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At least 1,117 records · Page 62Linked to original sources
PubMed1999

A protocol building software tool for medical device quality control tests.

Q-Pro is an application for Quality Control and Inspection of Medical Devices. General system requirements include friendly and comprehensive graphical environment and proper, quick, easy and intuitive user interface. Functions such as, a tool library for protocol design widely used multimedia, as well as, a support of a local database for protocol and inventory data archiving are provided by the system. In order to serve the different categories of users, involved in Quality Control procedures, the system has been split into three modules of different functionality and complexity, each of which can work as a stand-alone application. The implementation of protocols and use of the software functions, as well as, the user interface itself have been proved by the evaluators to be clear and intuitive. The software seems to adapt easily to different kinds of Quality Control procedures and objectives. Q-Pro effectively supports and enhances the processes to attain a highly tuned, professional, responsive and effective quality control and preventive maintenance procedures for biomedical equipment management.

Data Collection↗
PubMed1999

Development of standards for the design of educational software. Standards Committee for Dental Informatics.

The ready availability of computers, combined with the advent of sophisticated software development tools, has resulted in a proliferation of dental instructional software. The quality of these products varies widely. Working Group 5 of the Standards Committee for Dental Informatics has published an initial set of guidelines to help course designers develop high-quality instructional materials. In the future, these guidelines will evolve into standards. This article summarizes the guidelines and considers future actions that may be taken once the standards are in place.

Computer-Assisted Instruction↗
PubMed1998

Biophysical inputs into the software "MIRDose".

Administered amount of activity decides on absorbed dose in thyroid gland during therapy of thyroid cancer tumors by 131I. Medical Internal Radiation Dose (MIRD) methodology estimates this dose as well as influence on other organs. MIRDose--the software implementation of MIRD--is permanently improving and has reached a substantial degree of maturity. Thus the reliability of the results depends predominantly on quality of the input data. The residence time and functional volume of the thyroid gland of a particular patient are the key inputs. Here we concentrate on the former one. We found that the traditionally used mono-exponential model, characterized by the effective half-life, introduces non-negligible modelling error. It cannot be improved by any data processing. For this reason, we proposed a novel accumulation model. Now we inspect influences of differences in the guessed residence time on the outputs of MIRDose. We briefly characterize MIRDose software, recall the improved model and present illustrative results of evaluations.

Humans↗
PubMed2000

An evaluation of an innovative multimedia educational software program for asthma management: report of a randomized, controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Asthma continues to be a substantial cause of morbidity in pediatric populations. New strategies are needed to provide cost-effective educational interventions for children with asthma, particularly those in the inner city. OBJECTIVE: To assess the effectiveness of a multimedia educational software program about asthma. SETTING: A hospital-based primary care clinic and an affiliated neighborhood health center. DESIGN: Randomized, controlled trial. POPULATION: Children 3 to 12 years old with physician-diagnosed asthma. INTERVENTION: An interactive educational computer program, Asthma Control, designed to teach children about asthma and its management. Using a graphic display of a child going through simulated daily events, the game emphasizes: 1) monitoring; 2) allergen identification; 3) use of medications; 4) use of health services; and 5) maintenance of normal activity. Control group participants reviewed printed educational materials with a research assistant. OUTCOMES: Acute health care use (emergency department and outpatient) was the primary outcome. Secondary outcome measures included maternal report of asthma symptom severity, child functional status and school absences, satisfaction with care, and parental and child knowledge of asthma. RESULTS: A total of 137 families were enrolled in the study (76 intervention, 61 control). Both intervention and control groups showed substantial improvement in all outcomes during the 12-month follow-up period. Aside from improvement in knowledge after use of the computer program, no differences were demonstrated between the 2 groups in primary or secondary outcome measures. Children reported enjoyment of program use. CONCLUSIONS: This trial of an educational software program found that it did not produce greater improvement than occurred with review of traditional written materials. Because both groups showed substantial improvement over baseline, computer-based education may be more cost-effective. Alternatively, improvements in illness severity over time may overshadow the effects of such interventions. Rigorous comprehensive evaluations such as this are necessary to assess new interventions intended to improve management and outcomes of asthma.

Asthma↗
PubMed2000

Software development for registration of digital subtraction angiography (DSA) images in uterine fibroid embolization.

