. The process consists of collecting traditional and new data from patients and users using online questionnaires. A questionnaire dynamically asks questions about the user's current diet and lifestyle. After the user will introduce the data, the application will formulate a presumptive nutritional plan and will suggest different medical recommendations regarding a healthy lifestyle, and calculates a risk factor for diseases. This software application, by design and usability will be an efficient tool dedicated for fitness, nutrition and health professionals.

  13. Applications of Organic and Printed Electronics A Technology-Enabled Revolution

    CERN Document Server

    2013-01-01

    Organic and printed electronics can enable a revolution in the applications of electronics and this book offers readers an overview of the state-of-the-art in this rapidly evolving domain.  The potentially low cost, compatibility with flexible substrates and the wealth of devices that characterize organic and printed electronics will make possible applications that go far beyond the well-known displays made with large-area silicon electronics. Since organic electronics are still in their early stage, undergoing transition from lab-scale and prototype activities to production, this book serves as a valuable snapshot of the current landscape of the different devices enabled by this technology, reviewing all applications that are developing and those can be foreseen.   Provides a complete roadmap for organic and printed electronics research and development for the next several years; Includes an overview of the printing processes for organic electronics, along with state of the art applications, such as solar ...

  14. Commercialization of an S-band standing-wave electron accelerator for industrial applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moon, Jin-Hyeok; Kwak, Gyeong-Il; Han, Jae-Ik; Lee, Gyu-Baek; Jeon, Seong-Hwan; Kim, Jae-Young; Hwang, Cheol-Bin; Lee, Gi-Yong; Kim, Young-Man; Park, Sung-Ju

    2016-09-01

    An electron accelerator system has been developed for use in industrial, as well as possible medical, applications. Based on our experiences achieved during prototype system development and various electron beam acceleration tests, we have built a stable and compact system for sales purposes. We have integrated a self-developed accelerating cavity, an E-gun pulse driver, a radio-frequency (RF) power system, a vacuum system, a cooling system, etc. into a frame with a size of 1800 × 1000 × 1500 mm3. The accelerating structure is a side-coupled standing-wave type operating in the π/2 mode (tuned to~3 GHz). The RF power is provided by using a magnetron driven by a solid-state modulator. The electron gun is a triode type with a dispenser cathode (diameter of 11 mm). The system is capable of delivering a maximum 900-W average electron beam power with tight focusing at the target. Until now, we have performed various electron beam tests and X-ray beam tests after having built the system, have completed the beam assessment for commercializations, and have been preparing full-fledged sales activity. This article reports on our system development processes and on some of our early test results for commercializations.

  15. Advances in electronic-nose technologies developed for biomedical applications.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wilson, Alphus D; Baietto, Manuela

    2011-01-01

    The research and development of new electronic-nose applications in the biomedical field has accelerated at a phenomenal rate over the past 25 years. Many innovative e-nose technologies have provided solutions and applications to a wide variety of complex biomedical and healthcare problems. The purposes of this review are to present a comprehensive analysis of past and recent biomedical research findings and developments of electronic-nose sensor technologies, and to identify current and future potential e-nose applications that will continue to advance the effectiveness and efficiency of biomedical treatments and healthcare services for many years. An abundance of electronic-nose applications has been developed for a variety of healthcare sectors including diagnostics, immunology, pathology, patient recovery, pharmacology, physical therapy, physiology, preventative medicine, remote healthcare, and wound and graft healing. Specific biomedical e-nose applications range from uses in biochemical testing, blood-compatibility evaluations, disease diagnoses, and drug delivery to monitoring of metabolic levels, organ dysfunctions, and patient conditions through telemedicine. This paper summarizes the major electronic-nose technologies developed for healthcare and biomedical applications since the late 1980s when electronic aroma detection technologies were first recognized to be potentially useful in providing effective solutions to problems in the healthcare industry.

  16. Advances in Electronic-Nose Technologies Developed for Biomedical Applications

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alphus D. Wilson

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available The research and development of new electronic-nose applications in the biomedical field has accelerated at a phenomenal rate over the past 25 years. Many innovative e-nose technologies have provided solutions and applications to a wide variety of complex biomedical and healthcare problems. The purposes of this review are to present a comprehensive analysis of past and recent biomedical research findings and developments of electronic-nose sensor technologies, and to identify current and future potential e-nose applications that will continue to advance the effectiveness and efficiency of biomedical treatments and healthcare services for many years. An abundance of electronic-nose applications has been developed for a variety of healthcare sectors including diagnostics, immunology, pathology, patient recovery, pharmacology, physical therapy, physiology, preventative medicine, remote healthcare, and wound and graft healing. Specific biomedical e-nose applications range from uses in biochemical testing, blood-compatibility evaluations, disease diagnoses, and drug delivery to monitoring of metabolic levels, organ dysfunctions, and patient conditions through telemedicine. This paper summarizes the major electronic-nose technologies developed for healthcare and biomedical applications since the late 1980s when electronic aroma detection technologies were first recognized to be potentially useful in providing effective solutions to problems in the healthcare industry.

  17. Medical applications of diamond particles & surfaces

    OpenAIRE

    Roger J Narayan; Ryan D. Boehm; Anirudha V. Sumant

    2011-01-01

    Diamond has been considered for use in several medical applications due to its unique mechanical, chemical, optical, and biological properties. In this paper, methods for preparing synthetic diamond surfaces and particles are described. In addition, recent developments involving the use of diamond in prostheses, sensing, imaging, and drug delivery applications are reviewed. These developments suggest that diamond-containing structures will provide significant improvements in the diagnosis and...

  18. Medical guidelines presentation and comparing with Electronic Health Record.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Veselý, Arnost; Zvárová, Jana; Peleska, Jan; Buchtela, David; Anger, Zdenek

    2006-01-01

    Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems are now being developed in many places. More advanced systems provide also reminder facilities, usually based on if-then rules. In this paper we propose a method how to build the reminder facility directly upon the guideline interchange format (GLIF) model of medical guidelines. The method compares data items on the input of EHR system with medical guidelines GLIF model and is able to reveal if the input data item, that represents patient diagnosis or proposed patient treatment, contradicts with medical guidelines or not. The reminder facility can be part of EHR system itself or it can be realized by a stand-alone reminder system (SRS). The possible architecture of stand-alone reminder system is described in this paper and the advantages of stand-alone solution are discussed. The part of the EHR system could be also a browser that would present graphical GLIF model in easy to understand manner on the user screen. This browser can be data driven and focus attention of user to the relevant part of medical guidelines GLIF model.

  19. Survey of potential electronic applications of high temperature superconductors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hammond, R.B.; Bourne, L.C.

    1991-01-01

    In this paper the authors present a survey of the potential electronic applications of high temperature superconductor (HTSC) thin films. During the past four years there has been substantial speculation on this topic. The authors will cover only a small fraction of the potential electronic applications that have been identified. Their treatment is influenced by the developments over the past few years in materials and device development and in market analysis. They present their view of the most promising potential applications. Superconductors have two important properties that make them attractive for electronic applications. These are (a) low surface resistance at high frequencies, and (b) the Josephson effect

  20. Nano materials for Medical and Dental Applications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yub Kwon, T.; Oh, D.S.; Narayanan, R.

    2015-01-01

    Welcome to this special issue. Nano science and nano technology concepts are applicable across all fields of science and a more widespread application of nano materials and nano technologies is imminent or already occurring in many areas, including health care. Today is scientists take those cutting-edge technologies and concepts and apply them to medicine and dentistry. They are finding a wide variety of ways to make medical and dental materials at the nano scale to take advantage of their enhanced physical and biological properties.The purpose of this special issue is to publish high-quality research papers as well as review articles addressing recent advances in the field of nano materials for medical and dental applications. A particular interest is given to papers exploring or discussing nano materials and nano technologies related to delivery system, bonding substitutes, and surface modification techniques applicable in these areas. For this special issue, several investigators were invited to contribute original research findings that can stimulate continuing efforts to understand the cutting-edge applications of nano materials in medicine and dentistry.

  1. [Electronic medical records in Bosnia-Herzegovina. The electronic card--the medical record of the future in Boznia-Herzegovina].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Masić, I; Pandza, H; Ridanović, Z; Dover, M

    1997-01-01

    The biggest problem in organisation of the effective and rational health care of good quality in Bosnia quality and Herzegovina is a functional and updated Health Information System. In this system, important role play Health Statistic System in which documentation and evidence are very important segment. Developed countries proceeded from the manual and semiautomatic method of medical data processing and system management to the new methods of entering, storage, transfer, searching and protection of data using electronic equipment. Recently, the competition between manufacturers of the Smart Card and Laser Card is reality. Also scientific and professional debate exists about the standard card for storage of medical information in Health Care System. First option is supported by West European countries that developing Smart Card called Eurocard and second by USA and Far East countries. Because the Health Care System and other segments of Society of Bosnia and Herzegovina innovate intensively similar systems, the authors of this article intend to open discussion, and to show advantages and failures of each technological medium.

  2. A special designed library for medical imaging applications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lymberopoulos, D.; Kotsopoulos, S.; Zoupas, V.; Yoldassis, N.; Spyropoulos, C.

    1994-01-01

    The present paper deals with a sophisticated and flexible library of medical purpose image processing routines. It contains modules for simple as well as advanced gray or colour image processing. This library offers powerful features for medical image processing and analysis applications, thus providing the physician with a means of analyzing and estimating medical images in order to accomplish their diagnostic procedures

  3. Building clinical data groups for electronic medical record in China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tu, Haibo; Yu, Yingtao; Yang, Peng; Tang, Xuejun; Hu, Jianping; Rao, Keqin; Pan, Feng; Xu, Yongyong; Liu, Danhong

    2012-04-01

    This article aims at building clinical data groups for Electronic Medical Records (EMR) in China. These data groups can be reused as basic information units in building the medical sheets of Electronic Medical Record Systems (EMRS) and serve as part of its implementation guideline. The results were based on medical sheets, the forms that are used in hospitals, which were collected from hospitals. To categorize the information in these sheets into data groups, we adopted the Health Level 7 Clinical Document Architecture Release 2 Model (HL7 CDA R2 Model). The regulations and legal documents concerning health informatics and related standards in China were implemented. A set of 75 data groups with 452 data elements was created. These data elements were atomic items that comprised the data groups. Medical sheet items contained clinical records information and could be described by standard data elements that exist in current health document protocols. These data groups match different units of the CDA model. Twelve data groups with 87 standardized data elements described EMR headers, and 63 data groups with 405 standardized data elements constituted the body. The later 63 data groups in fact formed the sections of the model. The data groups had two levels. Those at the first level contained both the second level data groups and the standardized data elements. The data groups were basically reusable information units that served as guidelines for building EMRS and that were used to rebuild a medical sheet and serve as templates for the clinical records. As a pilot study of health information standards in China, the development of EMR data groups combined international standards with Chinese national regulations and standards, and this was the most critical part of the research. The original medical sheets from hospitals contain first hand medical information, and some of their items reveal the data types characteristic of the Chinese socialist national health system

  4. Ferrite nanoparticles: Synthesis, characterisation and applications in electronic device

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kefeni, Kebede K., E-mail: kkefeni@gmail.com; Msagati, Titus A.M.; Mamba, Bhekie B.

    2017-01-15

    Highlights: • Available synthesis methods of ferrite nanoparticles (FNPs) are briefly reviewed. • Summary of the advantage and limitation of FNPs synthesis techniques are presented. • The existing most common FNPs characterisation techniques are briefly reviewed. • Major application areas of FNPs in electronic materials are reviewed. - Abstract: Ferrite nanoparticles (FNPs) have attracted a great interest due to their wide applications in several areas such as biomedical, wastewater treatment, catalyst and electronic device. This review focuses on the synthesis, characterisation and application of FNPs in electronic device with more emphasis on the recently published works. The most commonly used synthesis techniques along with their advantages and limitations are discussed. The available characterisation techniques and their application in electronic materials such as sensors and biosensors, energy storage, microwave device, electromagnetic interference shielding and high-density recording media are briefly reviewed.

  5. Applications in Electronics Pervading Industry, Environment and Society

    CERN Document Server

    2016-01-01

    This book provides a thorough overview of cutting-edge research on electronics applications relevant to industry, the environment, and society at large. A wide spectrum of application domains are covered, from automotive to space and from health to security, and special attention is devoted to the use of embedded devices and sensors for imaging, communication, and control. The book is based on the 2014 APPLEPIES Conference, held in Rome, which brought together researchers and stakeholders to consider the most significant current trends in the field of applied electronics and to debate visions for the future. Areas covered by the conference included information communication technology; biotechnology and biomedical imaging; space; secure, clean, and efficient energy; the environment; and smart, green, and integrated transport. As electronics technology continues to develop apace, constantly meeting previously unthinkable targets, further attention needs to be directed toward the electronics applications and th...

  6. Nuclear data for medical applications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Capote, Roberto

    2011-01-01

    Nuclear science plays an increasingly important role in medical applications, in particular the need for radioisotopes in both cancer therapy and diagnostic techniques is very well established. Over the previous thirty years, many laboratories have reported a significant body of experimental data relevant to medical radionuclide production, and international data centres have compiled most of these data. However, till late 90s no systematic effort had been devoted to their standardization and assembly. These needs are being addressed through three IAEA Coordinated Research Projects on Nuclear Data for the Production of Radionuclides that started in 1999. Monitor cross sections to be used in charged particle measurements have been also evaluated (see http://www-nds.iaea.org/medical/monitor reactions.html). A review of IAEA recommended cross sections for the production of medical radioisotopes will be presented. Theoretical modelling of nuclear reactions will be discussed both for nuclear data evaluation and validation. The role of the Recommended Input Parameter Library (RIPL) in defining the input for production codes like EMPIRE and TALYS will be highlighted. (author)

  7. Materials and applications of bioresorbable electronics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Xian

    2018-01-01

    Bioresorbable electronics is a new type of electronics technology that can potentially lead to biodegradable and dissolvable electronic devices to replace current built-to-last circuits predominantly used in implantable devices and consumer electronics. Such devices dissolve in an aqueous environment in time periods from seconds to months, and generate biological safe products. This paper reviews materials, fabrication techniques, and applications of bioresorbable electronics, and aims to inspire more revolutionary bioresorbable systems that can generate broader social and economic impact. Existing challenges and potential solutions in developing bioresorbable electronics have also been presented to arouse more joint research efforts in this field to build systematic technology framework. Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 61604108) and the Natural Science Foundation of Tianjin (No. 16JCYBJC40600).

  8. 15 CFR Notes Applicable to State... - Notes applicable to State of Understanding related to Medical Equipment:

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 15 Commerce and Foreign Trade 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Notes applicable to State of Understanding related to Medical Equipment: applicable Notes applicable to State of Understanding related to Medical Equipment: Commerce and Foreign Trade Regulations Relating to Commerce and Foreign Trade (Continued) BUREAU OF INDUSTRY AND SECURITY,...

  9. Interoperability of medical device information and the clinical applications: an HL7 RMIM based on the ISO/IEEE 11073 DIM.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yuksel, Mustafa; Dogac, Asuman

    2011-07-01

    Medical devices are essential to the practice of modern healthcare services. Their benefits will increase if clinical software applications can seamlessly acquire the medical device data. The need to represent medical device observations in a format that can be consumable by clinical applications has already been recognized by the industry. Yet, the solutions proposed involve bilateral mappings from the ISO/IEEE 11073 Domain Information Model (DIM) to specific message or document standards. Considering that there are many different types of clinical applications such as the electronic health record and the personal health record systems, the clinical workflows, and the clinical decision support systems each conforming to different standard interfaces, detailing a mapping mechanism for every one of them introduces significant work and, thus, limits the potential health benefits of medical devices. In this paper, to facilitate the interoperability of clinical applications and the medical device data, we use the ISO/IEEE 11073 DIM to derive an HL7 v3 Refined Message Information Model (RMIM) of the medical device domain from the HL7 v3 Reference Information Mode (RIM). This makes it possible to trace the medical device data back to a standard common denominator, that is, HL7 v3 RIM from which all the other medical domains under HL7 v3 are derived. Hence, once the medical device data are obtained in the RMIM format, it can easily be transformed into HL7-based standard interfaces through XML transformations because these interfaces all have their building blocks from the same RIM. To demonstrate this, we provide the mappings from the developed RMIM to some of the widely used HL7 v3-based standard interfaces.

  10. High-performance floating-point image computing workstation for medical applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mills, Karl S.; Wong, Gilman K.; Kim, Yongmin

    1990-07-01

    The medical imaging field relies increasingly on imaging and graphics techniques in diverse applications with needs similar to (or more stringent than) those of the military, industrial and scientific communities. However, most image processing and graphics systems available for use in medical imaging today are either expensive, specialized, or in most cases both. High performance imaging and graphics workstations which can provide real-time results for a number of applications, while maintaining affordability and flexibility, can facilitate the application of digital image computing techniques in many different areas. This paper describes the hardware and software architecture of a medium-cost floating-point image processing and display subsystem for the NeXT computer, and its applications as a medical imaging workstation. Medical imaging applications of the workstation include use in a Picture Archiving and Communications System (PACS), in multimodal image processing and 3-D graphics workstation for a broad range of imaging modalities, and as an electronic alternator utilizing its multiple monitor display capability and large and fast frame buffer. The subsystem provides a 2048 x 2048 x 32-bit frame buffer (16 Mbytes of image storage) and supports both 8-bit gray scale and 32-bit true color images. When used to display 8-bit gray scale images, up to four different 256-color palettes may be used for each of four 2K x 2K x 8-bit image frames. Three of these image frames can be used simultaneously to provide pixel selectable region of interest display. A 1280 x 1024 pixel screen with 1: 1 aspect ratio can be windowed into the frame buffer for display of any portion of the processed image or images. In addition, the system provides hardware support for integer zoom and an 82-color cursor. This subsystem is implemented on an add-in board occupying a single slot in the NeXT computer. Up to three boards may be added to the NeXT for multiple display capability (e

  11. The application of electron paramagnetic resonance in biomedical research

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Qu Ximei; Wang Liqin; Zhang Wenyi; Liu Zhongchao; Cui Songye; Feng Xin; Jiaoling

    2013-01-01

    Electron paramagnetic resonance technique has been found more than half a century, for free radicals detection application, it has been applied to various research studies, and promotes the development of the biomedicine. This article summarized the various free radicals measurement by the electron paramagnetic resonance in biology tissue, and the application of the spin labeling and electron paramagnetic resonance imaging technology in biomedicine. (authors)

  12. [Standards in Medical Informatics: Fundamentals and Applications].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Suárez-Obando, Fernando; Camacho Sánchez, Jhon

    2013-09-01

    The use of computers in medical practice has enabled novel forms of communication to be developed in health care. The optimization of communication processes is achieved through the use of standards to harmonize the exchange of information and provide a common language for all those involved. This article describes the concept of a standard applied to medical informatics and its importance in the development of various applications, such as computational representation of medical knowledge, disease classification and coding systems, medical literature searches and integration of biological and clinical sciences. Copyright © 2013 Asociación Colombiana de Psiquiatría. Publicado por Elsevier España. All rights reserved.

  13. Proceedings of the national conference on vacuum electronic devices and applications: souvenir and extended abstracts

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2012-01-01

    Vacuum electronic devices have carved out a strategic niche for themselves in the areas of satellite based communications and broadcasting, industrial and medical accelerators, and, high power RF systems required in high energy particle accelerators, accelerator driven sub-critical systems, plasma heating systems in nuclear fusion reactors for power generation etc. Besides, these devices continue to have their major applications in various defence related communication, RADAR and ECM systems. Papers relevant to INIS are indexed separately

  14. Outpatients flow management and ophthalmic electronic medical records system in university hospital using Yahgee Document View.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Matsuo, Toshihiko; Gochi, Akira; Hirakawa, Tsuyoshi; Ito, Tadashi; Kohno, Yoshihisa

    2010-10-01

    General electronic medical records systems remain insufficient for ophthalmology outpatient clinics from the viewpoint of dealing with many ophthalmic examinations and images in a large number of patients. Filing systems for documents and images by Yahgee Document View (Yahgee, Inc.) were introduced on the platform of general electronic medical records system (Fujitsu, Inc.). Outpatients flow management system and electronic medical records system for ophthalmology were constructed. All images from ophthalmic appliances were transported to Yahgee Image by the MaxFile gateway system (P4 Medic, Inc.). The flow of outpatients going through examinations such as visual acuity testing were monitored by the list "Ophthalmology Outpatients List" by Yahgee Workflow in addition to the list "Patients Reception List" by Fujitsu. Patients' identification number was scanned with bar code readers attached to ophthalmic appliances. Dual monitors were placed in doctors' rooms to show Fujitsu Medical Records on the left-hand monitor and ophthalmic charts of Yahgee Document on the right-hand monitor. The data of manually-inputted visual acuity, automatically-exported autorefractometry and non-contact tonometry on a new template, MaxFile ED, were again automatically transported to designated boxes on ophthalmic charts of Yahgee Document. Images such as fundus photographs, fluorescein angiograms, optical coherence tomographic and ultrasound scans were viewed by Yahgee Image, and were copy-and-pasted to assigned boxes on the ophthalmic charts. Ordering such as appointments, drug prescription, fees and diagnoses input, central laboratory tests, surgical theater and ward room reservations were placed by functions of the Fujitsu electronic medical records system. The combination of the Fujitsu electronic medical records and Yahgee Document View systems enabled the University Hospital to examine the same number of outpatients as prior to the implementation of the computerized filing system.

  15. Audit on the Use of Dangerous Abbreviations, Symbols, and Dose Designations in Paper Compared to Electronic Medication Orders: A Multicenter Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cheung, Stephanie; Hoi, Sannifer; Fernandes, Olavo; Huh, Jin; Kynicos, Sara; Murphy, Laura; Lowe, Donna

    2018-04-01

    Dangerous abbreviations on the Institute for Safe Medication Practices Canada's "Do Not Use" list have resulted in medication errors leading to harm. Data comparing rates of use of dangerous abbreviations in paper and electronic medication orders are limited. To compare rates of use of dangerous abbreviations from the "Do Not Use" list, in paper and electronic medication orders. Secondary objectives include determining the proportion of patients at risk for medication errors due to dangerous abbreviations and the most commonly used dangerous abbreviations. One-day cross-sectional audits of medication orders were conducted at a 6-site hospital network in Toronto, Canada, between December 2013 and January 2014. Proportions of paper and electronic medication orders containing dangerous abbreviation(s) were compared using a χ 2 test. The proportion of patients with at least 1 medication order containing dangerous abbreviation(s) and the top 5 dangerous abbreviations used were described. Overall, 255 patient charts were reviewed. The proportions of paper and electronic medication orders containing dangerous abbreviation(s) were 172/714 (24.1%) and 9/2207 (0.4%), respectively ( P < 0.001). Almost one-third of patients had medication order(s) containing dangerous abbreviation(s). The proportions of patients with at least 1 medication order during the audit period containing dangerous abbreviation(s) for patients with paper only, electronic only, or a hybrid of paper and electronic medication orders were 50.5%, 5%, and 47.2%, respectively. Those most commonly used were "D/C", drug name abbreviations, "OD," "cc," and "U." Electronic medication orders have significantly lower rates of dangerous abbreviation use compared to paper medication orders.

  16. A special designed library for medical imaging applications

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lymberopoulos, D; Kotsopoulos, S; Zoupas, V; Yoldassis, N [Departmeent of Electrical Engineering, University of Patras, Patras 26 110 Greece (Greece); Spyropoulos, C [School of Medicine, Regional University Hospital, University of Patras, Patras 26 110 Greece (Greece)

    1994-12-31

    The present paper deals with a sophisticated and flexible library of medical purpose image processing routines. It contains modules for simple as well as advanced gray or colour image processing. This library offers powerful features for medical image processing and analysis applications, thus providing the physician with a means of analyzing and estimating medical images in order to accomplish their diagnostic procedures. 6 refs, 1 figs.

  17. Metal nanoparticles (other than gold or silver) prepared using plant extracts for medical applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pasca, Roxana-Diana; Santa, Szabolcs; Racz, Levente Zsolt; Racz, Csaba Pal

    2016-12-01

    There are many modalities to prepare metal nanoparticles, but the reducing of the metal ions with plant extracts is one of the most promising because it is considerate less toxic for the environment, suitable for the use of those nanoparticles in vivo and not very expensive. Various metal ions have been already studied such as: cobalt, copper, iron, platinum, palladium, zinc, indium, manganese and mercury and the number of plant extracts used is continuously increasing. The prepared systems were characterized afterwards with a great number of methods of investigation: both spectroscopic (especially UV-Vis spectroscopy) and microscopic (in principal, electron microscopy-TEM) methods. The applications of the metal nanoparticles obtained are diverse and not completely known, but the medical applications of such nanoparticles occupy a central place, due to their nontoxic components, but some diverse industrial applications do not have to be forgotten.

  18. Bespoke automation of medical workforce rostering using Google’s free cloud applications

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Peter Benjamin Michael Thomas

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Background: Providing safe and consistent care requires optimal deployment of medical staff. Ensuring this happens is a significant administrative burden due to complex working patterns. Objective: To describe a pilot feasibility study of the automation of medical duty rostering in a busy tertiary Ophthalmology department. Methods: A cloud based web application was created using Google’s free cloud services. Users access the system via a website which hosts live rosters, and use electronic forms to submit requests which are automatically handled by Google App Scripts. Results: Over a 2-year period (8/2014-6/2016, the system processed 563 leave requests and 300 on call swaps automatically. 3,300 emails and 1,000 forms were automatically generated. User satisfaction was 100% (n=24. Discussion: Many time consuming aspects of roster management were automated with significant time savings to all parties, allowing increased clinical time for doctors involved in administration. Planning for safe staffing levels was supported.

  19. Formalized Medical Guidelines and a Structured Electronic Health Record.

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Peleška, Jan; Anger, Z.; Buchtela, David; Šebesta, K.; Tomečková, Marie; Veselý, Arnošt; Zvára, K.; Zvárová, Jana

    2005-01-01

    Roč. 11, - (2005), s. 4652-4656 ISSN 1727-1983. [EMBEC'05. European Medical and Biomedical Conference /3./. Prague, 20.11.2005-25.11.2005] R&D Projects: GA AV ČR 1ET200300413 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z10300504 Keywords : formalization of guidelines in cardilogy * GLIF model * structure electronic health record * algorithm in cardiovascular diagnostics and treatment Subject RIV: BD - Theory of Information

  20. Prevalence and usage of printed and electronic drug references and patient medication records in community pharmacies in Malaysia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Usir, Ezlina; Lua, Pei Lin; Majeed, Abu Bakar Abdul

    2012-06-01

    This study aimed to determine the availability and usage of printed and electronic references and Patient Medication Record in community pharmacy. It was conducted for over 3 months from 15 January to 30 April 2007. Ninety-three pharmacies participated. Structured questionnaires were mailed to community pharmacies. Six weeks later a reminder was sent to all non responders, who were given another six weeks to return the completed questionnaire. Outcomes were analyzed using descriptive statistics and chi-square test of independence. Almost all the pharmacies (96.8%) have at least Monthly Index of Medical Specialties (MIMS) while 78.5% have at least MIMS ANNUAL in their stores. Only about a third (31.2%) of the pharmacies were equipped with online facilities of which the majority referred to medical websites (88.9%) with only a minority (11.1%) referring to electronic journals. More than half (59.1%) of the pharmacists kept Patient Medication Record profiles with 49.1% storing it in paper, 41.8% electronically and 9.1% in both printed and electronic versions. In general, prevalence and usage of electronic references in community pharmacies were rather low. Efforts should be increased to encourage wider usage of electronic references and Patient Medication Records in community pharmacies to facilitate pharmaceutical care.

  1. Simulations of X-ray synchrotron beams using the EGS4 code system in medical applications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Orion, I.; Henn, A.; Sagi, I.; Dilmanian, F.A.; Pena, L.; Rosenfeld, A.B.

    2001-01-01

    X-ray synchrotron beams are commonly used in biological and medical research. The availability of intense, polarized low-energy photons from the synchrotron beams provides a high dose transfer to biological materials. The EGS4 code system, which includes the photoelectron angular distribution, electron motion inside a magnetic field, and the LSCAT package, found to be the appropriate Monte Carlo code for synchrotron-produced X-ray simulations. The LSCAT package was developed in 1995 for the EGS4 code to contain the routines to simulate the linear polarization, the bound Compton, and the incoherent scattering functions. Three medical applications were demonstrated using the EGS4 Monte Carlo code as a proficient simulation code system for the synchrotron low-energy X-ray source. (orig.)

  2. Studies on possibilities of polymer composites with conductive nanomaterials application in wearable electronics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gralczyk, Kinga; Janczak, D.; Dybowska-Sarapuk, Ł.; Lepak, S.; Wróblewski, G.; Jakubowska, M.

    2017-08-01

    In the last few years there has been a growing interest in wearable electronic products, which are generating considerable interest especially in sport and medical industries. But rigid electronics is not comfortable to wear, so things like stretchable substrates, interconnects and electronic devices might help. Flexible electronics could adjust to the curves of a human body and allow the users to move freely. The objective of this paper is to study possibilities of polymer composites with conductive nanomaterials application in wearable electronics. Pastes with graphene, silver nanoplates and carbon nanotubes were manufactured and then interconnects were screen-printed on the surfaces of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and fabric. Afterwards, the resistance and mechanical properties of samples were examined, also after washing them in a washing machine. It has been found that the best material for the conductive phase is silver. Traces printed directly on the fabric using conductive composites with one functional phase (silver nanoplates or graphene or carbon nanotubes) are too fragile to use them as a common solution in wearable electronics. Mechanical properties can be improved not only by adding carbon nanotubes or graphene to the silver paste, but also by printing additional layer of graphene paste or carbon nanotube paste onto silver layer. In fact, these solutions are not sufficient enough to solve a problem of using these composites in wearable electronics.

  3. Medical beam monitor—Pre-clinical evaluation and future applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Frais-Kölbl, Helmut; Griesmayer, Erich; Schreiner, Thomas; Georg, Dietmar; Pernegger, Heinz

    2007-10-01

    Future medical ion beam applications for cancer therapy which are based on scanning technology will require advanced beam diagnostics equipment. For a precise analysis of beam parameters we want to resolve time structures in the range of microseconds to nanoseconds. A prototype of an advanced beam monitor was developed by the University of Applied Sciences Wiener Neustadt and its research subsidiary Fotec in co-operation with CERN RD42, Ohio State University and the Jožef Stefan Institute in Ljubljana. The detector is based on polycrystalline Chemical Vapor Deposition (pCVD) diamond substrates and is equipped with readout electronics up to 2 GHz analog bandwidth. In this paper we present the design of the pCVD-detector system and results of tests performed in various particle accelerator based facilities. Measurements performed in clinical high energy photon beams agreed within 1.2% with results obtained by standard ionization chambers.

  4. Medical beam monitor—Pre-clinical evaluation and future applications

    CERN Document Server

    Frais-Kölbl, H; Schreiner, T; Georg, D; Pernegger, H

    2007-01-01

    Future medical ion beam applications for cancer therapy which are based on scanning technology will require advanced beam diagnostics equipment. For a precise analysis of beam parameters we want to resolve time structures in the range of microseconds to nanoseconds. A prototype of an advanced beam monitor was developed by the University of Applied Sciences Wiener Neustadt and its research subsidiary Fotec in co-operation with CERN RD42, Ohio State University and the Jožef Stefan Institute in Ljubljana. The detector is based on polycrystalline Chemical Vapor Deposition (pCVD) diamond substrates and is equipped with readout electronics up to 2 GHz analog bandwidth. In this paper we present the design of the pCVD-detector system and results of tests performed in various particle accelerator based facilities. Measurements performed in clinical high energy photon beams agreed within 1.2% with results obtained by standard ionization chambers.

  5. A survey of the use of electronic scientific information resources among medical and dental students

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aarnio Matti

    2006-05-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background To evaluate medical and dental students' utilization of electronic information resources. Methods A web survey sent to 837 students (49.9% responded. Results Twenty-four per cent of medical students and ninteen per cent of dental students searched MEDLINE 2+ times/month for study purposes, and thiry-two per cent and twenty-four per cent respectively for research. Full-text articles were used 2+ times/month by thirty-three per cent of medical and ten per cent of dental students. Twelve per cent of respondents never utilized either MEDLINE or full-text articles. In multivariate models, the information-searching skills among students were significantly associated with use of MEDLINE and full-text articles. Conclusion Use of electronic resources differs among students. Forty percent were non-users of full-text articles. Information-searching skills are correlated with the use of electronic resources, but the level of basic PC skills plays not a major role in using these resources. The student data shows that adequate training in information-searching skills will increase the use of electronic information resources.

