D Foltz | PubMed Health

PubMed2001

Electrical stimulation with bone and wound healing.

Electrical stimulation has been used to heal fractures and ulcers and reduce pain through modulation of local body processes. It has been recognized that mechanical forces and bioelectricity have an intimate relationship in influencing the production of bone. Science has developed techniques to affect change in the electrical charge of fractures to positively affect the healing process. Electrical stimulation, through invasive and noninvasive applications, has produced excellent results in the treatment of nonunions and ulcer care. A thorough review of the electrical properties of bone and soft tissue and the influence of electrical stimulation on healing is presented here.

Bone Diseases↗

PubMed2000

Real-time transmission of full-motion echocardiography over a high-speed data network: impact of data rate and network quality of service.

UNLABELLED: With high-resolution network transmission required for telemedicine, education, and guided-image acquisition, the impact of errors and transmission rates on image quality needs evaluation. METHODS: We transmitted clinical echocardiograms from 2 National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) research centers with the use of Motion Picture Expert Group-2 (MPEG-2) encoding and asynchronous transmission mode (ATM) network protocol over the NASA Research and Education Network. Data rates and network quality (cell losses [CLR], errors [CER], and delay variability [CVD]) were altered and image quality was judged. RESULTS: At speeds of 3 to 5 megabits per second (Mbps), digital images were superior to those on videotape; at 2 Mbps, images were equivalent. Increasing CLR caused occasional, brief pauses. Extreme CER and CDV increases still yielded high-quality images. CONCLUSIONS: Real-time echocardiographic acquisition, guidance, and transmission is feasible with the use of MPEG-2 and ATM with broadcast quality seen above 3 Mbps, even with severe network quality degradation. These techniques can be applied to telemedicine and used for planned echocardiography aboard the International Space Station.

Artifacts↗