Search PubMed⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “Software Validation”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 757 records · Page 42Linked to original sources
PubMed2006

Why did that happen? Exploring the proliferation of barely usable software in healthcare systems.

Clinicians and support staff are faced with increasingly complex computer applications. This complexity stems partly from the integration of heterogeneous systems ranging from computerized patient records to theatre management and dosage planning applications, and also from the increased functionality offered by the new generation of IT systems. Many members of clinical staff are bewildered by the vast array of configuration options and operating modes supported by computer based systems, while manufacturers often feel compelled to offer more and more software features to retain market position. These factors combine to create "usability" problems that have had a direct impact on patient outcomes as well as a number of indirect effects-for example, the costs of replacing and upgrading inadequate computer systems carry significant opportunity costs in terms of services that might otherwise have been funded. In the future we need to educate staff to reject substandard computer interfaces early in the acquisition process; encourage the use of human computer interaction techniques in health care; and train staff to recognize the dangers of "working around" poor interface design.

Attitude to Computers↗
PubMed2000

Content-based image retrieval system using neural networks.

An effective image retrieval system is developed based on the use of neural networks (NNs). It takes advantages of association ability of multilayer NNs as matching engines which calculate similarities between a user's drawn sketch and the stored images. The NNs memorize pixel information of every size-reduced image (thumbnail) in the learning phase. In the retrieval phase, pixel information of a user's drawn rough sketch is inputted to the learned NNs and they estimate the candidates. Thus the system can retrieve candidates quickly and correctly by utilizing the parallelism and association ability of NNs. In addition, the system has learning capability: it can automatically extract features of a user's drawn sketch during the retrieval phase and can store them as additional information to improve the performance. The software for querying, including efficient graphical user interfaces, has been implemented and tested. The effectiveness of the proposed system has been investigated through various experimental tests.

Algorithms↗
PubMed2006

Recognition of transmembrane segments in proteins: review and consistency-based benchmarking of internet servers.

Membrane proteins perform a number of crucial functions as transporters, receptors, and components of enzyme complexes. Identification of membrane proteins and prediction of their topology is thus an important part of genome annotation. We present here an overview of transmembrane segments in protein sequences, summarize data from large-scale genome studies, and report results of benchmarking of several popular internet servers.

Algorithms↗
PubMed2000

A fuzzy logic approach to analyzing gene expression data.

We have developed a novel algorithm for analyzing gene expression data. This algorithm uses fuzzy logic to transform expression values into qualitative descriptors that can be evaluated by using a set of heuristic rules. In our tests we designed a model to find triplets of activators, repressors, and targets in a yeast gene expression data set. For the conditions tested, the predictions made by the algorithm agree well with experimental data in the literature. The algorithm can also assist in determining the function of uncharacterized proteins and is able to detect a substantially larger number of transcription factors than could be found at random. This technology extends current techniques such as clustering in that it allows the user to generate a connected network of genes using only expression data.

Algorithms↗
PubMed2001

Automatic registration and error detection of multiple slices using landmarks.

OBJECTIVES: When analysing the 3D structure of tissue, serial sectioning and staining of the resulting slices is sometimes the preferred option. This leads to severe registration problems. In this paper, a method for automatic registration and error detection of slices using landmark needles has been developed. A cost function takes some parameters from the current state of the problem to be solved as input and gives a quality of the current solution as output. The cost function used in this paper, is based on a model of the slices and the landmark needles. The method has been used to register slices of prostates in order to create 3D computer models. Manual registration of the same prostates has been undertaken and compared with the results from the algorithm. METHODS: Prostates from sixteen men who underwent radical prostatectomy were formalin fixed with landmark needles, sliced and the slices were computer reconstructed. The cost function takes rotation and translation for each prostate slice, as well as slope and offset for each landmark needle as input. The current quality of fit of the model, using the input parameters given, is returned. The function takes the built-in instability of the model into account. The method uses a standard algorithm to optimize the prostate slice positions. To verify the result, s standard method in statistics was used. RESULTS: The methods were evaluated for 16 prostates. When testing blindly, a physician could not determine whether the registration shown to him were created by the automated method described in this paper, or manually by an expert, except in one out of 16 cases. Visual inspection and analysis of the outlier confirmed that the input data had been deformed. The automatic detection of erroneous slices marked a few slices, including the outlier, as suspicious. CONCLUSIONS: The model based registration performs better than traditional simple slice-wise registration. In the case of prostate slice registration, other aspects, such as the physical slicing method used, may be more important to the final result than the selection of registration method to use.

Algorithms↗
PubMed1999

Clinical experience with a decision support computer program using Bayes' theorem to diagnose chest pain patients.

