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At least 1,153 records · Page 64Linked to original sources

The multi-trellis software architecture and the intelligent cardiovascular monitor.

A real-time, intelligent cardiovascular monitor is complex. It must process multiple waveforms, recognize artifacts, extract pertinent parameters, recognize a patient's clinical state, analyze the problem and formulate a response. This paper presents the multi-trellis (a collection of process trellises), a software architecture for building such a monitor. A process trellis is a uniform hierarchical framework for heterogeneous program modules. The multi-trellis extension allows one to compile several process trellis programs with widely varying run-time requirements into a single executable program that it is efficient, predictable and usable. Our prototype consists of two process trellises. The lower trellis contains processes to analyze three different analog signals: the blood pressure from a non-invasive monitor and an arterial catheter, and the ECG. The upper trellis contains processes to help detect evolving hemodynamic trends, identify abnormalities, and present a succinct summary to the clinician. Our prototype shows that the multi-trellis is a demonstrably useful software architecture for building these real-time, intelligent monitors.

Artificial Intelligence↗

Migration aspects of telemedical software architectures.

Many existing medical systems are good candidates for improvement via incremental migration. Incremental software improvement is, however, much more difficult if the system consists of independent functional modules built with different technologies. The goal of this paper is to present architecture migration aspects of contemporary telemedical systems. The paper discusses two approaches: the Software Architecture Analysis Method, and the Architecture Tradeoff Analysis Method in the context of migration of the medical teleconsultation system Konsul. The system, designed and implemented under KCT activity, is being successfully employed in day-to-day activities at the John Paul II Hospital in Krakow despite many existing drawbacks in its internal architecture. The paper presents the SAAM method of analysis of legacy systems. Two architectures are proposed as a result of this analysis - one based on the migration of the existing architecture, the other built according to the state-of-the-art Service Oriented Architecture. Konsul II, implementing the migration approach, has already been developed whereas Konsul III is in the design phase. The paper concludes with remarks about migration of telemedical systems.

Computer Systems↗

Software-based compensation of visual refractive errors of computer users.

For human beings, vision is one of the most important senses in interacting with the surrounding environment, as well as with any tools that require visual communication. As such, the ability to interact effectively with computers through typical graphic user interfaces (GUIs) is greatly affected by any refractive errors present in an individual's visual system. If the refractive errors can be mathematically modeled, a system for overcoming these aberrations can be devised which can increase the effective human-computer interaction for these individuals. Several methods, such as Adaptive Optics, have been proposed that attempt to solve this problem using electro-mechanical devices. These methods are costly and impractical, preventing most visually impaired individuals from benefiting from their use. In contrast, an image-processing method, based on deconvolution techniques, has recently been proposed for the pre-compensation of images to be displayed in a computer. This method is much more practical, being completely implemented in software, and has achieved encouraging results. Previous results have yielded an average 50% increase in visual efficiency in the compensation of a known artificial aberration introduced into the field of vision of experimental subjects. This paper describes the difficulties encountered with the present software-only compensation and proposes several methods for overcoming these obstacles. The difficulties, as well as the proposed solutions, are described theoretically and followed by examples using a lens system showing the improvement over previous methods.

Algorithms↗

A software tool to aid budget planning for long-term care at local authority level.

In this paper, we present a software tool that implements a novel modelling framework developed by the authors to provide useful information to budget planners for long-term care at local authority level. By combining unit costs of care with an underlying survival model for publicly funded residents in long-term care, the software tool is able to provide forecasts on the cost of maintaining the group of elderly who are currently in long-term care (referred to as known commitments) for a period of time. User interacts with the tool via a friendly graphical interface that guides them through a set of screens of options in a familiar wizard fashion. This tool was created and tested in collaboration with an English borough. Feedbacks from the care planner and manager show that the tool helps them gain better understanding on the behaviour of length-of-stay of residents under their care, and provides quantitative inputs into their decision making on budget planning for long-term care.

Humans↗

Software support in automation of medicinal product evaluations.

Medicinal product evaluation is one of the most important tasks undertaken by government health departments and their regulatory authorities, in every country in the world. The automation and adequate software support are critical tasks that can improve the efficiency and interoperation of regulatory systems across the world. In this paper we propose a software solution that supports the automation of the (i) submission of licensing applications, and (ii) evaluations of submitted licensing applications, according to regulatory authorities' procedures. The novelty of our solution is in allowing licensing applications to be submitted in any country in the world and evaluated according to any evaluation procedure (which can be chosen by either regulatory authorities or pharmaceutical companies). Consequently, submission and evaluation procedures become interoperable and the associated data repositories/databases can be shared between various countries and regulatory authorities.

Automation↗

A comparative study of two CEREC software systems in evaluating manufacturing time and accuracy of restorations.

This study compared the manufacturing times and the accuracy of proximal and occlusal contacts on restorations produced by two different versions of CEREC 3 software, COS and 3D. Fourteen casts containing pre-existing inlay and onlay preparations of premolars and molars were mounted on articulators. A bite registration was made in maximum intercuspation. Optical impressions of the preparation and the bite registration were made. The Wilcoxon signed rank test was applied for a statistical analysis of time expended in the different design and manufacturing steps of both software versions. The chi-square test was applied for the statistical analysis of proximal and occlusal contacts.

