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At least 145 records · Page 8Linked to original sources

PubMed1993

An imaging standard for dentistry. Extension of the radiology DICOM standard.

No standard exists for electronic communication of dental images. However, maxillofacial radiology, being part of general radiology, does have the advantage of having an applicable standard: The American College of Radiology-National Electrical Manufacturers Association Standard for Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (Version 3.0). This standard encourages open systems interconnection of imaging equipment over standard networks while maintaining compatibility with earlier point-to-point connection standards. This standard, to be voted on in 1993, moves the American College of Radiology-National Electrical Manufacturers Association into full conformance with the International Standards Organization reference model for network communications. An object-oriented information model lays the groundwork for harmonization with other medical communications standards. This article outlines the American College of Radiology-National Electrical Manufacturers Association components and discusses the rationale of object-oriented design. The relevance of the standard to dentistry is discussed.

Computer Communication Networks↗

PubMedDate not supplied

A distributed and interactive three-dimensional medical image system.

Three-dimensional (3D) arrays of digital data representing spatial volumes arise in many scientific applications, such as computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) created by imaging a series of cross sections of human bodies in medical applications. In this article, a software system architecture, called DISCOVER (a Distributed Interactive Scientific COmputing and Visualization EnviRonment), which can take advantage of the power of parallel processing, is proposed and implemented for interactive visualization and manipulation of the 3D digital data. The surface-rendering and the volume-rendering algorithms are implemented. The same software program can be executed on several different hardware platforms. We also propose a new rendering algorithm, called volume-surface rendering, for medical applications. The algorithm enables users to visualize the external and internal structures of medical objects simultaneously. The network version of the DISCOVER, as it stands today, is in practical use in the Hospital of National Cheng Kung University in Taiwan for real clinical applications.

Algorithms↗

PubMed1995

Security management in the healthcare environment.

Modern health care establishments increasingly rely on information systems in all aspects of work; any compromise of their security may represent a significant threat to both the organization and the patient. This paper discusses the increasing need for standardized levels of protection in health care computing systems and networks, outlining steps that have been taken to achieve this within European establishments. The paper then considers specific technical concepts that may be applied to improve security in health care at both local and international levels.

Algorithms↗

PubMed1996

[Use of an image serve for external communication in a radiologic department].

UNLABELLED: In radiology picture information is increasingly acquired digitally. Image postprocessing is sometimes carried out via the picture archiving and communication system (PACS). In this paper we present a strategy for the simple implementation of an external picture communication system. METHODS: Image transfer for the entire radiology department is carried out through a single image server, which physically and logically separates the PACS from the external network. The server is organized as an image mailbox system. For each user the images can be transferred to their respective mailbox from the radiology department. However, direct access to the image archive is prevented by the system. RESULTS: Because the networks are separate, a high degree of access security is guaranteed. New users can easily be added to the server without additional configuration of the PACS. System usage has received wide acceptance within the department and with external users. CONCLUSIONS: The integration of an image server into a PACS has proved to be non-problematic. The concept allows for more effective information sharing in the field of teleradiology.

Computer Communication Networks↗

PubMed1989

Collaborative efforts for successful local area networks.

This article describes the collaborative efforts that enable members of a computer task force and working subgroups to interact and achieve the successful addition of computer systems to the local area network at a 534-bed community hospital and regional medical center in the southeastern United States. The authors focus on the process that must occur from analysis through evaluation when an ancillary department is automated.

Academic Medical Centers↗

PubMed1993

Expanding the DOCLINE network to include nonmedical libraries in the state of Nevada.

Most libraries cannot meet patron demands for biomedical information using only their in-house collections. Consequently, many types of libraries request biomedical information through interlibrary loan, and these include not only academic health sciences libraries, hospital and special libraries, but also general libraries. In Nevada, with its small population spread over a large geographic area, it has become critical to develop a statewide network for sharing biomedical information. As the state resource library, the Savitt Medical Library launched an effort to establish a network, via DOCLINE, of all Nevada libraries that have health-related collections. The process of convincing academic and community college libraries to join DOCLINE and the resulting benefits of improved resource sharing and cooperative collection development are discussed.

Computer Communication Networks↗

PubMed1995

A strategy for database interoperation.