  6. National Medical Terminology Server in Korea

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Sungin; Song, Seung-Jae; Koh, Soonjeong; Lee, Soo Kyoung; Kim, Hong-Gee

    Interoperable EHR (Electronic Health Record) necessitates at least the use of standardized medical terminologies. This paper describes a medical terminology server, LexCare Suite, which houses terminology management applications, such as a terminology editor, and a terminology repository populated with international standard terminology systems such as Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine (SNOMED). The server is to satisfy the needs of quality terminology systems to local primary to tertiary hospitals. Our partner general hospitals have used the server to test its applicability. This paper describes the server and the results of the applicability test.

  7. Evaluation of medication errors with implementation of electronic health record technology in the medical intensive care unit

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Liao TV

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available T Vivian Liao,1 Marina Rabinovich,2 Prasad Abraham,2 Sebastian Perez,3 Christiana DiPlotti,4 Jenny E Han,5 Greg S Martin,5 Eric Honig5 1Department of Pharmacy Practice, College of Pharmacy, Mercer Health Sciences Center, 2Department of Pharmacy and Clinical Nutrition, Grady Health System, 3Department of Surgery, Emory University, 4Pharmacy, Ingles Markets, 5Department of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA Purpose: Patients in the intensive care unit (ICU are at an increased risk for medication errors (MEs and adverse drug events from multifactorial causes. ME rate ranges from 1.2 to 947 per 1,000 patient days in the medical ICU (MICU. Studies with the implementation of electronic health records (EHR have concluded that it significantly reduced overall prescribing errors and the number of errors that caused patient harm decreased. However, other types of errors, such as wrong dose and omission of required medications increased after EHR implementation. We sought to compare the number of MEs before and after EHR implementation in the MICU, with additional evaluation of error severity.Patients and methods: Prospective, observational, quality improvement study of all patients admitted to a single MICU service at an academic medical center. Patients were evaluated during four periods over 2 years: August–September 2010 (preimplementation; period I, January–February 2011 (2 months postimplementation; period II, August–September 2012 (21 months postimplementation; period III, and January–February 2013 (25 months postimplementation; period IV. All medication orders and administration records were reviewed by an ICU clinical pharmacist and ME was defined as a deviation from established standards for prescribing, dispensing, administering, or documenting medication. The frequency and classification of MEs were compared between groups by chi square; p<0.05 was considered significant.Results: There was a statistically significant increase

  8. Antidepressant medication use for primary care patients with and without medical comorbidities: a national electronic health record (EHR) network study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gill, James M; Klinkman, Michael S; Chen, Ying Xia

    2010-01-01

    Because comorbid depression can complicate medical conditions (eg, diabetes), physicians may treat depression more aggressively in patients who have these conditions. This study examined whether primary care physicians prescribe antidepressant medications more often and in higher doses for persons with medical comorbidities. This secondary data analysis of electronic health record data was conducted in the Centricity Health Care User Research Network (CHURN), a national network of ambulatory practices that use a common outpatient electronic health record. Participants included 209 family medicine and general internal medicine providers in 40 primary care CHURN offices in 17 US states. Patients included adults with a new episode of depression that had been diagnosed during the period October 2006 through July 2007 (n = 1513). Prescription of antidepressant medication and doses of antidepressant medication were compared for patients with and without 6 comorbid conditions: diabetes, coronary heart disease, congestive heart failure, cerebrovascular disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and cancer. 20.7% of patients had at least one medical comorbidity whereas 5.8% had multiple comorbidities. Overall, 77% of depressed patients were prescribed antidepressant medication. After controlling for age and sex, patients with multiple comorbidities were less likely to be prescribed medication (adjusted odds ratio, 0.58; 95% CI, 0.35-0.96), but there was no significant difference by individual comorbidities. Patients with cerebrovascular disease were less likely to be prescribed a full dose of medication (adjusted odds ratio, 0.26; 95% CI, 0.08-0.88), but there were no differences for other comorbidities or for multiple comorbidities, and there was no difference for any comorbidities in the prescription of minimally effective doses. Patients with new episodes of depression who present to a primary care practice are not treated more aggressively if they have medical

  9. Medical applications of model-based dynamic thermography

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nowakowski, Antoni; Kaczmarek, Mariusz; Ruminski, Jacek; Hryciuk, Marcin; Renkielska, Alicja; Grudzinski, Jacek; Siebert, Janusz; Jagielak, Dariusz; Rogowski, Jan; Roszak, Krzysztof; Stojek, Wojciech

    2001-03-01

    The proposal to use active thermography in medical diagnostics is promising in some applications concerning investigation of directly accessible parts of the human body. The combination of dynamic thermograms with thermal models of investigated structures gives attractive possibility to make internal structure reconstruction basing on different thermal properties of biological tissues. Measurements of temperature distribution synchronized with external light excitation allow registration of dynamic changes of local temperature dependent on heat exchange conditions. Preliminary results of active thermography applications in medicine are discussed. For skin and under- skin tissues an equivalent thermal model may be determined. For the assumed model its effective parameters may be reconstructed basing on the results of transient thermal processes. For known thermal diffusivity and conductivity of specific tissues the local thickness of a two or three layer structure may be calculated. Results of some medical cases as well as reference data of in vivo study on animals are presented. The method was also applied to evaluate the state of the human heart during the open chest cardio-surgical interventions. Reference studies of evoked heart infarct in pigs are referred, too. We see the proposed new in medical applications technique as a promising diagnostic tool. It is a fully non-invasive, clean, handy, fast and affordable method giving not only qualitative view of investigated surfaces but also an objective quantitative measurement result, accurate enough for many applications including fast screening of affected tissues.

  10. Dosimetric differences between electrons beams with rio applicators of GMV and conventional Elekta applicators

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sendon del Rio, J. R.; Ayala Lazaro, R.; Jimenez Rojas, M. R.; Gomez Cores, S.; Gonzalez Ruiz, C.; Garcia Hernandez, M. J.; Lopez Bote, M. A.

    2013-01-01

    Intraoperative radiotherapy (River) is a form of cancer treatment that consists of a session of radiation ionizing on macroscopic tumor or tumor bed surgically exposed. In our institution, is administered with beams of electrons in a Linear Accelerator for use general and adapted through specific (applicators RIVER). In this work we studied the dosimetry differences between modified by applicators electron beams conventional and they changed by applicators River. (Author)

  11. A primer on endoscopic electronic medical records.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Atreja, Ashish; Rizk, Maged; Gurland, Brooke

    2010-02-01

    Endoscopic electronic medical record systems (EEMRs) are now increasingly utilized in many endoscopy centers. Modern EEMRs not only support endoscopy report generation, but often include features such as practice management tools, image and video clip management, inventory management, e-faxes to referring physicians, and database support to measure quality and patient outcomes. There are many existing software vendors offering EEMRs, and choosing a software vendor can be time consuming and confusing. The goal of this article is inform the readers about current functionalities available in modern EEMR and provide them with a framework necessary to find an EEMR that is best fit for their practice.

  12. The work practice of medical secretaries and the implementation of electronic health records in Denmark

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bertelsen, Pernille; Nøhr, Christian

    2005-01-01

    The introduction of electronic health records will entail substantial organisational changes to the clinical and administrative staff in hospitals. Hospital owners in Denmark have predicted that these changes will render up to half of medical secretaries redundant. The present study however shows...... that medical secretaries have a great variety of duties, and often act as the organisational ‘glue’ or connecting thread between other professional groups at the hospital. The aim of this study is to obtain a detailed understanding of the pluralism of work tasks the medical secretaries perform. It is concluded...... that clinicians as well as nurses depend on medical secretaries, and therefore to reduce the number of secretaries because electronic health record systems are implemented needs very careful thinking, planning and discussion with the other professions involved....

  13. Radiation protection in medical applications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sacc, R.A.; Rubiolo, J.; Herrero, F.

    1998-01-01

    Full text: The goal of this paper is to identify the areas in which radiation protection is actually needed and the relative importance of protection measures. A correlation between the different medical applications of the ionizing radiations and the associated risks, mainly due to ignorance, has been a constant throughout the history of mankind. At the beginning, the accidents were originated in research nuclear laboratories working on the atomic bomb, while the incidents occurred in medical areas because of virtual ignorance of the harmful effects on humans. The 60's were characterized by the oil fever, which produced innumerable accidents due to the practice of industrial radiography; in the 70's the use of radiations on medical applications was intensified, to such and extent that a new type of victim appeared: the patient. Unfortunately, during 80's and 90's the number of accidents in different medical practices has increased, projecting the occurred in Zaragoza (Spain) on 1990 with a linear accelerator for radiotherapy treatments. In some developed countries, foreseeing the probability of producing biological effects as a result of different radiology practices, more strict security rules are adopted to guarantee the application of the three principles of the radioprotection: justification, optimization and limitation of individual dose. In this way, in the U.S.A., the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care Organization (JCAHO), favors a vigilance politics in the different departments of Radiodiagnostic and Nuclear Medicine to secure an effective management in security, communications and quality control, in which the medical physicists play an important role. One of the requirements for example is to attach the value of entrance exposition dose in the radiological diagnostic report. So, the doses in the different organs are compared with the tabulated doses. Basically, a quality control programme is designed to minimize the risks for patients

  14. Mobile health (mHealth) based medication adherence measurement - a pilot trial using electronic blisters in diabetes patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brath, Helmut; Morak, Jürgen; Kästenbauer, Thomas; Modre-Osprian, Robert; Strohner-Kästenbauer, Hermine; Schwarz, Mark; Kort, Willem; Schreier, Günter

    2013-09-01

    The aim of the present study was to evaluate a mobile health (mHealth) based remote medication adherence measurement system (mAMS) in elderly patients with increased cardiovascular risk treated for diabetes, high cholesterol and hypertension. Cardiovascular risk was defined as the presence of at least two out of the three risk factors: type 2 diabetes, hypercholesterolaemia and hypertension. For treatment of diabetes, hypercholesterolaemia and hypertension, four predefined routinely used drugs were selected. Drug adherence was investigated in a controlled randomized doctor blinded study with crossover design. The mAMS was used to measure and improve objectively the adherence by means of closed-loop interactions. The mean age of the 53 patients (30 female) was 69.4 ± 4.8 years. A total of 1654 electronic blisters were handed out. A statistically significant difference (P = 0.04) between the monitoring and the control phase was observed for the diabetes medication only. In a post-study questionnaire twenty-nine patients appreciated that their physician knew if and when they had taken their medications and 13 asked for more or automated communication with their physicians. Only one subject withdrew from the study because of technical complexity. The results indicate that mHealth based adherence management is feasible and well accepted by patients with increased cardiovascular risk. It may help to increase adherence, even in patients with high baseline adherence and, subsequently, lead to improved control of indicators including blood pressure and cholesterol concentrations. Electronic blisters can be used in a multi-medication regimen but need to be carefully designed for day-to-day application. © 2013 The British Pharmacological Society.

  15. Biological applications of phase-contrast electron microscopy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nagayama, Kuniaki

    2014-01-01

    Here, I review the principles and applications of phase-contrast electron microscopy using phase plates. First, I develop the principle of phase contrast based on a minimal model of microscopy, introducing a double Fourier-transform process to mathematically formulate the image formation. Next, I explain four phase-contrast (PC) schemes, defocus PC, Zernike PC, Hilbert differential contrast, and schlieren optics, as image-filtering processes in the context of the minimal model, with particular emphases on the Zernike PC and corresponding Zernike phase plates. Finally, I review applications of Zernike PC cryo-electron microscopy to biological systems such as protein molecules, virus particles, and cells, including single-particle analysis to delineate three-dimensional (3D) structures of protein and virus particles and cryo-electron tomography to reconstruct 3D images of complex protein systems and cells.

  16. Applications of computational tools in biosciences and medical engineering

    CERN Document Server

    Altenbach, Holm

    2015-01-01

     This book presents the latest developments and applications of computational tools related to the biosciences and medical engineering. It also reports the findings of different multi-disciplinary research projects, for example, from the areas of scaffolds and synthetic bones, implants and medical devices, and medical materials. It is also shown that the application of computational tools often requires mathematical and experimental methods. Computational tools such as the finite element methods, computer-aided design and optimization as well as visualization techniques such as computed axial tomography open up completely new research fields that combine the fields of engineering and bio/medical. Nevertheless, there are still hurdles since both directions are based on quite different ways of education. Often even the “language” can vary from discipline to discipline.

  17. Pre-Medical Preparation in Microbiology among Applicants and Matriculants in Osteopathic Medical School in the United States.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ramos, Raddy L; Guercio, Erik; Martinez, Luis R

    2017-01-01

    It is recognized that medical school curricula contain significant microbiology-related content as part of the training of future physicians who will be responsible stewards of antimicrobials. Surprisingly, osteopathic and allopathic medical schools do not require pre-medical microbiology coursework, and the extent to which medical students have completed microbiology coursework remains poorly understood. In this report, we show that fewer than 3% of applicants and matriculants to osteopathic medical school (OMS) have completed an undergraduate major or minor in microbiology, and fewer than 17% of applicants and matriculants to OMS have completed one or more microbiology-related courses. These data demonstrate limited pre-medical microbiology-related knowledge among osteopathic medical students, which may be associated with an increase in perceived stress when learning this content or during clinical rotations as well as a potential lack of interest in pursuing a career in infectious diseases.

  18. Application of principal component and factor analyses in electron spectroscopy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Siuda, R.; Balcerowska, G.

    1998-01-01

    Fundamentals of two methods, taken from multivariate analysis and known as principal component analysis (PCA) and factor analysis (FA), are presented. Both methods are well known in chemometrics. Since 1979, when application of the methods to electron spectroscopy was reported for the first time, they became to be more and more popular in different branches of electron spectroscopy. The paper presents examples of standard applications of the method of Auger electron spectroscopy (AES), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS). Advantages one can take from application of the methods, their potentialities as well as their limitations are pointed out. (author)

  19. Discussion of feasibility to carry out intensity modulated radiation therapy in conventional medical electron linear accelerator treatment rooms

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yang Haiyou; Liu Liping; Liang Yueqin; Zhang Liang; Yu Shui

    2010-01-01

    Objective: To investigate the feasibility about the shielding effect of conventional medical electron linear accelerator treatment in the existing rooms to carry out intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT). Methods: The estimation model given in NCRP REPORT No. 151- S tructural Shielding Design and Evaluation for Megavoltage X-and Gamma-Ray Radiotherapy Facilities i s adopted by linking instances, which presents the calculation methods on radiation level at the ambience of megavoltage medical electron linear accelerator treatment room. Results: The radiation level, as well as the additional annual effect dose of occupational and public at the ambience of accelerator treatment room, in crease to a certain extent, when conventional medical electron linear accelerator treatment room; are used to carry out IMRT. Conclusion: It is necessary to make environmental impact assessment for conventional medical electron linear accelerator treatment rooms, which will be used to execute IMRT. (authors)

  20. Functionalized Nanodiamonds for Biological and Medical Applications.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lai, Lin; Barnard, Amanda S

    2015-02-01

    Nanodiamond is a promising material for biological and medical applications, owning to its relatively inexpensive and large-scale synthesis, unique structure, and superior optical properties. However, most biomedical applications, such as drug delivery and bio-imaging, are dependent upon the precise control of the surfaces, and can be significantly affected by the type, distribution and stability of chemical funtionalisations of the nanodiamond surface. In this paper, recent studies on nanodiamonds and their biomedical applications by conjugating with different chemicals are reviewed, while highlighting the critical importance of surface chemical states for various applications.

  1. Patient preferences toward an interactive e-consent application for research using electronic health records.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harle, Christopher A; Golembiewski, Elizabeth H; Rahmanian, Kiarash P; Krieger, Janice L; Hagmajer, Dorothy; Mainous, Arch G; Moseley, Ray E

    2017-12-19

    The purpose of this study was to assess patient perceptions of using an interactive electronic consent (e-consent) application when deciding whether or not to grant broad consent for research use of their identifiable electronic health record (EHR) information. For this qualitative study, we conducted a series of 42 think-aloud interviews with 32 adults. Interview transcripts were coded and analyzed using a modified grounded theory approach. We identified themes related to patient preferences, reservations, and mixed attitudes toward consenting electronically; low- and high-information-seeking behavior; and an emphasis on reassuring information, such as data protections and prohibitions against sharing data with pharmaceutical companies. Participants expressed interest in the types of information contained in their EHRs, safeguards protecting EHR data, and specifics on studies that might use their EHR data. This study supports the potential value of interactive e-consent applications that allow patients to customize their consent experience. This study also highlights that some people have concerns about e-consent platforms and desire more detailed information about administrative processes and safeguards that protect EHR data used in research. This study contributes new insights on how e-consent applications could be designed to ensure that patients' information needs are met when seeking consent for research use of health record information. Also, this study offers a potential electronic approach to meeting the new Common Rule requirement that consent documents contain a "concise and focused" presentation of key information followed by more details. © The Author(s) 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Medical Informatics Association. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com

  2. Multilevel Modeling and Policy Development: Guidelines and Applications to Medical Travel

    Science.gov (United States)

    Garcia-Garzon, Eduardo; Zhukovsky, Peter; Haller, Elisa; Plakolm, Sara; Fink, David; Petrova, Dafina; Mahalingam, Vaishali; Menezes, Igor G.; Ruggeri, Kai

    2016-01-01

    Medical travel has expanded rapidly in recent years, resulting in new markets and increased access to medical care. Whereas several studies investigated the motives of individuals seeking healthcare abroad, the conventional analytical approach is limited by substantial caveats. Classical techniques as found in the literature cannot provide sufficient insight due to the nested nature of data generated. The application of adequate analytical techniques, specifically multilevel modeling, is scarce to non-existent in the context of medical travel. This study introduces the guidelines for application of multilevel techniques in public health research by presenting an application of multilevel modeling in analyzing the decision-making patterns of potential medical travelers. Benefits and potential limitations are discussed. PMID:27252672

  3. Multilevel Modeling and Policy Development: Guidelines and Applications to Medical Travel.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Garcia-Garzon, Eduardo; Zhukovsky, Peter; Haller, Elisa; Plakolm, Sara; Fink, David; Petrova, Dafina; Mahalingam, Vaishali; Menezes, Igor G; Ruggeri, Kai

    2016-01-01

    Medical travel has expanded rapidly in recent years, resulting in new markets and increased access to medical care. Whereas several studies investigated the motives of individuals seeking healthcare abroad, the conventional analytical approach is limited by substantial caveats. Classical techniques as found in the literature cannot provide sufficient insight due to the nested nature of data generated. The application of adequate analytical techniques, specifically multilevel modeling, is scarce to non-existent in the context of medical travel. This study introduces the guidelines for application of multilevel techniques in public health research by presenting an application of multilevel modeling in analyzing the decision-making patterns of potential medical travelers. Benefits and potential limitations are discussed.

  4. Invite yourself to the table: librarian contributions to the electronic medical record.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brandes, Susan; Wells, Karen; Bandy, Margaret

    2013-01-01

    Librarians from Exempla Healthcare hospitals initiated contact with the chief medical information officer regarding evidence-based medicine activities related to the development of the system's Electronic Medical Record (EMR). This column reviews the librarians' involvement in specific initiatives that included providing comparative information on point-of-care resources to integrate into the EMR, providing evidence as needed for the order sets being developed, and participating with clinicians on an evidence-based advisory committee.

  5. Nuclear data for medical applications: an overview

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Qaim, S.M.

    2001-01-01

    A brief introduction to nuclear data in medicine is given. The choice of a radioisotope for medical application demands an accurate knowledge of radioactive decay data. Short-lived single photon and β + -emitters are preferred for diagnostic investigations, and longer-lived corpuscular radiation emitting radioisotopes for endoradiotherapy. The nuclear reaction cross section data, on the other hand, are needed for optimising the production routes. Besides radioactive isotopes, the use of ionising radiation in therapy is discussed. External radiation therapy has achieved an important place in medicine. The role of nuclear data is briefly discussed; they are needed for radiation dose calculations. The hitherto rather neglected activation products in proton therapy are considered. The methodology of development of a nuclear data file for medical applications is outlined. (orig.)

  6. Power electronic converters and systems frontiers and applications

    CERN Document Server

    Trzynadlowski, Andrzej M

    2016-01-01

    Power electronics is a branch of electrical engineering dealing with conversion and control of electric power using semiconductor power switches. This book provides an overview of modern power electronic converters and systems, and their applications.

  7. Using the Electronic Medical Record to Enhance Physician-Nurse Communication Regarding Patients' Discharge Status.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Driscoll, Molly; Gurka, David

    2015-01-01

    The fast-paced environment of hospitals contributes to communication failures between health care providers while impacting patient care and patient flow. An effective mechanism for sharing patients' discharge information with health care team members is required to improve patient throughput. The communication of a patient's discharge plan was identified as crucial in alleviating patient flow delays at a tertiary care, academic medical center. By identifying the patients who were expected to be discharged the following day, the health care team could initiate discharge preparations in advance to improve patient care and patient flow. The patients' electronic medical record served to convey dynamic information regarding the patients' discharge status to the health care team via conditional discharge orders. Two neurosciences units piloted a conditional discharge order initiative. Conditional discharge orders were designed in the electronic medical record so that the conditions for discharge were listed in a dropdown menu. The health care team was trained on the conditional discharge order protocol, including when to write them, how to find them in the patients' electronic medical record, and what actions should be prompted by these orders. On average, 24% of the patients discharged had conditional discharge orders written the day before discharge. The average discharge time for patients with conditional discharge orders decreased by 83 minutes (0.06 day) from baseline. Qualitatively, the health care team reported improved workflows with conditional orders. The conditional discharge orders allowed physicians to communicate pending discharges electronically to the multidisciplinary team. The initiative positively impacted patient discharge times and workflows.

  8. Applications of medical wireless LAN systems (MedLAN)

    OpenAIRE

    Banitsas, KA; Istepanian, RSH; Tachakra, S

    2002-01-01

    This is a post-peer-review, pre-copyedit version of an article published in Journal of Medical Marketing. The definitive publisher-authenticated version "Konstantinos A. Banitsas, R.S.H. Istepanian, Sapal Tachakra. Applications of medical Wireless LAN systems (MedLAN). Journal of Medical Marketing, Volume 2, Number 2, 1 January 2002 , pp. 136-142(7)" is available online at: http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/pal/jomm/2002/00000002/00000002/art00008. In this paper the Wireless LAN (WLAN)...

  9. Do Electronic Health Records Help or Hinder Medical Education?

    OpenAIRE

    Peled, Jonathan U.; Sagher, Oren; Morrow, Jay B.; Dobbie, Alison E.

    2009-01-01

    Background to the Debate Background to the debate: Many countries worldwide are digitizing patients' medical records. In the United States, the recent economic stimulus package (?the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009?), signed into law by President Obama, includes $US17 billion in incentives for health providers to switch to electronic health records (EHRs). The package also includes $US2 billion for the development of EHR standards and best-practice guidelines. What impact will ...

  10. Evolution of Medication Administration Workflow in Implementing Electronic Health Record System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Yuan-Han

    2013-01-01

    This study focused on the clinical workflow evolutions when implementing the health information technology (HIT). The study especially emphasized on administrating medication when the electronic health record (EHR) systems were adopted at rural healthcare facilities. Mixed-mode research methods, such as survey, observation, and focus group, were…

  11. Regulatory frameworks for mobile medical applications.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Censi, Federica; Mattei, Eugenio; Triventi, Michele; Calcagnini, Giovanni

    2015-05-01

    A mobile application (app) is a software program that runs on mobile communication devices such as a smartphone. The concept of a mobile medical app has gained popularity and diffusion but its reference regulatory context has raised discussion and concerns. Theoretically, a mobile app can be developed and uploaded easily by any person or entity. Thus, if an app can have some effects on the health of the users, it is mandatory to identify its reference regulatory context and the applicable prescriptions.

  12. Power electronics for renewable energy systems, transportation and industrial applications

    CERN Document Server

    Malinowski, Mariusz; Al-Haddad, Kamal

    2014-01-01

    Power Electronics for Renewable Energy, Transportation, and Industrial Applications combines state-of-the-art global expertise to present the latest research on power electronics and its application in transportation, renewable energy, and different industrial applications. This timely book aims to facilitate the implementation of cutting-edge techniques to design problems offering innovative solutions to the growing power demands in small- and large-size industries. Application areas in the book range from smart homes and electric and plug-in hybrid electrical vehicles (PHEVs), to smart distribution and intelligence operation centers where significant energy efficiency improvements can be achieved through the appropriate use and design of power electronics and energy storage devices.

  13. Preface book Microfluidics for medical applications

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van den Berg, Albert; Segerink, Loes Irene

    2015-01-01

    This book presents an overview of the major microfluidics techniques and platforms used for medicine and medical applications, providing the reader with an overview of the recent developments in this field. It is divided in three parts: (1) tissue and organs on-chip, (2) microfluidics for medicine

  14. Deconstructing Clinical Workflow: Identifying Teaching-Learning Principles for Barcode Electronic Medication Administration With Nursing Students.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Booth, Richard G; Sinclair, Barbara; Strudwick, Gillian; Brennan, Laura; Morgan, Lisa; Collings, Stephanie; Johnston, Jessica; Loggie, Brittany; Tong, James; Singh, Chantal

    The purpose of this quality improvement project was to better understand how to teach medication administration underpinned by an electronic medication administration record (eMAR) system used in simulated, prelicensure nursing education. Methods included a workflow and integration analysis and a detailed process mapping of both an oral and a sublingual medication administration. Procedural and curriculum development considerations related to medication administration using eMAR technology are presented for nurse educators.

  15. Imaging requirements for medical applications of additive manufacturing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huotilainen, Eero; Paloheimo, Markku; Salmi, Mika; Paloheimo, Kaija-Stiina; Björkstrand, Roy; Tuomi, Jukka; Markkola, Antti; Mäkitie, Antti

    2014-02-01

    Additive manufacturing (AM), formerly known as rapid prototyping, is steadily shifting its focus from industrial prototyping to medical applications as AM processes, bioadaptive materials, and medical imaging technologies develop, and the benefits of the techniques gain wider knowledge among clinicians. This article gives an overview of the main requirements for medical imaging affected by needs of AM, as well as provides a brief literature review from existing clinical cases concentrating especially on the kind of radiology they required. As an example application, a pair of CT images of the facial skull base was turned into 3D models in order to illustrate the significance of suitable imaging parameters. Additionally, the model was printed into a preoperative medical model with a popular AM device. Successful clinical cases of AM are recognized to rely heavily on efficient collaboration between various disciplines - notably operating surgeons, radiologists, and engineers. The single main requirement separating tangible model creation from traditional imaging objectives such as diagnostics and preoperative planning is the increased need for anatomical accuracy in all three spatial dimensions, but depending on the application, other specific requirements may be present as well. This article essentially intends to narrow the potential communication gap between radiologists and engineers who work with projects involving AM by showcasing the overlap between the two disciplines.

  16. Contribution of Electronic Medical Records to the Management of Rare Diseases

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dominique Bremond-Gignac

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Purpose. Electronic health record systems provide great opportunity to study most diseases. Objective of this study was to determine whether electronic medical records (EMR in ophthalmology contribute to management of rare eye diseases, isolated or in syndromes. Study was designed to identify and collect patients’ data with ophthalmology-specific EMR. Methods. Ophthalmology-specific EMR software (Softalmo software Corilus was used to acquire ophthalmological ocular consultation data from patients with five rare eye diseases. The rare eye diseases and data were selected and collected regarding expertise of eye center. Results. A total of 135,206 outpatient consultations were performed between 2011 and 2014 in our medical center specialized in rare eye diseases. The search software identified 29 congenital aniridia, 6 Axenfeld/Rieger syndrome, 11 BEPS, 3 Nanophthalmos, and 3 Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome. Discussion. EMR provides advantages for medical care. The use of ophthalmology-specific EMR is reliable and can contribute to a comprehensive ocular visual phenotype useful for clinical research. Conclusion. Routinely EMR acquired with specific software dedicated to ophthalmology provides sufficient detail for rare diseases. These software-collected data appear useful for creating patient cohorts and recording ocular examination, avoiding the time-consuming analysis of paper records and investigation, in a University Hospital linked to a National Reference Rare Center Disease.

  17. Contribution of Electronic Medical Records to the Management of Rare Diseases.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bremond-Gignac, Dominique; Lewandowski, Elisabeth; Copin, Henri

    2015-01-01

    Electronic health record systems provide great opportunity to study most diseases. Objective of this study was to determine whether electronic medical records (EMR) in ophthalmology contribute to management of rare eye diseases, isolated or in syndromes. Study was designed to identify and collect patients' data with ophthalmology-specific EMR. Ophthalmology-specific EMR software (Softalmo software Corilus) was used to acquire ophthalmological ocular consultation data from patients with five rare eye diseases. The rare eye diseases and data were selected and collected regarding expertise of eye center. A total of 135,206 outpatient consultations were performed between 2011 and 2014 in our medical center specialized in rare eye diseases. The search software identified 29 congenital aniridia, 6 Axenfeld/Rieger syndrome, 11 BEPS, 3 Nanophthalmos, and 3 Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome. EMR provides advantages for medical care. The use of ophthalmology-specific EMR is reliable and can contribute to a comprehensive ocular visual phenotype useful for clinical research. Routinely EMR acquired with specific software dedicated to ophthalmology provides sufficient detail for rare diseases. These software-collected data appear useful for creating patient cohorts and recording ocular examination, avoiding the time-consuming analysis of paper records and investigation, in a University Hospital linked to a National Reference Rare Center Disease.

  18. A randomized trial comparing in person and electronic interventions for improving adherence to oral medications in schizophrenia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Velligan, Dawn; Mintz, Jim; Maples, Natalie; Xueying, Li; Gajewski, Stephanie; Carr, Heather; Sierra, Cynthia

    2013-09-01

    Poor adherence to medication leads to symptom exacerbation and interferes with the recovery process for patients with schizophrenia. Following baseline assessment, 142 patients in medication maintenance at a community mental health center were randomized to one of 3 treatments for 9 months: (1) PharmCAT, supports including pill containers, signs, alarms, checklists and the organization of belongings established in weekly home visits from a PharmCAT therapist; (2) Med-eMonitor (MM), an electronic medication monitor that prompts use of medication, cues the taking of medication, warns patients when they are taking the wrong medication or taking it at the wrong time, record complaints, and, through modem hookup, alerts treatment staff of failures to take medication as prescribed; (3) Treatment as Usual (TAU). All patients received the Med-eMonitor device to record medication adherence. The device was programmed for intervention only in the MM group. Data on symptoms, global functioning, and contact with emergency services and police were obtained every 3 months. Repeated measures analyses of variance for mixed models indicated that adherence to medication was significantly better in both active conditions than in TAU (both p<0.0001). Adherence in active treatments ranged from 90-92% compared to 73% in TAU based on electronic monitoring. In-person and electronic interventions significantly improved adherence to medication, but that did not translate to improved clinical outcomes. Implications for treatment and health care costs are discussed.

  19. Toward Environmentally Robust Organic Electronics: Approaches and Applications.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Eun Kwang; Lee, Moo Yeol; Park, Cheol Hee; Lee, Hae Rang; Oh, Joon Hak

    2017-11-01

    Recent interest in flexible electronics has led to a paradigm shift in consumer electronics, and the emergent development of stretchable and wearable electronics is opening a new spectrum of ubiquitous applications for electronics. Organic electronic materials, such as π-conjugated small molecules and polymers, are highly suitable for use in low-cost wearable electronic devices, and their charge-carrier mobilities have now exceeded that of amorphous silicon. However, their commercialization is minimal, mainly because of weaknesses in terms of operational stability, long-term stability under ambient conditions, and chemical stability related to fabrication processes. Recently, however, many attempts have been made to overcome such instabilities of organic electronic materials. Here, an overview is provided of the strategies developed for environmentally robust organic electronics to overcome the detrimental effects of various critical factors such as oxygen, water, chemicals, heat, and light. Additionally, molecular design approaches to π-conjugated small molecules and polymers that are highly stable under ambient and harsh conditions are explored; such materials will circumvent the need for encapsulation and provide a greater degree of freedom using simple solution-based device-fabrication techniques. Applications that are made possible through these strategies are highlighted. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  20. Electron linacs

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Loew, G A; Schriber, S O [ed.