Ceramics↗

Software for analysis and manipulation of genetic linkage data.

We present eight computer programs written in the C programming language that are designed to analyze genotypic data and to support existing software used to construct genetic linkage maps. Although each program has a unique purpose, they all share the common goals of affording a greater understanding of genetic linkage data and of automating tasks to make computers more effective tools for map building. The PIC/HET and FAMINFO programs automate calculation of relevant quantities such as heterozygosity, PIC, allele frequencies, and informativeness of markers and pedigrees. PREINPUT simplifies data submissions to the Centre d'Etude du Polymorphisme Humain (CEPH) data base by creating a file with genotype assignments that CEPH's INPUT program would otherwise require to be input manually. INHERIT is a program written specifically for mapping the X chromosome: by assigning a dummy allele to males, in the nonpseudoautosomal region, it eliminates falsely perceived noninheritances in the data set. The remaining four programs complement the previously published genetic linkage mapping software CRI-MAP and LINKAGE. TWOTABLE produces a more readable format for the output of CRI-MAP two-point calculations; UNMERGE is the converse to CRI-MAP's merge option; and GENLINK and LINKGEN automatically convert between the genotypic data file formats required by these packages. All eight applications read input from the same types of data files that are used by CRI-MAP and LINKAGE. Their use has simplified the management of data, has increased knowledge of the content of information in pedigrees, and has reduced the amount of time needed to construct genetic linkage maps of chromosomes.

Alleles↗

DVI System International: software assisting in the Thai tsunami victim identification process.

DVI System International is software that operates on the PC-Windows platform. It is capable of managing aspects of identification in day-to-day cases and major disasters, where it has particular advantages when victims of several nationalities are involved. The system uses Interpol forms as standard protocols for input and transfer of antemortem and postmortem information. Following the Thai Tsunami Disaster of 26 December 2004, Interpol recommended that its member country Thailand use DVI System International software, as it is one of the few internationally approved systems. This paper focuses on the concepts upon which the dental forms, F1 and F2, of the DVI System International are designed, describes how it works and some of the adjustments implemented during the ongoing Thai Tsunami Victim Identification process.

Database Management Systems↗

[SSRHunter: development of a local searching software for SSR sites].

Progress in genome research has made it possible to develop new SSR markers by bioinformatics in a relatively narrow region of genome. To realize it, the first thing is to search for potential SSR sites. Any known methods have more or less defects. Efforts were made to develop a local SSR sites searching software in this study. The resultant software, SSRHunter, could accomplish this task perfectly. Furthermore, SSRHunter could provide automatic pretreatment of sequences, routine arrangement of sequences, sequence transformation and convenient report output.

Microsatellite Repeats↗

Software and knowledge engineering aspects of smart homes applied to health.

Smart Home technology offers a viable solution to the increasing needs of the elderly, special needs and home based-healthcare populations. The research to date has largely focused on the development of communication technologies, sensor technologies and intelligent user interfaces. We claim that this technological evolution has not been matched with a step of a similar size on the software counterpart. We particularly focus on the software that emphasizes the intelligent aspects of a Smart Home and the difficulties that arise from the computational analysis of the information collected from a Smart Home. The process of translating information into accurate diagnosis when using non-invasive technology is full of challenges, some of which have been considered in the literature to some extent but as yet without clear landmarks.

Aged↗

Analysing qualitative research data using computer software.

An increasing number of clinical nurses are choosing to undertake qualitative research. A number of computer software packages are available designed for the management and analysis of qualitative data. However, while it is claimed that the use of these programs is also increasing, this claim is not supported by a search of recent publications. This paper discusses the advantages and disadvantages of using computer software packages to manage and analyse qualitative data.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗

Free-text data entry by speech recognition software and its impact on clinical routine.

We conducted a study to evaluate speech recognition software in an otorhinolaryngology unit and to assess its impact on productivity prior to general implementation. Current speech recognition software (IBM ViaVoice, version 10) was implemented on a personal computer with a 2-GHz central processing unit, 256 MB of RAM, and a 30-GB hard disk drive, with and without add-on professional vocabulary for otorhinolaryngology. This vocabulary was added by the automated analysis of an additional 12,257 documents from our department. We compared the word recognition error rates for three different text types and determined their impact on the amount of surgeon's time that was invested in the production of an error-free document. Although error rates without any professional vocabulary database were rather high (operation reports: 38.72%; consultation notes: 27.77%), the patient information was edited with a satisfactory result (10.65%). Best results were obtained with the specialty-related vocabulary database added by the analysis of our own documents (operation reports: 5.45%; consultation notes: 5.21%). An increase in productivity compared with that of conventional transcription was found at an error rate of less than 16%.

Efficiency, Organizational↗

[Automatical updating the application software on the hospital information system's client].

In view of the current predicament of updating the application software on the hospital information system's client, the Synchronizer module in PowerBuilder is used in combination with some techniques of the windows operation system, in order to implement automatic synchronistic updating of the application software on the Hospital Information System's client before the program's running.