The ISIS Center at Georgetown University Medical Center has developed a comprehensive program for image-guided procedures in the spine. As part of this program, ISIS has developed a software application known as I-SPINE (ISIS's Spine Procedure Imaging Navigation Engine). I-SPINE is a Windows NT application, which is based on the Analyze/AVM libraries. The software architecture follows the Microsoft Foundation Classes (MFC) single document, multiple view paradigm. This has allowed the developers to add new visualization modules to I-SPINE that aid physicians in procedures outside the spine. One such procedure I-SPINE has been expanded for is uterine fibroid embolization. The idea is that by registering and subtracting post-embolization angiographic images from pre-treatment images the resulting image can be used to quantify the embolization effect on the fibroid circulation and predict the treatment response. The I-SPINE digital subtraction angiography (DSA) module allows the interventional radiologist to open a series of pre and post-embolization DSA images that shows the vascular structures of the uterus and the fibroid or fibroids. From these images, the radiologist selects an appropriate image from each series. The selected images are then hand registered using pixel shifting. Once the images are registered, the pixels are subtracted resulting in an image that shows the embolized arteries that were supplying the fibroids.

Angiography, Digital Subtraction↗
PubMed2000

Root-cause software: look before you leap.

Although almost no one in health care uses root-cause analysis software, software companies that have made their names in other industries are competing hard to crack the health care market by tailoring their programs to meet your needs. While there are advantages to automating root-cause analysis, experts advise making sure the logic structure underlying the program you choose reflects your own philosophy of how a root-cause analysis should be conducted.

Hospital Administration↗
PubMed2000

[Use of dental CT software progarms (Dentascan) for optimal arthroscopic CT of knee menisci].

The need for CT automated multiaxial programs of reconstruction, able to accommodate with complex curvilinear anatomic structures has recently been satisfied by Dental Software Programs--"DENTASCAN"--essentially developed for implantology. Taking advantage of the very close likeness of dental archs and menisci of the knee in terms of form--variable complex curvilinear structures--and size, our study shows the advantages of "DENTASCAN" program to optimize the study of the menisci with Spiral Arthro-CT (SACT). The results obtained on a series of 228 menisci are compared with Conventional Arthrography (CA). 11.85% of additional lesions are found with SACT and 30.2% of all lesions demonstrated by CA are also more adequately described by SACT associated with "DENTASCAN". Moreover, fissures and ulcerations of the tibio-femoral cartilages, undiagnosed by preliminary CA are found in 20, 8% of patients with SACT. We conclude that SACT is much more effective and reproducible than CA for the study of the knee and we promote the use of Dental CT Software Programs like "DENTASCAN" for the study of the femorotibial and meniscus complex. Additional work is now necessary to compare the effectiveness of SACT with MRI or arthro-MRI of the knee with valuation of arthroscopy.

Arthrography↗
PubMed2000

Development of a computer software for analysis of SDS-PAGE protein fingerprints of bacterial isolates.

Protein fingerprinting is a widely used technique in epidemiological studies for typing bacterial strains. This study reports the development of a computer based gel analysis system. The system has the capability to analyse SDS-PAGE whole-cell protein profiles using digital image processing techniques. The software incorporates spatial and frequency domain operators for image enhancement, support for geometric correction of images and new algorithms for identification of strain tracks and protein bands. The system also provides facilities for correcting imaging defects for inter-gel comparison, similarity analysis, clustering and pictorial representation of results as a dendrogram. The software is highly interactive, user-friendly and can produce accurate results for differentiation of bacterial strains with minimal overhead of time.

Algorithms↗
PubMed2001

Making slides of nuclear medicine images using a scanner, personal computer, commercial software, and a laser graphic printer.

OBJECTIVE: The process of making slides for presentation of nuclear medicine data has historically used methods that require some photographic expertise. This paper describes the use of readily available software and hardware to achieve the same result. Surface images generated for SPECT images of a normal patient and a patient with Alzheimer's dementia were used to develop the technique described. Images were scanned and processed using commercially available software and a personal computer. Slides were generated by a slide printer and compared with electronic presentations of the same images. The method described is easier than the photographic method used in the past, and the quality of the presentation material (either slide or electronic) is readily predictable.

Humans↗
PubMed2000

[The software method for cross-talk correction in ultrasound Doppler blood flow measurement].

The cross-talk in ultrasound Doppler measurement will lead to wrong decision in clinical diagnosis. In order to reduce cross-talk, the software method for cross-talk correction was presented in this paper. The cross-talk error was obtained by signal correlation technique first, the correction for blood flow signal was then realized. Simulation results prove that the software method can be used to correct cross-talk error well. It is a promising method.