    1976-11-01

    A study was made of the present status of the thousand or so electron linacs in the world, and future trends in the field. These machines were classified according to their use: medical, industrial, and nuclear physics. In the medical category, two types of electron linacs are discussed: the conventional ones which are used for x-ray and electron therapy, and those which may in the future be used for negative pion therapy. Industrial machines discussed include linacs for radiographic and other specialized applications. In the nuclear physics category, the status of conventional low- and medium-energy as well as high duty cycle linacs is reviewed. The question of how one might obtain a c-w, 1 GeV, 100..mu..A electron linac is raised, and various options using recirculation and stretchers are examined. In this connection, the status of rf superconductivity is summarized. A review is given of linacs for injectors into synchrotrons and e/sup +-/ storage rings, and recent work done to upgrade the only multi-GeV linac, namely SLAC, is described.

  1. Electron linacs

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Loew, G.A.

    1976-01-01

    To study the present status of the thousand or so electron linacs in the world, and future trends in the field, we have classified these machines according to their use: medical, industrial, and nuclear physics. In the medical category, two types of electron linacs are discussed: the conventional ones which are used for X-ray and electron therapy, and those which may in the future be used for negative pion therapy. The section on industrial machines includes linacs for radiographic and other specialized applications. In the nuclear physics category, the status of conventional low- and medium-energy as well as high duty cycle linacs is reviewed. The question of how one might obtain a C.W., 1 GeV, 100 μA electron linac is raised and various options using recirculation and stretchers are examined. In this connection, the status of RF superconductivity is summarized. Following, there is a review of linacs for injectors into synchrotrons and e +- storage rings. The paper ends with a description of recent work done to upgrade the only multi-GeV linac, namely SLAC. (author)

  2. Applications for electronic documents

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Beitel, G.A.

    1995-01-01

    This paper discusses the application of electronic media to documents, specifically Safety Analysis Reports (SARs), prepared for Environmental Restoration and Waste Management (ER ampersand WM) programs being conducted for the Department of Energy (DOE) at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL). Efforts are underway to upgrade our document system using electronic format. To satisfy external requirements (DOE, State, and Federal), ER ampersand WM programs generate a complement of internal requirements documents including a SAR and Technical Safety Requirements along with procedures and training materials. Of interest, is the volume of information and the difficulty in handling it. A recently prepared ER ampersand WM SAR consists of 1,000 pages of text and graphics; supporting references add 10,000 pages. Other programmatic requirements documents consist of an estimated 5,000 pages plus references

  3. Podcasting as a novel way to communicate with medical school applicants.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ferguson, Benjamin D; Bister, Mary K; Krapec, Joni N

    2014-09-01

    Podcasting in medical education is becoming more widely used and may be a useful tool for communicating with applicants to medical school. Given recent trends in the popularity of podcasting and mobile media, we created a podcast to communicate more effectively with applicants to our medical school as well as with the broader premedical community. The purpose of this study was to characterize the listening habits and motivations of our audience and compare the podcast's benefits to those of other resources. We additionally sought to understand patterns by which our podcast was consumed by a premedical audience. We surveyed medical school applicants who interviewed at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine for matriculation in 2013. Forty-one percent of those surveyed had listened to the podcast prior to their interview. Only 12 % of listeners accessed the podcast using a mobile device. Ninety-two percent of listeners felt that it faithfully represented the medical school, and 81 % felt that listening would encourage the decision to matriculate. A majority of listeners responded that the podcast was more helpful than other traditional resources. This is the first use of podcasting in medical school admissions and represents a novel way to communicate with prospective students. Our findings demonstrate that podcasting can be an effective tool for communicating with applicants to medical school and highlight its usefulness in recruitment. This method of communication could be adopted by other medical schools to enhance the ways in which they inform their own prospective medical students.

  4. Teleworks: a CSCW application for remote medical diagnosis support and teleconsultation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Makris, L; Kamilatos, I; Kopsacheilis, E V; Strintzis, M G

    1998-06-01

    The present paper describes methods for the design of both synchronous and asynchronous computer-supported cooperative work (CSCW) procedures suitable for the medical application area and specifically for the purpose of medical teleconsultation and remote diagnosis support. The experimental implementation of a CSCW system built upon a PC/Windows platform is detailed as an example of a low-cost system suitable for adoption in a wide range of medical teleconsultation applications.

  5. Use of electronic medical records in oncology outcomes research

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gena Kanas

    2010-02-01

    Full Text Available Gena Kanas1, Libby Morimoto1, Fionna Mowat1, Cynthia O’Malley2, Jon Fryzek3, Robert Nordyke21Exponent, Inc., Menlo Park, CA, USA; 2Amgen, Inc., Thousand Oaks, CA, USA; 3MedImmune, Gaithersburg, MD, USAAbstract: Oncology outcomes research could benefit from the use of an oncology-specific electronic medical record (EMR network. The benefits and challenges of using EMR in general health research have been investigated; however, the utility of EMR for oncology outcomes research has not been explored. Compared to current available oncology databases and registries, an oncology-specific EMR could provide comprehensive and accurate information on clinical diagnoses, personal and medical histories, planned and actual treatment regimens, and post-treatment outcomes, to address research questions from patients, policy makers, the pharmaceutical industry, and clinicians/researchers. Specific challenges related to structural (eg, interoperability, data format/entry, clinical (eg, maintenance and continuity of records, variety of coding schemes, and research-related (eg, missing data, generalizability, privacy issues must be addressed when building an oncology-specific EMR system. Researchers should engage with medical professional groups to guide development of EMR systems that would ultimately help improve the quality of cancer care through oncology outcomes research.Keywords: medical informatics, health care, policy, outcomes

  6. Freeform Compliant CMOS Electronic Systems for Internet of Everything Applications

    KAUST Repository

    Shaikh, Sohail F.

    2017-01-17

    The state-of-the-art electronics technology has been an integral part of modern advances. The prevalent rise of the mobile device and computational technology in the age of information technology offers exciting applications that are attributed to sophisticated, enormously reliable, and most mature CMOS-based electronics. We are accustomed to high performance, cost-effective, multifunctional, and energy-efficient scaled electronics. However, they are rigid, bulky, and brittle. The convolution of flexibility and stretchability in electronics for emerging Internet of Everything application can unleash smart application horizon in unexplored areas, such as robotics, healthcare, smart cities, transport, and entertainment systems. While flexible and stretchable device themes are being remarkably chased, the realization of the fully compliant electronic system is unaddressed. Integration of data processing, storage, communication, and energy management devices complements a compliant system. Here, a comprehensive review is presented on necessity and design criteria for freeform (physically flexible and stretchable) compliant high-performance CMOS electronic systems.

  7. Application essays and future performance in medical school: are they related?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dong, Ting; Kay, Allen; Artino, Anthony R; Gilliland, William R; Waechter, Donna M; Cruess, David; DeZee, Kent J; Durning, Steven J

    2013-01-01

    There is a paucity of research on whether application essays are a valid indicator of medical students' future performance. The goal is to score medical school application essays systematically and examine the correlations between these essay scores and several indicators of student performance during medical school and internship. A journalist created a scoring rubric based on the journalism literature and scored 2 required essays of students admitted to our university in 1 year (N = 145). We picked 7 indicators of medical school and internship performance and correlated these measures with overall essay scores: preclinical medical school grade point average (GPA), clinical medical school GPA, cumulative medical school GPA, U.S. Medical Licensing Exam (USMLE) Step 1 and 2 scores, and scores on a program director's evaluation measuring intern professionalism and expertise. We then examined the Pearson and Spearman correlations between essay scores and the outcomes. Essay scores did not vary widely. American Medical College Application Service essay scores ranged from 3.3 to 4.5 (M = 4.11, SD = 0.15), and Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences essay scores ranged from 2.9 to 4.5 (M = 4.09, SD = 0.17). None of the medical school or internship performance indicators was significantly correlated with the essay scores. These findings raise questions about the utility of matriculation essays, a resource-intensive admission requirement.

  8. On standardization of basic datasets of electronic medical records in traditional Chinese medicine.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Hong; Ni, Wandong; Li, Jing; Jiang, Youlin; Liu, Kunjing; Ma, Zhaohui

    2017-12-24

    Standardization of electronic medical record, so as to enable resource-sharing and information exchange among medical institutions has become inevitable in view of the ever increasing medical information. The current research is an effort towards the standardization of basic dataset of electronic medical records in traditional Chinese medicine. In this work, an outpatient clinical information model and an inpatient clinical information model are created to adequately depict the diagnosis processes and treatment procedures of traditional Chinese medicine. To be backward compatible with the existing dataset standard created for western medicine, the new standard shall be a superset of the existing standard. Thus, the two models are checked against the existing standard in conjunction with 170,000 medical record cases. If a case cannot be covered by the existing standard due to the particularity of Chinese medicine, then either an existing data element is expanded with some Chinese medicine contents or a new data element is created. Some dataset subsets are also created to group and record Chinese medicine special diagnoses and treatments such as acupuncture. The outcome of this research is a proposal of standardized traditional Chinese medicine medical records datasets. The proposal has been verified successfully in three medical institutions with hundreds of thousands of medical records. A new dataset standard for traditional Chinese medicine is proposed in this paper. The proposed standard, covering traditional Chinese medicine as well as western medicine, is expected to be soon approved by the authority. A widespread adoption of this proposal will enable traditional Chinese medicine hospitals and institutions to easily exchange information and share resources. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  9. The Internet School of Medicine: use of electronic resources by medical trainees and the reliability of those resources.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Egle, Jonathan P; Smeenge, David M; Kassem, Kamal M; Mittal, Vijay K

    2015-01-01

    Electronic sources of medical information are plentiful, and numerous studies have demonstrated the use of the Internet by patients and the variable reliability of these sources. Studies have investigated neither the use of web-based resources by residents, nor the reliability of the information available on these websites. A web-based survey was distributed to surgical residents in Michigan and third- and fourth-year medical students at an American allopathic and osteopathic medical school and a Caribbean allopathic school regarding their preferred sources of medical information in various situations. A set of 254 queries simulating those faced by medical trainees on rounds, on a written examination, or during patient care was developed. The top 5 electronic resources cited by the trainees were evaluated for their ability to answer these questions accurately, using standard textbooks as the point of reference. The respondents reported a wide variety of overall preferred resources. Most of the 73 responding medical trainees favored textbooks or board review books for prolonged studying, but electronic resources are frequently used for quick studying, clinical decision-making questions, and medication queries. The most commonly used electronic resources were UpToDate, Google, Medscape, Wikipedia, and Epocrates. UpToDate and Epocrates had the highest percentage of correct answers (47%) and Wikipedia had the lowest (26%). Epocrates also had the highest percentage of wrong answers (30%), whereas Google had the lowest percentage (18%). All resources had a significant number of questions that they were unable to answer. Though hardcopy books have not been completely replaced by electronic resources, more than half of medical students and nearly half of residents prefer web-based sources of information. For quick questions and studying, both groups prefer Internet sources. However, the most commonly used electronic resources fail to answer clinical queries more than half

  10. Medical applications of radioactive material

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Seidel, C.W.

    1990-01-01

    Hospitals, clinics and other medical complexes are probably the most extensive users of radioactive solutions of Tc-99m, Tl-201, Ga-67, I-123, Xe-133 and radiopharmaceuticals as diagnostic tools to evaluate the dynamic function of various organs in the body, detect cancerous tumors, sites of infection or other bodily dysfunctions. Examples of monitoring blood flow to a stressed heart and to the brain of a cocaine addict are shown. Short-lived positron emitting radionuclides (C-11, N-13, O-15 and F-18) are produced right in a hospital. Other radionuclides are used as therapeutics to reduce tumor size or kill diseased cells. Radioimmunoassay (RIA) is another medical diagnostic tool that is useful in the early detection of the AIDS virus and cancer as well as many other illnesses. Biological researchers, using radioactive biological compounds, have developed many of todays medical diagnostic procedures. Most of the recent Nobel Laureates in the life sciences have used radiolabeled compounds in their research. A brief review of these applications with several examples is presented

  11. Gamification and Multimedia for Medical Education: A Landscape Review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McCoy, Lise; Lewis, Joy H; Dalton, David

    2016-01-01

    Medical education is rapidly evolving. Students enter medical school with a high level of technological literacy and an expectation for instructional variety in the curriculum. In response, many medical schools now incorporate technology-enhanced active learning and multimedia education applications. Education games, medical mobile applications, and virtual patient simulations are together termed gamified training platforms. To review available literature for the benefits of using gamified training platforms for medical education (both preclinical and clinical) and training. Also, to identify platforms suitable for these purposes with links to multimedia content. Peer-reviewed literature, commercially published media, and grey literature were searched to compile an archive of recently published scientific evaluations of gamified training platforms for medical education. Specific educational games, mobile applications, and virtual simulations useful for preclinical and clinical training were identified and categorized. Available evidence was summarized as it related to potential educational advantages of the identified platforms for medical education. Overall, improved learning outcomes have been demonstrated with virtual patient simulations. Games have the potential to promote learning, increase engagement, allow for real-word application, and enhance collaboration. They can also provide opportunities for risk-free clinical decision making, distance training, learning analytics, and swift feedback. A total of 5 electronic games and 4 mobile applications were identified for preclinical training, and 5 electronic games, 10 mobile applications, and 12 virtual patient simulation tools were identified for clinical training. Nine additional gamified, virtual environment training tools not commercially available were also identified. Many published studies suggest possible benefits from using gamified media in medical curriculum. This is a rapidly growing field. More

  12. Enhanced identification of eligibility for depression research using an electronic medical record search engine.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seyfried, Lisa; Hanauer, David A; Nease, Donald; Albeiruti, Rashad; Kavanagh, Janet; Kales, Helen C

    2009-12-01

    Electronic medical records (EMRs) have become part of daily practice for many physicians. Attempts have been made to apply electronic search engine technology to speed EMR review. This was a prospective, observational study to compare the speed and clinical accuracy of a medical record search engine vs. manual review of the EMR. Three raters reviewed 49 cases in the EMR to screen for eligibility in a depression study using the electronic medical record search engine (EMERSE). One week later raters received a scrambled set of the same patients including 9 distractor cases, and used manual EMR review to determine eligibility. For both methods, accuracy was assessed for the original 49 cases by comparison with a gold standard rater. Use of EMERSE resulted in considerable time savings; chart reviews using EMERSE were significantly faster than traditional manual review (p=0.03). The percent agreement of raters with the gold standard (e.g. concurrent validity) using either EMERSE or manual review was not significantly different. Using a search engine optimized for finding clinical information in the free-text sections of the EMR can provide significant time savings while preserving clinical accuracy. The major power of this search engine is not from a more advanced and sophisticated search algorithm, but rather from a user interface designed explicitly to help users search the entire medical record in a way that protects health information.

  13. Electronic photography: a new age of medical imaging?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tübergen, D; Manegold, B C

    1993-07-01

    This is a critical overview of present conceptions of the introduction of electronic photography in medicine. It is not a complete list of products, rather it is a description of how the requirements of the physician have influenced medical illustration in the past and will continue to do so in the future. Video systems are widely used in medicine. Besides the learning and teaching of effects of television, minimal invasive surgery (MIS) has become reality through endoscopy, rapidly accepted worldwide. Documentation of endoscopic procedures and their effects is becoming routine. Therefore, the conversion of complex optical information into binary units is a logical development to save space for storage. The reproduction, storage and transfer of detailed images is already realized by digital camera systems, photo CD, scanners and picture archiving and communicating system (PACS). Now electronic imaging in medicine has to be regarded as a matter of routine. The real impact of accelerated editing will be shown in the future.

  14. 21 CFR 1311.120 - Electronic prescription application requirements.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 21 Food and Drugs 9 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Electronic prescription application requirements. 1311.120 Section 1311.120 Food and Drugs DRUG ENFORCEMENT ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE... application must clear the plain text password from the application memory to prevent the unauthorized access...

  15. Nuclear data for medical applications: an overview

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Qaim, S.M.

    2002-01-01

    A brief introduction to nuclear data in medicine is given. The choice of a radioisotope for medical application demands an accurate knowledge of radioactive decay data. Short-lived single photon and beta sup + -emitters are preferred for diagnostic investigations, and longer-lived corpuscular radiation emitting radioisotopes for endo radiotherapy. The nuclear reaction cross section data, on the other hand, are needed for optimising the production routes. Besides radioactive isotopes, the use of ionising radiation in therapy is discussed. External radiation therapy has achieved an important place in medicine. The role of nuclear data is briefly discussed; they are needed for radiation dose calculations. The hitherto rather neglected activation products in proton therapy are considered. The methodology of development of a nuclear data file for medical applications is outlined. (author)

  16. Application of electron beam for preparation of membranes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mohamed Mahmoud Nasef

    2004-01-01

    Membranes have generated considerable interest in a number of technologically significant fields, such as chemical, biochemical and biomedical engineering. However, it becomes important to design and develop particular membranes for specific applications. Radiation induced grafting of hydrophilic monomers into polymeric films has been found to be an appealing method for producing various membranes. The method has the flexibility of using various types of radiation, such as γ-rays, electron beam, and plasma, irrespective of the shape and size of the polymer. Of all, electron beam accelerator is an advantageous source of high-energy radiations that can initiate grafting reactions required for preparation of membranes particularly when pilot production and commercial applications are sought. The grafting penetration can be varied from surface to bulk of membranes by applying acceleration energy. This article briefly reviews the use of electron beam radiation to prepare various membranes by radiation induced grafting of vinyl and acrylic monomers onto polymer films. Some basic fundamentals of radiation induced grafting and advantages of electron beam over Co-60 are highlighted. Potential applications of radiation-grafted membranes in various fields are also surveyed. (author)

  17. Near field communications technology and the potential to reduce medication errors through multidisciplinary application

    LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

    O’Connell, Emer

    2016-07-01

    Patient safety requires optimal management of medications. Electronic systems are encouraged to reduce medication errors. Near field communications (NFC) is an emerging technology that may be used to develop novel medication management systems.

  18. Evaluating a Serious Gaming Electronic Medication Administration Record System Among Nursing Students: Protocol for a Pragmatic Randomized Controlled Trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Booth, Richard; Sinclair, Barbara; McMurray, Josephine; Strudwick, Gillian; Watson, Gavan; Ladak, Hanif; Zwarenstein, Merrick; McBride, Susan; Chan, Ryan; Brennan, Laura

    2018-05-28

    Although electronic medication administration record systems have been implemented in settings where nurses work, nursing students commonly lack robust learning opportunities to practice the skills and workflow of digitalized medication administration during their formative education. As a result, nursing students' performance in administering medication facilitated by technology is often poor. Serious gaming has been recommended as a possible intervention to improve nursing students' performance with electronic medication administration in nursing education. The objectives of this study are to examine whether the use of a gamified electronic medication administration simulator (1) improves nursing students' attention to medication administration safety within simulated practice, (2) increases student self-efficacy and knowledge of the medication administration process, and (3) improves motivational and cognitive processing attributes related to student learning in a technology-enabled environment. This study comprised the development of a gamified electronic medication administration record simulator and its evaluation in 2 phases. Phase 1 consists of a prospective, pragmatic randomized controlled trial with second-year baccalaureate nursing students at a Canadian university. Phase 2 consists of qualitative focus group interviews with a cross-section of nursing student participants. The gamified medication administration simulator has been developed, and data collection is currently under way. If the gamified electronic medication administration simulator is found to be effective, it could be used to support other health professional simulated education and scaled more widely in nursing education programs. ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03219151; https://clinicaltrials.gov/show/NCT03219151 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6yjBROoDt). RR1-10.2196/9601. ©Richard Booth, Barbara Sinclair, Josephine McMurray, Gillian Strudwick, Gavan Watson, Hanif Ladak

  19. Optical Thermal Characterization Enables High-Performance Electronics Applications

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    2016-02-01

    NREL developed a modeling and experimental strategy to characterize thermal performance of materials. The technique provides critical data on thermal properties with relevance for electronics packaging applications. Thermal contact resistance and bulk thermal conductivity were characterized for new high-performance materials such as thermoplastics, boron-nitride nanosheets, copper nanowires, and atomically bonded layers. The technique is an important tool for developing designs and materials that enable power electronics packaging with small footprint, high power density, and low cost for numerous applications.

  20. High-Power Electron Accelerators for Space (and other) Applications

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Nguyen, Dinh Cong [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Lewellen, John W. [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

    2016-05-23

    This is a presentation on high-power electron accelerators for space and other applications. The main points covered are: electron beams for space applications, new designs of RF accelerators, high-power high-electron mobility transistors (HEMT) testing, and Li-ion battery design. In summary, the authors have considered a concept of 1-MeV electron accelerator that can operate up to several seconds. This concept can be extended to higher energy to produce higher beam power. Going to higher beam energy requires adding more cavities and solid-state HEMT RF power devices. The commercial HEMT have been tested for frequency response and RF output power (up to 420 W). Finally, the authors are testing these HEMT into a resonant load and planning for an electron beam test in FY17.

  1. Dispatch from the non-HITECH-incented Health IT world: electronic medication history adoption and utilization.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gabriel, Meghan Hufstader; Smith, Jaime Y; Sow, Max; Charles, Dustin; Joseph, Seth; Wilkins, Tricia Lee

    2016-05-01

    To document national trends of electronic medication history use in the ambulatory setting and describe the characteristics and predicting factors of providers who regularly use medication history transaction capabilities through their e-prescribing systems. The study used provider-initiated medication history data requests, electronically sent over an e-prescribing network from all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Data from 138,000 prescribers were evaluated using multivariate analyses from 2007 to 2013. Medication history use showed significant growth, increasing from 8 to 850 million history requests during the study period. Prescribers on the network for histories more often than those in large and small cities, these findings were not significant in multivariate analyses. Providers in orthopedic surgery and internal medicine had a higher likelihood of more requests than family practice prescribers, with 12% and 7% higher likelihood, respectively. Early adopters of e-prescribing have remained medication history users and have continually increased their volume of requests for medication histories. Despite the fact that the use of medication histories through e-prescribing networks in the ambulatory care setting has not been encouraged through federal incentive programs, there has been substantial growth in the use of medication histories offered through e-prescribing networks. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Medical Informatics Association. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  2. Wood-Derived Materials for Green Electronics, Biological Devices, and Energy Applications.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhu, Hongli; Luo, Wei; Ciesielski, Peter N; Fang, Zhiqiang; Zhu, J Y; Henriksson, Gunnar; Himmel, Michael E; Hu, Liangbing

    2016-08-24

    With the arising of global climate change and resource shortage, in recent years, increased attention has been paid to environmentally friendly materials. Trees are sustainable and renewable materials, which give us shelter and oxygen and remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Trees are a primary resource that human society depends upon every day, for example, homes, heating, furniture, and aircraft. Wood from trees gives us paper, cardboard, and medical supplies, thus impacting our homes, school, work, and play. All of the above-mentioned applications have been well developed over the past thousands of years. However, trees and wood have much more to offer us as advanced materials, impacting emerging high-tech fields, such as bioengineering, flexible electronics, and clean energy. Wood naturally has a hierarchical structure, composed of well-oriented microfibers and tracheids for water, ion, and oxygen transportation during metabolism. At higher magnification, the walls of fiber cells have an interesting morphology-a distinctly mesoporous structure. Moreover, the walls of fiber cells are composed of thousands of fibers (or macrofibrils) oriented in a similar angle. Nanofibrils and nanocrystals can be further liberated from macrofibrils by mechanical, chemical, and enzymatic methods. The obtained nanocellulose has unique optical, mechanical, and barrier properties and is an excellent candidate for chemical modification and reconfiguration. Wood is naturally a composite material, comprised of cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin. Wood is sustainable, earth abundant, strong, biodegradable, biocompatible, and chemically accessible for modification; more importantly, multiscale natural fibers from wood have unique optical properties applicable to different kinds of optoelectronics and photonic devices. Today, the materials derived from wood are ready to be explored for applications in new technology areas, such as electronics, biomedical devices, and energy. The

  3. Wood-Derived Materials for Green Electronics, Biological Devices, and Energy Applications

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zhu, Hongli; Luo, Wei; Ciesielski, Peter N.; Fang, Zhiqiang; Zhu, J. Y.; Henriksson, Gunnar; Himmel, Michael E.; Hu, Liangbing

    2016-08-24

    With the arising of global climate change and resource shortage, in recent years, increased attention has been paid to environmentally friendly materials. Trees are sustainable and renewable materials, which give us shelter and oxygen and remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Trees are a primary resource that human society depends upon every day, for example, homes, heating, furniture, and aircraft. Wood from trees gives us paper, cardboard, and medical supplies, thus impacting our homes, school, work, and play. All of the above-mentioned applications have been well developed over the past thousands of years. However, trees and wood have much more to offer us as advanced materials, impacting emerging high-tech fields, such as bioengineering, flexible electronics, and clean energy. Wood naturally has a hierarchical structure, composed of well-oriented microfibers and tracheids for water, ion, and oxygen transportation during metabolism. At higher magnification, the walls of fiber cells have an interesting morphology--a distinctly mesoporous structure. Moreover, the walls of fiber cells are composed of thousands of fibers (or macrofibrils) oriented in a similar angle. Nanofibrils and nanocrystals can be further liberated from macrofibrils by mechanical, chemical, and enzymatic methods. The obtained nanocellulose has unique optical, mechanical, and barrier properties and is an excellent candidate for chemical modification and reconfiguration. Wood is naturally a composite material, comprised of cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin. Wood is sustainable, earth abundant, strong, biodegradable, biocompatible, and chemically accessible for modification; more importantly, multiscale natural fibers from wood have unique optical properties applicable to different kinds of optoelectronics and photonic devices. Today, the materials derived from wood are ready to be explored for applications in new technology areas, such as electronics, biomedical devices, and energy. The

  4. Electronic medical record in cardiology: a 10-year Italian experience.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carpeggiani, Clara; Macerata, Alberto; Morales, Maria Aurora

    2015-08-01

    the aim of this study was to report a ten years experience in the electronic medical record (EMR) use. An estimated 80% of healthcare transactions are still paper-based. an EMR system was built at the end of 1998 in an Italian tertiary care center to achieve total integration among different human and instrumental sources, eliminating paper-based medical records. Physicians and nurses who used EMR system reported their opinions. In particular the hospital activity supported electronically, regarding 4,911 adult patients hospitalized in the 2004- 2008 period, was examined. the final EMR product integrated multimedia document (text, images, signals). EMR presented for the most part advantages and was well adopted by the personnel. Appropriateness evaluation was also possible for some procedures. Some disadvantages were encountered, such as start-up costs, long time required to learn how to use the tool, little to no standardization between systems and the EMR technology. the EMR is a strategic goal for clinical system integration to allow a better health care quality. The advantages of the EMR overcome the disadvantages, yielding a positive return on investment to health care organization.

  5. Electronic medical record in cardiology: a 10-year Italian experience

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Clara Carpeggiani

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available SummaryObjectives:the aim of this study was to report a ten years experience in the electronic medical record (EMR use. An estimated 80% of healthcare transactions are still paper-based.Methods:an EMR system was built at the end of 1998 in an Italian tertiary care center to achieve total integration among different human and instrumental sources, eliminating paper-based medical records. Physicians and nurses who used EMR system reported their opinions. In particular the hospital activity supported electronically, regarding 4,911 adult patients hospitalized in the 2004- 2008 period, was examined.Results:the final EMR product integrated multimedia document (text, images, signals. EMR presented for the most part advantages and was well adopted by the personnel. Appropriateness evaluation was also possible for some procedures. Some disadvantages were encountered, such as start-up costs, long time required to learn how to use the tool, little to no standardization between systems and the EMR technology.Conclusion:the EMR is a strategic goal for clinical system integration to allow a better health care quality. The advantages of the EMR overcome the disadvantages, yielding a positive return on investment to health care organization.

  6. Practical considerations to guide development of access controls and decision support for genetic information in electronic medical records

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Darcy Diana C

    2011-11-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Genetic testing is increasingly used as a tool throughout the health care system. In 2011 the number of clinically available genetic tests is approaching 2,000, and wide variation exists between these tests in their sensitivity, specificity, and clinical implications, as well as the potential for discrimination based on the results. Discussion As health care systems increasingly implement electronic medical record systems (EMRs they must carefully consider how to use information from this wide spectrum of genetic tests, with whom to share information, and how to provide decision support for clinicians to properly interpret the information. Although some characteristics of genetic tests overlap with other medical test results, there are reasons to make genetic test results widely available to health care providers and counterbalancing reasons to restrict access to these test results to honor patient preferences, and avoid distracting or confusing clinicians with irrelevant but complex information. Electronic medical records can facilitate and provide reasonable restrictions on access to genetic test results and deliver education and decision support tools to guide appropriate interpretation and use. Summary This paper will serve to review some of the key characteristics of genetic tests as they relate to design of access control and decision support of genetic test information in the EMR, emphasizing the clear need for health information technology (HIT to be part of optimal implementation of genetic medicine, and the importance of understanding key characteristics of genetic tests when designing HIT applications.

  7. Practical considerations to guide development of access controls and decision support for genetic information in electronic medical records.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Darcy, Diana C; Lewis, Eleanor T; Ormond, Kelly E; Clark, David J; Trafton, Jodie A

    2011-11-02

    Genetic testing is increasingly used as a tool throughout the health care system. In 2011 the number of clinically available genetic tests is approaching 2,000, and wide variation exists between these tests in their sensitivity, specificity, and clinical implications, as well as the potential for discrimination based on the results. As health care systems increasingly implement electronic medical record systems (EMRs) they must carefully consider how to use information from this wide spectrum of genetic tests, with whom to share information, and how to provide decision support for clinicians to properly interpret the information. Although some characteristics of genetic tests overlap with other medical test results, there are reasons to make genetic test results widely available to health care providers and counterbalancing reasons to restrict access to these test results to honor patient preferences, and avoid distracting or confusing clinicians with irrelevant but complex information. Electronic medical records can facilitate and provide reasonable restrictions on access to genetic test results and deliver education and decision support tools to guide appropriate interpretation and use. This paper will serve to review some of the key characteristics of genetic tests as they relate to design of access control and decision support of genetic test information in the EMR, emphasizing the clear need for health information technology (HIT) to be part of optimal implementation of genetic medicine, and the importance of understanding key characteristics of genetic tests when designing HIT applications.

  8. From Particle Physics to Medical Applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dosanjh, Manjit

    2017-06-01

    CERN is the world's largest particle physics research laboratory. Since it was established in 1954, it has made an outstanding contribution to our understanding of the fundamental particles and their interactions, and also to the technologies needed to analyse their properties and behaviour. The experimental challenges have pushed the performance of particle accelerators and detectors to the limits of our technical capabilities, and these groundbreaking technologies can also have a significant impact in applications beyond particle physics. In particular, the detectors developed for particle physics have led to improved techniques for medical imaging, while accelerator technologies lie at the heart of the irradiation methods that are widely used for treating cancer. Indeed, many important diagnostic and therapeutic techniques used by healthcare professionals are based either on basic physics principles or the technologies developed to carry out physics research. Ever since the discovery of x-rays by Roentgen in 1895, physics has been instrumental in the development of technologies in the biomedical domain, including the use of ionizing radiation for medical imaging and therapy. Some key examples that are explored in detail in this book include scanners based on positron emission tomography, as well as radiation therapy for cancer treatment. Even the collaborative model of particle physics is proving to be effective in catalysing multidisciplinary research for medical applications, ensuring that pioneering physics research is exploited for the benefit of all.

