Search results for: patient monitoring

Authors: Arvind Aggarwal

Abstract:

We have developed a comprehensive global healthcare delivery System based on information technology. It has medical consultation system where a virtual consultant can give medical consultation to the patients and Doctors at the digital medical centre after reviewing the patient’s EMR file consisting of patient’s history, investigations in the voice, images and data format. The system has the surgical operation system too, where a remote robotic consultant can conduct surgery at the robotic surgical centre. The instant speech and text translation is incorporated in the software where the patient’s speech and text (language) can be translated into the consultant’s language and vice versa. A consultant of any specialty (surgeon or Physician) based in any country can provide instant health care consultation, to any patient in any country without loss of time. Robotic surgeons based in any country in a tertiary care hospital can perform remote robotic surgery, through patient friendly telemedicine and tele-surgical centres. The patient EMR, financial data and data of all the consultants and robotic surgeons shall be stored in cloud. It is a complete comprehensive business model with healthcare medical and surgical delivery system. The whole system is self-financing and can be implemented in any country. The entire system uses paperless, filmless techniques. This eliminates the use of all consumables thereby reduces substantial cost which is incurred by consumables. The consultants receive virtual patients, in the form of EMR, thus the consultant saves time and expense to travel to the hospital to see the patients. The consultant gets electronic file ready for reporting & diagnosis. Hence time spent on the physical examination of the patient is saved, the consultant can, therefore, spend quality time in studying the EMR/virtual patient and give his instant advice. The time consumed per patient is reduced and therefore can see more number of patients, the cost of the consultation per patients is therefore reduced. The additional productivity of the consultants can be channelized to serve rural patients devoid of doctors.

Keywords: e-health, telemedicine, telecare, IT-based healthcare

Procedia PDF Downloads 152

Authors: Jose Flores, Nadia Gamboa

Abstract:

A proper water quality management requires the establishment of a monitoring network. Therefore, evaluation of the efficiency of water quality monitoring networks is needed to ensure high-quality data collection of critical quality chemical parameters. Unfortunately, in some Latin American countries water quality monitoring programs are not sustainable in terms of recording historical data or environmentally representative sites wasting time, money and valuable information. In this study, multivariate statistical techniques, such as principal components analysis (PCA) and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA), are applied for identifying the most significant monitoring sites as well as critical water quality parameters in the monitoring network of the Jequetepeque River basin, in northern Peru. The Jequetepeque River basin, like others in Peru, shows socio-environmental conflicts due to economical activities developed in this area. Water pollution by trace elements in the upper part of the basin is mainly related with mining activity, and agricultural land lost due to salinization is caused by the extensive use of groundwater in the lower part of the basin. Since the 1980s, the water quality in the basin has been non-continuously assessed by public and private organizations, and recently the National Water Authority had established permanent water quality networks in 45 basins in Peru. Despite many countries use multivariate statistical techniques for assessing water quality monitoring networks, those instruments have never been applied for that purpose in Peru. For this reason, the main contribution of this study is to demonstrate that application of the multivariate statistical techniques could serve as an instrument that allows the optimization of monitoring networks using least number of monitoring sites as well as the most significant water quality parameters, which would reduce costs concerns and improve the water quality management in Peru. Main socio-economical activities developed and the principal stakeholders related to the water management in the basin are also identified. Finally, water quality management programs will also be discussed in terms of their efficiency and sustainability.

Keywords: PCA, HCA, Jequetepeque, multivariate statistical

Procedia PDF Downloads 332

Authors: Hyun-Woo Cho

Abstract:

Continuous monitoring of industrial plants is one of necessary tasks when it comes to ensuring high-quality final products. In terms of monitoring and diagnosis, it is quite critical and important to detect some incipient abnormal events of manufacturing processes in order to improve safety and reliability of operations involved and to reduce related losses. In this work a new multivariate statistical online diagnostic method is presented using a case study. For building some reference models an empirical discriminant model is constructed based on various past operation runs. When a fault is detected on-line, an on-line diagnostic module is initiated. Finally, the status of the current operating conditions is compared with the reference model to make a diagnostic decision. The performance of the presented framework is evaluated using a dataset from complex industrial processes. It has been shown that the proposed diagnostic method outperforms other techniques especially in terms of incipient detection of any faults occurred.