A decision support computer program (DSP) was used by the emergency room physician as a diagnostic tool on patients admitted with acute chest pain to guide the referral of these patients either to the Coronary Care Unit (CCU) or general ward. The DSP used Bayes' theorem on 38 anamnestic and clinical variables to classify patients into one of nine diagnoses. During a six months trial period 32 physicians used the DSP to diagnose 493 patients admitted with acute chest pain. The physicians referred the patients to CCU or general ward based on their clinical judgements, the ECG findings and the diagnostic estimates given by the DSP. The program correctly diagnosed 150 (84%) of 178 patients with acute myocardial infarction and 63 of 112 patients with unstable angina. However, acute ischemic heart disease (acute myocardial infarction or unstable angina) was correctly classified by the DSP for 259 (89%) of 290 patients. By using the DSP, the number of patients unnecessarily referred to CCU was reduced from 35% to 19% and the number of patients in need of CCU observation misallocated to general ward was reduced from 13% to 10%. Thus, use of the DSP in the emergency room on easily available anamnestic and clinical variables may improve referrals to the CCU, optimize therapy and resource use.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

A computer program designed for the analysis of data from rat caries studies.

The Keyes method for scoring dental caries in the rat animal model has been used as the basis for a computer-assisted scoring system on the Apple Macintosh personal computer that is described here. The program provides the ability to draw on diagrams of the rat molar dentition and to enter enamel lesion scores (L, E) and dentinal lesion scores (Ds, Dm, and Dx) for all aspects of the molars. The scores and drawings may be changed at any time. Total carious teeth and totals of L, E, Ds, Dm, and Dx are automatically calculated and presented upon user command. Error trapping for typographical errors is provided. In addition, the program provides automatic storage of the collected information, searching and sorting on any of the experimental parameters and on-disk help files that can be accessed from any place within the program. The capacity to obtain printed copy of any or all of the stored information is provided in the program. The program also enables the creation of external data files containing totals for carious teeth, in addition to L, E, Ds, Dm, and Dx totals for each animal of each group represented in the data base. These files are suitable for the transfer of data to commercially available programs for graphical and statistical analyses. The programming technique we describe could be extended to other model systems with standardized scoring for oral disease.

Animals↗
PubMed1998

Automated intraoperative detection of Doppler microembolic signals using the bigate approach.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: We undertook this study to evaluate the performance of an automated detection software in the detection of Doppler microembolic signals (MES) during cardiac surgery. METHODS: Intraoperative monitoring was performed over two spatially separated vessel segments of each middle cerebral artery in 18 patients undergoing coronary artery bypass surgery (n= 16) or cardiac valve replacement (n=2). All monitoring sessions were saved on digital audiotape and subsequently played back to the same ultrasound machine, set up to automatically detect MES by evaluating the temporary delay in their appearance between the two segments, in the presence of an experienced examiner. Software sensitivity and specificity in MES detection were then evaluated, with the results of the human observer considered the gold standard. RESULTS: A total of 44,933 high-intensity signals (artifacts and MES) were evaluated. Overall sensitivity and specificity of the software, with the human observer considered the gold standard, were 64% and 78.5%, respectively, ranging from 54% to 96% and from 74% to 90% in individual patients. When the overall results of the software were compared with those of the human observer, kappa was 0.72. CONCLUSIONS: The tested software displayed a satisfactory specificity. Provided that the sensitivity is further improved, it could provide a valuable tool in intraoperative monitoring.

Artifacts↗
PubMed2006

Airflow limitation and airway dimensions in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

RATIONALE: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is characterized by airflow limitation caused by emphysema and/or airway narrowing. Computed tomography has been widely used to assess emphysema severity, but less attention has been paid to the assessment of airway disease using computed tomography. OBJECTIVES: To obtain longitudinal images and accurately analyze short axis images of airways with an inner diameter>or=2 mm located anywhere in the lung with new software for measuring airway dimensions using curved multiplanar reconstruction. METHODS: In 52 patients with clinically stable COPD (stage I, 14; stage II, 22; stage III, 14; stage IV, 2), we used the software to analyze the relationship of the airflow limitation index (FEV1, % predicted) with the airway dimensions from the third to the sixth generations of the apical bronchus (B1) of the right upper lobe and the anterior basal bronchus (B8) of the right lower lobe. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Airway luminal area (Ai) and wall area percent (WA%) were significantly correlated with FEV1 (% predicted). More importantly, the correlation coefficients (r) improved as the airways became smaller in size from the third (segmental) to sixth generations in both bronchi (Ai: r=0.26, 0.37, 0.58, and 0.64 for B1; r=0.60, 0.65, 0.63, and 0.73 for B8). CONCLUSIONS: We are the first to use three-dimensional computed tomography to demonstrate that airflow limitation in COPD is more closely related to the dimensions of the distal (small) airways than proximal (large) airways.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Spontaneous comments from users of the AIDA interactive educational diabetes simulator.

The user experience with the AIDA simulator demonstrates one of the advantages of making such diabetes software readily available for free via the Internet. The comments collectively provide a picture of some of the many and varied ways in which the simulator has been applied by different users. These comments also demonstrate the potential for empowerment that some people feel can result from the use of the software. The experience with this approach is sufficiently encouraging to warrant formal evaluation studies to quantify the clinical utility of such an interactive educational diabetes simulation program. For this reason, a formal survey of 200 AIDA users (patients, relatives, and healthcare professionals) from at least 15 different countries is currently ongoing, and further formal evaluation studies in the clinic setting are planned.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Technical considerations for fan-beam dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry body composition measurements in pediatric studies.