  9. Application of high power microwave vacuum electron devices

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ding Yaogen; Liu Pukun; Zhang Zhaochuan; Wang Yong; Shen Bin

    2011-01-01

    High power microwave vacuum electron devices can work at high frequency, high peak and average power. They have been widely used in military and civil microwave electron systems, such as radar, communication,countermeasure, TV broadcast, particle accelerators, plasma heating devices of fusion, microwave sensing and microwave heating. In scientific research, high power microwave vacuum electron devices are used mainly on high energy particle accelerator and fusion research. The devices include high peak power klystron, CW and long pulse high power klystron, multi-beam klystron,and high power gyrotron. In national economy, high power microwave vacuum electron devices are used mainly on weather and navigation radar, medical and radiation accelerator, TV broadcast and communication system. The devices include high power pulse and CW klystron, extended interaction klystron, traveling wave tube (TWT), magnetron and induced output tube (IOT). The state of art, common technology problems and trends of high power microwave vacuum electron devices are introduced in this paper. (authors)

  10. Electronic Medical Record and Quality Ratings of Long Term Care Facilities Long-Term Care Facility Characteristics and Reasons and Barriers for Adoption of Electronic Medical Record

    Science.gov (United States)

    Daniels, Cheryl Andrea

    2013-01-01

    With the growing elderly population, compounded by the retirement of the babyboomers, the need for long-term care (LTC) facilities is expected to grow. An area of great concern for those that are seeking a home for their family member is the quality of care provided by the nursing home to the residents. Electronic medical records (EMR) are often…

  11. Discrepancies between perceptions of students and deans regarding the consequences of restricting students' use of electronic medical records on quality of medical education.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Solarte, Ivan; Könings, Karen D

    2017-03-13

    Electronic medical records (EMR) are more used in university hospitals, but the use of EMR by medical students at the workplace is still a challenge, because the conflict of interest between medical accountability for hospitals and quality of medical education programs for students. Therefore, this study investigates the use of EMR from the perspective of medical school deans and students, and determines their perceptions and concerns about consequences of restricted use of EMR by students on quality of education and patient care. We administered a large-scale survey about the existence of EMR, existing policies, students' use for learning, and consequences on patient care to 42 deans and 789 Residency Physician Applicants in a private university in Colombia. Data from 26 deans and 442 former graduated students were compared with independent t tests and chi square tests. Only half of medical schools had learning programs and policies about the use of EMR by students. Deans did not realize that students have less access to EMR than to paper-based MR. Perceptions of non-curricular learning opportunities how to write in (E)MR were significantly different between deans and students. Limiting students use of EMR has negative consequences on medical education, according to both deans and students, while deans worried significantly more about impact on patient care than students. Billing issues and liability aspects were their major concerns. There is a need for a clear policy and educational program on the use of EMR by students. Discrepancies between the planned curriculum by deans and the real clinical learning environment as experienced by students indicate suboptimal learning opportunities for students. Creating powerful workplace-learning experiences and resolving concerns on students use of EMR has to be resolved in a constructive collaboration way between the involved stakeholders, including also EMR designers and hospital administrators. We recommend intense

  12. Medical applications of superconducting quantum interference devices

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Uehara, Gen

    2011-01-01

    SQUIDs (Superconducting Quantum Interference Devices) are applied to clinical areas and basic medical science fields because of their potential for measuring a minute magnetic signal from the human body. Magnetoencephalography, one of their applications, is used for the functional mapping of the brain cortex before surgery and the localization of focus of epilepsy. Recently, their applications to the early-stage detection of dementia and the localization of brain ischemia are suggested. Another application of SQUIDs is magnetospinography, which detects the conduction block in spinal cord signal propagation. (author)

  13. Medical applications of synchrotron radiation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Thomlinson, W.

    1991-10-01

    Ever since the first diagnostic x-ray was done in the United States on February 3, 1896, the application of ionizing radiation to the field of medicine has become increasingly important. Both in clinical medicine and basic research the use of x-rays for diagnostic imaging and radiotherapy is now widespread. Radiography, angiography, CAT and PETT scanning, mammography, and nuclear medicine are all examples of technologies developed to image the human anatomy. In therapeutic applications, both external and internal sources of radiation are applied to the battle against cancer. The development of dedicated synchrotron radiation sources has allowed exciting advances to take place in many of these applications. The new sources provide tunable, high-intensity monochromatic beams over a wide range of energies which can be tailored to specific programmatic needs. This paper surveys those areas of medical research in which synchrotron radiation facilities are actively involved

  14. Medical applications of synchrotron radiation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Thomlinson, W.

    1992-01-01

    Ever since the first diagnostic X-ray was done in the United States on February 3, 1896, the application of ionizing radiation to the field of medicine has become incrasingly important. Both in clinical medicine and basic research the use of X-rays for diagnostic imaging and radiotherapy is now widespread. Radiography, angiography, CAT and PETT scanning, mammography, and nuclear medicine are all examples of technologies developed to image the human anatomy. In therapeutic applications, both external and internal sources of radiation are applied to the battle against cancer. The development of dedicated synchrotron radiation sources has allowed exciting advances to take place in many of these applications. The new sources provide tunable, high-intensity monochromatic beams over a wide range of energies which can be tailored to specific programmatic needs. This paper surveys those areas of medical research in which synchrotron radiation facilities are actively involved. (orig.)

  15. High temperature, radiation hardened electronics for application to nuclear power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gover, J.E.

    1980-01-01

    Electronic circuits were developed and built at Sandia for many aerospace and energy systems applications. Among recent developments were high temperature electronics for geothermal well logging and radiation hardened electronics for a variety of aerospace applications. Sandia has also been active in technology transfer to commercial industry in both of these areas

  16. Reorganizing Care With the Implementation of Electronic Medical Records: A Time-Motion Study in the PICU.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roumeliotis, Nadia; Parisien, Geneviève; Charette, Sylvie; Arpin, Elizabeth; Brunet, Fabrice; Jouvet, Philippe

    2018-04-01

    To assess caregivers' patient care time before and after the implementation of a reorganization of care plan with electronic medical records. A prospective, observational, time-motion study. A level 3 PICU. Nurses and orderlies caring for intubated patients during an 8-hour work shift before (2008-2009) and after (2016) implementation of reorganization of care in 2013. The reorganization plan included improved telecommunication for healthcare workers, increased tasks delegated to orderlies, and an ICU-specific electronic medical record (Intellispace Critical Care and Anesthesia information system, Philips Healthcare). Time spent completing various work tasks was recorded by direct observation, and proportion of time in tasks was compared for each study period. A total of 153.7 hours was observed from 22 nurses and 14 orderlies. There was no significant difference in the proportion of nursing patient care time before (68.8% [interquartile range, 48-72%]) and after (55% [interquartile range, 51-57%]) (p = 0.11) the reorganization with electronic medical record. Direct patient care task time for nurses was increased from 27.0% (interquartile range, 30-37%) before to 34.7% (interquartile range, 33-75%) (p = 0.336) after, and indirect patient care tasks decreased from 33.6% (interquartile range, 23-41%) to 18.6% (interquartile range, 16-22%) (p = 0.036). Documentation time significantly increased from 14.5% (interquartile range, 12-22%) to 26.2% (interquartile range, 23-28%) (p = 0.032). Nursing productivity ratio improved from 28.3 to 26.0. A survey revealed that nursing staff was satisfied with the electronic medical record, although there was a concern for the maintenance of oral communication in the unit. The reorganization of care with the implementation of an ICU-specific electronic medical record in the PICU did not change total patient care provided but improved nursing productivity, resulting in improved efficiency. Documentation time was significantly

  17. Principles for new optical techniques in medical diagnostics for mHealth applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Balsam, Joshua Michael

    Medical diagnostics is a critical element of effective medical treatment. However, many modern and emerging diagnostic technologies are not affordable or compatible with the needs and conditions found in low-income and middle-income countries and regions. Resource-poor areas require low-cost, robust, easy-to-use, and portable diagnostics devices compatible with telemedicine (i.e. mHealth) that can be adapted to meet diverse medical needs. Many suitable devices will need to be based on optical technologies, which are used for many types of biological analyses. This dissertation describes the fabrication and detection principles for several low-cost optical technologies for mHealth applications including: (1) a webcam based multi-wavelength fluorescence plate reader, (2) a lens-free optical detector used for the detection of Botulinum A neurotoxin activity, (3) a low cost micro-array reader that allows the performance of typical fluorescence based assays demonstrated for the detection of the toxin staphylococcal enterotoxin (SEB), and (4) a wide-field flow cytometer for high throughput detection of fluorescently labeled rare cells. This dissertation discusses how these technologies can be harnessed using readily available consumer electronics components such as webcams, cell phones, CCD cameras, LEDs, and laser diodes. There are challenges in developing devices with sufficient sensitivity and specificity, and approaches are presented to overcoming these challenges to create optical detectors that can serve as low cost medical diagnostics in resource-poor settings for mHealth.

  18. Scattered radiation from applicators in clinical electron beams.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Battum, L.J. van; Zee, W. van der; Huizenga, H.

    2003-01-01

    In radiotherapy with high-energy (4-25 MeV) electron beams, scattered radiation from the electron applicator influences the dose distribution in the patient. In most currently available treatment planning systems for radiotherapy this component is not explicitly included and handled only by a slight

  19. Medical applications for pharmacists using mobile devices.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aungst, Timothy Dy

    2013-01-01

    Mobile devices (eg, smartphones, tablet computers) have become ubiquitous and subsequently there has been a growth in mobile applications (apps). Concurrently, mobile devices have been integrated into health care practice due to the availability and quality of medical apps. These mobile medical apps offer increased access to clinical references and point-of-care tools. However, there has been little identification of mobile medical apps suitable for the practice of pharmacy. To address the shortage of recommendations of mobile medical apps for pharmacists in daily practice. Mobile medical apps were identified via the iTunes and Google Play Stores via the "Medical" app categories and key word searches (eg, drug information, medical calculators). In addition, reviews provided by professional mobile medical app review websites were used to identify apps. Mobile medical apps were included if they had been updated in the previous 3 months, were available in the US, used evidence-based information or literature support, had dedicated app support, and demonstrated stability. Exclusion criteria included apps that were not available in English, had advertisement bias, used nonreferenced sources, were available only via an institution-only subscription, and were web-based portals. Twenty-seven mobile apps were identified and reviewed that involved general pharmacy practice, including apps that involved drug references, clinical references, medical calculators, laboratory references, news and continuing medical education, and productivity. Mobile medical apps have a variety of features that are beneficial to pharmacy practice. Individual clinicians should consider several characteristics of these apps to determine which are suitable to incorporate into their daily practice.

  20. An H-module linear actuator for medical equipment applications

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Liu, Xiao; Wu, Keyuan; ye, yunyue

    2012-01-01

    An H-module linear actuator (HMLA) is proposed in this paper for medical equipment applications. Compared to the existing linear actuators used in medical equipment, the proposed H-module linear actuator has much lower normal force, which makes use of an additional air-suspension system unnecessary...

  1. Implementation of RSA 2048-bit and AES 256-bit with Digital Signature for Secure Electronic Health Record Application

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mohamad Ali Sadikin

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available This research addresses the implementation of encryption and digital signature technique for electronic health record to prevent cybercrime such as robbery, modification and unauthorised access. In this research, RSA 2048-bit algorithm, AES 256-bit and SHA 256 will be implemented in Java programming language. Secure Electronic Health Record Information (SEHR application design is intended to combine given services, such as confidentiality, integrity, authentication, and nonrepudiation. Cryptography is used to ensure the file records and electronic documents for detailed information on the medical past, present and future forecasts that have been given only to the intended patients. The document will be encrypted using an encryption algorithm based on NIST Standard. In the application, there are two schemes, namely the protection and verification scheme. This research uses black-box testing and whitebox testing to test the software input, output, and code without testing the process and design that occurs in the system.We demonstrated the implementation of cryptography in SEHR. The implementation of encryption and digital signature in this research can prevent archive thievery.

  2. [Assessment of two applications of medication self-management in older patients. Qualitative study].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carrillo, I; Guilabert, M; Pérez-Jover, V; Mira, J J

    2015-01-01

    The aging population and the growing use of technology are two realities of modern society. Developing tools to support medication self-management to polymedicated elderly may contribute to increase their safety. To know how patients polymedicated and older than 64 years manage dose their medication and assessment the utility of two medication self-management applications, specifically analyzing management systems, medication errors and positive and improvable aspects of each of the tools presented. Seven focal groups with 59 patients from associations and health departments were conducted. In such meetings, they received the applications and they were encouraged to use it. Then, a several group questions were asked them about their health status, how they managed their medication and their assessment about the applications. Most participants reported to use memory strategies to take correctly their medication. They assessed positively the applications although some of them showed resistance to incorporate it in their daily routine. The simple interface and ease of use were the characteristics of the applications most appreciated by patients. Is possible to foster among elderly patients the use of technological tools to support the proper administration of medications with purpose is to decrease errors and increase safety. When designing health applications is necessary to take into account the preferences of those who are targeted. Copyright © 2014 SECA. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

  3. Distribution of Problems, Medications and Lab Results in Electronic Health Records: The Pareto Principle at Work.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wright, Adam; Bates, David W

    2010-01-01

    BACKGROUND: Many natural phenomena demonstrate power-law distributions, where very common items predominate. Problems, medications and lab results represent some of the most important data elements in medicine, but their overall distribution has not been reported. OBJECTIVE: Our objective is to determine whether problems, medications and lab results demonstrate a power law distribution. METHODS: Retrospective review of electronic medical record data for 100,000 randomly selected patients seen at least twice in 2006 and 2007 at the Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston and its affiliated medical practices. RESULTS: All three data types exhibited a power law distribution. The 12.5% most frequently used problems account for 80% of all patient problems, the top 11.8% of medications account for 80% of all medication orders and the top 4.5% of lab result types account for all lab results. CONCLUSION: These three data elements exhibited power law distributions with a small number of common items representing a substantial proportion of all orders and observations, which has implications for electronic health record design.

  4. Considering Point-of-Care Electronic Medical Resources in Lieu of Traditional Textbooks for Medical Education.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hale, LaDonna S; Wallace, Michelle M; Adams, Courtney R; Kaufman, Michelle L; Snyder, Courtney L

    2015-09-01

    Selecting resources to support didactic courses is a critical decision, and the advantages and disadvantages must be carefully considered. During clinical rotations, students not only need to possess strong background knowledge but also are expected to be proficient with the same evidence-based POC resources used by clinicians. Students place high value on “real world” learning and therefore may place more value on POC resources that they know practicing clinicians use as compared with medical textbooks. The condensed nature of PA education requires students to develop background knowledge and information literacy skills over a short period. One way to build that knowledge and those skills simultaneously is to use POC resources in lieu of traditional medical textbooks during didactic training. Electronic POC resources offer several advantages over traditional textbooks and should be considered as viable options in PA education.

  5. Workshop on scientific and industrial applications of free electron lasers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Difilippo, F.C.; Perez, R.B.

    1990-05-01

    A Workshop on Scientific and Industrial Applications of Free Electron Lasers was organized to address potential uses of a Free Electron Laser in the infrared wavelength region. A total of 13 speakers from national laboratories, universities, and the industry gave seminars to an average audience of 30 persons during June 12 and 13, 1989. The areas covered were: Free Electron Laser Technology, Chemistry and Surface Science, Atomic and Molecular Physics, Condensed Matter, and Biomedical Applications, Optical Damage, and Optoelectronics

  6. Properties and medical applications of shape memory alloys.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tarniţă, Daniela; Tarniţă, D N; Bîzdoacă, N; Mîndrilă, I; Vasilescu, Mirela

    2009-01-01

    One of the most known intelligent material is nitinol, which offers many functional advantages over conventional implantable alloys. Applications of SMA to the biomedical field have been successful because of their functional qualities, enhancing both the possibility and the execution of less invasive surgeries. The biocompatibility of these alloys is one of their most important features. Different applications exploit the shape memory effect (one-way or two-way) and the super elasticity, so that they can be employed in orthopedic and cardiovascular applications, as well as in the manufacture of new surgical tools. Therefore, one can say that smart materials, especially SMA, are becoming noticeable in the biomedical field. Super elastic NiTi has become a material of strategic importance as it allows to overcome a wide range of technical and design issues relating to the miniaturization of medical devices and the increasing trend for less invasive and therefore less traumatic procedures. This paper will consider just why the main properties of shape memory alloys hold so many opportunities for medical devices and will review a selection of current applications.

  7. An inventory of publications on electronic medical records revisited.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moorman, P W; Schuemie, M J; van der Lei, J

    2009-01-01

    In this short review we provide an update of our earlier inventories of publications indexed in MedLine with the MeSH term 'Medical Records Systems, Computerized'. We retrieved and analyzed all references to English articles published before January 1, 2008, and indexed in PubMed with the MeSH term 'Medical Records Systems, Computerized'. We retrieved a total of 11,924 publications, of which 3937 (33%) appeared in a journal with an impact factor. Since 2002 the number of yearly publications, and the number of journals in which those publications appeared, increased. A cluster analysis revealed three clusters: an organizational issues cluster, a technically oriented cluster and a cluster about order-entry and research. Although our previous inventory in 2003 suggested a constant yearly production of publications on electronic medical records since 1998, the current inventory shows another rise in production since 2002. In addition, many new journals and countries have shown interest during the last five years. In the last 15 years, interest in organizational issues remained fairly constant, order entry and research with systems gained attention, while interest in technical issues relatively decreased.

  8. Learning a Health Knowledge Graph from Electronic Medical Records.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rotmensch, Maya; Halpern, Yoni; Tlimat, Abdulhakim; Horng, Steven; Sontag, David

    2017-07-20

    Demand for clinical decision support systems in medicine and self-diagnostic symptom checkers has substantially increased in recent years. Existing platforms rely on knowledge bases manually compiled through a labor-intensive process or automatically derived using simple pairwise statistics. This study explored an automated process to learn high quality knowledge bases linking diseases and symptoms directly from electronic medical records. Medical concepts were extracted from 273,174 de-identified patient records and maximum likelihood estimation of three probabilistic models was used to automatically construct knowledge graphs: logistic regression, naive Bayes classifier and a Bayesian network using noisy OR gates. A graph of disease-symptom relationships was elicited from the learned parameters and the constructed knowledge graphs were evaluated and validated, with permission, against Google's manually-constructed knowledge graph and against expert physician opinions. Our study shows that direct and automated construction of high quality health knowledge graphs from medical records using rudimentary concept extraction is feasible. The noisy OR model produces a high quality knowledge graph reaching precision of 0.85 for a recall of 0.6 in the clinical evaluation. Noisy OR significantly outperforms all tested models across evaluation frameworks (p < 0.01).

  9. Perception and adoption of an electronic medication record three years after deployment

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hertzum, Morten; Granlien, Maren Fich

    2007-01-01

    Region Zealand's electronic medication record is generally perceived by hospital staff as useful but not that easy to use. Neither perceived usefulness nor perceived ease of use is more than weakly correlated with actual adoption. The complex work domain with interdependent staff groups and many...

  10. Identifying risk factors for healthcare-associated infections from electronic medical record home address data

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rosenman Marc B

    2010-09-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Residential address is a common element in patient electronic medical records. Guidelines from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention specify that residence in a nursing home, skilled nursing facility, or hospice within a year prior to a positive culture date is among the criteria for differentiating healthcare-acquired from community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA infections. Residential addresses may be useful for identifying patients residing in healthcare-associated settings, but methods for categorizing residence type based on electronic medical records have not been widely documented. The aim of this study was to develop a process to assist in differentiating healthcare-associated from community-associated MRSA infections by analyzing patient addresses to determine if residence reported at the time of positive culture was associated with a healthcare facility or other institutional location. Results We identified 1,232 of the patients (8.24% of the sample with positive cultures as probable cases of healthcare-associated MRSA based on residential addresses contained in electronic medical records. Combining manual review with linking to institutional address databases improved geocoding rates from 11,870 records (79.37% to 12,549 records (83.91%. Standardization of patient home address through geocoding increased the number of matches to institutional facilities from 545 (3.64% to 1,379 (9.22%. Conclusions Linking patient home address data from electronic medical records to institutional residential databases provides useful information for epidemiologic researchers, infection control practitioners, and clinicians. This information, coupled with other clinical and laboratory data, can be used to inform differentiation of healthcare-acquired from community-acquired infections. The process presented should be extensible with little or no added data costs.

  11. Magnetic nanoparticle design for medical application

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Mornet, S.; Vasseur, S.; Grasset, F.; Veverka, Pavel; Goglio, G.; Demourgues, A.; Portier, J.; Pollert, Emil; Duguet, E.

    2006-01-01

    Roč. 34, - (2006), s. 237-247 ISSN 0079-6786 R&D Projects: GA AV ČR(CZ) 1QS100100553; GA AV ČR(CZ) KAN200200651 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z10100521 Keywords : magnetic nanoparticles * medical applications * magnetic resonance imaging * magnetic hyperthermia Subject RIV: BM - Solid Matter Physics ; Magnetism Impact factor: 2.500, year: 2006

  12. Electronic health records and online medical records: an asset or a liability under current conditions?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Allen-Graham, Judith; Mitchell, Lauren; Heriot, Natalie; Armani, Roksana; Langton, David; Levinson, Michele; Young, Alan; Smith, Julian A; Kotsimbos, Tom; Wilson, John W

    2018-02-01

    Objective The aim of the present study was to audit the current use of medical records to determine completeness and concordance with other sources of medical information. Methods Medical records for 40 patients from each of five Melbourne major metropolitan hospitals were randomly selected (n=200). A quantitative audit was performed for detailed patient information and medical record keeping, as well as data collection, storage and utilisation. Using each hospital's current online clinical database, scanned files and paperwork available for each patient audited, the reviewers sourced as much relevant information as possible within a 30-min time allocation from both the record and the discharge summary. Results Of all medical records audited, 82% contained medical and surgical history, allergy information and patient demographics. All audited discharge summaries lacked at least one of the following: demographics, medication allergies, medical and surgical history, medications and adverse drug event information. Only 49% of records audited showed evidence the discharge summary was sent outside the institution. Conclusions The quality of medical data captured and information management is variable across hospitals. It is recommended that medical history documentation guidelines and standardised discharge summaries be implemented in Australian healthcare services. What is known about this topic? Australia has a complex health system, the government has approved funding to develop a universal online electronic medical record system and is currently trialling this in an opt-out style in the Napean Blue Mountains (NSW) and in Northern Queensland. The system was originally named the personally controlled electronic health record but has since been changed to MyHealth Record (2016). In Victoria, there exists a wide range of electronic health records used to varying degrees, with some hospitals still relying on paper-based records and many using scanned medical records

  13. Near field communications technology and the potential to reduce medication errors through multidisciplinary application.

    Science.gov (United States)

    O'Connell, Emer; Pegler, Joe; Lehane, Elaine; Livingstone, Vicki; McCarthy, Nora; Sahm, Laura J; Tabirca, Sabin; O'Driscoll, Aoife; Corrigan, Mark

    2016-01-01

    Patient safety requires optimal management of medications. Electronic systems are encouraged to reduce medication errors. Near field communications (NFC) is an emerging technology that may be used to develop novel medication management systems. An NFC-based system was designed to facilitate prescribing, administration and review of medications commonly used on surgical wards. Final year medical, nursing, and pharmacy students were recruited to test the electronic system in a cross-over observational setting on a simulated ward. Medication errors were compared against errors recorded using a paper-based system. A significant difference in the commission of medication errors was seen when NFC and paper-based medication systems were compared. Paper use resulted in a mean of 4.09 errors per prescribing round while NFC prescribing resulted in a mean of 0.22 errors per simulated prescribing round (P=0.000). Likewise, medication administration errors were reduced from a mean of 2.30 per drug round with a Paper system to a mean of 0.80 errors per round using NFC (PNFC based medication system may be used to effectively reduce medication errors in a simulated ward environment.

  14. Microfluidic electronics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cheng, Shi; Wu, Zhigang

    2012-08-21

    Microfluidics, a field that has been well-established for several decades, has seen extensive applications in the areas of biology, chemistry, and medicine. However, it might be very hard to imagine how such soft microfluidic devices would be used in other areas, such as electronics, in which stiff, solid metals, insulators, and semiconductors have previously dominated. Very recently, things have radically changed. Taking advantage of native properties of microfluidics, advances in microfluidics-based electronics have shown great potential in numerous new appealing applications, e.g. bio-inspired devices, body-worn healthcare and medical sensing systems, and ergonomic units, in which conventional rigid, bulky electronics are facing insurmountable obstacles to fulfil the demand on comfortable user experience. Not only would the birth of microfluidic electronics contribute to both the microfluidics and electronics fields, but it may also shape the future of our daily life. Nevertheless, microfluidic electronics are still at a very early stage, and significant efforts in research and development are needed to advance this emerging field. The intention of this article is to review recent research outcomes in the field of microfluidic electronics, and address current technical challenges and issues. The outlook of future development in microfluidic electronic devices and systems, as well as new fabrication techniques, is also discussed. Moreover, the authors would like to inspire both the microfluidics and electronics communities to further exploit this newly-established field.

  15. Medical applications of atomic force microscopy and Raman spectroscopy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Choi, Samjin; Jung, Gyeong Bok; Kim, Kyung Sook; Lee, Gi-Ja; Park, Hun-Kuk

    2014-01-01

    This paper reviews the recent research and application of atomic force microscopy (AFM) and Raman spectroscopy techniques, which are considered the multi-functional and powerful toolkits for probing the nanostructural, biomechanical and physicochemical properties of biomedical samples in medical science. We introduce briefly the basic principles of AFM and Raman spectroscopy, followed by diagnostic assessments of some selected diseases in biomedical applications using them, including mitochondria isolated from normal and ischemic hearts, hair fibers, individual cells, and human cortical bone. Finally, AFM and Raman spectroscopy applications to investigate the effects of pharmacotherapy, surgery, and medical device therapy in various medicines from cells to soft and hard tissues are discussed, including pharmacotherapy--paclitaxel on Ishikawa and HeLa cells, telmisartan on angiotensin II, mitomycin C on strabismus surgery and eye whitening surgery, and fluoride on primary teeth--and medical device therapy--collagen cross-linking treatment for the management of progressive keratoconus, radiofrequency treatment for skin rejuvenation, physical extracorporeal shockwave therapy for healing of Achilles tendinitis, orthodontic treatment, and toothbrushing time to minimize the loss of teeth after exposure to acidic drinks.

  16. CERN's web application updates for electron and laser beam technologies

    CERN Document Server

    Sigas, Christos

    2017-01-01

    This report describes the modifications at CERN's web application for electron and laser beam technologies. There are updates at both the front and the back end of the application. New electron and laser machines were added and also old machines were updated. There is also a new feature for printing needed information.

  17. Health Information Technology: Meaningful Use and Next Steps to Improving Electronic Facilitation of Medication Adherence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bosworth, Hayden B; Zullig, Leah L; Mendys, Phil; Ho, Michael; Trygstad, Troy; Granger, Christopher; Oakes, Megan M; Granger, Bradi B

    2016-03-15

    The use of health information technology (HIT) may improve medication adherence, but challenges for implementation remain. The aim of this paper is to review the current state of HIT as it relates to medication adherence programs, acknowledge the potential barriers in light of current legislation, and provide recommendations to improve ongoing medication adherence strategies through the use of HIT. We describe four potential HIT barriers that may impact interoperability and subsequent medication adherence. Legislation in the United States has incentivized the use of HIT to facilitate and enhance medication adherence. The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) was recently adopted and establishes federal standards for the so-called "meaningful use" of certified electronic health record (EHR) technology that can directly impact medication adherence. The four persistent HIT barriers to medication adherence include (1) underdevelopment of data reciprocity across clinical, community, and home settings, limiting the capture of data necessary for clinical care; (2) inconsistent data definitions and lack of harmonization of patient-focused data standards, making existing data difficult to use for patient-centered outcomes research; (3) inability to effectively use the national drug code information from the various electronic health record and claims datasets for adherence purposes; and (4) lack of data capture for medication management interventions, such as medication management therapy (MTM) in the EHR. Potential recommendations to address these issues are discussed. To make meaningful, high quality data accessible, and subsequently improve medication adherence, these challenges will need to be addressed to fully reach the potential of HIT in impacting one of our largest public health issues.

  18. SU-F-T-80: A Mobile Application for Intra-Operative Electron Radiotherapy Treatment Planning

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Williams, C; Crowley, E; Wolfgang, J

    2016-01-01

    Purpose: Intraoperative electron radiotherapy (IORT) poses a unique set of challenges for treatment planning. Planning must be performed in a busy operating room environment over a short timeframe often with little advance knowledge of the treatment depth or applicator size. Furthermore, IORT accelerators can have a large number of possible applicators, requiring extensive databooks that must be searched for the appropriate dosimetric parameters. The goal of this work is to develop a software tool to assist in the planning process that is suited to the challenges faced in the IORT environment. Methods: We developed a mobile application using HTML5 and Javascript that can be deployed to tablet devices suitable for use in the operating room. The user selects the desired treatment parameters cone diameter, bevel angle, and energy (a total of 141 datasets) and desired bolus. The application generates an interactive display that allows the user to dynamically select points on the depth-dose curve and to visualize the shape of the corresponding isodose contours. The user can indicate a prescription isodose line or depth. The software performs a monitor unit calculation and generates a PDF report. Results: We present our application, which is now used routinely in our IORT practice. It has been employed successfully in over 23 cases. The interactivity of the isodose distributions was found to be of particular use to physicians who are less-frequent IORT users, as well as for the education of residents and trainees. Conclusion: This software has served as a useful tool in IORT planning, and demonstrates the need for treatment planning tools that are designed for the specialized challenges encountered in IORT. This software is the subject of a license agreement with the IntraOp Medical Corporation. This software is the subject of a license agreement between Massachusetts General Hospital / Partners Healthcare and the IntraOp Medical Corporation. CLW is consulting on

  19. SU-F-T-80: A Mobile Application for Intra-Operative Electron Radiotherapy Treatment Planning

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Williams, C [Brigham and Women’s Hospital & Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA (United States); Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA (United States); Crowley, E; Wolfgang, J [Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA (United States); Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA (United States)

    2016-06-15

    Purpose: Intraoperative electron radiotherapy (IORT) poses a unique set of challenges for treatment planning. Planning must be performed in a busy operating room environment over a short timeframe often with little advance knowledge of the treatment depth or applicator size. Furthermore, IORT accelerators can have a large number of possible applicators, requiring extensive databooks that must be searched for the appropriate dosimetric parameters. The goal of this work is to develop a software tool to assist in the planning process that is suited to the challenges faced in the IORT environment. Methods: We developed a mobile application using HTML5 and Javascript that can be deployed to tablet devices suitable for use in the operating room. The user selects the desired treatment parameters cone diameter, bevel angle, and energy (a total of 141 datasets) and desired bolus. The application generates an interactive display that allows the user to dynamically select points on the depth-dose curve and to visualize the shape of the corresponding isodose contours. The user can indicate a prescription isodose line or depth. The software performs a monitor unit calculation and generates a PDF report. Results: We present our application, which is now used routinely in our IORT practice. It has been employed successfully in over 23 cases. The interactivity of the isodose distributions was found to be of particular use to physicians who are less-frequent IORT users, as well as for the education of residents and trainees. Conclusion: This software has served as a useful tool in IORT planning, and demonstrates the need for treatment planning tools that are designed for the specialized challenges encountered in IORT. This software is the subject of a license agreement with the IntraOp Medical Corporation. This software is the subject of a license agreement between Massachusetts General Hospital / Partners Healthcare and the IntraOp Medical Corporation. CLW is consulting on

  20. Electrically and Thermally Conducting Nanocomposites for Electronic Applications

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Daryl Santos

    2010-02-01

    Full Text Available Nanocomposites made up of polymer matrices and carbon nanotubes are a class of advanced materials with great application potential in electronics packaging. Nanocomposites with carbon nanotubes as fillers have been designed with the aim of exploiting the high thermal, electrical and mechanical properties characteristic of carbon nanotubes. Heat dissipation in electronic devices requires interface materials with high thermal conductivity. Here, current developments and challenges in the application of nanotubes as fillers in polymer matrices are explored. The blending together of nanotubes and polymers result in what are known as nanocomposites. Among the most pressing current issues related to nanocomposite fabrication are (i dispersion of carbon nanotubes in the polymer host, (ii carbon nanotube-polymer interaction and the nature of the interface, and (iii alignment of carbon nanotubes in a polymer matrix. These issues are believed to be directly related to the electrical and thermal performance of nanocomposites. The recent progress in the fabrication of nanocomposites with carbon nanotubes as fillers and their potential application in electronics packaging as thermal interface materials is also reported.

  1. Analysis of the three-dimensional delamination behavior of stretchable electronics applications

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Sluis, van der O.; Timmermans, P.H.M.; Zanden, van der E.J.L.; Hoefnagels, J.P.M.; Ernst, L.J.

    2009-01-01

    Stretchable electronics offer potential application areasin biological implants interacting with human tissue. Furthermore, they facilitate increased design freedom of electronic products. Typical applications can be found in healthcare, wellness and functional clothes. A key requirement on these

  2. Pulsed electron accelerator for radiation technologies in the enviromental applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Korenev, Sergey

    1997-05-01

    The project of pulsed electron accelerator for radiation technologies in the environmental applications is considered. An accelerator consists of high voltage generator with vacuum insulation and vacuum diode with plasma cathode on the basis discharge on the surface of dielectric of large dimensions. The main parameters of electron accelerators are following: kinetic energy 0.2 - 2.0 MeV, electron beam current 1 - 30 kA and pulse duration 1- 5 microseconds. The main applications of accelerator for decomposition of wastewaters are considered.

