Biomedical subjects

Dimitris Koutsouris

Publications and source records attributed to Dimitris Koutsouris.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Multiple image watermarking applied to health information management.

Information technology advances have brought forth new challenges in healthcare information management, due to the vast amount of medical data that needs to be efficiently stored, retrieved, and distributed, and the increased security threats that explicitly have to be addressed. The paper discusses the perspectives of digital watermarking in a range of medical data management and distribution issues, and proposes a complementary and/or alternative tool that simultaneously addresses medical data protection, archiving, and retrieval, as well as source and data authentication. The scheme imperceptibly embeds in medical images multiple watermarks conveying patient's personal and examination data, keywords for information retrieval, the physician's digital signature for authentication, and a reference message for data integrity control. Experimental results indicate the efficiency and transparency of the scheme, which conforms to the strict requirements that apply to regions of diagnostic significance.

Computer Security↗

PubMed2006

A distributed environment for the integration of multiple high-performance decision support systems into clinical workflow.

Current studies conclude that clinical decision support systems can help reduce serious medical errors. The importance of Causal Probabilistic Networks (CPNs) for constructing such systems is already well-known. However, the computational complexity of probabilistic inference, which results in unacceptably high response times, can hinder acceptance and integration into clinician workflow. This paper investigates the optimization and parallelization potential of complex CPN-based medical decision support systems and evaluates the results of implementing a parallel, high performance version of an existing decision support system concerning proper antibiotic treatment therapy. Furthermore, it discusses distributed computing techniques for making multiple high performance decision support systems available at the time and location of decision making, by exploiting computing resources residing inside, as well as outside the hospital walls optimally.

Algorithms↗

PubMed2006

Communication protocol requirements of patient personal area networks for telemonitoring.

Continuous, remote monitoring of patients' healthcare condition, as this can be reflected by crucial vital signs supervision, is a key demand in modern healthcare provision. Towards the accomplishment of this requirement, the traditional solution of cabled sensors appears to have clear limitations and this is one of the ultimate causes of the proliferation of wireless medical sensor networks during last years. The modern trend towards this direction is the formulation of patient Personal Area Networks (pPANs), consisting of a wireless infrastructure of medical sensors, attached to patient's body, which lays the path for incessant telemonitoring of the person in mind, without discomforting them. The nature of data that these networks are set to handle, as well as the particular demands that patient telemonitoring services raise, necessitate for a thorough analysis of the design requirements of pPAN communication protocols, in order to outflank possible disadvantages appearing in protocols for different types of wireless sensor networks, without putting aside simplicity and feasibility factors. In the context of this paper, we intend to outline the most important requirements and design issues of a pPAN communication protocol, having as compass the main attributes of the most commonly used medical sensors and the typical functionality of these networks.

Computer Communication Networks↗

PubMed2005

Using key performance indicators as knowledge-management tools at a regional health-care authority level.

The advantages of the introduction of information and communication technologies in the complex health-care sector are already well-known and well-stated in the past. It is, nevertheless, paradoxical that although the medical community has embraced with satisfaction most of the technological discoveries allowing the improvement in patient care, this has not happened when talking about health-care informatics. Taking the above issue of concern, our work proposes an information model for knowledge management (KM) based upon the use of key performance indicators (KPIs) in health-care systems. Based upon the use of the balanced scorecard (BSC) framework (Kaplan/Norton) and quality assurance techniques in health care (Donabedian), this paper is proposing a patient journey centered approach that drives information flow at all levels of the day-to-day process of delivering effective and managed care, toward information assessment and knowledge discovery. In order to persuade health-care decision-makers to assess the added value of KM tools, those should be used to propose new performance measurement and performance management techniques at all levels of a health-care system. The proposed KPIs are forming a complete set of metrics that enable the performance management of a regional health-care system. In addition, the performance framework established is technically applied by the use of state-of-the-art KM tools such as data warehouses and business intelligence information systems. In that sense, the proposed infrastructure is, technologically speaking, an important KM tool that enables knowledge sharing amongst various health-care stakeholders and between different health-care groups. The use of BSC is an enabling framework toward a KM strategy in health care.

Greece↗

PubMed2004

Cost-effective health services for interactive continuous monitoring of vital signs parameters--the e-Vital concept.

The objective of the e-Vital project is the validation of the market concerning the provision of a novel remote telemedicine service aimed at large sensitive parts of the European population, the "at-risk" citizens, who are usually patients with a stable medical condition that allow a near normal life but may suddenly deteriorate and put life at risk. This service will increase their quality of life and their feeling of safety concerning their health. The e-Vital project focuses on the implementation and exploitation of a modular and ambulatory secure telemedicine platform, which is using easily wearable vital signs monitoring devices, causing minimal discomfort to patients, and which transfer in real time and on-line critical vital parameters to doctors and/or medical experts/consultants, regardless of their location, while getting feedback to increase their feeling of comfort or in case of alarm. The interactive continuous monitoring promises cost effective health services, more active involvement of patients in their own care, and a new sense of realism in making a diagnosis.

Computer Communication Networks↗

PubMed2003

RESHEN, a best practice approach for secure healthcare networks in Europe.

Electronic communication of healthcare related information (in the framework of Regional Healthcare Information Networks), introduces a number of security risks with regard to confidentiality, integrity and availability, which can become quite crucial taking into account its sensitive nature. Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) is acknowledged as an appropriate means for dealing with such risks, as long as all the involved critical factors are first practically assessed. This paper presents a best-practice approach for secure regional healthcare networks in Europe, examining all the identified crucial parameters (technical, organisational, legal/regulatory, medical and business). Our approach is conducted at two levels (the regional and the European), including the integration of PKI-aware security mechanisms (strong authentication, encryption, digital signature, time-stamping) in three regional pilot sites in Greece, Finland and Germany and demonstrating their interconnection in a pan-European architecture. Following the above approach, some major conclusions are excluded, pointing out existing open issues and possible steps forward.

Access to Information↗

PubMed2002

A novel codification scheme based on the "VITAL" and "DICOM" Standards for telemedicine applications.

The field of interest discussed in this study is a novel codification scheme for (vital signs) medical device communication and patient monitoring data interchange, into the context of effective home care service provisioning. With medical technology having developed in isolation and major manufacturers developing their own proprietary communication protocols, which preclude connection to devices from different manufacturers, and with healthcare trends having evolved, pointing to primary care, telecare and home care monitoring, there is an increasing need for technical standardization in healthcare environments and the development of protocols that enable communication in a structured and open way. In this study, a novel codification scheme has been developed, based on two healthcare informatics standards, the VITAL and DICOM Sup. 30, in addressing the robust interchange of waveform and medical data for a home care application. Based on this scheme, we created a real-time facility, consisting of a base unit and a telemedicine (mobile) unit, that enables home telemonitoring, by installing the telemedicine unit at the patient's home while the base unit remains at the physician's office or hospital. The system allows the transmission of vital biosignals (3-lead ECG, pulse rate, blood pressure and SpO2) of the patient. This paper presents an object-oriented design with unified modeling language (UML) of a class hierarchy for exchanging the acquired medical data and performing alert management, and investigates the applicability of the proposed scheme into a commercial patient-connected medical device, thus addressing service and functionality requirements with focus on home-care applications. The system has been validated for technical performance over several telecommunication means and for clinical validity via real patient-involved pilot trials.

Database Management Systems↗