Hospital Information Systems↗

Driving out errors through tight integration between software and automation.

A clear case has been made for using clinical IT to improve medication safety, particularly bar-code point-of-care medication administration and computerized practitioner order entry (CPOE) with clinical decision support. The equally important role of automation has been overlooked. When the two are tightly integrated, with pharmacy information serving as a hub, the distinctions between software and automation become blurred. A true end-to-end medication management system drives out errors from the dockside to the bedside. Presbyterian Healthcare Services in Albuquerque has been building such a system since 1999, beginning by automating pharmacy operations to support bar-coded medication administration. Encouraged by those results, it then began layering on software to further support clinician workflow and improve communication, culminating with the deployment of CPOE and clinical decision support. This combination, plus a hard-wired culture of safety, has resulted in a dramatically lower mortality and harm rate that could not have been achieved with a partial solution.

Humans↗

Internal radionuclide therapy: software for treatment planning using tomographic data.

AIM: Accurate dosimetry must be performed for each patient before therapy with unsealed radionuclides. Recently, the software tool ULMDOS was developed to facilitate planar dosimetric calculations and to support traceability and documentation as a prerequisite for good clinical practice. Here, the extended version of ULMDOS for processing of tomographic data is presented. METHODS: ULMDOS is developed in IDL 6.1 (Interactive Data Language) under Windows XP/2000. Serial tomographic data can be loaded in an ECAT7 or DICOM format, and presented as maximum intensity projection. The definition of volumes of interest is supported by various tools (e.g., freehand, isocontour, polygon), region growing, and cluster analysis. Residence times are calculated from fits of the time activity data to exponential functions. RESULTS, DISCUSSION: Quantitative 3-dimensional data allow performing a more individualized dosimetry, as problems due to organ overlay, insufficient attenuation and scatter correction in the planar approach can be avoided. For traceability, documentation, retrospective examination and later processing all data can be saved in binary or ASCII format. Dosimetric calculations can be conducted within a single environment, thus it spares the time-consuming transfer of data between different software tools.

Humans↗

Prediction of absorbed dose to normal organs in thyroid cancer patients treated with 131I by use of 124I PET and 3-dimensional internal dosimetry software.

UNLABELLED: The objective of this work was to determine normal organ (131)I dosimetry in patients undergoing radioiodide therapy for thyroid cancer by use of serial scanning with (124)I PET. METHODS: A total of 26 patients who had papillary and follicular metastatic thyroid cancer and who were already enrolled in a Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (131)I thyroid cancer protocol were selected for this study. Imaging before (131)I therapy consisted of multiple, whole-body (124)I PET studies over a period of 2-8 d, an (18)F-FDG PET scan and, for some, a diagnostic CT scan. With a set of in-house-developed software tools (3-dimensional internal dosimetry [3D-ID] and Multiple Image Analysis Utility [MIAU]), the following procedures were performed: all PET emission and transmission and CT image sets were aligned; half-life-corrected tomographic images of (131)I activity were integrated voxel by voxel to produce cumulated (131)I activity images; and the latter images were, in turn, convolved with a (131)I electron-photon point kernel to produce images of (131)I dose distribution. Cumulated activity values and calculated residence times obtained from our patient-specific dosimetry software (3D-ID) were used as inputs to OLINDA, and volume difference-adjusted comparisons were made between the mean dose estimates. RESULTS: With 3D-ID, dose volume histograms and mean doses were calculated for 14 organs, and results were expressed in Gy/GBq. The highest mean dose, 0.26 Gy/GBq, was seen in the right submandibular gland, whereas the lowest mean dose, 0.029 Gy/GBq, was seen in the brain. CONCLUSION: This is the first comprehensive study of normal organ dosimetry in patients by use of a quantitative tomographic imaging modality.

Adult↗

Ada software for cytometry.

Ada is a new general-purpose language that embodies the concepts of software engineering. Although it was initially developed for military purposes, it is suitable for developing software for cytometry and other health-related applications. A pilot study has demonstrated the feasibility of employing Ada for cytometry applications. Three packages were created. The first subtracts a control three-dimensional population from multiple individual experimental populations and presents the results in spread sheet form. A second package has the capability of finding aggregates of cells. The results of this package are visualized employing a commercially available program for three-dimensional presentation of the data that permits rotation in real time. A third package consists primarily of interface drivers for two commercially available personal computer boards, an ADC and a stepper motor controller. The major problems with the coding were due to incomplete implementation of the language. This pilot study, together with others, indicates that it would be both cost effective and beneficial to implement cytometry and other medical devices in Ada.

Cytophotometry↗

PRELOG: precedence logic inference software for blood donor deferral.

Blood collection facilities have recently witnessed a substantial increase in the complexity of tests used to detect infectious disease in donor populations, and there is a stringent regulatory effort by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to validate the software for managing this information. PRELOG is precedence-based inference software used to determine a donor's suitability for continued donations and whether the donation can be released for transfusion. PRELOG accepts ternary input for test results (positive, negative, or undetermined), and solves the logic rules sequentially, so that the rulebase can be validated in a concise and consistent manner.

Blood Banks↗