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At least 757 records · Page 42Linked to original sources
PubMed2004

An information flow analysis of a distributed information system for space medical support.

In this study, we applied the methodology grounded in human-centered distributed cognition principles to the information flow analysis of a highly intensive, distributed and complex environment--the Biomedical Engineer (BME) console system at NASA Johnson Space Center. This system contains disparate human and artificial agents and artifacts. Users and tasks of this system were analyzed. An ethnographic study and a detailed communication pattern analysis were conducted to gain deeper insight and better understanding of the information flow patterns and the organizational memory of the current BME console system. From this study, we identified some major problems and offered recommendations to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of this system. We believe that this analysis methodology can be used in other distributed information systems, such as a healthcare environment.

Aerospace Medicine↗
PubMed2004

A framework of interruptions in distributed team environments.

In this study, we developed a framework for the study of interruptions in distributed team environments from the perspectives of distributed cognition and activity theory. The core of this framework is the Action Coding System (ACS) that provides a language for the description, representation, categorization, and analysis of interruptions at the level of activities that are meaningful for team performance. We demonstrated the practical utility and theoretical significance of ACS in an its application to a real-world, complex, dynamic, and mission critical environment--the Biomedical Engineer (BME) console in the Mission Control Center at NASA's Johnson Space Center. We discussed the potentials of our framework for the design of interruption management systems that could potentially eliminate some interruptions by information redesign, delegate others to autonomous agents, and help human agents to better manage the rest.

Anthropology, Cultural↗
PubMed2004

Design and development of a search interface for an information gathering tool.

In order to design effective and usable search interfaces it is essential to fully understand the characteristics of the users and the tasks they perform. In this paper we describe how to use human-centered approach to design a usable search interface. We first conducted user and task analyses of the application domain--Biomedical Engineers' log notes at NASA Johnson Space Center. From these analyses we identified what functions the users want, the tasks they perform, and a coding system for the vocabulary used by the users to log entries in the log notes. We then implemented a prototype of human-centered search interface by using the results of the user and task analyses and by applying other human-centered principles. Finally we discussed the implications of human-centered design for general health information systems.

Information Storage and Retrieval↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The Washington University Medical Scientist Training Program.

Washington University's Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) is the largest and among the most successful programs in the country for training physician-scientists. Due to the evolution of biomedicine and as a result of recent initiatives at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), exciting new opportunities are arising for physician-scientists. Interdisciplinary research will be increasingly required to tackle challenging scientific and medical problems, and MSTP students able to negotiate between the physical, biological and medical sciences will be poised to take advantage of this.

Biomedical Engineering↗
PubMed2004

Web-based health services and clinical decision support.

The purpose of this study was the development of a Web-based e-health service for comprehensive assistance and clinical decision support. The service structure consists of a Web server, a PHP-based Web interface linked to a clinical SQL database, Java applets for interactive manipulation and visualization of signals and a Matlab server linked with signal and data processing algorithms implemented by Matlab programs. The service ensures diagnostic signal- and image analysis-sbased clinical decision support. By using the discussed methodology, a pilot service for pathology specialists for automatic calculation of the proliferation index has been developed. Physicians use a simple Web interface for uploading the pictures under investigation to the server; subsequently a Java applet interface is used for outlining the region of interest and, after processing on the server, the requested proliferation index value is calculated. There is also an "expert corner", where experts can submit their index estimates and comments on particular images, which is especially important for system developers. These expert evaluations are used for optimization and verification of automatic analysis algorithms. Decision support trials have been conducted for ECG and ophthalmology ultrasonic investigations of intraocular tumor differentiation. Data mining algorithms have been applied and decision support trees constructed. These services are under implementation by a Web-based system too. The study has shown that the Web-based structure ensures more effective, flexible and accessible services compared with standalone programs and is very convenient for biomedical engineers and physicians, especially in the development phase.

Adult↗
PubMed2004

[Application of the SIMCA method to cancer diagnosis with Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy].

Early detection of cancer with mid-IR spectroscopy is a focal topic in the biomedical engineering field. A method was investigated for the detection of malignant tissues with Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and chemometrics method of pattern recognition. Spectral pretreatment and wavelength range selection were studied to improve the classification effect of soft independent modeling of class analogy (SIMCA). To distinguish the malignant tissues from normal ones, sixty-three stomach tissue samples were investigated in this paper. Forty samples were chosen randomly as calibration set and the rest twenty-three samples as predicting set. The correctness of classification was 91%, which was satisfactory. This approach was proved to be a reliable and practicable method for cancer diagnosis. Benign and malignant tissues can be identified by the combination of FTIR spectroscopy and chemometrics, which is able to be developed as a rapid diagnosis method of cancer.