Blood Flow Velocity↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Metrological software of laser medical equipment].

The paper considers the laser medical equipment situation that has established in Russia and that is characterized by the wide medical application of laser technologies and appropriate software and by inadequate development and imperfection of required metrological software and maintenance of laser equipment.

Humans↗
PubMed2001

Healthcare applications based on software agents.

Healthcare has been recognised as one of the most important areas for enterprise applications and services. Presently, information technologists and systems engineers all over the world are working towards achieving better efficiency and quality of service in various sectors of healthcare, such as telemedicine, hospital management, patient-care, and treatment. This paper addresses the issue of more effective and efficient handling of doctor-patient relationship. The idea is to use Software Agent technology to extend the patient-doctor relationship beyond the physical and logistical limitation of face-to-face consultations in patient management. Software agents can provide an extension of the doctor by interacting with the patient via a computer and the Internet. The agent is visualised as an anthropomorphic figure to further enhance the patient interaction.

Delivery of Health Care↗
PubMed2001

Developing a protocol for an educational software competition.

This project developed a protocol for the inaugural Instructional Software Competition of the American Dental Education Association (ADEA). The evaluation instrument was derived from the Guidelines for the Design of Educational Software developed by the ANSI-accredited Standards Committee for Dental Informatics. Eleven judges were calibrated in a conference call and rated a total of 30 submissions using a 66-question instrument. The maximum score was 204 points. The mean score of WWW-based programs was 106.7 points, and of CD-ROM-based programs 109.5 points. The summative review of the judging process identified several potential improvements, such as distinguishing between standalone programs and educational support material; increasing the number of answer choices on rating scales; differential weighting of criteria; and a more discriminative approach to judging formative and summative evaluations. We plan to improve the protocol by supporting the process through a Web-based application; calibrating judges with an online handbook; improving and adapting the rating instrument itself; using at least three judges for each program; and conducting a measurement study.

American Dental Association↗
PubMed2002

Intelligent agent software for medicine.

An important trend for the future of health technology will be the increasing use of intelligent agent software for medical applications. As the complexity of situations faced by both patients and health care providers grows, conventional interfaces that rely on users to manually transfer data and manually perform each problem-solving step, won't be able to keep up. This article describes how software agents that incorporate learning, personalization, proactivity, context-sensitivity and collaboration will lead to a new generation of medical applications that will streamline user interfaces and enable more sophisticated communication and problem-solving.

Artificial Intelligence↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Use of computer software for indirect molecular genetic identification of unidentified bodies].

The authors discuss the development and use of computer software for realization of indirect DNA identification, based on identification of biological relation. Estimated algorithms of this method are based on regularities of parental signs inheritance by children and consist in comparative analysis of allele states of nuclear DNA typed locuses in unidentified bodies and probable parents of these dead subjects and subsequent estimation of the coefficients of the likelihood of hypotheses of their probable blood relationship. Available software maintain the database with identification characteristics of VNTR and STR locuses, HLA DQA1 locuses, and PM system (potential set of 23 locuses). The results of identification are presented as lists of exclusions and tables with estimated likelihood coefficients for the probability expert evaluation of relationship. The suggested computer-aided method of indirect identification is a new highly effective tool for personality identification by chromosome markers under conditions of mass information processing in examinations of unidentified corpses.

Algorithms↗
PubMed2002

Hand-held computers in healthcare: what software programs are available?

The technology sector of healthcare is entering a new evolutionary phase. The medical community has an obligation to the public to provide the safest, most effective healthcare possible. This is more achievable with the use of computer technology at the point of care, and small, portable devices could fulfil this role. A PriceWaterhouse Coopers 2001 survey on information technology in physician practices found that 60% of respondents say that physicians in their organisation use personal digital assistants (PDAs), compared with 26% in the 2000 technology survey. This trend is expected to continue to the point where these devices will have their position on a physician s desk next to the stethoscope. Once this electronic evolution occurs, doctors will be able to practice medicine with greater ease and safety. In our opinion, the new generation of PDA mobile devices will be the tools to enable a transformation of healthcare to a paperless, wireless world. This article focuses on uses of PDAs in healthcare, whether by the registrar, consultant, nurse, student, teacher, patient, medical or surgical director. Current PDA healthcare software is categorised and discussed in the following five groups: 1) reference/text book; 2) calculator; 3) patient management/logbook; 4) personal clinical/study notebook; 5) utility software.

Computer-Assisted Instruction↗