To realize the full potential of biological databases (DBs) requires more than the interactive, hypertext flavor of database interoperation that is now so popular in the bioinformatics community. Interoperation based on declarative queries to multiple network-accessible databases will support analyses and investigations that are orders of magnitude faster and more powerful than what can be accomplished through interactive navigation. I present a vision of the capabilities that a query-based interoperation infrastructure should provide, and identify assumptions underlying, and requirements of, this vision. I then propose an architecture for query-based interoperation that includes a number of novel components of an information infrastructure for molecular biology. These components include a knowledge base that describes relationships among the conceptualizations used in different biological databases, a module that can determine the DBs that are relevant to a particular query, a module that can translate a query and its results from one conceptualization to another, a collection of DB drivers that provide uniform physical access to different database management systems, a suite of translators that can interconvert among different database schema languages, and a database that describes the network location and access methods for biological databases. A number of the components are translators that bridge the heterogeneities that exist between biological DBs at several different levels, including the conceptual level, the data model, the query language, and data formats.

Artificial Intelligence↗

PubMedDate not supplied

[Al-assisted, transputer based EMG system--concept, components and initial results].

An EMG system has been developed capable of doing an EMG analysis as well as providing diagnostic support with the aid of an integrated expert system. The goal of this EMG system is to reduce the time of examination and to increase the reliability of the diagnosis. In order to obtain many parameters from the EMG signal, different analysing methods capable of running in parallel are needed. The system has been realized with a transputer network. Thus it is possible to distribute the software components to different processors with high level of efficiency. For software development we use the operating system Helios. This makes it possible to use the standard I/O environment X-Windows.

Computer Communication Networks↗

PubMed1987

Information system linking a medical school with practitioners and hospitals.

A recently established medical information network uses computers and telephone lines to link rural Georgia medical practitioners, Georgia hospitals, and the Mercer University School of Medicine (MUSM) in Macon, Georgia. This network, the Georgia Interactive Network for Medical Information (GaIN), provides a service and educational support system for its members. The GaIN model embodies many of the educational and information management principles endorsed by two reports by the Association of American Medical Colleges: the 1984 report of the Project Panel on the General Professional Education of the Physician and a 1982 project report called "Academic Information in the Academic Health Sciences Center." The design, services, utilization patterns, and results of the GaIN project and implications for the network's future are described. Use of the GaIN has made MUSM students more at ease with computers, has connected MUSM with remote teaching sites and rural practices, and has served as a catalyst for Georgia physicians' investigation of computer applications to support health care delivery in the state.

Computer Communication Networks↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Design of remote control units for seniors.

HumRRO International, Inc. conducted a project to improve the human factors aspects of remote control unit (RCU) design. Although the research was oriented toward RCUs for future telerobots that older adults may use, the RCUs examined were currently available models. An observational study found that a sample of 18 persons aged 65-88 years made errors in performing a simple arithmetic task with four different handheld calculators and that 13 participants made errors operating 11 VCR remotes. Better human-machine designs in RCUs appear to be needed to reduce errors that might cause accidents in the future use of mobile telerobots and their manipulators. In addition, manufacturers of RCUs, gerontologists, and members of SeniorNet, a network of older adults interested in computers, were queried regarding the design of RCUs. The responses of these individuals and the participants in the observational study, together with human factors engineering analyses, suggested numerous design improvements that may be systematically examined.

Aged↗

PubMed1995

The crucial roles of standards and strategy in developing a regional health information network.

Contemporary medical practice increasingly involves the use of inter-professional teams and complex care protocols. Increasing emphasis on value for money, medical audit, quality assurance and optimal outcomes requires that the practitioner has ready access to large amounts of up-to-date information, and that various abstracts and summaries of cases are made available quickly to providers, purchaser/funders, statisticians and researchers, and others. Rapid movements of large quantities of information is vital for the future success of health care: development of health information networks are vital strategic goals. In 1991 New Zealand initiated a widespread process of health services reform, whose success depended upon better availability and faster movements of information. The first phase of a national network to support these needs was successfully implemented in mid 1993: this provided for a point of connection for all individuals and organisations involved in the health sector, using commercial networking services. Fundamental to this development has been the adoption adaptation and development of appropriate standards and specifications for interconnection profiles, communications protocols, message formats, privacy and security requirements classification and coding systems and data element definitions. These have been selected to provide the maximum utility whilst imposing the minimum of constraints on the diversity of end user systems.

Computer Communication Networks↗

PubMed1987

DXplain. An evolving diagnostic decision-support system.

DXplain is an evolving computer-based diagnostic decision-support system designed for use by the physician who has no computer expertise. DXplain accepts a list of clinical manifestations and then proposes diagnostic hypotheses. The program explains and justifies its interpretations and provides access to a knowledge base concerning the differential diagnosis of the signs and symptoms. DXplain was developed with the support and cooperation of the American Medical Association. The system is distributed to the medical community through AMA/NET--a nationwide computer communications network sponsored by the American Medical Association--and through the Massachusetts General Hospital Continuing Education Network. A key element in the distribution of DXplain is the planned collaboration with its physician-users whose comments, criticisms, and suggestions will play an important role in modifying and enhancing the knowledge base.