  3. An evaluation on CT image acquisition method for medical VR applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jang, Seong-wook; Ko, Junho; Yoo, Yon-sik; Kim, Yoonsang

    2017-02-01

    Recent medical virtual reality (VR) applications to minimize re-operations are being studied for improvements in surgical efficiency and reduction of operation error. The CT image acquisition method considering three-dimensional (3D) modeling for medical VR applications is important, because the realistic model is required for the actual human organ. However, the research for medical VR applications has focused on 3D modeling techniques and utilized 3D models. In addition, research on a CT image acquisition method considering 3D modeling has never been reported. The conventional CT image acquisition method involves scanning a limited area of the lesion for the diagnosis of doctors once or twice. However, the medical VR application is required to acquire the CT image considering patients' various postures and a wider area than the lesion. A wider area than the lesion is required because of the necessary process of comparing bilateral sides for dyskinesia diagnosis of the shoulder, pelvis, and leg. Moreover, patients' various postures are required due to the different effects on the musculoskeletal system. Therefore, in this paper, we perform a comparative experiment on the acquired CT images considering image area (unilateral/bilateral) and patients' postures (neutral/abducted). CT images are acquired from 10 patients for the experiments, and the acquired CT images are evaluated based on the length per pixel and the morphological deviation. Finally, by comparing the experiment results, we evaluate the CT image acquisition method for medical VR applications.

  4. Microtron for radiation applications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Soni, H.C.; Ramamurthi, S.S.

    1993-01-01

    The electron accelerator called microtron is a powerful tool for research, medical and industrial applications which need electron beam in energy range of few tens of MeV. Either electron beam from microtron is directly used for radiation applications or electron beam is utilized to produce x-rays or neutrons which are eventually used for radiation applications. After considering the vast potential, lower cost, simpler construction and excellent quality of electron beam from microtron, it was decided to develop this machine at Centre for Advanced Technology (CAT). The microtrons in two standard models have been developed which will cover all the above mentioned applications except free electron lasers. The microtron of model 1 provides electron beam of 20 MeV, 15/30 mA and that of model 2 provides electron beam of 8/12 MeV, 50/30 mA. (author). 2 figs., 1 tab

  5. Patients want granular privacy control over health information in electronic medical records.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Caine, Kelly; Hanania, Rima

    2013-01-01

    To assess patients' desire for granular level privacy control over which personal health information should be shared, with whom, and for what purpose; and whether these preferences vary based on sensitivity of health information. A card task for matching health information with providers, questionnaire, and interview with 30 patients whose health information is stored in an electronic medical record system. Most patients' records contained sensitive health information. No patients reported that they would prefer to share all information stored in an electronic medical record (EMR) with all potential recipients. Sharing preferences varied by type of information (EMR data element) and recipient (eg, primary care provider), and overall sharing preferences varied by participant. Patients with and without sensitive records preferred less sharing of sensitive versus less-sensitive information. Patients expressed sharing preferences consistent with a desire for granular privacy control over which health information should be shared with whom and expressed differences in sharing preferences for sensitive versus less-sensitive EMR data. The pattern of results may be used by designers to generate privacy-preserving EMR systems including interfaces for patients to express privacy and sharing preferences. To maintain the level of privacy afforded by medical records and to achieve alignment with patients' preferences, patients should have granular privacy control over information contained in their EMR.

  6. Systematic review on the effectiveness of augmented reality applications in medical training.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barsom, E Z; Graafland, M; Schijven, M P

    2016-10-01

    Computer-based applications are increasingly used to support the training of medical professionals. Augmented reality applications (ARAs) render an interactive virtual layer on top of reality. The use of ARAs is of real interest to medical education because they blend digital elements with the physical learning environment. This will result in new educational opportunities. The aim of this systematic review is to investigate to which extent augmented reality applications are currently used to validly support medical professionals training. PubMed, Embase, INSPEC and PsychInfo were searched using predefined inclusion criteria for relevant articles up to August 2015. All study types were considered eligible. Articles concerning AR applications used to train or educate medical professionals were evaluated. Twenty-seven studies were found relevant, describing a total of seven augmented reality applications. Applications were assigned to three different categories. The first category is directed toward laparoscopic surgical training, the second category toward mixed reality training of neurosurgical procedures and the third category toward training echocardiography. Statistical pooling of data could not be performed due to heterogeneity of study designs. Face-, construct- and concurrent validity was proven for two applications directed at laparoscopic training, face- and construct validity for neurosurgical procedures and face-, content- and construct validity in echocardiography training. In the literature, none of the ARAs completed a full validation process for the purpose of use. Augmented reality applications that support blended learning in medical training have gained public and scientific interest. In order to be of value, applications must be able to transfer information to the user. Although promising, the literature to date is lacking to support such evidence.

  7. A clinician's artificial organ? Instant messaging applications in medical care.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tazegul, Gokhan; Bozoglan, Humeyra; Ogut, Tahir S; Balcı, Mustafa K

    2017-09-15

    After the development of the first phone at the end of 19th century, communication technologies took a great leap forward in the 20th century. With the birth of the "smartphone" in the 21st century, communication technologies exponentially evolved and became an important part of our daily routine. Effective communications between clinicians is critical in medical care and miscommunications are a source of errors. Although telecommunication technologies have proliferated dramatically in the last decade, there is scarce evidence-based information on the use of this technology in medical care. For the purposes of medical communication, we can now consult each other about patients individually and within a group via instant messaging applications by using text messages, photos, audio messages and even videos. In this review, we examine the uses and drawbacks of instant messaging applications in medical communications.

  8. Ultralight Cut-Paper-Based Self-Charging Power Unit for Self-Powered Portable Electronic and Medical Systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guo, Hengyu; Yeh, Min-Hsin; Zi, Yunlong; Wen, Zhen; Chen, Jie; Liu, Guanlin; Hu, Chenguo; Wang, Zhong Lin

    2017-05-23

    The development of lightweight, superportable, and sustainable power sources has become an urgent need for most modern personal electronics. Here, we report a cut-paper-based self-charging power unit (PC-SCPU) that is capable of simultaneously harvesting and storing energy from body movement by combining a paper-based triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) and a supercapacitor (SC), respectively. Utilizing the paper as the substrate with an assembled cut-paper architecture, an ultralight rhombic-shaped TENG is achieved with highly specific mass/volume charge output (82 nC g -1 /75 nC cm -3 ) compared with the traditional acrylic-based TENG (5.7 nC g -1 /5.8 nC cm -3 ), which can effectively charge the SC (∼1 mF) to ∼1 V in minutes. This wallet-contained PC-SCPU is then demonstrated as a sustainable power source for driving wearable and portable electronic devices such as a wireless remote control, electric watch, or temperature sensor. This study presents a potential paper-based portable SCPU for practical and medical applications.

  9. Systematic review on the effectiveness of augmented reality applications in medical training

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Barsom, E. Z.; Graafland, M.; Schijven, M. P.

    2016-01-01

    Computer-based applications are increasingly used to support the training of medical professionals. Augmented reality applications (ARAs) render an interactive virtual layer on top of reality. The use of ARAs is of real interest to medical education because they blend digital elements with the

  10. Hexavalent Chrome Free Coatings for Electronics Applications: Joint Test Report

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rothgeb, Matt; Kessel, Kurt

    2013-01-01

    The overall objective of the Hexavalent Chrome Free Coatings for Electronics Applications project is to evaluate and test pretreatments not containing hexavalent chrome in avionics and electronics housing applications. This objective will be accomplished by testing strong performing coating systems from prior NASA and DoD testing or new coating systems as determined by the stakeholders.

  11. Medical imaging in clinical applications algorithmic and computer-based approaches

    CERN Document Server

    Bhateja, Vikrant; Hassanien, Aboul

    2016-01-01

    This volume comprises of 21 selected chapters, including two overview chapters devoted to abdominal imaging in clinical applications supported computer aided diagnosis approaches as well as different techniques for solving the pectoral muscle extraction problem in the preprocessing part of the CAD systems for detecting breast cancer in its early stage using digital mammograms. The aim of this book is to stimulate further research in medical imaging applications based algorithmic and computer based approaches and utilize them in real-world clinical applications. The book is divided into four parts, Part-I: Clinical Applications of Medical Imaging, Part-II: Classification and clustering, Part-III: Computer Aided Diagnosis (CAD) Tools and Case Studies and Part-IV: Bio-inspiring based Computer Aided diagnosis techniques. .

  12. [Impact of a software application to improve medication reconciliation at hospital discharge].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Corral Baena, S; Garabito Sánchez, M J; Ruíz Rómero, M V; Vergara Díaz, M A; Martín Chacón, E R; Fernández Moyano, A

    2014-01-01

    To assess the impact of a software application to improve the quality of information concerning current patient medications and changes on the discharge report after hospitalization. To analyze the incidence of errors and to classify them. Quasi-experimental pre / post study with non-equivalent control group study. Medical patients at hospital discharge. implementation of a software application. Percentage of reconciled patient medication on discharge, and percentage of patients with more than one unjustified discrepancy. A total of 349 patients were assessed; 199 (pre-intervention phase) and 150 (post-intervention phase). Before the implementation of the application in 157 patients (78.8%) medication reconciliation had been completed; finding reconciliation errors in 99 (63.0%). The most frequent type of error, 339 (78.5%), was a missing dose or administration frequency information. After implementation, all the patient prescriptions were reconciled when the software was used. The percentage of patients with unjustified discrepancies decreased from 63.0% to 11.8% with the use of the application (psoftware application has been shown to improve the quality of the information on patient treatment on the hospital discharge report, but it is still necessary to continue development as a strategy for improving medication reconciliation. Copyright © 2014 SECA. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

  13. Radioprotection in the medical applications of the ionizing radiations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2001-01-01

    This publication presents information about of the radiological safety in the medical application of the ionizing radiation compiled in 11 chapter and 1 annex. The first four chapters are principally dedicated to technical uses in radioprotection, the external and internal irradiation and the biological radiation effects. The radioprotection principles, the individual monitoring techniques, and the radioprotection systems are developed afterwards in the followings three chapters. The second half of the document is dedicated entirely to the medical practices using ionizing radiations, specially to the radioprotection aspects in radiodiagnosis, nuclear medicine and radiotherapy. The final chapter is dedicated to radiological accidents happened worldwide in the field of the medical applications of the ionizing radiations. The annex, about of the regulatory area, established a set of standards, laws, decrees and other force regulations in radiological safety, related in radiodiagnosis, nuclear medicine and radiotherapy

  14. Generation of high brightness x-ray source and its medical applications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fujii, Sadao; Muro, Mikio; Oku, Yasunari; Daido, Hiroyuki; Takahashi, Kenjiro

    2001-01-01

    Laser produced plasmas are one of the most feasible sources to be used for industrial applications, especially medical applications: Angiography, Protein crystallography, X-ray microscopy and XAFS. In the present paper, laser requirements are clarified for the medical and life science fields and then we estimate both the photon energy spectra and the number of photons based on Monte-Carlo simulation. (author)

  15. Iatrogenic medication errors in a paediatric intensive care unit in ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    This unit has guided the development of various types of adverse event reporting, ... iatrogenic medi cation errors in children at healthcare facilities in industrialised .... A pharmacist dispenses electronically submitted medication orders but ..... Hand-held devices such as smartphones with medication dosage applications.

  16. 2015 Applications in Electronics Pervading Industry, Environment and Society Conference

    CERN Document Server

    2017-01-01

    This book provides a thorough overview of cutting-edge research on electronics applications relevant to industry, the environment, and society at large. It covers a broad spectrum of application domains, from automotive to space and from health to security, while devoting special attention to the use of embedded devices and sensors for imaging, communication and control. The book is based on the 2015 ApplePies Conference, held in Rome, which brought together researchers and stakeholders to consider the most significant current trends in the field of applied electronics and to debate visions for the future. Areas addressed by the conference included information communication technology; biotechnology and biomedical imaging; space; secure, clean and efficient energy; the environment; and smart, green and integrated transport. As electronics technology continues to develop apace, constantly meeting previously unthinkable targets, further attention needs to be directed toward the electronics applications and the ...

  17. Current state and prospects of industrial application of electron beam irradiation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Washio, Masakazu

    2000-01-01

    This paper reviewed the low energy, medium energy, and high energy accelerators used for the industrial application of electron beams. Next, it described the absorption of electron beam energy, distribution of the absorbed dose of electron beams in a substance, and the basis of electron beam reaction. Furthermore, as the industrial application examples of electron beams, it briefly described about the reforming and curing of polymers, irradiation effect of inorganic material (characteristic control of semiconductors), and sterilization. Regarding curing, as examples using mainly low energy electron beams (300 keV or below), this paper briefly explained the manufacture of thermosensitive recording materials, electron beam cured silicone for release papers, tunnel metal interior finishing board, high gloss - high smooth paper. Finally, it looked at latest trends and prospects of electron beam generators. (A.O.)

  18. Design of a compact synchrotron light source for medical applications at NIRS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Torikoshi, M.; Endo, M.; Kumada, M.; Noda, K.; Yamada, S.; Kawachi, K.

    1998-01-01

    A synchrotron light source dedicated to medical applications is required to be compact for installation in limited spaces at hospitals. The NIRS storage ring, with a circumference of 44.8 m, is designed to accelerate electrons up to 1.8 GeV and to store a beam of 400 mA. The ring is composed of superconducting bending magnets for downsizing. A beam of 300 MeV is injected into the ring from a microtron operated at an L-band RF frequency. There are two superconducting multipole wigglers with nine poles and a maximum field of 8 T, which can produce a photon flux of about 1.4 x 10 13 photons s -1 mrad -1 (0.1% bandwidth) -1 at 33 keV used for coronary angiography

  19. A clean bill of health for CERN’s medical applications office

    CERN Multimedia

    2014-01-01

    Many of you will have had the opportunity to follow the seminar on medical applications given by two members of our new International Strategy Committee for medical applications on 20 November. This occasion gives me a good opportunity to take stock of what’s been achieved since we set up our office for medical applications under Steve Myers almost a year ago.   It’s already an impressive list of achievements, and one that’s poised to grow. The International Strategy Committee is perhaps the most visible part of it. Meeting for the first time last week, the Committee will help us focus and prioritise our efforts so we can extract the maximum benefit. The existence of the office itself is already a major step in this direction: today, instead of having seven separate medical initiatives at CERN, we have a single coordinated approach and each component benefits. Let’s take a look at the current state of progress. The study to develop LEIR into the OPENM...

  20. Integrating traditional nursing service orientation content with electronic medical record orientation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harton, Brenda B; Borrelli, Larry; Knupp, Ann; Rogers, Necolen; West, Vickie R

    2009-01-01

    Traditional nursing service orientation classes at an acute care hospital were integrated with orientation to the electronic medical record to blend the two components in a user-friendly format so that the learner is introduced to the culture, processes, and documentation methods of the organization, with an opportunity to document online in a practice domain while lecture and discussion information is fresh.

  1. Flexible polymer transistors with high pressure sensitivity for application in electronic skin and health monitoring.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schwartz, Gregor; Tee, Benjamin C-K; Mei, Jianguo; Appleton, Anthony L; Kim, Do Hwan; Wang, Huiliang; Bao, Zhenan

    2013-01-01

    Flexible pressure sensors are essential parts of an electronic skin to allow future biomedical prostheses and robots to naturally interact with humans and the environment. Mobile biomonitoring in long-term medical diagnostics is another attractive application for these sensors. Here we report the fabrication of flexible pressure-sensitive organic thin film transistors with a maximum sensitivity of 8.4 kPa(-1), a fast response time of 15,000 cycles and a low power consumption of monitoring, which may lead to the use of flexible pressure sensors in mobile health monitoring and remote diagnostics in cardiovascular medicine.

  2. A New Electronic Monitoring Device to Measure Medication Adherence: Usability of the Helping Hand™

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sabina De Geest

    2010-03-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this study was to test the user performance, satisfaction and acceptability of the Helping Hand™ (B&O Medicom electronic medication adherence monitor. Using a mixed-method design, we studied 11 kidney transplant patients and 10 healthy volunteers during three weeks. Although testing showed positive usability aspects, several areas requiring technical improvement were identified: the most important obstacles to usability and acceptability were the weak sound signal, problems loading the medication, and the fact that only one medication could be used at a time.

  3. Implementing electronic medical record in family practice in Slovenia and other former Yugoslav Republics: Barriers and requirements

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kolšek Marko

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available The author describes problems related to the implementation of electronic medical record in family medicine in Slovenia since 1992 when first personal computers have been delivered to family physicians' practices. The situation of health care informatization and implementation of electronic medical record in primary health care in new countries, other former Yugoslav republics, is described. There are rather big differences among countries and even among some regions of one country, but in the last year the situation improved, especially in Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia. The main problem that is still unsolved is software offered by several companies which do not offer many functions, are non-standardized or user friendly enough and is not adapted to doctors' needs. Some important questions on medical records are discussed, e.g. what is in fact a medical record, what is its purpose, who uses it, which record is a good one, what should contain and confidentiality issue. The author describes what makes electronic medical record better than paper-based one (above all it is of better quality, efficiency and care-safe, easier in data retrieval and does it offer the possibility of data exchange with other health care professionals and what are the barriers to its wider implementation.

  4. Printed Dielectric Mirrors and their Application in Organic Electronics

    OpenAIRE

    Bronnbauer, Carina

    2017-01-01

    Organic electronics are one of the future technologies of these days. It offers many advantages in comparison to heavy metal based inorganic electronics. For example, organic electronics are available in various colors, are often semitransparent, they can be fully solution processed and thus allow printing on top of rigid as well as on flexible substrates. All these characteristics enable a complete new area of applications for electronics. For example, the integration of semitransparent phot...

  5. [Development of a medical equipment support information system based on PDF portable document].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cheng, Jiangbo; Wang, Weidong

    2010-07-01

    According to the organizational structure and management system of the hospital medical engineering support, integrate medical engineering support workflow to ensure the medical engineering data effectively, accurately and comprehensively collected and kept in electronic archives. Analyse workflow of the medical, equipment support work and record all work processes by the portable electronic document. Using XML middleware technology and SQL Server database, complete process management, data calculation, submission, storage and other functions. The practical application shows that the medical equipment support information system optimizes the existing work process, standardized and digital, automatic and efficient orderly and controllable. The medical equipment support information system based on portable electronic document can effectively optimize and improve hospital medical engineering support work, improve performance, reduce costs, and provide full and accurate digital data

  6. Procedures for the medical application of research reactors (Appendix)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nishihara, H.; Kanda, K.

    2004-01-01

    The Kyoto University Reactor (KUR) is one of the four research reactors in Japan that are currently licensed for medical application, in addition to other research purposes. Taking the KUR as an example, legal and other procedures for using research reactors for boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) are described, which are practiced in accordance with the 'Provisional Guideline Pertaining to Medical Irradiation by Accelerators and/or Reactors, other than defined by the Medical Service Act' of the Science Council of Japan

  7. Curve Matching with Applications in Medical Imaging

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bauer, Martin; Bruveris, Martins; Harms, Philipp

    2015-01-01

    In the recent years, Riemannian shape analysis of curves and surfaces has found several applications in medical image analysis. In this paper we present a numerical discretization of second order Sobolev metrics on the space of regular curves in Euclidean space. This class of metrics has several...

  8. Responsibility structure in medical radiation applications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Beekman, Z.M.

    1989-01-01

    The author discusses the various aspects of the responsibilities of physicians and clinical physicists with regard to radiation protection in medical applications of ionizing radiation. It becomes still clearer that the physician, who carries out the examination or the treatment, also has to bear the responsibility. this holds for the indication assessment as well as for optimization of the quality of the examination or treatment versus radiation burden of the patient, radiologic worker and thirds. Further it is clear that the physician in these will have to delegate specific tasks and responsibilities, whether or not in the elongated-arm construction. The clinical physicist is responsible in particular for the applications of the physical methods and watches the quality of the apparatus and methods used. As such he also is responsible for the technical workers, who take care of the preventive and corrective maintenance. The principal responsibility of the clinical physicist however lies in the field of standardization and calibration of medical-physical instruments. Besides this investigation into and development of new techniques, methods and apparatus come up, while also education and training of various profession groups involved need attention. (author). 6 refs.; 1 tab

  9. Industrial and medical applications of accelerators with energies less than 20 MeV

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Duggan, J.L.

    1983-01-01

    In this paper the medical and industrial application of small accelerators is reviewed. Most of the material is taken from the Seventh Conference on the Application of Accelerators in Research and Industry, which was held in Denton, Texas in November of 1982. The areas covered include medical linacs, cyclotron design and production of medical radioisotopes, radiation processing, ion implantation for the metallurgical and semiconductor industries, oil and mineral exploration, trace, surface and bulk analysis, and unique accelerators for all of the above applications

  10. The national institute of radiation hygiene and the medical application of radiation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Baarli, J.

    1988-01-01

    This paper gives a review of the rules and regulations concerning medical application of radiation in Norway. It discusses the intention of the regulations, the way in which the regulations is applied and how the National Institute of Radiation Hygiene as the competent authority assures the application of the regulations. The paper furthermore gives an indication of the areas of radiation application in medicine and the number of location of X-ray equipment, nuclear medical laboratories, radiation therapy equipment, etc. The number of X-ray examinations in Norway per year are also given, together with their distribution among the various types of examinations. Summary results of a quality assurance investigation of nuclear medical laboratories are given, as well as the results of inspections of the various types of equipment used in medical diagnostics

  11. A Survey on the Reliability of Power Electronics in Electro-Mobility Applications

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gadalla, Brwene Salah Abdelkarim; Schaltz, Erik; Blaabjerg, Frede

    2015-01-01

    Reliability is an important issue in the field of power electronics since most of the electrical energy is today processed by power electronics. In most of the electro-mobility applications, e.g. electric and hybridelectric vehicles, power electronic are commonly used in very harsh environment...... and extending the service lifetime as well. Research within power electronics is of high interest as it has an important impact in the industry of the electro-mobility applications. According to the aforementioned explanations, this paper will provide an overview of the common factors (thermal cycles, power...... cycles, vibrations, voltage stress and current ripple stress) affecting the reliability of power electronics in electromobility applications. Also, the researchers perspective is summarized from 2001 to 2015....

  12. Advances in Electronic Commerce, Web Application and Communication v.1

    CERN Document Server

    Lin, Sally; Second International Conference on Electronic Commerce, Web Application and Communication (ECWAC 2012)

    2012-01-01

    ECWAC2012 is an integrated conference devoted to Electronic Commerce, Web Application and Communication. In the this proceedings you can find the carefully reviewed scientific outcome of the second International Conference on Electronic Commerce, Web Application and Communication (ECWAC 2012) held at March 17-18,2012  in Wuhan, China, bringing together researchers from all around the world in the field.

  13. Advances in Electronic Commerce, Web Application and Communication v.2

    CERN Document Server

    Lin, Sally; Second International Conference on Electronic Commerce, Web Application and Communication (ECWAC 2012)

    2012-01-01

    ECWAC2012 is an integrated conference devoted to Electronic Commerce, Web Application and Communication. In the this proceedings you can find the carefully reviewed scientific outcome of the second International Conference on Electronic Commerce, Web Application and Communication (ECWAC 2012) held at March 17-18,2012  in Wuhan, China, bringing together researchers from all around the world in the field.

  14. Applications of Novel Techniques to Health Foods, Medical and Agricultural Biotechnology

    OpenAIRE

    Baianu, I. C.; Lozano, P. R.; Prisecaru, V. I.; Lin, H. C.

    2004-01-01

    Selected applications of novel techniques in Agricultural Biotechnology, Health Food formulations and Medical Biotechnology are being reviewed with the aim of unraveling future developments and policy changes that are likely to open new niches for Biotechnology and prevent the shrinking or closing the existing ones. Amongst the selected novel techniques with applications to both Agricultural and Medical Biotechnology are: immobilized bacterial cells and enzymes, microencapsulation and liposom...

  15. Proceedings of the workshops on the utilization of electron beams

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sato, Shoichi

    1993-09-01

    Workshops organized by JAERI in cooperation with OAEP, BATAN and JAIF on the utilization of electron beam (EB) were held in Bangkok and Jakarta on 9 and 13 July 1992, respectively. The proceedings contain 13 papers presented at the Workshops. Welcome remarks, opening address and closing remarks are also recorded. At the first part of the Workshops, general view on the application of electron accelerators and introduction of electron accelerators were made. Potential applications of electron accelerators to polymer processing, sterilization of medical products, flue gas purification, treatment of wastewater and sewage sludge and bioresources were introduced from Japanese participants. Potential application of electron accelerators to polymer processing and food irradiation in Thailand and Indonesia were also discussed. (author)

  16. Potential applications of electron emission membranes in medicine

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bilevych, Yevgen [Fraunhofer Institute for Reliability and Microintegration (IZM), Berlin (Germany); University of Bonn, Bonn (Germany); Brunner, Stefan E. [Delft University of Technology, Delft (Netherlands); Stefan Meyer Institute for Subatomic Physics, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna (Austria); Chan, Hong Wah; Charbon, Edoardo [Delft University of Technology, Delft (Netherlands); Graaf, Harry van der, E-mail: vdgraaf@nikhef.nl [Delft University of Technology, Delft (Netherlands); Nikhef, Science Park 105, 1098 XG Amsterdam (Netherlands); Hagen, Cornelis W. [Delft University of Technology, Delft (Netherlands); Nützel, Gert; Pinto, Serge D. [Photonis, Roden (Netherlands); Prodanović, Violeta [Delft University of Technology, Delft (Netherlands); Rotman, Daan [Delft University of Technology, Delft (Netherlands); Nikhef, Science Park 105, 1098 XG Amsterdam (Netherlands); University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam (Netherlands); Santagata, Fabio [State Key Lab for Solid State Lighti Changzhou base, F7 R& D HUB 1, Science and Education Town, Changzhou 213161, Jangsu Province (China); Sarro, Lina; Schaart, Dennis R. [Delft University of Technology, Delft (Netherlands); Sinsheimer, John; Smedley, John [Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY (United States); Tao, Shuxia; Theulings, Anne M.M.G. [Delft University of Technology, Delft (Netherlands); Nikhef, Science Park 105, 1098 XG Amsterdam (Netherlands)

    2016-02-11

    With a miniaturised stack of transmission dynodes, a noise free amplifier is being developed for the detection of single free electrons, with excellent time- and 2D spatial resolution and efficiency. With this generic technology, a new family of detectors for individual elementary particles may become possible. Potential applications of such electron emission membranes in medicine are discussed.

  17. Handbook of power systems engineering with power electronics applications

    CERN Document Server

    Hase, Yoshihide

    2012-01-01

    Formerly known as Handbook of Power System Engineering, this second edition provides rigorous revisions to the original treatment of systems analysis together with a substantial new four-chapter section on power electronics applications. Encompassing a whole range of equipment, phenomena, and analytical approaches, this handbook offers a complete overview of power systems and their power electronics applications, and presents a thorough examination of the fundamental principles, combining theories and technologies that are usually treated in separate specialised fields, in a single u

  18. Electronic prescribing in pediatrics: toward safer and more effective medication management.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johnson, Kevin B; Lehmann, Christoph U

    2013-04-01

    This technical report discusses recent advances in electronic prescribing (e-prescribing) systems, including the evidence base supporting their limitations and potential benefits. Specifically, this report acknowledges that there are limited but positive pediatric data supporting the role of e-prescribing in mitigating medication errors, improving communication with dispensing pharmacists, and improving medication adherence. On the basis of these data and on the basis of federal statutes that provide incentives for the use of e-prescribing systems, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends the adoption of e-prescribing systems with pediatric functionality. This report supports the accompanying policy statement from the American Academy of Pediatrics recommending the adoption of e-prescribing by pediatric health care providers.

  19. Radiation hazards from medical applications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Beekman, Z.M.

    1981-01-01

    An introduction is presented on the radiation hazards connected with biomedical radiography and nuclear medicine. The frequency of radiodiagnostic efforts was rather high in the Netherlands. This was reduced considerably by abolishing the thorax screening of the population. About diagnostic nuclear medicine less can be said because far fewer numerical data are available. An exposition of genetically and somatically significant doses and how to compute them is given. The drawing up of a profit versus risk evaluation for medical applications of ionizing radiations is recommended. (Auth.)

  20. Impact of a reengineered electronic error-reporting system on medication event reporting and care process improvements at an urban medical center.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McKaig, Donald; Collins, Christine; Elsaid, Khaled A

    2014-09-01

    A study was conducted to evaluate the impact of a reengineered approach to electronic error reporting at a 719-bed multidisciplinary urban medical center. The main outcome of interest was the monthly reported medication errors during the preimplementation (20 months) and postimplementation (26 months) phases. An interrupted time series analysis was used to describe baseline errors, immediate change following implementation of the current electronic error-reporting system (e-ERS), and trend of error reporting during postimplementation. Errors were categorized according to severity using the National Coordinating Council for Medication Error Reporting and Prevention (NCC MERP) Medication Error Index classifications. Reported errors were further analyzed by reporter and error site. During preimplementation, the monthly reported errors mean was 40.0 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 36.3-43.7). Immediately following e-ERS implementation, monthly reported errors significantly increased by 19.4 errors (95% CI: 8.4-30.5). The change in slope of reported errors trend was estimated at 0.76 (95% CI: 0.07-1.22). Near misses and no-patient-harm errors accounted for 90% of all errors, while errors that caused increased patient monitoring or temporary harm accounted for 9% and 1%, respectively. Nurses were the most frequent reporters, while physicians were more likely to report high-severity errors. Medical care units accounted for approximately half of all reported errors. Following the intervention, there was a significant increase in reporting of prevented errors and errors that reached the patient with no resultant harm. This improvement in reporting was sustained for 26 months and has contributed to designing and implementing quality improvement initiatives to enhance the safety of the medication use process.

  1. Radioactive isotope production for medical applications using Kharkov electron driven subcritical assembly facility

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Talamo, A.; Gohar, Y.

    2007-01-01

    Kharkov Institute of Physics and Technology (KIPT) of Ukraine has a plan to construct an accelerator driven subcritical assembly. The main functions of the subcritical assembly are the medical isotope production, neutron thereby, and the support of the Ukraine nuclear industry. Reactor physics experiments and material research will be carried out using the capabilities of this facility. The United States of America and Ukraine have started collaboration activity for developing a conceptual design for this facility with low enrichment uranium (LEU) fuel. Different conceptual designs are being developed based on the facility mission and the engineering requirements including nuclear physics, neutronics, heat transfer, thermal hydraulics, structure, and material issues. Different fuel designs with LEU and reflector materials are considered in the design process. Safety, reliability, and environmental considerations are included in the facility conceptual design. The facility is configured to accommodate future design improvements and upgrades. This report is a part of the Argonne National Laboratory Activity within this collaboration for developing and characterizing the subcritical assembly conceptual design. In this study, the medical isotope production function of the Kharkov facility is defined. First, a review was carried out to identify the medical isotopes and its medical use. Then a preliminary assessment was performed without including the self-shielding effect of the irradiated samples. Finally, more detailed investigation was carried out including the self-shielding effect, which defined the sample size and irradiation location for producing each medical isotope. In the first part, the reaction rates were calculated as the multiplication of the cross section with the unperturbed neutron flux of the facility. Over fifty isotopes were considered and all transmutation channels are used including (n,γ), (n,2n), (n,p), and (γ,n). In the second part, the parent

  2. Radioactive isotope production for medical applications using Kharkov electron driven subcritical assembly facility.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Talamo, A.; Gohar, Y.; Nuclear Engineering Division

    2007-05-15

    Kharkov Institute of Physics and Technology (KIPT) of Ukraine has a plan to construct an accelerator driven subcritical assembly. The main functions of the subcritical assembly are the medical isotope production, neutron thereby, and the support of the Ukraine nuclear industry. Reactor physics experiments and material research will be carried out using the capabilities of this facility. The United States of America and Ukraine have started collaboration activity for developing a conceptual design for this facility with low enrichment uranium (LEU) fuel. Different conceptual designs are being developed based on the facility mission and the engineering requirements including nuclear physics, neutronics, heat transfer, thermal hydraulics, structure, and material issues. Different fuel designs with LEU and reflector materials are considered in the design process. Safety, reliability, and environmental considerations are included in the facility conceptual design. The facility is configured to accommodate future design improvements and upgrades. This report is a part of the Argonne National Laboratory Activity within this collaboration for developing and characterizing the subcritical assembly conceptual design. In this study, the medical isotope production function of the Kharkov facility is defined. First, a review was carried out to identify the medical isotopes and its medical use. Then a preliminary assessment was performed without including the self-shielding effect of the irradiated samples. Finally, more detailed investigation was carried out including the self-shielding effect, which defined the sample size and irradiation location for producing each medical isotope. In the first part, the reaction rates were calculated as the multiplication of the cross section with the unperturbed neutron flux of the facility. Over fifty isotopes were considered and all transmutation channels are used including (n,{gamma}), (n,2n), (n,p), and ({gamma},n). In the second part

  3. 21 CFR 515.20 - Approval of medicated feed mill license applications.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 21 Food and Drugs 6 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Approval of medicated feed mill license... SERVICES (CONTINUED) ANIMAL DRUGS, FEEDS, AND RELATED PRODUCTS MEDICATED FEED MILL LICENSE Administrative Actions on Licenses § 515.20 Approval of medicated feed mill license applications. Within 90 days after an...

