Biomedical subjects

Manolis Tsiknakis

Publications and source records attributed to Manolis Tsiknakis.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

HEARTFAID: A knowledge based platform of services for supporting medical-clinical management of heart failure within elderly population.

HEARTFAID is a research and development project aimed at devising, developing and validating an innovative knowledge based platform of services, able to improve early diagnosis and to make more effective the medical-clinical management of heart diseases within elderly population. Chronic Heart Failure is one of the most remarkable health problems for prevalence and morbidity, especially in the developed western countries, with a strong impact in terms of social and economic effects. All these aspects are typically emphasized within the elderly population, with very frequent hospital admissions and a significant increase of medical costs. Recent studies and experiences have demonstrated that accurate heart failure management programs, based on a suitable integration of inpatient and outpatient clinical procedures, might prevent and reduce hospital admissions, improving clinical status and reducing costs. HEARTFAID aims at defining efficient and effective health care delivery organization and management models for the "optimal" management of the care in the field of cardiovascular diseases. The HEARTFAID innovative computerized system will improve the processes of diagnosis, prognosis and therapy provision, providing the following services: * electronic health record for easy and ubiquitous access to heterogeneous patients data;* integrated services for healthcare professionals, including patient telemonitoring, signal and image processing, alert and alarm system;* clinical decision support in the heart failure domain, based on pattern recognition in historical data, knowledge discovery analysis and inferences on patients' clinical data.The formalization of the pre-existing clinical knowledge and the discovery of new elicited knowledge represent the core of the HEARTFAID platform.

Aged↗

PubMed2005

Lessons Learned from PICNIC.

This chapter reviews the PICNIC experience from conception to its realisation and draws conclusions on several fronts. It puts PICNIC within the current framework of needs and requirements, summarises shortly its main contributions, and discusses its main contributions. Special emphasis is given to understanding the needs and requirements resulting from a fragmented ICT market and the implications and possibilities that PICNIC has created for a consolidation of the market.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2004

Learning effect of a novel interactive basic life support CD: the JUST system.

INTRODUCTION: Electronic interactive learning environments can enhance the learning experience and may prove beneficial in basic life support (BLS) training. As part of the European Union funded project "JUST-in-time health emergency interventions-training of non-professionals by virtual reality and advanced IT tools", an innovative interactive CD-ROM on BLS and other emergency medicine topics was developed. We hypothesised that individuals without previous BLS training could learn CPR techniques from this CD. METHODS: Sixty-two students were randomised into a group studying the JUST CD in a computer class room for up to 60 min, and a control group who did not receive any training (serving as a reference). CD users also completed a satisfaction questionnaire immediately after studying the CD. The BLS skills of both groups were assessed in a mock BLS scenario on a training manikin. BLS performance was video recorded and analysed. RESULTS: After studying the CD for a mean period of 42 min, users of the CD had better assessment skills and were more likely to show a positive helping attitude, but chest compression and breathing techniques were ineffective. Most users rated the CD as very good and a positive learning tool. CONCLUSION: Individuals without prior BLS training showed improved behaviour and assessment skills after exposure to the CD, but motor skill acquisition requires alternative learning strategies.

CD-ROM↗

PubMed2002

An open, component-based information infrastructure for integrated health information networks.

A fundamental requirement for achieving continuity of care is the seamless sharing of multimedia clinical information. Different technological approaches can be adopted for enabling the communication and sharing of health record segments. In the context of the emerging global information society, the creation of and access to the integrated electronic health record (I-EHR) of a citizen has been assigned high priority in many countries. This requirement is complementary to an overall requirement for the creation of a health information infrastructure (HII) to support the provision of a variety of health telematics and e-health services. In developing a regional or national HII, the components or building blocks that make up the overall information system ought to be defined and an appropriate component architecture specified. This paper discusses current international priorities and trends in developing the HII. It presents technological challenges and alternative approaches towards the creation of an I-EHR, being the aggregation of health data created during all interactions of an individual with the healthcare system. It also presents results from an ongoing Research and Development (R&D) effort towards the implementation of the HII in HYGEIAnet, the regional health information network of Crete, Greece, using a component-based software engineering approach. Critical design decisions and related trade-offs, involved in the process of component specification and development, are also discussed and the current state of development of an I-EHR service is presented. Finally, Human Computer Interaction (HCI) and security issues, which are important for the deployment and use of any I-EHR service, are considered.

Abstracting and Indexing↗

PubMed2002

Support of daily ECG procedures in a cardiology department via the integration of an existing clinical database and a commercial ECG management system.

BACKGROUND: In the context of HYGEIAnet, the regional health telematics network of Crete, a clinical cardiology database (CARDIS) has been installed in several hospitals. The large number of resting ECGs recorded daily made it a priority to have computerized support for the entire ECG procedure. METHODS: Starting in late 2000, ICS-FORTH and Mortara Instrument, Inc., collaborated to integrate the Mortara E-Scribe/NT ECG management system with CARDIS in order to support daily ECG procedures. CARDIS was extended to allow automatic ordering of daily ECGs via E-Scribe/NT. The ECG order list is downloaded to the electrocardiographs and executed, the recorded ECGs are transmitted to E-Scribe/NT, where confirmed ECG records are linked back to CARDIS. A thorough testing period was used to identify and correct problems. An ECG viewer/printer was extended to read ECG files in E-Scribe/NT format. RESULTS: The integration of E-Scribe/NT and CARDIS, enabling automatic scheduling of ECG orders and immediate availability of confirmed ECGs records for viewing and printing in the clinical database, took approximately 4 man months. The performance of the system is highly satisfactory and it is now ready for deployment in the hospital. CONCLUSIONS: Integration of a commercially available ECG management system with an existing clinical database can provide a rapid, practical solution that requires no major modifications to either software component. The success of this project makes us optimistic about extending CARDIS to support additional examination procedures such as digital coronary angiography and ultrasound examinations.

Cardiology Service, Hospital↗