Animals↗
PubMed1992

[Psychological aspects of perception of magnetophosphenes and electrophosphenes].

Scientific research at the Helmholtz Institute for Biomedical Engineering at Aachen University indicates that ELF (extremely-low frequency) electric and magnetic fields may generate visual perceptions in the human retina which are similar to the pressure phosphenes. During our own experiments we found that 90% of subjects undergoing a blind experiment reported various visual sensations which were mostly colored and moving. Our findings indicate that the psychological component of the perception of electric and magnetic phosphenes must not be underestimated. It is possible that there is a connection between retinal noise in the dark (due to metabolic processes [5, 8]) and magnetic or electric phosphenes.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

Safety enhancement of a specialized power assisted tricycle for a child with osteogenesis imperfecta type III.

A child in the community of Laramie, Wyoming was born with Osteogenesis Imperfecta which is a genetic disorder that limits the physical abilities, size, and strength of the child. A customized power assisted tricycle was developed, which offered a unique opportunity to serve multiple purposes in his childhood development. This tricycle will ultimately provide him with the opportunity to gain muscle mass, strength, coordination, and confidence. The tricycle was completed as a senior design project in 2002, funded by the National Science Foundation, Biomedical Engineering Program and research to Aid Persons with Disabilities Program and University of Wyoming, College of Engineering Undergraduate Design Project to Aid Wyoming Persons with Disabilities. Unfortunately, the tricycle did not provide the necessary features to allow him to ride the tricycle safely. For this reason the tricycle was redesigned to include many different redundant safety systems which allows the tricycle to be safe for the child's use. Being funded by the same grant, new systems were added to the tricycle. A panic kill switch, automatic brakes, numerous redundant velocity sensors, tip over prevention circuitry, a redesigned operating system, a battery recharge port, and other systems were added, allowing for the tricycle to provide a high level of safety. A great deal of testing and sound design practices have been taken into consideration throughout the addition of these systems. Without these improvements, the child would not have the opportunity to use the tricycle to help with his development.

Bicycling↗
PubMed2005

Innovation and the medical devices Farady partnership.

Demand for development of new generation medical devices has led many governments to support medical-sector research. In the United Kingdom, the Medical Devices Faraday Partnership was created to establish a collaborative network that would enhance the transfer of good ideas into new products and processes. The services it offers medical device manufacturers are outlined here.

Biomedical Engineering↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Monitoring in surgery and resuscitation: current state, problems, and trends].

General problems of medical monitoring are discussed using monitoring in anesthesiology and resuscitation as an example. The current state of this important problem of biomedical engineering and perspectives of its further development based on sophisticated medical methods of measurement of vitally important parameters of patient are analyzed. The main emphasis was placed on the problems of collaboration between physicians and engineers in the development of monitoring systems and optimal information support of physicians during the use of monitoring systems in surgery and resuscitation. Special attention was devoted to facilitation of working conditions of physician with due regard to patient safety. The problems of appearance of monitoring errors, their origin, and approaches to their minimization are also discussed.

Anesthesiology↗
PubMed2005

[System design of small intellectualized ultrasound hyperthermia instrument in the LabVIEW environment].

Small-scale intellectualized medical instrument has attracted great attention in the field of biomedical engineering, and LabVIEW (Laboratory Virtual Instrument Engineering Workbench) provides a convenient environment for this application due to its inherent advantages. The principle and system structure of the hyperthermia instrument are presented. Type T thermocouples are employed as thermotransducers, whose amplifier consists of two stages, providing built-in ice point compensation and thus improving work stability over temperature. Control signals produced by specially designed circuit drive the programmable counter/timer 8254 chip to generate PWM (Pulse width modulation) wave, which is used as ultrasound radiation energy control signal. Subroutine design topics such as inner-tissue real time feedback temperature control algorithm, water temperature control in the ultrasound applicator are also described. In the cancer tissue temperature control subroutine, the authors exert new improvments to PID (Proportional Integral Differential) algorithm according to the specific demands of the system and achieve strict temperature control to the target tissue region. The system design and PID algorithm improvement have experimentally proved to be reliable and excellent, meeting the requirements of the hyperthermia system.

Algorithms↗
PubMed1997

Information management & decision support systems in the intensive care unit.