Keywords: data mining, empirical model, on-line diagnostics, process fault, process monitoring

Procedia PDF Downloads 374

Authors: Thu Nguyen, Jane Daugherty-Luck

Abstract:

Falx subdural hematoma is a life-threatening condition associated with high mortality. We present a patient case who had fallen with no head injury or loss of conspicuousness. She had tenderness along cervical and thoracic lumbar spine. CT head revealed falx subdural hematoma. The patient was managed medically. The pathophysiology of falx subdural hematoma is linked to laceration of bridging veins provoked by frontal or occipital impact. Posttraumatic subdural hematoma is commonly caused by inertia instead of facture or cerebral contusion resulting from direct impact. The theory is consistent with the lack of fracture in most cases in the literature. Our patient had neither contusion nor fracture.

Keywords: falx subdural hematoma, traumatic head injury, CT head scan, bridging veins, inertia

Procedia PDF Downloads 115

Authors: Yuhan Wu, CTB (Kees) Ahaus, Martina Buljac-Samardzic

Abstract:

Patient aggression and violence is a complex occupational hazards for physicians working in hospitals, and it can have multiple severe negative effects for physicians and hospitals. Although there is a range of interventions in the healthcare sector applied in various countries, China lacks a comprehensive set of interventions at the hospital level in this area. Therefore, due to cultural differences, this study investigates whether international interventions are important and feasible in the Chinese cultural context by conducting a Delphi study. Based on a literature search, a list of 47 hospital interventions to prevent and manage patient aggression and violence was constructed, including 8 categories: hospital environment design, access and entrance, staffing and work practice, training and education, leadership and culture, support, during/after-the-event actions, and hospital policy. The list of interventions will be refined, extended and brought back during a three-round Delphi study. The panel consists of 17 Chinese experts, including physicians experiencing patient aggression and violence, hospital management team members, scientists working in this research area, and policymakers in the healthcare sector. In each round, experts will receive the possible interventions with the instruction to indicate the importance and feasibility of each intervention for preventing and managing patient violence and aggression in Chinese hospitals. Experts will be asked about the importance and feasibility of interventions for patient violence and aggression at the same time. This study will exclude or include interventions based on the score of importance. More specifically, an intervention will be included after each round if >80% of the experts judged it as important or very important and excluded if >50% judged an intervention as not or moderately important. The three-round Delphi study will provide a list of included interventions and assess which of the 8 categories of interventions are considered as important. It is expected that this study can bring new ideas and inspiration to Chinese hospitals in the prevention and management of patient aggression and violence.

Keywords: patient aggression and violence, hospital interventions, feasibility, importance

Procedia PDF Downloads 63

Authors: Ezgi Cetinkaya

Abstract:

In the psychological literature, there are a few studies that focus on actors' self-perceptions and their social adjustment skills. Therefore the aim of the study was to shed light on the self-concept clarity, sociotrophy, and self-monitoring levels of professional actors. For this purpose, actors and non-actors are compared to their peers. The study was conducted with the participation of 106 actors and 131 non-actors. A descriptive method of research was employed and data was collected through the concept Clarity scale by Campbell et al. (1996), the Pleasing Others and Concern For Disapproval subscales of Sociotrophy and Autonomy scale by Beck et al. (1983), and the Self-Monitoring Scale by Snyder ( 1983). ANOVA and correlation analysis was done by using SPSS. Results showed that there is no significant difference between actors and non-actors at any age in terms of Self Concept Clarity. 25-25 years non-actors were found to have the highest self-concept clarity while the young actors had the lowest. The study didn’t reveal significant differences between the groups in terms of Sociotropy scores. The actor’s sociothropic tendencies weren’t enhanced by the experience. The study demonstrated that 25-35-year-old actors are higher self-monitors than 25-35-year-old non-actors.