  4. Potential application of electron accelerators in Malaysia

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Alang Md Rashid, Nahrul Khair; Mohd Dahlan, Khairul Zaman [Nuclear Energy Unit, Bangi, Selangor (Malaysia)

    1994-12-31

    Briefly discussed some applications of electron accelerators i.e. sterilization, pasteurization (high energy EBM - up to 10 MV), crosslinking of wire and cable and insulation (medium energy EBM - 1 to 5 MV), treatment of flue gases for removal of NO sub x and SO sub x from burning coal(low energy EBM - 700 to 900 kV), curing of surface coatings, printing ink, adhesives (low energy EBM - 200 to 500 kV); advantages and electron beam processing.

  5. Potential application of electron accelerators in Malaysia

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nahrul Khair Alang Md Rashid; Khairul Zaman Mohd Dahlan

    1994-01-01

    Briefly discussed some applications of electron accelerators i.e. sterilization, pasteurization (high energy EBM - up to 10 MV), crosslinking of wire and cable and insulation (medium energy EBM - 1 to 5 MV), treatment of flue gases for removal of NO sub x and SO sub x from burning coal(low energy EBM - 700 to 900 kV), curing of surface coatings, printing ink, adhesives (low energy EBM - 200 to 500 kV); advantages and electron beam processing

  6. An Efficient Searchable Encryption Against Keyword Guessing Attacks for Sharable Electronic Medical Records in Cloud-based System.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Yilun; Lu, Xicheng; Su, Jinshu; Chen, Peixin

    2016-12-01

    Preserving the privacy of electronic medical records (EMRs) is extremely important especially when medical systems adopt cloud services to store patients' electronic medical records. Considering both the privacy and the utilization of EMRs, some medical systems apply searchable encryption to encrypt EMRs and enable authorized users to search over these encrypted records. Since individuals would like to share their EMRs with multiple persons, how to design an efficient searchable encryption for sharable EMRs is still a very challenge work. In this paper, we propose a cost-efficient secure channel free searchable encryption (SCF-PEKS) scheme for sharable EMRs. Comparing with existing SCF-PEKS solutions, our scheme reduces the storage overhead and achieves better computation performance. Moreover, our scheme can guard against keyword guessing attack, which is neglected by most of the existing schemes. Finally, we implement both our scheme and a latest medical-based scheme to evaluate the performance. The evaluation results show that our scheme performs much better performance than the latest one for sharable EMRs.

  7. Diamond bio electronics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Linares, Robert; Doering, Patrick; Linares, Bryant

    2009-01-01

    The use of diamond for advanced applications has been the dream of mankind for centuries. Until recently this dream has been realized only in the use of diamond for gemstones and abrasive applications where tons of diamonds are used on an annual basis. Diamond is the material system of choice for many applications, but its use has historically been limited due to the small size, high cost, and inconsistent (and typically poor) quality of available diamond materials until recently. The recent development of high quality, single crystal diamond crystal growth via the Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) process has allowed physcists and increasingly scientists in the life science area to think beyond these limitations and envision how diamond may be used in advanced applications ranging from quantum computing, to power generation and molecular imaging, and eventually even diamond nano-bots. Because of diamond's unique properties as a bio-compatible material, better understanding of diamond's quantum effects and a convergence of mass production, semiconductor-like fabrication process, diamond now promises a unique and powerful key to the realization of the bio-electronic devices being envisioned for the new era of medical science. The combination of robust in-the-body diamond based sensors, coupled with smart bio-functionalized diamond devices may lead to diamond being the platform of choice for bio-electronics. This generation of diamond based bio-electronic devices would contribute substantially to ushering in a paradigm shift for medical science, leading to vastly improved patient diagnosis, decrease of drug development costs and risks, and improved effectiveness of drug delivery and gene therapy programs through better timed and more customized solutions.

  8. Proceedings of the FNCA workshop on application of electron accelerator

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yoshii, Fumio; Kume, Tamikazu

    2003-02-01

    'Forum for Nuclear Cooperation in Asia (FNCA) Workshop on Application of Electron Accelerator' was sponsored by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) and hosted by Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute (JAERI) and Japan Atomic Industry Forum (JAIF). It was held at the Takasaki Radiation Chemistry Research Establishment (TRCRE), JAERI, Takasaki, Japan from 28 January to 1 February, 2002. The Workshop was attended by experts on application of electron accelerator from each of the participating countries, i.e. China, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, The Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam and 16 participants from Japan. A total of 17 papers including invited papers on the current status of application of electron accelerator in the participating countries were presented. The characteristics of various kinds of electron accelerators were introduced. Current research and development on the utilization radiation processing for natural rubber latex, natural polymer solution, polymer films, sterilization of spices and seeds, radiation treatment of flue gases and dioxin in liquid, solid, and gases were reported. Based on the proposed needs from the participating countries, the work plan was discussed and agreed on application of electron accelerator for liquid and for solid (thin films and granules/powder). All manuscripts submitted by every speaker were included in the proceedings. The 16 of the presented papers are indexed individually. (J.P.N.)

  9. Proceedings of the FNCA workshop on application of electron accelerator

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yoshii, Fumio; Kume, Tamikazu (eds.) [Japan Atomic Energy Research Inst., Takasaki, Gunma (Japan). Takasaki Radiation Chemistry Research Establishment

    2003-02-01

    'Forum for Nuclear Cooperation in Asia (FNCA) Workshop on Application of Electron Accelerator' was sponsored by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) and hosted by Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute (JAERI) and Japan Atomic Industry Forum (JAIF). It was held at the Takasaki Radiation Chemistry Research Establishment (TRCRE), JAERI, Takasaki, Japan from 28 January to 1 February, 2002. The Workshop was attended by experts on application of electron accelerator from each of the participating countries, i.e. China, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, The Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam and 16 participants from Japan. A total of 17 papers including invited papers on the current status of application of electron accelerator in the participating countries were presented. The characteristics of various kinds of electron accelerators were introduced. Current research and development on the utilization radiation processing for natural rubber latex, natural polymer solution, polymer films, sterilization of spices and seeds, radiation treatment of flue gases and dioxin in liquid, solid, and gases were reported. Based on the proposed needs from the participating countries, the work plan was discussed and agreed on application of electron accelerator for liquid and for solid (thin films and granules/powder). All manuscripts submitted by every speaker were included in the proceedings. The 16 of the presented papers are indexed individually. (J.P.N.)

  10. Research on medical applications of radioisotopes and radiation in Australia

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hardy, C.J.

    1987-01-01

    The Australian Atomic Energy Commission (AAEC) produces and distributes commercially in Australia and abroad a range of radioisotopes and radiopharmaceuticals for medical applications. The AAEC carries out research and development on new and improved processes and procucts is collaboration with medical specialists in hospitals and research workers in other organisations. Examples of these processes and products are: a gel generator for production of 99m Tc; radiopharmaceuticals for diagnosis of tumours and brain disease and therapy for arthritis; 64 Cu for study of copper metabolism; and monoclonal antibodies for tumour diagnosis and therapy. New medical applications in Australia of neutron irradiation include the measurement of total body nitrogen and neutron capture in boron-labelled compounds in vivo for melanoma therapy. (author)

  11. Applications of transmission electron microscopy in the materials and mineral sciences

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Murr, L.E.

    1975-01-01

    Unique capabilities of transmission electron microscopy in characterizing the structure and properties of metals, minerals, and other crystaline materials are illustrated and compared with observations in the scanning electron and field-ion microscopes. Contrast mechanisms involving both mass-thickness and diffraction processes are illustrated, and examples presented of applications of bright and dark-field techiques. Applications of the electron microscope in the investigation of metallurgical and mineralogical problems are outlined with representative examples [pt

  12. Medication errors with electronic prescribing (eP): Two views of the same picture

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    Background Quantitative prospective methods are widely used to evaluate the impact of new technologies such as electronic prescribing (eP) on medication errors. However, they are labour-intensive and it is not always feasible to obtain pre-intervention data. Our objective was to compare the eP medication error picture obtained with retrospective quantitative and qualitative methods. Methods The study was carried out at one English district general hospital approximately two years after implementation of an integrated electronic prescribing, administration and records system. Quantitative: A structured retrospective analysis was carried out of clinical records and medication orders for 75 randomly selected patients admitted to three wards (medicine, surgery and paediatrics) six months after eP implementation. Qualitative: Eight doctors, 6 nurses, 8 pharmacy staff and 4 other staff at senior, middle and junior grades, and 19 adult patients on acute surgical and medical wards were interviewed. Staff interviews explored experiences of developing and working with the system; patient interviews focused on experiences of medicine prescribing and administration on the ward. Interview transcripts were searched systematically for accounts of medication incidents. A classification scheme was developed and applied to the errors identified in the records review. Results The two approaches produced similar pictures of the drug use process. Interviews identified types of error identified in the retrospective notes review plus two eP-specific errors which were not detected by record review. Interview data took less time to collect than record review, and provided rich data on the prescribing process, and reasons for delays or non-administration of medicines, including "once only" orders and "as required" medicines. Conclusions The qualitative approach provided more understanding of processes, and some insights into why medication errors can happen. The method is cost-effective and

  13. Sovereign immunity: Principles and application in medical malpractice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Suk, Michael

    2012-05-01

    Tort law seeks accountability when parties engage in negligent conduct, and aims to compensate the victims of such conduct. An exception to this general rule governing medical negligence is the doctrine of sovereign immunity. Historically, individuals acting under the authority of the government or other sovereign entity had almost complete protection against tort liability. This article addressed the following: (1) the development of sovereign immunity in law, (2) the lasting impact of the Federal Tort Claims Act on sovereign immunity, and (3) the contemporary application of sovereign immunity to medical malpractice, using case examples from Virginia and Florida. I performed an Internet search to identify sources that addressed the concept of sovereign immunity, followed by a focused search for relevant articles in PubMed and LexisNexis, literature databases for medical and legal professionals, respectively. Historically, sovereign liability conferred absolute immunity from lawsuits in favor of the sovereign (ie, the government). Practical considerations in our democratic system have contributed to an evolution of this doctrine. Understanding sovereign immunity and its contemporary application are of value for any physician interested in the debate concerning medical malpractice in the United States. Under certain circumstances, physicians working as employees of the federal or state government may be protected against individual liability if the government is substituted as the defendant.

  14. Silicon-germanium (Sige) nanostructures production, properties and applications in electronics

    CERN Document Server

    Usami, N

    2011-01-01

    Nanostructured silicon-germanium (SiGe) provides the prospect of novel and enhanced electronic device performance. This book reviews the materials science and technology of SiGe nanostructures, including crystal growth, fabrication of nanostructures, material properties and applications in electronics.$bNanostructured silicon-germanium (SiGe) opens up the prospects of novel and enhanced electronic device performance, especially for semiconductor devices. Silicon-germanium (SiGe) nanostructures reviews the materials science of nanostructures and their properties and applications in different electronic devices. The introductory part one covers the structural properties of SiGe nanostructures, with a further chapter discussing electronic band structures of SiGe alloys. Part two concentrates on the formation of SiGe nanostructures, with chapters on different methods of crystal growth such as molecular beam epitaxy and chemical vapour deposition. This part also includes chapters covering strain engineering and mo...

  15. Electronic Noses and Applications

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Martine LUMBRERAS

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available Electronic noses are customized devices employed to detect and to identify gaseous mixtures, even to give the concentration of the atmosphere components. Nowadays, the research in this domain is more and more growing, in Europe and other countries in the world, for many applications, such as environmental protection, food industries, perfumery, public safety, medicine, and pharmacy. Electronic noses allow to detect many organic volatile compounds, for which there is no specific detector. They constitute an alternative to complex, long, and too expensive existing methods, unable to ensure continuous monitoring. Their conception deals with many related areas (metrology, chemistry, physics, electronics, informatics, statistics, modelisation as well as areas related to the molecules to be detected. The system training is a primary step: during a measurement under a gaseous atmosphere, we must record the sensor time-responses in a treatment system, while specifying the name of the concerned odor. This process must be repeated many times for each studied atmosphere, and for all the chosen atmospheres. So a learning data base can be created, made from representative parameters of all the realized measures. After this training stage, clustering software will classify the data analysis in “concentration” or “nature” groups. Using the group separation rules given by this supervised classification, the system will be able to find itself the name of an odor or a concentration.

  16. Evaluation of a Pilot Asthma Care Program for Electronic Communication between School Health and a Healthcare System's Electronic Medical Record.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reeves, Kelly W; Taylor, Yhenneko; Tapp, Hazel; Ludden, Thomas; Shade, Lindsay E; Burton, Beth; Courtlandt, Cheryl; Dulin, Michael

    2016-10-19

    Asthma is a common childhood chronic lung disease affecting greater than 10% of children in the United States. School nurses are in a unique position to close gaps in care. Indeed, effective asthma management is more likely to result when providers, family, and schools work together to optimize the patient's treatment plan. Currently, effective communication between schools and healthcare systems through electronic medical record (EMR) systems remains a challenge. The goal of this feasibility pilot was to link the school-based care team with primary care providers in the healthcare system network via electronic communication through the EMR, on behalf of pediatric asthma patients who had been hospitalized for an asthma exacerbation. The implementation process and the potential impact of the communication with providers on the reoccurrence of asthma exacerbations with the linked patients were evaluated. By engaging stakeholders from the school system and the healthcare system, we were able to collaboratively design a communication process and implement a pilot which demonstrated the feasibility of electronic communication between school nurses and primary care providers. Outcomes data was collected from the electronic medical record to examine the frequency of asthma exacerbations among patients with a message from their school nurse. The percent of exacerbations in the 12 months before and after electronic communication was compared using McNemar's test. The pilot system successfully established communication between the school nurse and primary care provider for 33 students who had been hospitalized for asthma and a decrease in hospital admissions was observed with students whose school nurse communicated through the EMR with the primary care provider. Findings suggest a collaborative model of care that is enhanced through electronic communication via the EMR could positively impact the health of children with asthma or other chronic illnesses.

  17. Adhesives technology for electronic applications materials, processing, reliability

    CERN Document Server

    Licari, James J

    2011-01-01

    Adhesives are widely used in the manufacture and assembly of electronic circuits and products. Generally, electronics design engineers and manufacturing engineers are not well versed in adhesives, while adhesion chemists have a limited knowledge of electronics. This book bridges these knowledge gaps and is useful to both groups. The book includes chapters covering types of adhesive, the chemistry on which they are based, and their properties, applications, processes, specifications, and reliability. Coverage of toxicity, environmental impacts and the regulatory framework make this book par

  18. User Interface Design in Medical Distributed Web Applications.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Serban, Alexandru; Crisan-Vida, Mihaela; Mada, Leonard; Stoicu-Tivadar, Lacramioara

    2016-01-01

    User interfaces are important to facilitate easy learning and operating with an IT application especially in the medical world. An easy to use interface has to be simple and to customize the user needs and mode of operation. The technology in the background is an important tool to accomplish this. The present work aims to creating a web interface using specific technology (HTML table design combined with CSS3) to provide an optimized responsive interface for a complex web application. In the first phase, the current icMED web medical application layout is analyzed, and its structure is designed using specific tools, on source files. In the second phase, a new graphic adaptable interface to different mobile terminals is proposed, (using HTML table design (TD) and CSS3 method) that uses no source files, just lines of code for layout design, improving the interaction in terms of speed and simplicity. For a complex medical software application a new prototype layout was designed and developed using HTML tables. The method uses a CSS code with only CSS classes applied to one or multiple HTML table elements, instead of CSS styles that can be applied to just one DIV tag at once. The technique has the advantage of a simplified CSS code, and a better adaptability to different media resolutions compared to DIV-CSS style method. The presented work is a proof that adaptive web interfaces can be developed just using and combining different types of design methods and technologies, using HTML table design, resulting in a simpler to learn and use interface, suitable for healthcare services.

  19. Power electronics basics operating principles, design, formulas, and applications

    CERN Document Server

    Rozanov, Yuriy; Chaplygin, Evgeny; Voronin, Pavel

    2015-01-01

    Power Electronics Basics: Operating Principles, Design, Formulas, and Applications provides fundamental knowledge for the analysis and design of modern power electronic devices. This concise and user-friendly resource:Explains the basic concepts and most important terms of power electronicsDescribes the power assemblies, control, and passive components of semiconductor power switchesCovers the control of power electronic devices, from mathematical modeling to the analysis of the electrical processesAddresses pulse-width modulation, power quality control, and multilevel, modular, and multicell

  20. CMOS-Technology-Enabled Flexible and Stretchable Electronics for Internet of Everything Applications

    KAUST Repository

    Hussain, Aftab M.; Hussain, Muhammad Mustafa

    2015-01-01

    Flexible and stretchable electronics can dramatically enhance the application of electronics for the emerging Internet of Everything applications where people, processes, data and devices will be integrated and connected, to augment quality of life

  1. Application of electron beam curing in web-offset printing

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rodrigues, A.M.; Newcomb, W.T.

    1984-01-01

    Four years ago, the first commercial installation of an electron beam processor, coupled with a high speed web offset printing press was described. This line has been in operation since and its success demonstrates the advantages and feasibility of such an application. Just recently, another company has announced that it is using electron beam curing in its printing lines. Judging from the amount of inquiries and opportunities being actively pursued one can state that the use of electron beam systems in printing applications has come of age. This paper describes the advantages of this process, the characteristics of the equipment that are important for industrial use in a multishift environment, and addresses its economics through analysis of some major cost elements

  2. Enhancing the power of genetic association studies through the use of silver standard cases derived from electronic medical records.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andrew McDavid

    Full Text Available The feasibility of using imperfectly phenotyped "silver standard" samples identified from electronic medical record diagnoses is considered in genetic association studies when these samples might be combined with an existing set of samples phenotyped with a gold standard technique. An analytic expression is derived for the power of a chi-square test of independence using either research-quality case/control samples alone, or augmented with silver standard data. The subset of the parameter space where inclusion of silver standard samples increases statistical power is identified. A case study of dementia subjects identified from electronic medical records from the Electronic Medical Records and Genomics (eMERGE network, combined with subjects from two studies specifically targeting dementia, verifies these results.

  3. The application of digital medical 3D printing technology on tumor operation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Jimin; Jiang, Yijian; Li, Yangsheng

    2016-04-01

    Digital medical 3D printing technology is a new hi-tech which combines traditional medical and digital design, computer science, bio technology and 3D print technology. At the present time there are four levels application: The printed 3D model is the first and simple application. The surgery makes use of the model to plan the processing before operation. The second is customized operation tools such as implant guide. It helps doctor to operate with special tools rather than the normal medical tools. The third level application of 3D printing in medical area is to print artificial bones or teeth to implant into human body. The big challenge is the fourth level which is to print organs with 3D printing technology. In this paper we introduced an application of 3D printing technology in tumor operation. We use 3D printing to print guide for invasion operation. Puncture needles were guided by printed guide in face tumors operation. It is concluded that this new type guide is dominantly advantageous.

  4. [Non-medical applications for brain MRI: Ethical considerations].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sarrazin, S; Fagot-Largeault, A; Leboyer, M; Houenou, J

    2015-04-01

    The recent neuroimaging techniques offer the possibility to better understand complex cognitive processes that are involved in mental disorders and thus have become cornerstone tools for research in psychiatry. The performances of functional magnetic resonance imaging are not limited to medical research and are used in non-medical fields. These recent applications represent new challenges for bioethics. In this article we aim at discussing the new ethical issues raised by the applications of the latest neuroimaging technologies to non-medical fields. We included a selection of peer-reviewed English medical articles after a search on NCBI Pubmed database and Google scholar from 2000 to 2013. We screened bibliographical tables for supplementary references. Websites of governmental French institutions implicated in ethical questions were also screened for governmental reports. Findings of brain areas supporting emotional responses and regulation have been used for marketing research, also called neuromarketing. The discovery of different brain activation patterns in antisocial disorder has led to changes in forensic psychiatry with the use of imaging techniques with unproven validity. Automated classification algorithms and multivariate statistical analyses of brain images have been applied to brain-reading techniques, aiming at predicting unconscious neural processes in humans. We finally report the current position of the French legislation recently revised and discuss the technical limits of such techniques. In the near future, brain imaging could find clinical applications in psychiatry as diagnostic or predictive tools. However, the latest advances in brain imaging are also used in non-scientific fields raising key ethical questions. Involvement of neuroscientists, psychiatrists, physicians but also of citizens in neuroethics discussions is crucial to challenge the risk of unregulated uses of brain imaging. Copyright © 2014 L’Encéphale, Paris. Published by

  5. Generalized Fokker-Planck theory for electron and photon transport in biological tissues: application to radiotherapy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Olbrant, Edgar; Frank, Martin

    2010-12-01

    In this paper, we study a deterministic method for particle transport in biological tissues. The method is specifically developed for dose calculations in cancer therapy and for radiological imaging. Generalized Fokker-Planck (GFP) theory [Leakeas and Larsen, Nucl. Sci. Eng. 137 (2001), pp. 236-250] has been developed to improve the Fokker-Planck (FP) equation in cases where scattering is forward-peaked and where there is a sufficient amount of large-angle scattering. We compare grid-based numerical solutions to FP and GFP in realistic medical applications. First, electron dose calculations in heterogeneous parts of the human body are performed. Therefore, accurate electron scattering cross sections are included and their incorporation into our model is extensively described. Second, we solve GFP approximations of the radiative transport equation to investigate reflectance and transmittance of light in biological tissues. All results are compared with either Monte Carlo or discrete-ordinates transport solutions.

  6. The EMR-scan: assessing the quality of Electronic Medical Records in general practice.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Verheij, R.; Jabaaij, L.; Njoo, K.; Hoogen, H. van den; Bakker, D. de

    2008-01-01

    Background: The use of electronic medical records (EMR) in general practice has spread rapidly in the last decade (more than 90% today). Traditionally, these records are primarily used for direct patient care and for administrative purposes by the practice involved. In recent years, further

  7. Iso-Surface Volume Rendering : speed and accuracy for medical applications

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bosma, Marco

    2000-01-01

    This thesis describes the research on the accuracy and speed of different methods for the visualization of three-dimensional (3D)sets of (measured) data. In medical environments, these 3D datasets are generated by for instance CT and MRI scanners. The medical application makes special demands on the

  8. Perception Towards the Use of Smartphone Application (Apps to Enhance Medication Adherence Among Saudi Pediatrics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Renad Alsalamah

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available Objectives: The aim of this study was to measure the importance of smartphone applications (Apps in medication adherence in children to help parents and caregivers in giving medication to children to maintain a good health and quality of life, and to improve current clinical practices in adherence to medications among Saudi pediatrics. Methodology: Cross sectional survey to Saudi Arabia population was conducted from March to April 2017(n=405. Data were collected, tabulated and analyzed using Survey Monkey. We present design requirements for building medication reminders that support the routine aspect of medication-taking by linking children’s concerns, (such as games on taking medications at time. Results: Of the 405 survey participants, the majority of participants 72.5% were not aware by applications of smart device that make easier to take medicines regularly. Eighty percent of participants preferred a mobile app to help their children take the medicine easily and regularly, and 39.8% of them thought that the child will interact with this game, the majority of them 88.6% don’t have any obstacle hinders the use of these updated applications. Fifty percent of them will encourage young patients, to use such applications (App to help them in their medication adherence. Conclusion: Nonadherence to medication is still represents a fundamental health care challenge. The presence of an application makes it easier for parents to give medication to their sick children. Most children love playing games, there is a high probability of their attachment to this application (App and it will promote children’s medication adherence. Key words: Patient adherence, Pediatric, Smartphone, Applications, Apps.

  9. Optical polymers for laser medical applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sultanova, Nina G.; Kasarova, Stefka N.; Nikolov, Ivan D.

    2016-01-01

    In medicine, optical polymers are used not only in ophthalmology but in many laser surgical, diagnostic and therapeutic systems. The application in lens design is determined by their refractive and dispersive properties in the considered spectral region. We have used different measuring techniques to obtain precise refractometric data in the visible and near-infrared spectral regions. Dispersive, thermal and other important optical characteristics of polymers have been studied. Design of a plastic achromatic objective, used in a surgical stereo-microscope at 1064 nm laser wavelength, is accomplished. Geometrical and wavefront aberrations are calculated. Another example of application of polymers is the designed all-mirror apochromatic micro-lens, intended for superluminescent diode fiber coupling in medical systems.

  10. A Prospective Analysis of Patients Presenting for Medical Attention at a Large Electronic Dance Music Festival.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Friedman, Matt S; Plocki, Alex; Likourezos, Antonios; Pushkar, Illya; Bazos, Andrew N; Fromm, Christian; Friedman, Benjamin W

    2017-02-01

    Mass-Gathering Medicine studies have identified variables that predict greater patient presentation rates (PPRs) and transport to hospital rates (TTHRs). This is a descriptive report of patients who presented for medical attention at an annual electronic dance music festival (EDMF). At this large, single EDMF in New York City (NYC; New York, USA), the frequency of patient presentation, the range of presentations, and interventions performed were identified. This descriptive report examined consecutive patients who presented to the medical tent of a summertime EDMF held at an outdoor venue with an active, mobile, bounded crowd. Alcohol was available for sale. Entry was restricted to persons 18 years and older. The festival occurred on three consecutive days with a total cumulative attendance of 58,000. Medical staffing included two Emergency Medicine physicians, four registered nurses, and 86 Emergency Medical Services (EMS) providers. Data collected included demographics, past medical history, vital signs, physical exam, drug and alcohol use, interventions performed, and transport decisions. Eighty-four patients were enrolled over 2.5 days. Six were transported and zero died. The ages of the subjects ranged from 17 to 61 years. Forty-three (51%) were male. Thirty-eight (45%) initially presented with abnormal vital signs; four (5%) were hyperthermic. Of these latter patients, 34 (90%) reported ingestions with 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) or other drugs. Eleven (65%) patients were diaphoretic or mydriatic. The most common prehospital interventions were intravenous normal saline (8/84; 10%), ondansetron (6/84; 7%), and midazolam (3/84; 4%). Electronic dance music festivals are a growing trend and a new challenge for Mass-Gathering Medicine as new strategies must be employed to decrease TTHR and mortality. Addressing common and expected medical emergencies at mass-gathering events through awareness, preparation, and early, focused medical interventions may

  11. RF linear accelerators for medical and industrial applications

    CERN Document Server

    Hanna, Samy

    2012-01-01

    This unique resource offers you a clear overview of medical and industrial accelerators. Using minimal mathematics, this book focuses on offering thorough explanations of basic concepts surrounding the operation of accelerators. you find well illustrated discussions designed to help you use accelerator-based systems in a safer, more productive, and more reliable manner.This practical book details the manufacturing process for producing accelerators for medical and industrial applications. You become knowledgeable about the commonly encountered real-world manufacturing issues and potential sources of defects which help you avoid costly production problems. From principles of operation and the role of accelerators in cancer radiation therapy, to manufacturing techniques and future trends in accelerator design and applications, this easy-to-comprehend volume quickly brings you up-to-speed with the critical concepts you need to understand for your work in the field.

  12. Application of electron irradiation to food containers and packaging materials

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ueno, Koji

    2010-01-01

    Problems caused by microbial contamination and hazardous chemicals have attracted much attention in the food industry. The number of systems such as hygienic management systems and Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) systems adopted in the manufacturing process is increasing. As manufacturing process control has become stricter, stricter control is also required for microbial control for containers and packaging materials (from disinfection to sterilization). Since safe and reliable methods for sterilizing food containers and packaging materials that leave no residue are required, electron beam sterilization used for medical equipment has attracted attention from the food industry. This paper describes an electron irradiation facility, methods for applying electron beams to food containers and packaging materials, and products irradiated with electron beams. (author)

  13. Molecular modeling and multiscaling issues for electronic material applications

    CERN Document Server

    Iwamoto, Nancy; Yuen, Matthew; Fan, Haibo

    Volume 1 : Molecular Modeling and Multiscaling Issues for Electronic Material Applications provides a snapshot on the progression of molecular modeling in the electronics industry and how molecular modeling is currently being used to understand material performance to solve relevant issues in this field. This book is intended to introduce the reader to the evolving role of molecular modeling, especially seen through the eyes of the IEEE community involved in material modeling for electronic applications.  Part I presents  the role that quantum mechanics can play in performance prediction, such as properties dependent upon electronic structure, but also shows examples how molecular models may be used in performance diagnostics, especially when chemistry is part of the performance issue.  Part II gives examples of large-scale atomistic methods in material failure and shows several examples of transitioning between grain boundary simulations (on the atomistic level)and large-scale models including an example ...

  14. [Cooperation with the electronic medical record and accounting system of an actual dose of drug given by a radiology information system].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yamamoto, Hideo; Yoneda, Tarou; Satou, Shuji; Ishikawa, Toru; Hara, Misako

    2009-12-20

    By input of the actual dose of a drug given into a radiology information system, the system converting with an accounting system into a cost of the drug from the actual dose in the electronic medical record was built. In the drug master, the first unit was set as the cost of the drug, and we set the second unit as the actual dose. The second unit in the radiology information system was received by the accounting system through electronic medical record. In the accounting system, the actual dose was changed into the cost of the drug using the dose of conversion to the first unit. The actual dose was recorded on a radiology information system and electronic medical record. The actual dose was indicated on the accounting system, and the cost for the drug was calculated. About the actual dose of drug, cooperation of the information in a radiology information system and electronic medical record were completed. It was possible to decide the volume of drug from the correct dose of drug at the previous inspection. If it is necessary for the patient to have another treatment of medicine, it is important to know the actual dose of drug given. Moreover, authenticity of electronic medical record based on a statute has also improved.

  15. Silver nanoparticles: mechanism of antimicrobial action, synthesis, medical applications, and toxicity effects

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prabhu, Sukumaran; Poulose, Eldho K.

    2012-10-01

    Silver nanoparticles are nanoparticles of silver which are in the range of 1 and 100 nm in size. Silver nanoparticles have unique properties which help in molecular diagnostics, in therapies, as well as in devices that are used in several medical procedures. The major methods used for silver nanoparticle synthesis are the physical and chemical methods. The problem with the chemical and physical methods is that the synthesis is expensive and can also have toxic substances absorbed onto them. To overcome this, the biological method provides a feasible alternative. The major biological systems involved in this are bacteria, fungi, and plant extracts. The major applications of silver nanoparticles in the medical field include diagnostic applications and therapeutic applications. In most of the therapeutic applications, it is the antimicrobial property that is being majorly explored, though the anti-inflammatory property has its fair share of applications. Though silver nanoparticles are rampantly used in many medical procedures and devices as well as in various biological fields, they have their drawbacks due to nanotoxicity. This review provides a comprehensive view on the mechanism of action, production, applications in the medical field, and the health and environmental concerns that are allegedly caused due to these nanoparticles. The focus is on effective and efficient synthesis of silver nanoparticles while exploring their various prospective applications besides trying to understand the current scenario in the debates on the toxicity concerns these nanoparticles pose.

  16. Development of mobile platform integrated with existing electronic medical records.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, YoungAh; Kim, Sung Soo; Kang, Simon; Kim, Kyungduk; Kim, Jun

    2014-07-01

    This paper describes a mobile Electronic Medical Record (EMR) platform designed to manage and utilize the existing EMR and mobile application with optimized resources. We structured the mEMR to reuse services of retrieval and storage in mobile app environments that have already proven to have no problem working with EMRs. A new mobile architecture-based mobile solution was developed in four steps: the construction of a server and its architecture; screen layout and storyboard making; screen user interface design and development; and a pilot test and step-by-step deployment. This mobile architecture consists of two parts, the server-side area and the client-side area. In the server-side area, it performs the roles of service management for EMR and documents and for information exchange. Furthermore, it performs menu allocation depending on user permission and automatic clinical document architecture document conversion. Currently, Severance Hospital operates an iOS-compatible mobile solution based on this mobile architecture and provides stable service without additional resources, dealing with dynamic changes of EMR templates. The proposed mobile solution should go hand in hand with the existing EMR system, and it can be a cost-effective solution if a quality EMR system is operated steadily with this solution. Thus, we expect this example to be shared with hospitals that currently plan to deploy mobile solutions.

