Studies in health technology and informatics
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Stud Health Technol Inform · Jan 2008
An automated personalised intervention algorithm for remote patient monitoring.
An automated personalised intervention algorithm was developed to determine when and if patients with chronic disease in a remote monitoring programme required intervention for management of their condition. The effectiveness of the algorithm has so far been evaluated on 29 patients. It was found to be particularly effective in monitoring newly diagnosed patients, patients requiring a change in medication as well as highlighting those that were not conforming to their medication. Our approach indicates that RPM used with the intervention algorithm and a clinical protocol can be effective in a primary care setting for targeting those patients that would most benefit from monitoring.
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Stud Health Technol Inform · Jan 2008
Integrating telemedicine and telehealth: putting it all together.
Telemedicine and telehealth programs are inherently complex compared with their traditional on-site health care delivery counterparts. Relatively few organizations have developed sustainable, multi-specialty telemedicine programs, although single service programs, such as teleradiology and telepsychiatry programs, are common. A number of factors are barriers to the development of sustainable telemedicine and telehealth programs. ⋯ Inter-institutional relations may introduce additional issues when competing health care organizations are utilizing shared resources. Branding issues are preferably addressed during the initial planning of a multi-organizational telemedicine and telehealth program. Ideally, public policy regarding telemedicine and telehealth within a service region will complement the objectives of telemedicine and telehealth programs within that service area.
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Stud Health Technol Inform · Jan 2008
In vivo robotics for natural orifice transgastric peritoneoscopy.
Natural Orifice Translumenal Endoscopic Surgery (NOTES) is potentially the next paradigm shift in minimally invasive surgery. Currently, NOTES procedures are performed using modified endoscopic tools with significant constraints. ⋯ The design and kinematic configuration of the robot allows for its complete insertion into the peritoneal cavity, and provides intuitive visualization and sufficient force application for tissue manipulation within the dexterous workspace. The NOTES robot successfully demonstrated various capabilities in a non-survival natural orifice surgical procedure in a porcine model suggesting the feasibility of using miniature in vivo robots for performing natural orifice procedures within the peritoneal cavity.
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Stud Health Technol Inform · Jan 2008
Repeated palpatory training of medical students on the Virtual Haptic Back.
The effectiveness of simulation-based training has been accepted with great success in many fields including medicine. Most of the simulation research and development in medicine has focused on surgery. ⋯ The Virtual Haptic Back (VHB) is a simulator based on virtual reality and haptics that is currently being used to train medical students in palpatory diagnosis. This study examined the effect of repeating the training on the VHB.
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Stud Health Technol Inform · Jan 2008
Comparative StudyErgonomically designed kneeling chairs are they worth it? : Comparison of sagittal lumbar curvature in two different seating postures.
General agreement among researchers suggests that poor seating posture may predispose individuals to developing low back pain. A variety of methods such as ergonomically designed chairs have been developed to assist people to maintain good posture and preserve the 'natural' lumbar curve. The aim of this study was to compare lumbar curvature on an ergonomically designed kneeling chair (EKC) with that on a standard computer chair (SCC), with reference to the standing lumbar curvature. ⋯ There was also a statistically significant difference between the two seated positions (p<0.05). This study suggests that ergonomically designed kneeling chairs set at +20 degrees inclination do maintain standing lumbar curvature to a greater extent than sitting on a standard computer chair with an overall mean difference of 7.633 degrees. Further research with a greater number of subjects and on different chair designs is warranted.