Keywords: self-concept, self-monitoring, autonomy, sociotropy, theatre, acting, creativity, identity

Procedia PDF Downloads 35

Authors: Hilary P. Stevenson, Alexander J. Hayek, Amie Dereczyk

Abstract:

In this case report, we provide an example of an asymptomatic COVID-19 positive patient who presented with new-onset psychosis with severe paranoid delusions. He was seen in our ED after ingesting isopropyl alcohol which he reported was an attempt to escape presumed attackers, which at the time was logical to the patient. The patient’s family had COVID-19 symptoms that corresponded to those typically observed from the Omicron variant. The patient was treated successfully, within ten days, with Risperdal twice-daily dosing resulting in the resolution of the patient’s delusions and improved insight regarding the events that led to his hospitalization. In this work, we examine possible contributing factors to new-onset psychosis in the context of COVID-19, a phenomenon that is becoming increasingly notable in the literature. One area of importance is the already established inflammatory hypothesis of psychosis in which defects in the innate immune system, which result in its overactivation, may play a role in a typical first-episode psychosis, in addition to subsequent episodes. Given that COVID-19 is known to cause derangements in the innate immune system, such as cytokine storm reactions, this link may be critical in further understanding the etiologies of new-onset COVID-19 psychosis and its risk factors. Also included in this work is a brief review of antipsychotic interventions that have been described in the literature to date for the first episode of COVID-19-related psychosis. This will explore the potential of some antipsychotics to innately diminish the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines, further enhancing their usefulness in COVID-19 first-episode psychosis patients.

Keywords: COVID-19, first break psychosis, inflammatory hypothesis of psychosis, Risperdal

Procedia PDF Downloads 73

Authors: Fayez Hanna, Viet Tran

Abstract:

A 20 years old lady- primigravida 6 weeks pregnant with unremarkable past history, presented to the emergency department at the Royal Hobart Hospital, Tasmania, Australia, with hyperemesis gravidarum associated with, dehydration and complicated with hematemesis and chest pain resistant. Accordingly, we conducted laboratory investigations which revealed: FBC: WBC 23.9, unremarkable U&E, LFT, lipase and her VBG showed a pH 7.4, pCo2 36.7, cK+ 3.2, cNa+ 142. The decision was made to do a chest X-ray (CXR) after explaining the risks/benefit of performing radiographic investigations during pregnancy and considering the patient's plan for the termination of the pregnancy as she was not ready for motherhood for shared decision-making and consent to look for pneumoperitoneum to suggest perforated viscus that might cause the hematemesis. However, the CXR showed pneumomediastinum but no evidence of pneumoperitoneum or pneumothorax. Consequently, a decision was made to proceed with CT oesophagography with imaging pre and post oral contrast administration to identify a potential oesophageal tear since it could not be excluded using a plain film of the CXR. The CT oesophagography could not find a leak for the administered oral contrast and thus, no oesophageal tear could be confirmed but could not exclude the Mallory-Weiss tear (lower oesophageal tear). Further, the CT oesophagography showed an extensive pneumomediastinum that could not be confirmed to be pulmonary in origin noting the presence of bilateral pulmonary interstitial emphysema and pneumothorax in the apex of the right lung that was small. The patient was admitted to the Emergency Department Inpatient Unit for monitoring, supportive therapy, and symptomatic management. Her hyperemesis was well controlled with ondansetron 8mg IV, metoclopramide 10mg IV, doxylamine 25mg PO, pyridoxine 25mg PO, esomeprazole 40mg IV and oxycodone 5mg PO was given for pain control and 2 litter of IV fluid. The patient was stabilized after 24 hours and discharged home on ondansetron 8mg every 8 hours whereas the patient had a plan for medical termination of pregnancy. Three weeks later, the patient represented with nausea and vomiting complicated by a frank hematemesis. Her observation chart showed HR 117- other vital signs were normal. Pathology showed WBC 14.3 with normal U&E and Hb. The patient was managed in the Emergency Department with the same previous regimen and was discharged home on same previous regimes. Five days later, she presented again with nausea, vomiting and hematemesis and was admitted under obstetrics and gynaecology for stabilization then discharged home with a plan for surgical termination of pregnancy after 3-days rather than the previously planned medical termination of pregnancy to avoid extension of potential oesophageal tear. The surgical termination and follow up period were uneventful. The case is considered rare as pneumomediastinum is a very rare complication of hyperemesis gravidarum where vomiting-induced barotrauma leads to a ruptured oesophagus and air leak into the mediastinum. However no rupture oesophagus in our case. Although the combination of pneumothorax and pneumomediastinum without oesophageal tear was reported only 8 times in the literature, but none of them was due to hyperemesis gravidarum.