  17. Assessment of COPD-related outcomes via a national electronic medical record database.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Asche, Carl; Said, Quayyim; Joish, Vijay; Hall, Charles Oaxaca; Brixner, Diana

    2008-01-01

    The technology and sophistication of healthcare utilization databases have expanded over the last decade to include results of lab tests, vital signs, and other clinical information. This review provides an assessment of the methodological and analytical challenges of conducting chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) outcomes research in a national electronic medical records (EMR) dataset and its potential application towards the assessment of national health policy issues, as well as a description of the challenges or limitations. An EMR database and its application to measuring outcomes for COPD are described. The ability to measure adherence to the COPD evidence-based practice guidelines, generated by the NIH and HEDIS quality indicators, in this database was examined. Case studies, before and after their publication, were used to assess the adherence to guidelines and gauge the conformity to quality indicators. EMR was the only source of information for pulmonary function tests, but low frequency in ordering by primary care was an issue. The EMR data can be used to explore impact of variation in healthcare provision on clinical outcomes. The EMR database permits access to specific lab data and biometric information. The richness and depth of information on "real world" use of health services for large population-based analytical studies at relatively low cost render such databases an attractive resource for outcomes research. Various sources of information exist to perform outcomes research. It is important to understand the desired endpoints of such research and choose the appropriate database source.

  18. Cardiac auscultation training of medical students: a comparison of electronic sensor-based and acoustic stethoscopes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Høyte, Henning; Jensen, Torstein; Gjesdal, Knut

    2005-01-01

    Background To determine whether the use of an electronic, sensor based stethoscope affects the cardiac auscultation skills of undergraduate medical students. Methods Forty eight third year medical students were randomized to use either an electronic stethoscope, or a conventional acoustic stethoscope during clinical auscultation training. After a training period of four months, cardiac auscultation skills were evaluated using four patients with different cardiac murmurs. Two experienced cardiologists determined correct answers. The students completed a questionnaire for each patient. The thirteen questions were weighted according to their relative importance, and a correct answer was credited from one to six points. Results No difference in mean score was found between the two groups (p = 0.65). Grading and characterisation of murmurs and, if present, report of non existing murmurs were also rated. None of these yielded any significant differences between the groups. Conclusion Whether an electronic or a conventional stethoscope was used during training and testing did not affect the students' performance on a cardiac auscultation test. PMID:15882458

  19. Do differentials in the support and advice available at UK schools and colleges influence candidate performance in the medical school admissions interview? A survey of direct school leaver applicants to a UK medical school.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lambe, Paul; Waters, Catherine; Bristow, David

    2013-09-01

    To our knowledge, nothing is known about whether differentials in support and advice during preparation for the interview influence candidate performance and thereby contribute to bias in selection for medical school. To assess if differences in advice and support with preparation for the medical school admissions interview given type of school last attended influence interview score achieved by direct school leaver applicants to study on an undergraduate UK medical degree course. Confidential self-completed on-line questionnaire survey. Interview performance was positively related to whether a teacher, tutor or career advisors at the School or College last attended had advised a respondent to prepare for the interview, had advised about the various styles of medical interview used and the types of questions asked, and what resources were available to help in preparation. Respondents from Private/Independent schools were more likely than those from State schools to have received such advice and support. Differentials in access to advice on and support with preparation for the medical school interview may advantage some candidates over others. This inequity would likely be ameliorated by the provision of an authoritative and comprehensive guide to applying to medical school outlining admission requirements and the preparation strategy applicants should use in order to best meet those requirements. The guide could be disseminated to the Principals of all UK schools and colleges and freely available electronic versions signposted in medical school prospectuses and the course descriptor on the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service.

  20. Calculations of secondary electron yield of graphene coated copper for vacuum electronic applications

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    H. K. A. Nguyen

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available The suppression of secondary electron yield (SEY which can possibly lead to multipactor is an important goal for several applications. Though some techniques have focused on geometric modifications to lower the SEY, the use of graphene coatings as thin as a few monolayers is a promising new development that deserves attention either as a standalone technique or in concert with geometric alterations. Here we report on Monte Carlo based numerical studies of SEY on graphene coated copper with comparisons to recent experimental data. Our predicted values are generally in good agreement with reported measurements. Suppression of the secondary electron yield by as much as 50 percent (over copper with graphene coating is predicted at energies below 125 eV, and bodes well for multipactor suppression in radio frequency applications.

  1. Axial Vircator for Electronic Warfare Applications

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    L. Drazan

    2009-12-01

    Full Text Available This paper deals with a high power microwave generator with virtual cathode – vircator in axial release for electronic warfare applications. The classification of directed energy weapons microwave (DEWM is introduced together with basic block diagrams of a particular class of DEWM. In the paper, methods for designing vircator pulsed power supply, axial vircator structure, measurement methods and experimental results are presented. The vircator in electromagnetic ammunition is powered by magneto-cumulative generator and in weapons for defense of objects (WDO, it is powered by Marx generator. The possible applications of a vircator in the DEWM area are discussed.

  2. Applications of electron accelerator in Malaysia

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Khairul Zaman Hj. Mohd Dahlan [Malaysian Institute for Nuclear Technology Research (MINT), Bangi, Selangor Darul Ehsan (Malaysia)

    2003-02-01

    Current status of radiation processing, as one of the core research programs of the Malaysian Institute for Nuclear Technology Research (MINT), is presented. Industrial applications of six electron accelerators from 150 kV up to 3 MV in Malaysia now in operation are mainly for curing of surface coatings, crosslinking of tubes, heat shrinkable tubes and packaging films, crosslinking of wire insulation. Their performances are listed. New technology now in R and D stage includes natural rubber, sago starch and chitosan for biomedical applications, and radiation curable materials from oil palm for pressure sensitive adhesive and printing ink. (S. Ohno)

  3. Applications of electron accelerator in Malaysia

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Khairul Zaman Hj. Mohd Dahlan

    2003-01-01

    Current status of radiation processing, as one of the core research programs of the Malaysian Institute for Nuclear Technology Research (MINT), is presented. Industrial applications of six electron accelerators from 150 kV up to 3 MV in Malaysia now in operation are mainly for curing of surface coatings, crosslinking of tubes, heat shrinkable tubes and packaging films, crosslinking of wire insulation. Their performances are listed. New technology now in R and D stage includes natural rubber, sago starch and chitosan for biomedical applications, and radiation curable materials from oil palm for pressure sensitive adhesive and printing ink. (S. Ohno)

  4. Trusted data management for Grid-based medical applications

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van 't Noordende, G.J.; Olabarriaga, S.D.; Koot, M.R.; de Laat, C.T.A.M.; Udoh, E.

    2011-01-01

    Existing Grid technology has been foremost designed with performance and scalability in mind. When using Grid infrastructure for medical applications, privacy and security considerations become paramount. Privacy aspects require a re-thinking of the design and implementation of common Grid

  5. Generation and application of bessel beams in electron microscopy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Grillo, Vincenzo, E-mail: vincenzo.grillo@cnr.it [CNR-Istituto Nanoscienze, Centro S3, Via G Campi 213/a, I-41125 Modena (Italy); CNR-IMEM, Parco Area delle Scienze 37/A, I-43124 Parma (Italy); Harris, Jérémie [Department of Physics, University of Ottawa, 25 Templeton St., Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1N 6N5 (Canada); Gazzadi, Gian Carlo [CNR-Istituto Nanoscienze, Centro S3, Via G Campi 213/a, I-41125 Modena (Italy); Balboni, Roberto [CNR-IMM Bologna, Via P. Gobetti 101, 40129 Bologna (Italy); Mafakheri, Erfan [Dipartimento di Fisica Informatica e Matematica, Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia, via G Campi 213/a, I-41125 Modena (Italy); Dennis, Mark R. [H.H. Wills Physics Laboratory, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1TL (United Kingdom); Frabboni, Stefano [CNR-Istituto Nanoscienze, Centro S3, Via G Campi 213/a, I-41125 Modena (Italy); Dipartimento di Fisica Informatica e Matematica, Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia, via G Campi 213/a, I-41125 Modena (Italy); Boyd, Robert W.; Karimi, Ebrahim [Department of Physics, University of Ottawa, 25 Templeton St., Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1N 6N5 (Canada)

    2016-07-15

    We report a systematic treatment of the holographic generation of electron Bessel beams, with a view to applications in electron microscopy. We describe in detail the theory underlying hologram patterning, as well as the actual electron-optical configuration used experimentally. We show that by optimizing our nanofabrication recipe, electron Bessel beams can be generated with relative efficiencies reaching 37±3%. We also demonstrate by tuning various hologram parameters that electron Bessel beams can be produced with many visible rings, making them ideal for interferometric applications, or in more highly localized forms with fewer rings, more suitable for imaging. We describe the settings required to tune beam localization in this way, and explore beam and hologram configurations that allow the convergences and topological charges of electron Bessel beams to be controlled. We also characterize the phase structure of the Bessel beams generated with our technique, using a simulation procedure that accounts for imperfections in the hologram manufacturing process. - Highlights: • Bessel beams with different convergence, topological charge, visible fringes are demonstrated. • The relation between the Fresnel hologram and the probe shape is explained by detailed calculations and experiments. • Among the holograms here presented the highest relative efficiency is 37%, the best result ever reached for blazed holograms.

  6. Generation and application of bessel beams in electron microscopy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Grillo, Vincenzo; Harris, Jérémie; Gazzadi, Gian Carlo; Balboni, Roberto; Mafakheri, Erfan; Dennis, Mark R.; Frabboni, Stefano; Boyd, Robert W.; Karimi, Ebrahim

    2016-01-01

    We report a systematic treatment of the holographic generation of electron Bessel beams, with a view to applications in electron microscopy. We describe in detail the theory underlying hologram patterning, as well as the actual electron-optical configuration used experimentally. We show that by optimizing our nanofabrication recipe, electron Bessel beams can be generated with relative efficiencies reaching 37±3%. We also demonstrate by tuning various hologram parameters that electron Bessel beams can be produced with many visible rings, making them ideal for interferometric applications, or in more highly localized forms with fewer rings, more suitable for imaging. We describe the settings required to tune beam localization in this way, and explore beam and hologram configurations that allow the convergences and topological charges of electron Bessel beams to be controlled. We also characterize the phase structure of the Bessel beams generated with our technique, using a simulation procedure that accounts for imperfections in the hologram manufacturing process. - Highlights: • Bessel beams with different convergence, topological charge, visible fringes are demonstrated. • The relation between the Fresnel hologram and the probe shape is explained by detailed calculations and experiments. • Among the holograms here presented the highest relative efficiency is 37%, the best result ever reached for blazed holograms.

  7. Electron spectroscopy for surface analysis - the ES300 electron spectrometer and its applications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Walker, J.A.J.; Price, W.B.

    1980-07-01

    The features of the ES300 electron spectrometer are described together with factors which affect the energy spectrum, experimental variables and interpretation of the spectral information. A discussion of five applications illustrates the use of X-ray photo-electron spectroscopy (XPS) in the diverse work of the Risley Nuclear Power Development Laboratories (RNL). The analytical results are given for each of the examples and their interpretation discussed in the chemical context of the original problem. (author)

  8. The effect of the electronic medical record on nurses' work.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Robles, Jane

    2009-01-01

    The electronic medical record (EMR) is a workplace reality for most nurses. Its advantages include a single consolidated record for each person; capacity for data interfaces and alerts; improved interdisciplinary communication; and evidence-based decision support. EMRs can add to work complexity, by forcing better documentation of previously unrecorded data and/or because of poor design. Well-designed and well-implemented computerized provider order entry (CPOE) systems can streamline nurses' work. Generational differences in acceptance of and facility with EMRs can be addressed through open, healthy communication.

  9. Applications of electron beam technology for healthcare and environment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Varshney, Lalit

    2013-01-01

    Radiation technology has matured from lab scale to industrial scale in many areas of interests to industry, healthcare, agriculture and environment. Some of the well established applications include radiation sterilization, wires and cable, composites for automobiles, radiation surface curing, nanomaterials, hydrogels and special materials for nuclear and aerospace industry, radiation treatment of effluents, sewage sludge etc. These applications are as a result of characteristics of high energy radiation like gamma and electron beams which are able to deliver energy directly at molecular level. Unlike nuclear based radiations, electron beam accelerator technology is amenable to easy acceptance by public as well has capability to manipulate processes and product treatment to produce varieties of advanced/smart materials for healthcare and environment. Faster dose rates and depth profiling are the important characteristics of electron beam technology which gives it an edge over gamma radiation processing. Department of Atomic Energy has an ambitious program to indigenously develop accelerator technology and utilize them for national progress. In the presentation some important applications of radiation technology will be discussed. (author)

  10. Nanomaterials in biomedical applications

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Christiansen, Jesper de Claville; Potarniche, Catalina-Gabriela; Vuluga, Z.

    2011-01-01

    Advances in nano materials have lead to applications in many areas from automotive to electronics and medicine. Nano composites are a popular group of nano materials. Nanocomposites in medical applications provide novel solutions to common problems. Materials for implants, biosensors and drug del...

  11. Quality assurance in medical radiation applications. The medical and dental appointment; Qualitaetssicherung bei medizinischen Strahlenanwendungen. Die aerztlichen und zahnaerztlichen Stellen

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ernst-Elz, Andreas [Ministerium fuer Energiewende, Landwirtschaft, Umwelt, Natur und Digitalisierung des Landes Schleswig-Holstein, Kiel (Germany)

    2017-07-01

    Medical radiation applications cause averaged over the German population an annual exposure of almost 2 mSv. Medical authorities have the assignment to assure and control the diagnostic and therapeutic quality of these applications and to provide recommendations for operators with respect to dose reductions and radiation protection, including guidance for radiotherapy planning aimed to questions of dose and therapy optimization.

  12. Technology and application of two sets of industrial electron accelerators

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hua Degen

    2000-01-01

    The radiation industry in China Academy of Engineering Physics (CAEP) has had a big scale, and the two sets of industrial electron accelerators play important roles. The Electron Processing System (E.P.S), which was introduced in 1987, is a powerful electron accelerator. And the 10 MeV Accelerator, which is a traveling wave linear electron accelerator, has the higher electron energy. Both of the stes are equipped the driving devices under the beam, and has made a considerable economic results. This article describes the technology and application of the two electron accelerators. (author)

  13. Scalable decision support at the point of care: a substitutable electronic health record app for monitoring medication adherence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bosl, William; Mandel, Joshua; Jonikas, Magdalena; Ramoni, Rachel Badovinac; Kohane, Isaac S; Mandl, Kenneth D

    2013-07-22

    Non-adherence to prescribed medications is a serious health problem in the United States, costing an estimated $100 billion per year. While poor adherence should be addressable with point of care health information technology, integrating new solutions with existing electronic health records (EHR) systems require customization within each organization, which is difficult because of the monolithic software design of most EHR products. The objective of this study was to create a published algorithm for predicting medication adherence problems easily accessible at the point of care through a Web application that runs on the Substitutable Medical Apps, Reusuable Technologies (SMART) platform. The SMART platform is an emerging framework that enables EHR systems to behave as "iPhone like platforms" by exhibiting an application programming interface for easy addition and deletion of third party apps. The app is presented as a point of care solution to monitoring medication adherence as well as a sufficiently general, modular application that may serve as an example and template for other SMART apps. The widely used, open source Django framework was used together with the SMART platform to create the interoperable components of this app. Django uses Python as its core programming language. This allows statistical and mathematical modules to be created from a large array of Python numerical libraries and assembled together with the core app to create flexible and sophisticated EHR functionality. Algorithms that predict individual adherence are derived from a retrospective study of dispensed medication claims from a large private insurance plan. Patients' prescription fill information is accessed through the SMART framework and the embedded algorithms compute adherence information, including predicted adherence one year after the first prescription fill. Open source graphing software is used to display patient medication information and the results of statistical prediction

  14. Graphene Inks with Cellulosic Dispersants: Development and Applications for Printed Electronics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Secor, Ethan Benjamin

    Graphene offers promising opportunities for applications in printed and flexible electronic devices due to its high electrical and thermal conductivity, mechanical flexibility and strength, and chemical and environmental stability. However, scalable production and processing of graphene presents a critical technological challenge preventing the application of graphene for flexible electronic interconnects, electrochemical energy storage, and chemically robust electrical contacts. In this thesis, a promising and versatile platform for the production, patterning, and application of graphene inks is presented based on cellulosic dispersants. Graphene is produced from flake graphite using scalable liquid-phase exfoliation methods, using the polymers ethyl cellulose and nitrocellulose as multifunctional dispersing agents. These cellulose derivatives offer high colloidal stability and broadly tunable rheology for graphene dispersions, providing an effective and tunable platform for graphene ink development. Thermal or photonic annealing decomposes the polymer dispersant to yield high conductivity, flexible graphene patterns for various electronics applications. In particular, the chemical stability of graphene enables robust electrical contacts for ceramic, metallic, organic and electrolytic materials, validating the diverse applicability of graphene in printed electronics. Overall, the strategy for graphene ink design presented here offers a simple, efficient, and versatile method for integrating graphene in a wide range of printed devices and systems, providing both fundamental insight for nanomaterial ink development and realistic opportunities for practical applications.

  15. Medical students' recognition and application of geriatrics principles in a new curriculum.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nanda, Aman; Farrell, Timothy W; Shield, Renée R; Tomas, Maria; Campbell, Susan E; Wetle, Terrie

    2013-03-01

    Given the aging U.S. population, it is imperative that medical students recognize and apply geriatrics principles. To address this need, in 2006, the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University integrated geriatrics content into a new medical school curriculum. Preclinical and clinical medical students submitted written reflective journals in response to prompts regarding the geriatrics content of the new medical school curriculum, including their didactic and clinical experiences. An interdisciplinary team used a structured qualitative approach to identify themes, including the recognition and application of geriatrics principles. Thirty medical student journalers submitted 405 journal entries. Themes regarding students' emerging understanding of geriatrics principles included a growing understanding of geriatrics principles, recognition of the importance of psychosocial factors and patient preferences in caring for older adults, recognition of the complexities of treating older adults and application of geriatric principles to clinical situations, and understanding of physicians' roles in managing the care of older adults. Medical student reflective journaling allows medical educators to obtain timely feedback on curricular innovations and helps illuminate the process by which medical students learn to recognize and apply core geriatrics principles. © 2013, Copyright the Authors Journal compilation © 2013, The American Geriatrics Society.

  16. Medical Device Integrated Vital Signs Monitoring Application with Real-Time Clinical Decision Support.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moqeem, Aasia; Baig, Mirza; Gholamhosseini, Hamid; Mirza, Farhaan; Lindén, Maria

    2018-01-01

    This research involves the design and development of a novel Android smartphone application for real-time vital signs monitoring and decision support. The proposed application integrates market available, wireless and Bluetooth connected medical devices for collecting vital signs. The medical device data collected by the app includes heart rate, oxygen saturation and electrocardiograph (ECG). The collated data is streamed/displayed on the smartphone in real-time. This application was designed by adopting six screens approach (6S) mobile development framework and focused on user-centered approach and considered clinicians-as-a-user. The clinical engagement, consultations, feedback and usability of the application in the everyday practices were considered critical from the initial phase of the design and development. Furthermore, the proposed application is capable to deliver rich clinical decision support in real-time using the integrated medical device data.

  17. Polymer Based Biosensors for Medical Applications

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Cherré, Solène; Rozlosnik, Noemi

    2015-01-01

    , environmental monitoring and food safety. The detected element varies from a single molecule (such as glucose), a biopolymer (such as DNA or a protein) to a whole organism (such as bacteria). Due to their easy use and possible miniaturization, biosensors have a high potential to come out of the lab...... and be available for use by everybody. To fulfil these purposes, polymers represent very appropriate materials. Many nano- and microfabrication methods for polymers are available, allowing a fast and cheap production of devices. This chapter will present the general concept of a biosensor in a first part......The objective of this chapter is to give an overview about the newest developments in biosensors made of polymers for medical applications. Biosensors are devices that can recognize and detect a target with high selectivity. They are widely used in many fields such as medical diagnostic...

  18. Minimal impact of an electronic medical records system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tall, Jill M; Hurd, Marie; Gifford, Thomas

    2015-05-01

    Electronic medical records (EMRs) implementation in hospitals and emergency departments (EDs) is becoming increasingly more common. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of an EMR system on patient-related factors that correlate to ED workflow efficiency. A retrospective chart review assessed monthly census reports of all patients who registered and were treated to disposition during conversion from paper charts to an EMR system. The primary outcome measurement was an analysis of the time of registration to discharge or total ED length of stay as well as rate of those who left without being seen, eloped, or left against medical advice. These data were recorded from 3 periods, for 18 months: before installation of the EMR system (pre-EMR), during acclimation to the EMR, and post acclimation (post-EMR). A total of 61626 individual patient records were collected and analyzed. The total ED length of stay across all patient subtypes was not significantly affected by the installation of the hospital-wide EMR system (P = .481); however, a significant decrease was found for patients who were admitted to the hospital from the ED (P .25). Installation of a hospital-wide EMR system had minimal impact on workflow efficiency parameters in an ED. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  19. Synchrotron radiation applications in medical research

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Thomlinson, W.

    1995-01-01

    The medical projects employing synchrotron radiation as discussed in this paper are, for the most part, still in their infancies and no one can predict the direction in which they will develop. Both the basic research and applied medical programs are sure to be advanced at the new facilities coming on line, especially the ESRF and Spring- 8. However, success is not guaranteed. There is a lot of competition from advances in conventional imaging with the development of digital angiography, computed tomography, functional magnetic resonance imaging and ultrasound. The synchrotron programs will have to provide significant advantages over these modalities in order to be accepted by the medical profession. Advances in image processing and potentially the development of compact sources will be required in order to move the synchrotron developed imaging technologies into the clinical world. In any event, it can be expected that the images produced by the synchrotron technologies will establish ''gold standards'' to be targeted by conventional modalities. A lot more work needs to be done in order to bring synchrotron radiation therapy and surgery to the level of human studies and, subsequently, to clinical applications

  20. Carbon Nanotube Flexible and Stretchable Electronics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cai, Le; Wang, Chuan

    2015-12-01

    The low-cost and large-area manufacturing of flexible and stretchable electronics using printing processes could radically change people's perspectives on electronics and substantially expand the spectrum of potential applications. Examples range from personalized wearable electronics to large-area smart wallpapers and from interactive bio-inspired robots to implantable health/medical apparatus. Owing to its one-dimensional structure and superior electrical property, carbon nanotube is one of the most promising material platforms for flexible and stretchable electronics. Here in this paper, we review the recent progress in this field. Applications of single-wall carbon nanotube networks as channel semiconductor in flexible thin-film transistors and integrated circuits, as stretchable conductors in various sensors, and as channel material in stretchable transistors will be discussed. Lastly, state-of-the-art advancement on printing process, which is ideal for large-scale fabrication of flexible and stretchable electronics, will also be reviewed in detail.

  1. Preliminary application in teaching of medical imaging with picture archiving and communication systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wei Yuqing; Hu Jian; Wang Xuejian; Cao Jun; Tong Juan; Shen Guiquan; Luo Min; Luo Song

    2003-01-01

    Objective: To evaluate PACS (picture archiving and communication systems) in the teaching of medical imaging. Methods: Large screen multimedia reading room and electronic study room were built with GE PACS and Angel RIS (radiology information system) and end-term picture-word work-station. Pictures and words of PACS were unloaded directly for teaching and teaching image bank and test image bank. Results: Large screen multimedia reading room, classroom, and electronic study room were built successfully. Valuable information of nearly 5000 patients in the teaching imaging bank of PACS was accumulated. Classic medical imaging teaching mode was changed. Real-time and multi-mode teaching were realized, and teaching effect was greatly improved. The PACS-based teaching model was accepted pleasantly by students. Conclusion: PACS is very useful to improve the teaching quality of medical imaging and it is worth to popularize

  2. Electron holography-basics and applications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lichte, Hannes; Lehmann, Michael

    2008-01-01

    Despite the huge progress achieved recently by means of the corrector for aberrations, allowing now a true atomic resolution of 0.1 nm, hence making it an unrivalled tool for nanoscience, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) suffers from a severe drawback: in a conventional electron micrograph only a poor phase contrast can be achieved, i.e. phase structures are virtually invisible. Therefore, conventional TEM is nearly blind for electric and magnetic fields, which are pure phase objects. Since such fields provoked by the atomic structure, e.g. of semiconductors and ferroelectrics, largely determine the solid state properties, hence the importance for high technology applications, substantial object information is missing. Electron holography in TEM offers the solution: by superposition with a coherent reference wave, a hologram is recorded, from which the image wave can be completely reconstructed by amplitude and phase. Now the object is displayed quantitatively in two separate images: one representing the amplitude, the other the phase. From the phase image, electric and magnetic fields can be determined quantitatively in the range from micrometre down to atomic dimensions by all wave optical methods that one can think of, both in real space and in Fourier space. Electron holography is pure wave optics. Therefore, we discuss the basics of coherence and interference, the implementation into a TEM, the path of rays for recording holograms as well as the limits in lateral and signal resolution. We outline the methods of reconstructing the wave by numerical image processing and procedures for extracting the object properties of interest. Furthermore, we present a broad spectrum of applications both at mesoscopic and atomic dimensions. This paper gives an overview of the state of the art pointing at the needs for further development. It is also meant as encouragement for those who refrain from holography, thinking that it can only be performed by specialists in

  3. 78 FR 59038 - Mobile Medical Applications; Guidance for Industry and Food and Drug Administration Staff...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-09-25

    ... FDA intends to apply its regulatory oversight to only those mobile apps that are medical devices and...] Mobile Medical Applications; Guidance for Industry and Food and Drug Administration Staff; Availability...) is announcing the availability of the guidance entitled ``Mobile Medical Applications.'' The FDA is...

  4. Public Use of Mobile Medical Applications: A Case Study on Cloud-Based Medical Service of Taiwan.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lu, Chen-Luan; Yan, Yu-Hua

    2016-01-01

    The use of smart mobile devices has been getting increasingly popular. The focus of this study is an attempt to explore the development of mobile medical App by medical centers and regional hospitals of Taiwan and the function of the App for comparison. The results show indicated that many hospitals developed Apps for the public for mobile medical service, of which 26 medical centers (100%) and 72 regional hospitals (84.7%) availed appointment making service via Apps. The result indicated variance at significant level (p < 0.01). There are 23 medical centers (88.5%) and 74 regional hospitals (87.1%) availed Apps for checking service progress. The result indicated insignificant variance level (p > 0.01). We can see that mobile medical service is gradually emerging as a vital issue. Yet, this is a new domain in medical service. With the mushrooming of medical applications in smart mobile devices, the medical service system is expected to be installed in these devices to enhance interactive mode of operation and inquiry services, such as medication and inquiries into physical examination results. By then, people can learn the status of their health with this system.

  5. Electronic monitoring of patient adherence to oral antihypertensive medical treatment: a systematic review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Christensen, Arne; Osterberg, Lars G; Hansen, Ebba Holme

    2009-08-01

    Poor patient adherence is often the reason for suboptimal blood pressure control. Electronic monitoring is one method of assessing adherence. The aim was to systematically review the literature on electronic monitoring of patient adherence to self-administered oral antihypertensive medications. We searched the Pubmed, Embase, Cinahl and Psychinfo databases and websites of suppliers of electronic monitoring devices. The quality of the studies was assessed according to the quality criteria proposed by Haynes et al. Sixty-two articles were included; three met the criteria proposed by Haynes et al. and nine reported the use of electronic adherence monitoring for feedback interventions. Adherence rates were generally high, whereas average study quality was low with a recent tendency towards improved quality. One study detected investigator fraud based on electronic monitoring data. Use of electronic monitoring of patient adherence according to the quality criteria proposed by Haynes et al. has been rather limited during the past two decades. Electronic monitoring has mainly been used as a measurement tool, but it seems to have the potential to significantly improve blood pressure control as well and should be used more widely.

  6. The Most Common Smartphone Applications Used By Medical Students and Barriers of Using Them.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jebraeily, Mohamad; Fazlollahi, Zahra Zare; Rahimi, Bahlol

    2017-12-01

    Medical knowledge is rapidly expanding and updating. It is very important that students can timely access to information and the latest scientific evidence without any time and place limitation. The smartphone is one of ICT tools that adopted greatly by healthcare professionals. Today, the most medical sciences universities have provided smartphone as an educational aid tool and acquisition licenses for medical apps resources in training of their students. This research was conducted to determine common smartphone applications among medical students of Urmia University of medical sciences and to identify barriers in using them. This research was a descriptive type of study carried out in 2016. Population of the study included 530 medical students completing the clinical course in Urmia University of Medical Sciences. Data were collected using researcher-developed questionnaire. The validity of it determined based on the view of experts and the reliability of it obtained by calculating the value of Cronbach's alpha (α = 0.82). 82.3% of the students had smartphone, which in terms of operating system the highest was related Andriod (53%) and iPhone (32%). The most common applications used often by medical students included Up to date, PubSearch, Calculate by QxMD, Epocrates and OMnio. Lack of accreditation of medical apps by valid health institutions (4.63), lack of support and update of applications by their developers (4.44), lack of adequate skill to use applications (4.25) are the most important barriers in using these applications among students. To assurance quality of medical apps, it seems very important that academic and healthcare organizations should be involved to develop and update the apps and also provided guidelines for accreditation of apps. It is recommended that for promotion of knowledge and skill of students provide essential educations.

  7. Real-time image mosaicing for medical applications.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Loewke, Kevin E; Camarillo, David B; Jobst, Christopher A; Salisbury, J Kenneth

    2007-01-01

    In this paper we describe the development of a robotically-assisted image mosaicing system for medical applications. The processing occurs in real-time due to a fast initial image alignment provided by robotic position sensing. Near-field imaging, defined by relatively large camera motion, requires translations as well as pan and tilt orientations to be measured. To capture these measurements we use 5-d.o.f. sensing along with a hand-eye calibration to account for sensor offset. This sensor-based approach speeds up the mosaicing, eliminates cumulative errors, and readily handles arbitrary camera motions. Our results have produced visually satisfactory mosaics on a dental model but can be extended to other medical images.

  8. Summaries of fiscal year 1994 projects in medical applications and biophysical research

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1995-04-01

    This report provides information on the research supported in Fiscal Year 1994 by the Medical Applications and Biophysical Research Division of the Office of Health and Environmental Research. A brief statement of the scope of the following areas is presented: dosimetry; measurement science; radiological and chemical physics; structural biology; human genome; and medical applications. Summaries of the research projects in these categories are presented

  9. Chemical Vapor-Deposited (CVD) Diamond Films for Electronic Applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    1995-01-01

    Diamond films have a variety of useful applications as electron emitters in devices such as magnetrons, electron multipliers, displays, and sensors. Secondary electron emission is the effect in which electrons are emitted from the near surface of a material because of energetic incident electrons. The total secondary yield coefficient, which is the ratio of the number of secondary electrons to the number of incident electrons, generally ranges from 2 to 4 for most materials used in such applications. It was discovered recently at the NASA Lewis Research Center that chemical vapor-deposited (CVD) diamond films have very high secondary electron yields, particularly when they are coated with thin layers of CsI. For CsI-coated diamond films, the total secondary yield coefficient can exceed 60. In addition, diamond films exhibit field emission at fields orders of magnitude lower than for existing state-of-the-art emitters. Present state-of-the-art microfabricated field emitters generally require applied fields above 5x10^7 V/cm. Research on field emission from CVD diamond and high-pressure, high-temperature diamond has shown that field emission can be obtained at fields as low as 2x10^4 V/cm. It has also been shown that thin layers of metals, such as gold, and of alkali halides, such as CsI, can significantly increase field emission and stability. Emitters with nanometer-scale lithography will be able to obtain high-current densities with voltages on the order of only 10 to 15 V.

  10. A systematic review of electronic multi-compartment medication devices with reminder systems for improving adherence to self-administered medications.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Paterson, Mary; Kinnear, Moira; Bond, Christine; McKinstry, Brian

    2017-06-01

    Many patients experience difficulties adhering to medication regimes. For people who forget or get confused about medication, there are products to help them such as multi-compartment medication devices (MMDs). Some of these, known as electronic MMDs (eMMDs), use audible and/or visual signals to prompt the patient when to take medication, dispense medications, give instructions to the patient, and contact a caregiver (mobile Internet or text to a carer) as needed. To systematically review the literature on the use of eMMDs, to determine what evidence for their effectiveness is available. A comprehensive literature search of 10 databases, plus an Internet search and hand searching was conducted, using the MeSH terms reminder systems/patient compliance/medication adherence. There were no date restrictions. Inclusion criteria were patients in any community setting, in any country and with no restrictions of age, gender, ethnicity or medical condition, using an eMMD. Peer-reviewed quantitative or qualitative studies of any design were included. Of 805 abstracts identified and 99 full text papers retrieved, six met the inclusion criteria. Five of the studies reported adherence to medication regimes; one reported design factors to improve adherence. Adherence varied by the context of the reminders, the target group and usability of the devices. The studies were small scale and only one was a well conducted randomised controlled trial. Overall methodological quality of the studies was poor. Although positive effects on adherence were reported further, rigorously conducted, studies are needed to inform the use of eMMDs. © 2016 Royal Pharmaceutical Society.