Artificial Intelligence↗

PubMed1995

Patient privacy in the era of medical computer networks: a new paradigm for a new technology.

For twenty five years the legal system has tried to protect the privacy of identified patient data contained in information systems. The rapid development of such technology has repeatedly frustrated the public policies incorporated into the legal system. However the newest information technologies provide the possibility of fundamentally changing the way information is stored in the health care system and, by "De personalizing the data," allow restoration of a reasonable level of personal privacy, without interfering with the legitimate needs for medical data. The system would require a secure "identifier control facility" and act as a network "file access table" able to reconstruct widely distributed bits of the patients record. A disaggregated "virtual record" would replace the integrated patient file, and the risks to data privacy inherent in the use of names or permanent identification numbers would be eliminated.

Computer Communication Networks↗

PubMed1991

An empirical analysis of likelihood-weighting simulation on a large, multiply connected medical belief network.

We are developing a probabilistic reformulation of the Quick Medical Reference (QMR) system. Our current probabilistic model of the QMR knowledge base of internal medicine consists of a two-level, multiply connected, belief network. Because of the size and connectivity of this belief network, most exact algorithms for calculating the posterior marginal probabilities of diseases are not applicable. In this paper, we analyze the convergence properties of an approximation algorithm, called likelihood-weighting simulation, on the QMR-DT belief network. Specifically, on two difficult diagnostic cases, we examine the effects of Markov blanket scoring, importance sampling, and self-importance sampling, demonstrating that the Markov blanket scoring and self-importance sampling significantly improve the convergence of the simulation on our model.

Algorithms↗

PubMed1995

Surfing the Internet.

More physicians are surfing the Internet than ever before, thanks to the recent launch of MSMSNET, the Michigan State Medical Society's new online service for physician members. If words like World Wide Web, E-mail, and Hypertext links send you into a state of confusion, then read on. This month's cover story discusses MSMS's launch into the information superhighway and training programs MSMS has in store for physician members. Also included is an examination of the Internet--past, present and future--by the president of Voyager Information Networks, Inc., a Michigan corporation specializing in Internet services for Michigan trade groups and other organizations, including MSMS. This cover story marks the beginning of a series of articles on the Internet which will appear in future issues of Michigan Medicine. Hop on board and enjoy the ride!

Computer Communication Networks↗

PubMed1996

Ka-boom! When disaster strikes.

When Hurricane Opal slammed Florida's gulf coast last October, Baptist Healthcare in Pensacola was in danger of a direct hit, putting the hospital's mainframe, minicomputers and telecommunications network--not to mention its patients--in peril. But Baptist had planned for just such a danger and, in the end, no harm was done. How would your hospital have fared? Here's what you can do now to make sure your hospital will keep running after disaster strikes.

Computer Communication Networks↗

PubMed1993

Operational departmentwide picture archiving communication system analysis using discrete event-driven block-oriented network simulation.

The accurate prediction of image throughput is a critical issue in planning for and acquisition of any successful picture archiving and communication system (PACS). Simulation plays an important role in this effort. The PACS image management chain is decomposed into eight subsystems. These subsystems include network transfers over three different networks and five software programs and/or queueing structures. This decomposition is used to create a simulation model that was effectuated using commercially available block-oriented network simulation software. From the PACS database, the traffic generation patterns of the imaging modality devices are used to drive the simulation. The simulation models the image file flow through the PACS for a 24-hour period. The behavior of the simulated traffic generators agreed well with the values derived from the PACS database. The mean delay for the simulated PACS is found to be 225 +/- 59 seconds. The delay time was found to vary during the simulated 24-hour cycle in a consistent manner with observations. This simulation provides estimates on what a radiological department can expect from a PACS in terms of throughput, utilization, and delay. The block-oriented network simulator (BONeS, Comdisco Systems Inc, Foster City, CA) simulation model of the modeled PACS is highly accurate. The models for the imaging modality traffic sources are validated with a high degree of accuracy. The simulation model allows for the study of what happens to the delay time under various loads. In this simulation, the reformatting process was determined to be the bottleneck causing a large increase in delay time under heavy loads.

Computer Communication Networks↗

PubMed1994

Access to DNA and protein databases on the Internet.

During the past year, the number of biological databases that can be queried via Internet has dramatically increased. This increase has resulted from the introduction of networking tools, such as Gopher and WAIS, that make it easy for research workers to index databases and make them available for on-line browsing. Biocomputing in the nineties will see the advent of more client/server options for the solution of problems in bioinformatics.

Amino Acid Sequence↗