Keywords: Pneumothorax, pneumomediastinum, hyperemesis gravidarum, pneumopericardium

Procedia PDF Downloads 69

Authors: Amira Zrelli, Tahar Ezzeddine

Abstract:

Measurement and monitoring of temperature, humidity and strain variation are very requested in great fields and areas such as structural health monitoring (SHM) systems. Currently, the use of fiber Bragg grating sensors (FBGS) is very recommended in SHM systems due to the specifications of these sensors. In this paper, we present the theory of Bragg sensor, therefore we try to measure the efficient variation of strain, temperature and humidity (SV, ST, SH) using Bragg sensor. Thus, we can deduce the fundamental relation between these parameters and the wavelength of Bragg sensor.

Keywords: Fiber Bragg Grating Sensors (FBGS), strain, temperature, humidity, structural health monitoring (SHM)

Procedia PDF Downloads 284

Authors: Pavana Basavakumar, Devadas Bhat

Abstract:

Diabetes is a disease which often goes undiagnosed until its secondary effects are noticed. Early detection of the disease is necessary to avoid serious consequences which could lead to the death of the patient. Conventional invasive tests for screening of diabetes are mostly painful, time consuming and expensive. There’s also a risk of infection involved, therefore it is very essential to develop non-invasive methods to screen and estimate the level of blood glucose. Extensive research is going on with this perspective, involving various techniques that explore optical, electrical, chemical and thermal properties of the human body that directly or indirectly depend on the blood glucose concentration. Thus, non-invasive blood glucose monitoring has grown into a vast field of research. In this project, an attempt was made to device a prototype for screening of diabetes by measuring electrical impedance of the skin and building a model to predict a patient’s condition based on the measured impedance. The prototype developed, passes a negligible amount of constant current (0.5mA) across a subject’s index finger through tetra polar silver electrodes and measures output voltage across a wide range of frequencies (10 KHz – 4 MHz). The measured voltage is proportional to the impedance of the skin. The impedance was acquired in real-time for further analysis. Study was conducted on over 75 subjects with permission from the institutional ethics committee, along with impedance, subject’s blood glucose values were also noted, using conventional method. Nonlinear regression analysis was performed on the features extracted from the impedance data to obtain a model that predicts blood glucose values for a given set of features. When the predicted data was depicted on Clarke’s Error Grid, only 58% of the values predicted were clinically acceptable. Since the objective of the project was to screen diabetes and not actual estimation of blood glucose, the data was classified into three classes ‘NORMAL FASTING’,’NORMAL POSTPRANDIAL’ and ‘HIGH’ using linear Support Vector Machine (SVM). Classification accuracy obtained was 91.4%. The developed prototype was economical, fast and pain free. Thus, it can be used for mass screening of diabetes.