Management of the vast array and sheer volume of clinical data generated during the care of the critically ill patient is a formidable task. Not only must the data be acquired accurately, but it must be retrievable readily and in an interpretable form. Such characteristics are essential features, but the mere uncritical compilation of biomedical data barely takes advantage of the enormous computing power that is available at the bedside. A complete medical informatics package can assist the caregiver with clinical decision making, suggest or even carry out changes in management, and provide continuous, always vigilant surveillance for both dangerous alterations in physiology or ill-advised orders. For optimal implementation, knowledge of the origin, synthesis, and utility of clinical information is essential. A successful implementation using the skills of physicians, nurses, biomedical engineers, computer scientists, and hospital administrators must be collaborative. The characteristics of a clinical information system were defined recently by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences (Table 1). However, even the ideal system, implemented and administered by a harmonious and committed team, will not ensure clinical acceptance. The issue of accessibility can become paramount. If the system is not responsive to the needs of the occasional user, a great deal of expensive hardware will not be used to its full capability.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2006

[Impacts of steep pulsed electric fields on lymphatic capillaries in VX2 implanted breast cancer in rabbits].

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE: Electrochemotherapy mediated by electric pulse has become a multidisciplinary biomedical engineering technique in modern medical science. Its main mechanisms are enhancing the diffusion of chemotherapeutic drugs, antibodies, or genes into the inner part of tumor cells mediated by membrane-electropermeabilization caused by electric pulse. Our previous studies confirmed that steep pulsed electric field (SPEF) could irreversibly cause membrane electropermeabilization, and lead to death of tumor cells. This study was to explore the acute killing effects of SPEF on lymphatic capillaries in VX2 implanted breast cancer in rabbits. METHODS: Tumor model of VX2 implanted breast cancer was successfully established in rabbits. Isosulfan blue staining, 5'-AMP-ALPase enzymohistochemical double staining, and electron microscopy was used to observe the morphologic changes of local lymphatic capillaries around cancer tissues exposed to SPEF. RESULTS: After exposed to SPEF, no lymphatic vessels were found with isosulfan blue staining, only blurred structures were observed; enzymohistochemistry showed no positively stained lymphatic vessels, only fragmental structures around cancer tissues were observed; integrity and continuity of lymphatic endothelium were destroyed under transmission electron microscope. CONCLUSION: SPEF has the potential to destroy lymphatic capillaries around VX2 implanted breast cancer, and can decrease the possibility of post-treatment lymphatic metastasis.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

Laparoscopic aortic surgery: recent development in instrumentation.

In addition to conventional and endovascular techniques, laparoscopic surgery is becoming a third way to treat patients with aortoiliac occlusive or aneurysmal diseases. Several different laparoscopic techniques are available, but most authors are stressing the need for development of specific laparoscopic aortic instruments, to decrease the operative and clamping times and reduce the learning curve. Our experience of more than 150 patients who underwent a laparoscopic abdominal or thoracic aortic reconstruction, has lead us to imagine the instruments that may facilitate these procedures, and then to create a society with Vascular Surgeons and Biomedical Engineers, called PROTOMED, which may conceive, develop, and test new medical instruments. This Chapter presents an overview of what is available currently, such as laparoscopic aortic clamps or laparoscopic intestinal retractors; others are in the experimental stage, such as laparoscopic aortic staplers, anastomotic devices, and robotic surgical systems. This important technologic challenge should lead to 2 major orientations: development of qualitative in vitro and in vivo experiments to test these new products, and training courses to teach their use. Minimally aggressive techniques are well adapted to a western population growing older and has access to constantly improving medical care; however, only specific and ergonomic instruments will allow these new techniques to be widely embraced by the vascular surgical community.

Aortic Aneurysm↗
PubMed2003

Rethinking sedation and agitation management in critical illness.

OBJECTIVE: To examine difficulties in sedation management in the critically ill patient and explore how a semi automated sedation controller can improve agitation control. To present recent work on measurements of agitation, dynamic systems modelling and control of patient agitation response. DATA SOURCES: Articles and peer-reviewed studies identified through a PUBMED search and selected original works from the biomedical engineering literature of relevance to agitation control and management. SUMMARY OF REVIEW: Over-sedation has an adverse impact on intensive care resources. Interventions to constrain sedation delivery through development of protocols or regular cessation of infusions result in reduction in resource utilisation, but have not significantly addressed existing difficulties in agitation control. We develop a paradigm in which control of agitation in critically ill patients becomes the primary objective of sedation management. This principle is central to the function of a nurse-managed semi-automated sedation delivery device. The clinical application of this device using subjective assessments of agitation is presented. A framework for the development of improved automated sedation delivery systems using objective measurements of agitation and control, based on agitation feedback, is described. Using dynamic systems modelling and a simulated nurse, a bolus-driven approach significantly reduced agitation and minimised drug utilisation. This result challenges the current practice of sedating patients using continuous infusions. CONCLUSIONS: A simple computerised interface with an algorithm that continually reduces the infusion rate in the absence of agitation has successfully been introduced into clinical practice. Nursing staff reported high levels of satisfaction with this device and it has enabled detailed data on patterns of sedation administration to be extracted for analysis. This data has been used to validate a model of the fundamental agitation-sedation dynamics.

Journal Article↗