Technology and health care : official journal of the European Society for Engineering and Medicine
-
Technol Health Care · Jan 2009
ReviewWireless solutions for managing diabetes: A review and future prospects.
Diabetes is rapidly growing in prevalence worldwide. The number of people with diabetes was 171 million in 2000 and will grow to 366 million by 2030. One reason for this is a growing elderly population, but younger people are increasingly likely to develop diabetes due to an increase in mean weight and a decrease in exercise. ⋯ In this paper, the needs for information, change in lifestyle, health monitoring, and management of medication and complications in diabetes are analysed. They form a basis for following review of available wireless solutions for managing diabetes. Finally, future prospects of mobile management of diabetes are discussed.
-
Technol Health Care · Jan 2009
3D visualized robot assisted reduction of femoral shaft fractures: evaluation in exposed cadaveric bones.
The main problems in intra-medullary nailing of femoral shaft-fractures are leg-length discrepancies and rotational differences with an incidence of 2-18% and 20-40% respectively. These may lead to severe postoperative sequelae such as additional correctional operations and difficult rehabilitation. Insufficient visualization can be considered the main reason for these complications. ⋯ Manipulation was controlled via a force-feedback joystick. This way, collisions of the fragments were transmitted back to the surgeon. At the end of the reduction the robot could rigidly retain the fragments' position.
-
Technol Health Care · Jan 2009
Anaemia in older people with chronic heart failure: The potential cost.
Studies suggest benefits from correcting anaemia in heart failure using a combination of erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESAs) and intravenous iron. We set out to investigate the number of older patients who would require treatment of anaemia in a large teaching hospital in the United Kingdom and the cost implications. The prevalence of anaemia and chronic kidney disease (CKD) in patients 65 years and older with systolic dysfunction attending the local heart failure clinic was determined. ⋯ In our study of 86 heart failure patients, mean age 81 years, 34% have anaemia and 73% have stage III CKD with estimated glomerular filtration rate < 60 ml/min/1.73 cm2. At the haemoglobin threshold value of