Keywords: Clarke’s error grid, electrical impedance of skin, linear SVM, nonlinear regression, non-invasive blood glucose monitoring, screening device for diabetes

Procedia PDF Downloads 304

Authors: Mohamed Chabi

Abstract:

The project of helping students at risk started at the Math department in the new foundation program at Qatar University in the fall 2012 semester. The purpose was to find ways to help students who were struggling with their math courses Elementary algebra or Precalculus course due to many factors. Department had formed the Committee “students at Risk” at the start of 12-13 to assist struggling students in our math courses to get their studies on track. A mechanism was developed to support students who are at risk using a developed E-Monitoring system. E-Monitoring system was developed to manage automatically all transactions relevant to the students’ attendance, Students ‘‘warning Students’’ grading, etc. E-Monitoring System produce various statistics such as, Overall course statistics, Performance, Students at Risk… to help department to develop a higher quality of education in the Foundation Program at Math department. The mechanism was studies and evaluated. Whatever the cause, the sooner we identify students who are not performing well academically, the sooner we can provide, or direct them to the resources that are available to them. In this paper, we outline the mechanism and its effect on students’ performance. The collected data from various exams shows that students had benefited from the mechanism.

Keywords: students at risk, e-monitoring system, warning students, performance

Procedia PDF Downloads 460

Authors: Jocelyn B. Barbosa, Angeli L. Magbaril, Mariel T. Sabanal, John Paul T. Galario, Mikka P. Baldovino

Abstract:

The use of technology has become ubiquitous in different areas of business today. With the advent of digital imaging and database technology, business owners have been motivated to integrate technology to their business operation ranging from small, medium to large enterprises. Technology has been found to have brought many benefits that can make a business grow. Hog or swine raising, for example, is a very popular enterprise in the Philippines, whose challenges in production monitoring can be addressed through technology integration. Swine production monitoring can become a tedious task as the enterprise goes larger. Specifically, problems like delayed and inconsistent reports are most likely to happen if counting of swine per pen of which building is done manually. In this study, we present iCount, which aims to ensure efficient swine detection and counting that hastens the swine production monitoring task. We develop a system that automatically detects and counts swine based on Sobel filter and ellipse fitting model, given the still photos of the group of swine captured in a pen. We improve the Sobel filter detection result through 8-neigbhorhood rule implementation. Ellipse fitting technique is then employed for proper swine detection. Furthermore, the system can generate periodic production reports and can identify the specific consumables to be served to the swine according to schedules. Experiments reveal that our algorithm provides an efficient way for detecting swine, thereby providing a significant amount of accuracy in production monitoring.

Keywords: automatic swine counting, swine detection, swine production monitoring, ellipse fitting model, sobel filter

Procedia PDF Downloads 290

Authors: A. Miškinytė, A. Dėdelė

Abstract:

Road traffic is one of the main sources of air pollution in urban areas associated with adverse effects on human health and environment. Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) is considered as traffic-related air pollutant, which concentrations tend to be higher near highways, along busy roads and in city centres and exceedances are mainly observed in air quality monitoring stations located close to traffic. Atmospheric dispersion models can be used to examine emissions from many various sources and to predict the concentration of pollutants emitted from these sources into the atmosphere. The study aim was to compare modelled concentrations of nitrogen dioxide using ADMS-Urban dispersion model with air quality monitoring network in cold and warm seasons in Kaunas city. Modelled average seasonal concentrations of nitrogen dioxide for 2011 year have been verified with automatic air quality monitoring data from two stations in the city. Traffic station is located near high traffic street in industrial district and background station far away from the main sources of nitrogen dioxide pollution. The modelling results showed that the highest nitrogen dioxide concentration was modelled and measured in station located near intensive traffic street, both in cold and warm seasons. Modelled and measured nitrogen dioxide concentration was respectively 25.7 and 25.2 µg/m3 in cold season and 15.5 and 17.7 µg/m3 in warm season. While the lowest modelled and measured NO2 concentration was determined in background monitoring station, respectively 12.2 and 13.3 µg/m3 in cold season and 6.1 and 7.6 µg/m3 in warm season. The difference between monitoring station located near high traffic street and background monitoring station showed that better agreement between modelled and measured NO2 concentration was observed at traffic monitoring station.