BACKGROUND: A piglet model was used to determine the influence of frequently encountered situations in clinical studies of infants and young children on fan-beam dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) measurements. METHODS: DXA scans of piglets (640 g to 21,100 g) were acquired in the infant and adult mode and were analyzed with 1 infant, 1 pediatric, and 3 versions of adult software. RESULTS: The effect of repositioning of the piglets from the center to the periphery of the scanning table on DXA measurements included an average difference of up to 0.5% for total weight, 5.0% for bone mineral content, 5.6% for bone mineral density, 1.3% for lean mass, and 21.9% for fat mass (< or = .05, all comparisons) although no significant changes occurred when the piglets were scanned in symmetrical positions on either edge of the scanning table. Different posture (prone vs supine and side), varied number of blankets overlaid or wrapped around the piglet, and parenteral but not enteral bolus feeding could significantly alter fan-beam DXA measurements to varying extents. Adult and pediatric software underestimated bone area and bone mineral content but overestimated bone mineral density, lean mass, fat mass, and total weight compared with infant software measurements. However, strong predictive relationships among these fan-beam DXA data in subjects >10 kg allow systematic corrections of data from different scan modes and different software. CONCLUSIONS: Attention to details and consistency in the technique for scan acquisition and analysis are critical to the generation of meaningful data and to allow for detection of true differences in DXA measurements of small subjects.

Absorptiometry, Photon↗
PubMed1999

Use of a computer software program for qualitative analyses--Part 2: Advantages and disadvantages.

NUD.IST 3.0 was generally effective in managing the qualitative data of dyspnea stimuli. Yet, some disadvantages were found related to format restrictions of transcripts and data volume. In particular, an appropriate format of transcripts for NUD.IST use was critical for efficient data management. Awareness of strengths and limitations of program functions is necessary to use NUD.IST efficiently in qualitative data management.

Abstracting and Indexing↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Design and pilot evaluation of a system to develop computer-based site-specific practice guidelines from decision models.

BACKGROUND: Local tailoring of clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) requires experts in medicine and evidence synthesis unavailable in many practice settings. The authors' computer-based system enables developers and users to create, disseminate, and tailor CPGs, using normative decision models (DMs). METHODS: ALCHEMIST, a web-based system, analyzes a DM, creates a CPG in the form of an annotated algorithm, and displays for the guideline user the optimal strategy. ALCHEMIST'S interface enables remote users to tailor the guideline by changing underlying input variables and observing the new annotated algorithm that is developed automatically. In a pilot evaluation of the system, a DM was used to evaluate strategies for staging non-small-cell lung cancer. Subjects (n = 15) compared the automatically created CPG with published guidelines for this staging and critiqued both using a previously developed instrument to rate the CPGs' usability, accountability, and accuracy on a scale of 0 (worst) to 2 (best), with higher scores reflecting higher quality. RESULTS: The mean overall score for the ALCHEMIST CPG was 1.502, compared with the published-CPG score of 0.987 (p = 0.002). The ALCHEMIST CPG scores for usability, accountability, and accuracy were 1.683, 1.393, and 1.430, respectively; the published CPG scores were 1.192, 0.941, and 0.830 (each comparison p < 0.05). On a scale of 1 (worst) to 5 (best), users' mean ratings of ALCHEMIST'S ease of use, usefulness of content, and presentation format were 4.76, 3.98, and 4.64, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The results demonstrate the feasibility of a web-based system that automatically analyzes a DM and creates a CPG as an annotated algorithm, enabling remote users to develop site-specific CPGs. In the pilot evaluation, the ALCHEMIST guidelines met established criteria for quality and compared favorably with national CPGs. The high usability and usefulness ratings suggest that such systems can be a good tool for guideline development.

Decision Making, Computer-Assisted↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Neural networks in clinical medicine.

Neural networks are parallel, distributed, adaptive information-processing systems that develop their functionality in response to exposure to information. This paper is a tutorial for researchers intending to use neural nets for medical decision-making applications. It includes detailed discussion of the issues particularly relevant to medical data as well as wider issues relevant to any neural net application. The article is restricted to back-propagation learning in multilayer perceptrons, as this is the neural net model most widely used in medical applications.

Algorithms↗
PubMed1993

Computer analysis of qualitative data: a comparison of three packages.

This article describes and compares three computer programs designed to assist in the analysis of narrative text. Ethnograph, GATOR, and Martin were compared in the context of a qualitative study of women and their husbands following mastectomy in order to (a) describe the fit between research purpose and program capabilities and (b) explore the influence, if any, of particular program features on research methods or analysis. The comparison suggests that methodological assistance provided by the programs involves differences in approach sufficient to make prior consideration of the fit between program capabilities and research purposes, methods, and style an important research decision. Descriptions of the programs and their application provide guidelines for comparison of these and other computer programs.

Evaluation Studies as Topic↗