Biomedical subjects

Erna Kentala

Publications and source records attributed to Erna Kentala.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2003

A practical assessment algorithm for diagnosis of dizziness.

OBJECTIVE: We sought to test a 3-parameter model for diagnosis of dizziness based on the type and temporal characteristics of the dizziness and on hearing status. STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING: We conducted a prospective blinded study at a tertiary referral neurotology practice. Before examination, patients completed a questionnaire reporting type and timing of dizziness symptoms and hearing status. Clinical diagnoses were compared with questionnaire results. RESULTS: Fifty-seven patients completed the questionnaire. We were able to correctly classify 21 (60%) of the 35 subjects who had a common otogenic cause of vertigo by the diagnostic algorithm. CONCLUSION: A simple classification of dizziness by type, timing, and hearing status can be self-reported by patients using a brief questionnaire. This classification scheme is as good as others of much greater complexity. SIGNIFICANCE: The simple classification scheme reported here is based on history alone and facilitates triage of dizzy patients into diagnostic groups for work-up and management.

Adult↗

PubMed2003

Reduction of postural sway by use of a vibrotactile balance prosthesis prototype in subjects with vestibular deficits.

To evaluate the effectiveness of a prototype vibrotactile balance prosthesis in maintaining balance during dynamic posturography, we studied 6 subjects with unilateral or bilateral vestibular deficit by means of Equitest computerized dynamic posturography (CDP). Their anterior-posterior (AP) sway at the small of the back was measured with a micromechanical rate gyroscope and a linear accelerometer. The resulting tilt estimate was displayed by a vibrotactile array attached to the torso. The vibration served as tilt feedback to the subject. Subject performance was evaluated with the tilt performance index (TPI), which is the inverse of the root-mean-square of tilt. We found that the balance prosthesis reduced the subjects' AP sway. The subjects' results without the balance prosthesis on CDP sensory organization tests (SOTs) 5 and 6 were compared to results with the prosthesis. The average TPI increased significantly (p < .05) when vibrotactile feedback was used as compared to the unaided condition. This finding was true for both SOTs 5 and 6. We conclude that vibrotactile feedback of estimated AP body tilt improved the subjects' ability to perform selected CDP tests. Some of the subjects were able to stand throughout the test with the device turned on, whereas they otherwise constantly fell.

Adult↗

PubMed2002

Generating decision trees from otoneurological data with a variable grouping method.

When medical data sets are modelled by machine learning methods, wealth of variables may be available. This paper deals with variable selection for decision tree induction in the context of two otoneurological data sets: vertigo data, and postoperative nausea and vomiting data. First, a variable grouping method based on measures of association and graph theoretic techniques was used to gain insight into data. Then, representations of learning data were defined using the information from discovered variable groups, and decision trees were generated. The use of variable grouping method was beneficial by revealing interesting associations between variables and enabling generation of accurate and reasonable decision trees that modelled the application areas from different viewpoints.

Data Collection↗