  11. Representation of ophthalmology concepts by electronic systems: adequacy of controlled medical terminologies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chiang, Michael F; Casper, Daniel S; Cimino, James J; Starren, Justin

    2005-02-01

    To assess the adequacy of 5 controlled medical terminologies (International Classification of Diseases 9, Clinical Modification [ICD9-CM]; Current Procedural Terminology 4 [CPT-4]; Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine, Clinical Terms [SNOMED-CT]; Logical Identifiers, Names, and Codes [LOINC]; Medical Entities Dictionary [MED]) for representing concepts in ophthalmology. Noncomparative case series. Twenty complete ophthalmology case presentations were sequentially selected from a publicly available ophthalmology journal. Each of the 20 cases was parsed into discrete concepts, and each concept was classified along 2 axes: (1) diagnosis, finding, or procedure and (2) ophthalmic or medical concept. Electronic or paper browsers were used to assign a code for every concept in each of the 5 terminologies. Adequacy of assignment for each concept was scored on a 3-point scale. Findings from all 20 case presentations were combined and compared based on a coverage score, which was the average score for all concepts in that terminology. Adequacy of assignment for concepts in each terminology, based on a 3-point Likert scale (0, no match; 1, partial match; 2, complete match). Cases were parsed into 1603 concepts. SNOMED-CT had the highest mean overall coverage score (1.625+/-0.667), followed by MED (0.974+/-0.764), LOINC (0.781+/-0.929), ICD9-CM (0.280+/-0.619), and CPT-4 (0.082+/-0.337). SNOMED-CT also had higher coverage scores than any of the other terminologies for concepts in the diagnosis, finding, and procedure categories. Average coverage scores for ophthalmic concepts were lower than those for medical concepts. Controlled terminologies are required for electronic representation of ophthalmology data. SNOMED-CT had significantly higher content coverage than any other terminology in this study.

  12. ON EXPERIENCE OF THE COLLABORATION AND PROJECT MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM PODIO IMPLEMENTATION IN THE MEDICAL UNIVERSITY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andrii V. Semenets

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available The Information Technologies role in the medical university management is analyzed. The importance of the application of the electronic document management in the medical universities is shown. The implementation capabilities of the electronic document management system within a cloud services are shown. A Podio collaboration and project management cloud service features overview is presented. The methodology of the Podio capabilities usage to the medical university task management solving is developed. An approaches to the Podio Workspaces and Applications development for the faculties collaboration and project management in the departments of the medical universities are presented. The examples of the Podio features usage to the work-flow automation of the information-analytical and hardware and software support departments of the Ternopil State Medical University named after I. Ja. Horbachevsky are shown.

  13. Freeform Compliant CMOS Electronic Systems for Internet of Everything Applications

    KAUST Repository

    Shaikh, Sohail F.; Ghoneim, Mohamed T.; Sevilla, Galo T.; Nassar, Joanna M.; Hussain, Aftab M.; Hussain, Muhammad Mustafa

    2017-01-01

    of flexibility and stretchability in electronics for emerging Internet of Everything application can unleash smart application horizon in unexplored areas, such as robotics, healthcare, smart cities, transport, and entertainment systems. While flexible

  14. A Program for Electronic Medical Education in Colombia: Educación Electrónica Estructurada (E3 A Succesful Experience

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rafael E Riveros

    2004-02-01

    Full Text Available Medical education in Colombia remains, almost completely, with the physical presence of the lecturer in the classroom. In recent years, new alternatives in higher education have been explored, on a balanced basis. Our faculty traditionally remains teaching with conservative methods; therefore, strategies for incorporating informatics, virtual education and in general, electronics are vital in our academic environment. Our electronic medical education group, E3, is constituted by faculty, undergraduate and graduate students. E3 was designed to provide the urgent need to develop an appropriate scenario for a group of faculty and students who will provide the school with clear cut policies and strategies, to establish a permanent and dynamic program of ICT locally, institutionally and regionally. The project, enveloped in the objectives of E3 includes: Electronic Academic Contents (EAC, Virtual Education Project (VEP and Electronic Clinical Record (ECR. We will improve and increase, by the end of 2003, electronic medical education at our School and radiate to the University and the academic community.

  15. Aliphatic polyesters for medical imaging and theranostic applications.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nottelet, Benjamin; Darcos, Vincent; Coudane, Jean

    2015-11-01

    Medical imaging is a cornerstone of modern medicine. In that context the development of innovative imaging systems combining biomaterials and contrast agents (CAs)/imaging probes (IPs) for improved diagnostic and theranostic applications focuses intense research efforts. In particular, the classical aliphatic (co)polyesters poly(lactide) (PLA), poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) and poly(ɛ-caprolactone) (PCL), attract much attention due to their long track record in the medical field. This review aims therefore at providing a state-of-the-art of polyester-based imaging systems. In a first section a rapid description of the various imaging modalities, including magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), optical imaging, computed tomography (CT), ultrasound (US) and radionuclide imaging (SPECT, PET) will be given. Then, the two main strategies used to combine the CAs/IPs and the polyesters will be discussed. In more detail we will first present the strategies relying on CAs/IPs encapsulation in nanoparticles, micelles, dendrimers or capsules. We will then present chemical modifications of polyesters backbones and/or polyester surfaces to yield macromolecular imaging agents. Finally, opportunities offered by these innovative systems will be illustrated with some recent examples in the fields of cell labeling, diagnostic or theranostic applications and medical devices. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  16. Wireless Biological Electronic Sensors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cui, Yue

    2017-10-09

    The development of wireless biological electronic sensors could open up significant advances for both fundamental studies and practical applications in a variety of areas, including medical diagnosis, environmental monitoring, and defense applications. One of the major challenges in the development of wireless bioelectronic sensors is the successful integration of biosensing units and wireless signal transducers. In recent years, there are a few types of wireless communication systems that have been integrated with biosensing systems to construct wireless bioelectronic sensors. To successfully construct wireless biological electronic sensors, there are several interesting questions: What types of biosensing transducers can be used in wireless bioelectronic sensors? What types of wireless systems can be integrated with biosensing transducers to construct wireless bioelectronic sensors? How are the electrical sensing signals generated and transmitted? This review will highlight the early attempts to address these questions in the development of wireless biological electronic sensors.

  17. Effect of educational and electronic medical record interventions on food allergy management.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zelig, Ari; Harwayne-Gidansky, Ilana; Gault, Allison; Wang, Julie

    2016-09-01

    The growing prevalence of food allergies indicates a responsibility among primary care providers to ensure that their patients receive accurate diagnosis and management. To improve physician knowledge and management of food allergies by implementing educational and electronic medical record interventions. Pre- and posttest scores of pediatric residents and faculty were analyzed to assess the effectiveness of an educational session designed to improve knowledge of food allergy management. One year later, a best practice advisory was implemented in the electronic medical record to alert providers to consider allergy referral whenever a diagnosis code for food allergy or epinephrine autoinjector prescription was entered. A review of charts 6 months before and 6 months after each intervention was completed to determine the impact of both interventions. Outcome measurements included referrals to an allergy clinic, prescription of self-injectable epinephrine, and documentation that written emergency action plans were provided. There was a significant increase in test scores immediately after the educational intervention (mean, 56.2 versus 84.3%; p management of children with food allergies at our pediatrics clinic. Further studies are needed to identify effective strategies to improve management of food allergies by primary care physicians.

  18. Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) in medical dosimetry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schauer, David A.; Iwasaki, Akinori; Romanyukha, Alexander A.; Swartz, Harold M.; Onori, Sandro

    2006-01-01

    This paper describes the fundamentals of electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) and its application to retrospective measurements of clinically significant doses of ionizing radiation. X-band is the most widely used in EPR dosimetry because it represents a good compromise between sensitivity, sample size and water content in the sample. Higher frequency bands (e.g., W and Q) provide higher sensitivity, but they are also greatly influenced by water content. L and S bands can be used for EPR measurements in samples with high water content but they are less sensitive than X-band. Quality control for therapeutic radiation facilities using X-band EPR spectrometry of alanine is also presented

  19. Rare-earth-doped materials with application to optical signal processing, quantum information science, and medical imaging technology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cone, R. L.; Thiel, C. W.; Sun, Y.; Böttger, Thomas; Macfarlane, R. M.

    2012-02-01

    Unique spectroscopic properties of isolated rare earth ions in solids offer optical linewidths rivaling those of trapped single atoms and enable a variety of recent applications. We design rare-earth-doped crystals, ceramics, and fibers with persistent or transient "spectral hole" recording properties for applications including high-bandwidth optical signal processing where light and our solids replace the high-bandwidth portion of the electronics; quantum cryptography and information science including the goal of storage and recall of single photons; and medical imaging technology for the 700-900 nm therapeutic window. Ease of optically manipulating rare-earth ions in solids enables capturing complex spectral information in 105 to 108 frequency bins. Combining spatial holography and spectral hole burning provides a capability for processing high-bandwidth RF and optical signals with sub-MHz spectral resolution and bandwidths of tens to hundreds of GHz for applications including range-Doppler radar and high bandwidth RF spectral analysis. Simply stated, one can think of these crystals as holographic recording media capable of distinguishing up to 108 different colors. Ultra-narrow spectral holes also serve as a vibration-insensitive sub-kHz frequency reference for laser frequency stabilization to a part in 1013 over tens of milliseconds. The unusual properties and applications of spectral hole burning of rare earth ions in optical materials are reviewed. Experimental results on the promising Tm3+:LiNbO3 material system are presented and discussed for medical imaging applications. Finally, a new application of these materials as dynamic optical filters for laser noise suppression is discussed along with experimental demonstrations and theoretical modeling of the process.

  20. InsuOnline, an Electronic Game for Medical Education on Insulin Therapy: A Randomized Controlled Trial With Primary Care Physicians.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Diehl, Leandro Arthur; Souza, Rodrigo Martins; Gordan, Pedro Alejandro; Esteves, Roberto Zonato; Coelho, Izabel Cristina Meister

    2017-03-09

    Most patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) are followed by primary care physicians, who often lack knowledge or confidence to prescribe insulin properly. This contributes to clinical inertia and poor glycemic control. Effectiveness of traditional continuing medical education (CME) to solve that is limited, so new approaches are required. Electronic games are a good option, as they can be very effective and easily disseminated. The objective of our study was to assess applicability, user acceptance, and educational effectiveness of InsuOnline, an electronic serious game for medical education on insulin therapy for DM, compared with a traditional CME activity. Primary care physicians (PCPs) from South of Brazil were invited by phone or email to participate in an unblinded randomized controlled trial and randomly allocated to play the game InsuOnline, installed as an app in their own computers, at the time of their choice, with minimal or no external guidance, or to participate in a traditional CME session, composed by onsite lectures and cases discussion. Both interventions had the same content and duration (~4 h). Applicability was assessed by the number of subjects who completed the assigned intervention in each group. Insulin-prescribing competence (factual knowledge, problem-solving skills, and attitudes) was self-assessed through a questionnaire applied before, immediately after, and 3 months after the interventions. Acceptance of the intervention (satisfaction and perceived importance for clinical practice) was also assessed immediately after and 3 months after the interventions, respectively. Subjects' characteristics were similar between groups (mean age 38, 51.4% [69/134] male). In the game group, 69 of 88 (78%) completed the intervention, compared with 65 of 73 (89%) in the control group, with no difference in applicability. Percentage of right answers in the competence subscale, which was 52% at the baseline in both groups, significantly improved

  1. Implementing electronic medical record systems in developing countries

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hamish Fraser

    2005-06-01

    Full Text Available The developing world faces a series of health crises including HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis that threaten the lives of millions of people. Lack of infrastructure and trained, experienced staff are considered important barriers to scaling up treatment for these diseases. In this paper we explain why information systems are important in many healthcare projects in the developing world. We discuss pilot projects demonstrating that such systems are possible and can expand to manage hundreds of thousands of patients. We also pass on the most important practical lessons in design and implementation from our experience in doing this work. Finally, we discuss the importance of collaboration between projects in the development of electronic medical record systems rather than reinventing systems in isolation, and the use of open standards and open source software.

  2. Non-thermal atmospheric pressure HF plasma source: generation of nitric oxide and ozone for bio-medical applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kühn, S.; Bibinov, N.; Gesche, R.; Awakowicz, P.

    2010-01-01

    A new miniature high-frequency (HF) plasma source intended for bio-medical applications is studied using nitrogen/oxygen mixture at atmospheric pressure. This plasma source can be used as an element of a plasma source array for applications in dermatology and surgery. Nitric oxide and ozone which are produced in this plasma source are well-known agents for proliferation of the cells, inhalation therapy for newborn infants, disinfection of wounds and blood ozonation. Using optical emission spectroscopy, microphotography and numerical simulation, the gas temperature in the active plasma region and plasma parameters (electron density and electron distribution function) are determined for varied nitrogen/oxygen flows. The influence of the gas flows on the plasma conditions is studied. Ozone and nitric oxide concentrations in the effluent of the plasma source are measured using absorption spectroscopy and electro-chemical NO-detector at variable gas flows. Correlations between plasma parameters and concentrations of the particles in the effluent of the plasma source are discussed. By varying the gas flows, the HF plasma source can be optimized for nitric oxide or ozone production. Maximum concentrations of 2750 ppm and 400 ppm of NO and O3, correspondingly, are generated.

  3. Near-infrared spectroscopic tissue imaging for medical applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Demos, Stavros [Livermore, CA; Staggs, Michael C [Tracy, CA

    2006-12-12

    Near infrared imaging using elastic light scattering and tissue autofluorescence are explored for medical applications. The approach involves imaging using cross-polarized elastic light scattering and tissue autofluorescence in the Near Infra-Red (NIR) coupled with image processing and inter-image operations to differentiate human tissue components.

  4. Development of a clinical information tool for the electronic medical record: a case study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Epstein, Barbara A; Tannery, Nancy H; Wessel, Charles B; Yarger, Frances; LaDue, John; Fiorillo, Anthony B

    2010-07-01

    What is the process of developing a clinical information tool to be embedded in the electronic health record of a very large and diverse academic medical center? The development took place at the University of Pittsburgh Health Sciences Library System. The clinical information tool developed is a search box with subject tabs to provide quick access to designated full-text information resources. Each subject tab offers a federated search of a different pool of resources. Search results are organized "on the fly" into meaningful categories using clustering technology and are directly accessible from the results page. After more than a year of discussion and planning, a clinical information tool was embedded in the academic medical center's electronic health record. The library successfully developed a clinical information tool, called Clinical-e, for use at the point of care. Future development will refine the tool and evaluate its impact and effectiveness.

  5. Radiotracers for medical applications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rayudu, G.A.S.

    1983-01-01

    This book discusses the medical applications of radiotracers. Diagnostic uses and pharmacokinetics of isotopes and radiopharmaceuticals is emphasized. The volume one covers the following topics: Radiohalogenated compounds, including radioiodine; Tc-labeled compounds; and in-house prepared radiopharmaceuticals. The charge particle range vs. energy in every element is tabulated for protons for cyclotrons users. Discussions are also provided on nonimaging radiotracer methods; /sup 11/C, /sup 13/N, /sup 15/O, /sup 67/Ga. /sup 111/In, /sup 75/Se, /sup 123m/Te compounds; radioactive noble gases; and miscellaneous radiotracers for imaging. Vol. II: Pertinent nuclear science data such as radiation dosimetry, radionuclide production modes, radionuclides for therapy, human experimentation regulations and consent forms, and radiotracer laboratory designs are presented. 272 pp., 7 x 10, 1983, ISBN-0-8493-6016-1

  6. Field-testing the new DECtalk PC system for medical applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grams, R. R.; Smillov, A.; Li, B.

    1992-01-01

    Synthesized human speech has now reached a new level of performance. With the introduction of DEC's new DECtalk PC, the small system developer will have a very powerful tool for creative design. It has been our privilege to be involved in the beta-testing of this new device and to add a medical dictionary which covers a wide range of medical terminology. With the inherent board level understanding of speech synthesis and the medical dictionary, it is now possible to provide full digital speech output for all medical files and terms. The application of these tools will cover a wide range of options for the future and allow a new dimension in dealing with the complex user interface experienced in medical practice.

  7. Cardiac auscultation training of medical students: a comparison of electronic sensor-based and acoustic stethoscopes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jensen Torstein

    2005-05-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background To determine whether the use of an electronic, sensor based stethoscope affects the cardiac auscultation skills of undergraduate medical students. Methods Forty eight third year medical students were randomized to use either an electronic stethoscope, or a conventional acoustic stethoscope during clinical auscultation training. After a training period of four months, cardiac auscultation skills were evaluated using four patients with different cardiac murmurs. Two experienced cardiologists determined correct answers. The students completed a questionnaire for each patient. The thirteen questions were weighted according to their relative importance, and a correct answer was credited from one to six points. Results No difference in mean score was found between the two groups (p = 0.65. Grading and characterisation of murmurs and, if present, report of non existing murmurs were also rated. None of these yielded any significant differences between the groups. Conclusion Whether an electronic or a conventional stethoscope was used during training and testing did not affect the students' performance on a cardiac auscultation test.

  8. Use of communication tool within electronic medical record to improve primary nonadherence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kerner, Daniel E; Knezevich, Emily L

    The primary objective of this study was to determine if an online reminder decreased the rate of primary nonadherence for antihypertensive medications in patients seen in 2 primary care clinics in Omaha, NE. The secondary objectives were to determine if patients receiving the intervention achieved lower blood pressure values at follow-up visits and to determine if the intervention decreased the number of days between prescribing and prescription pick-up. A report was generated in an electronic health record to identify patients prescribed a new antihypertensive medication from a physician at one of the primary care clinics. Patients that failed to pick up this new prescription from the pharmacy within 7 days were sent an electronic reminder via an online patient portal. A baseline comparator group was created with the use of retrospective chart reviews for the 6 months before prospective data collection. Primary nonadherence rate and blood pressure values at follow-up visits were compared between the prospective and baseline comparator groups. The primary nonadherence rate decreased from 65.5% to 22.2% when comparing the baseline and prospective groups, respectively. The mean days to prescription pick-up decreased from 24.5 to 12.56 in the baseline and prospective groups. The prospective group showed a larger decrease in systolic blood pressure (17.33 mm Hg vs. 0.75 mm Hg) and diastolic blood pressure (6.56 mm Hg vs. 2.25 mm Hg) compared with the baseline group. An online reminder through the electronic medical record appears to improve patient primary nonadherence, number of days between prescribing and prescription pick-up, and blood pressure measurements at follow-up visits. This research shows that an online reminder may be a valuable tool to improve patient primary adherence and health outcomes. Further research is needed with the use of a larger sample population to support any hypotheses about the effectiveness of the intervention. Copyright © 2017 American

  9. GaN Based Electronics And Their Applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ren, Fan

    2002-03-01

    The Group III-nitrides were initially researched for their promise to fill the void for a blue solid state light emitter. Electronic devices from III-nitrides have been a more recent phenomenon. The thermal conductivity of GaN is three times that of GaAs. For high power or high temperature applications, good thermal conductivity is imperative for heat removal or sustained operation at elevated temperatures. The development of III-N and other wide bandgap technologies for high temperature applications will likely take place at the expense of competing technologies, such as silicon-on-insulator (SOI), at moderate temperatures. At higher temperatures (>300°C), novel devices and components will become possible. The automotive industry will likely be one of the largest markets for such high temperature electronics. One of the most noteworthy advantages for III-N materials over other wide bandgap semiconductors is the availability of AlGaN/GaN and InGaN/GaN heterostructures. A 2-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) has been shown to exist at the AlGaN/GaN interface, and heterostructure field effect transistors (HFETs) from these materials can exhibit 2DEG mobilities approaching 2000 cm2 / V?s at 300K. Power handling capabilities of 12 W/mm appear feasible, and extraordinary large signal performance has already been demonstrated, with a current state-of-the-art of >10W/mm at X-band. In this talk, high speed and high temperature AlGaN/GaN HEMTs as well as MOSHEMTs, high breakdown voltage GaN (>6KV) and AlGaN (9.7 KV) Schottky diodes, and their applications will be presented.

  10. HIL Simulation of Power Electronics and Electric Drives for Automotive Applications

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Frank Puschmann

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available Hardware-in-the-loop simulation is today a standard method for testing electronic equipment in the automotive industry. Since electric drives and power electronic devices are more and more important in automotive applications, these kinds of systems have to be integrated into the hardware-in-the-loop simulation. Power converters and electric drives are used in many different applications in vehicles today (hybrid electric or electric powertrain, electric steering systems, DC-DC converters, etc.. The wide range of applications, topologies, and power levels results in various different approaches and solutions for hardware-in-the-loop testing. This paper gives an overview of hardware-in-the-loop simulation of power electronics and electric drives in the automotive industry. The currently available technologies are described and future challenges are outlined.

  11. Monte Carlo application based on GEANT4 toolkit to simulate a laser–plasma electron beam line for radiobiological studies

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lamia, D., E-mail: debora.lamia@ibfm.cnr.it [Institute of Molecular Bioimaging and Physiology IBFM CNR – LATO, Cefalù (Italy); Russo, G., E-mail: giorgio.russo@ibfm.cnr.it [Institute of Molecular Bioimaging and Physiology IBFM CNR – LATO, Cefalù (Italy); Casarino, C.; Gagliano, L.; Candiano, G.C. [Institute of Molecular Bioimaging and Physiology IBFM CNR – LATO, Cefalù (Italy); Labate, L. [Intense Laser Irradiation Laboratory (ILIL) – National Institute of Optics INO CNR, Pisa (Italy); National Institute for Nuclear Physics INFN, Pisa Section and Frascati National Laboratories LNF (Italy); Baffigi, F.; Fulgentini, L.; Giulietti, A.; Koester, P.; Palla, D. [Intense Laser Irradiation Laboratory (ILIL) – National Institute of Optics INO CNR, Pisa (Italy); Gizzi, L.A. [Intense Laser Irradiation Laboratory (ILIL) – National Institute of Optics INO CNR, Pisa (Italy); National Institute for Nuclear Physics INFN, Pisa Section and Frascati National Laboratories LNF (Italy); Gilardi, M.C. [Institute of Molecular Bioimaging and Physiology IBFM CNR, Segrate (Italy); University of Milano-Bicocca, Milano (Italy)

    2015-06-21

    We report on the development of a Monte Carlo application, based on the GEANT4 toolkit, for the characterization and optimization of electron beams for clinical applications produced by a laser-driven plasma source. The GEANT4 application is conceived so as to represent in the most general way the physical and geometrical features of a typical laser-driven accelerator. It is designed to provide standard dosimetric figures such as percentage dose depth curves, two-dimensional dose distributions and 3D dose profiles at different positions both inside and outside the interaction chamber. The application was validated by comparing its predictions to experimental measurements carried out on a real laser-driven accelerator. The work is aimed at optimizing the source, by using this novel application, for radiobiological studies and, in perspective, for medical applications. - Highlights: • Development of a Monte Carlo application based on GEANT4 toolkit. • Experimental measurements carried out with a laser-driven acceleration system. • Validation of Geant4 application comparing experimental data with the simulated ones. • Dosimetric characterization of the acceleration system.

  12. Utilization of smart phones related medical applications among medical students at King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah: A cross-sectional study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sayedalamin, Zaid; Alshuaibi, Abdulaziz; Almutairi, Osama; Baghaffar, Mariam; Jameel, Tahir; Baig, Mukhtiar

    The present study explored the utility, attitude, and trends regarding Smartphone related Medical Applications (Apps) among medical students of King Abdulaziz University (KAU) Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (SA) and their perceptions of the impact of Medical Apps in their training activities. This survey was conducted at the Faculty of Medicine, Jeddah, and Rabigh campuses, KAU, Jeddah, SA. All participants were medical students of 2nd to 6th year. The data was collected by using an anonymous questionnaire regarding the perception of medical students about Medical Apps on the smart devices and the purpose of installation of the Apps. Additionally examined was the use of different Medical Apps by the students to investigate the impact of Medical Apps on the clinical training/practice. Data was analyzed on SPSS 21. The opinion of 330/460 medical students from all academic years was included in the study with a response rate of 72%. There were 170 (51.5%) males and 160 (48.5%) females with a mean age of 21.26±1.86 years. Almost all participating students 320 (97%) were well aware of Medical Apps for smart devices and 89.1% had installed different applications on their smart devices. The main usage was for either revision of courses (62.4%) or for looking up of medical information (67.3%), followed by preparing for a presentation (34.5%) and getting the medical news (32.1%). Regarding the impact of Medical Apps, most of the students considered these helpful in clinical decision-making, assisting in differential diagnosis, allowing faster access to Evidence-Based Medical practice, saving time and others. The practical use of these Apps was found to be minimal in medical students. Around 73% were occasional users of Medical Apps, and only 27% were using Medical Apps at least once a day. The regular use of Medical Apps on mobile devices is not common among medical students of KAU. Copyright © 2016 King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences. Published by Elsevier Ltd

  13. Casebook: a virtual patient iPad application for teaching decision-making through the use of electronic health records.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bloice, Marcus D; Simonic, Klaus-Martin; Holzinger, Andreas

    2014-08-07

    Virtual Patients are a well-known and widely used form of interactive software used to simulate aspects of patient care that students are increasingly less likely to encounter during their studies. However, to take full advantage of the benefits of using Virtual Patients, students should have access to multitudes of cases. In order to promote the creation of collections of cases, a tablet application was developed which makes use of electronic health records as material for Virtual Patient cases. Because electronic health records are abundantly available on hospital information systems, this results in much material for the basis of case creation. An iPad-based Virtual Patient interactive software system was developed entitled Casebook. The application has been designed to read specially formatted patient cases that have been created using electronic health records, in the form of X-ray images, electrocardiograms, lab reports, and physician notes, and present these to the medical student. These health records are organised into a timeline, and the student navigates the case while answering questions regarding the patient along the way. Each health record can also be annotated with meta-information by the case designer, such as insight into the thought processes and the decision-making rationale of the physician who originally worked with the patient. Students learn decision-making skills by observing and interacting with real patient cases in this simulated environment. This paper discusses our approach in detail. Our group is of the opinion that Virtual Patient cases, targeted at undergraduate students, should concern patients who exhibit prototypical symptoms of the kind students may encounter when beginning their first medical jobs. Learning theory research has shown that students learn decision-making skills best when they have access to multitudes of patient cases and it is this plurality that allows students to develop their illness scripts effectively

  14. Multimedia Security System for Security and Medical Applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhou, Yicong

    2010-01-01

    This dissertation introduces a new multimedia security system for the performance of object recognition and multimedia encryption in security and medical applications. The system embeds an enhancement and multimedia encryption process into the traditional recognition system in order to improve the efficiency and accuracy of object detection and…

  15. Sterilized PP/HMSPP cushion foams for medical and food packaging applications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cardoso, Elisabeth C.L.; Lima, L. Filipe C.P.; Parra, Duclerc F.; Lugao, Ademar B.; Bueno, N.R.; Gasparin, Eleosmar

    2009-01-01

    Treatment with gamma radiation is becoming a common process for the sterilization of packages, mostly made of natural or synthetic plastics, used in aseptic processing of foods and pharmaceuticals. Packaging materials may be irradiated either prior or after filling; the irradiation prior to filling is usually chosen for dairy products, processed food, beverages, pharmaceuticals and medical devices. Cushion foams are used to help protect fragile items during moving transport. Shock, vibration and damage are avoided by the cushioning effect and chances of product damage are reduced. It is easy to use and perforated for easy tearing. Cushion foams are employed to wrap glasses, plates, crockery, lamps, electronics and other breakable items. This paper presents special cushion foams to be used for medical and food packaging applications; so, these foams will be gamma irradiated before getting in contact with these special articles. Foams were previously produced from a 50% blending Polypropylene homopolymer / High Melt Strength Polypropylene (HMSPP) thereof, that presented following results for properties assessed: melt flow index, 230 deg C - 3.67 g/10 minutes; crystallinity = 47%; melt strength, at 200 deg C = 7.3 cN. This admixture was further fed into the barrel of a single-screw extruder, Rheomex 332 p, equipped with 3:1,33 d screw and 19/33 special screw for foaming, with standard controller and monitored panel, temperature controller (2 channels), melt temperature (2 channels) and melt pressure (4 channels). By using a 175/200/210/220/165/25 (deg C) profile temperature, and after attaining a homogeneous melting, a given amount of physical blowing agent (nitrogen) was injected and mixed with the polymer melt stream to produce the foam. Foamed extrudate was subjected to sterilization radiation doses: 25, 50, 75 and 100 kGy and further evaluated as per: appearance (whiteness / yellowness) and temperature dependent oxidative-induction time (TOIT) tests, by comparing

  16. Potential ceramics processing applications with high-energy electron beams

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Struve, K.W.; Turman, B.N.

    1993-01-01

    High-energy, high-current electron beams may offer unique features for processing of ceramics that are not available with any other heat source. These include the capability to instantaneously heat to several centimeters in depth, to preferentially deposit energy in dense, high-z materials, to process at atmospheric pressures in air or other gases, to have large control over heating volume and heating rate, and to have efficient energy conversion. At a recent workshop organized by the authors to explore opportunities for electron beam processing of ceramics, several applications were identified for further development. These were ceramic joining, fabrication of ceramic powders, and surface processing of ceramics. It may be possible to join ceramics by either electron-beam brazing or welding. Brazing with refractory metals might also be feasible. The primary concern for brazing is whether the braze material can wet to the ceramic when rapidly heated by an electron beam. Raw ceramic powders, such as silicon nitride and aluminum nitride, which are difficult to produce by conventional techniques, could possibly be produced by vaporizing metals in a nitrogen atmosphere. Experiments need to be done to verify that the vaporized metal can fully react with the nitrogen. By adjusting beam parameters, high-energy beams can be used to remove surface flaws which are often sites of fracture initiation. They can also be used for surface cleaning. The advantage of electron beams rather than ion beams for this application is that the heat deposition can be graded into the material. The authors will discuss the capabilities of beams from existing machines for these applications and discuss planned experiments

  17. Medical imaging technology reviews and computational applications

    CERN Document Server

    Dewi, Dyah

    2015-01-01

    This book presents the latest research findings and reviews in the field of medical imaging technology, covering ultrasound diagnostics approaches for detecting osteoarthritis, breast carcinoma and cardiovascular conditions, image guided biopsy and segmentation techniques for detecting lung cancer, image fusion, and simulating fluid flows for cardiovascular applications. It offers a useful guide for students, lecturers and professional researchers in the fields of biomedical engineering and image processing.

  18. Monitoring of Vital Signs with Flexible and Wearable Medical Devices.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khan, Yasser; Ostfeld, Aminy E; Lochner, Claire M; Pierre, Adrien; Arias, Ana C

    2016-06-01

    Advances in wireless technologies, low-power electronics, the internet of things, and in the domain of connected health are driving innovations in wearable medical devices at a tremendous pace. Wearable sensor systems composed of flexible and stretchable materials have the potential to better interface to the human skin, whereas silicon-based electronics are extremely efficient in sensor data processing and transmission. Therefore, flexible and stretchable sensors combined with low-power silicon-based electronics are a viable and efficient approach for medical monitoring. Flexible medical devices designed for monitoring human vital signs, such as body temperature, heart rate, respiration rate, blood pressure, pulse oxygenation, and blood glucose have applications in both fitness monitoring and medical diagnostics. As a review of the latest development in flexible and wearable human vitals sensors, the essential components required for vitals sensors are outlined and discussed here, including the reported sensor systems, sensing mechanisms, sensor fabrication, power, and data processing requirements. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  19. Surface analysis by electron spectroscopy. General concepts and applications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Feliu, S.

    1993-01-01

    An introduction is made to the techniques of electron spectroscopy (XPS and AES) used in the study of surface phenomena. Their theoretical principles, the singular information supplied by these techniques and their basic instrumentation (vacuum systems, excitation sources and electron analysers) are described. A revision of their applications to the Materials Science and the Corrosion Sciences is also made. Author. 44 refs

  20. 76 FR 50231 - Mobile Medical Applications Draft Guidance; Public Workshop

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-08-12

    ... workshop discussion, a ``mobile medical app'' is a mobile application that meets the definition of ``device... applications are subject to regulation as devices when they meet the definition of a device in section 201(h... man * * * '' or ``* * * intended to affect the structure or any function of the body of man or other...