Keywords: air pollution, nitrogen dioxide, modelling, ADMS-Urban model

Procedia PDF Downloads 388

Authors: Temitope O. Tokosi, Visvanathan Naicker

Abstract:

Patient health records contain sensitive information for which an electronic patient record (EPR) system can safely secure and transmit amongst clinicians for use in improving health delivery. Clinician’s use of the behaviour of these systems is under scrutiny to assess their attributes towards health technology. South Africa (SA) clinicians responded to a pilot study survey to assess their understanding of EPR, what attributes are important towards technology use and more importantly streamlining the survey for a larger study. Descriptive statistics using mean scores was used because of the small sample size of 11 clinicians who completed the survey. Nine (9) constructs comprising 62 items were used and a Cronbach alpha score of 0.883 was obtained. Limitations and discussions conclude the study.

Keywords: EPR, clinicians, pilot study, South Africa

Procedia PDF Downloads 243

Authors: Sorayya Kazemi, Hamed Kharrati, Mehdi Abedinpour Fallah

Abstract:

This paper presents the design and implementation of a novel electric pressure-sensitive toothbrush, capable of measuring the forces applied to the head of the brush. The developed device is used for gum recession measurement. In particular, the percentage of gum recession is measured by a Programmable Automation controller (PAC). Moreover, the brushing forces are measured by a Force Sensing Resistor (FSR) sensor. These forces are analog inputs of PAC. According to the applied forces during patient’s brushing and the patient’s percentage of gum recession, dentist sets the standard force range. The instrument alarms when the patient applies a force over the set range.

Keywords: gum recession, force sensing resistor, controller, toothbrush

Procedia PDF Downloads 468

Authors: Kamila Mazur-Oleszczuk, Rafal Banasiuk, Dawid Krasnowski, Maciej Pek, Marcin Podgorski, Krzysztof Rykaczewski, Sabina Zoledowska, Dawid Nidzworski

Abstract:

Workout safety is one of the most significant challenges of recreational sports. Loss of water and electrolytes is a consequence of thermoregulatory sweating during exercise. The rate of sweat loss and its chemical composition can fluctuate within and among individuals. That is why we propose our sportband 'Flow' as a device for monitoring these parameters. 'Flow' consists of two parts: an intelligent module and a mobile application. The application allows verifying the training progress and data archiving. The sportband intelligent module includes temperature, heart rate and pulse measurement (non-invasive, continuous methods of workout monitoring). Apart from the standard components, the device will consist of a sweat composition analyzer situated in sportband intelligent module. Sweat is a water solution of numerous compounds such as ions (sodium up to 1609 µg/ml, potassium up to 274 µg/ml), lactic acid (skin pH is between 4.5 - 6) and a small amount of glucose. Awareness of sweat composition allows personalizing electrolyte intake after training. A comprehensive workout monitoring (sweat composition, heart rate, blood oxygen level) will provide improvement in the training routine and time management, which is our goal for the development of the sweat composition analyzer.

Keywords: flow, sportband, sweat, workout monitoring

Procedia PDF Downloads 129

Authors: S. B. R. Slagmulder

Abstract:

Monitoring inspiratory effort and dynamic lung stress in patients on pressure support ventilation in the ICU is important for protecting against self inflicted lung injury (P-SILI) and diaphragm dysfunction. Strategies to address the detrimental effects of respiratory drive and effort can lead to improved patient outcomes. Two non-invasive estimation methods, occlusion pressure (Pocc) and P0.1, have been proposed for achieving lung and diaphragm protective ventilation. However, their relationship and interpretation in neuro ICU patients is not well understood. P0.1 is the airway pressure measured during a 100-millisecond occlusion of the inspiratory port. It reflects the neural drive from the respiratory centers to the diaphragm and respiratory muscles, indicating the patient's respiratory drive during the initiation of each breath. Occlusion pressure, measured during a brief inspiratory pause against a closed airway, provides information about the inspiratory muscles' strength and the system's total resistance and compliance. Research Objective: Understanding the relationship between Pocc and P0.1 in brain-injured patients can provide insights into the interpretation of these values in pressure support ventilation. This knowledge can contribute to determining extubation readiness and optimizing ventilation strategies to improve patient outcomes. The central goal is to asses a study protocol for determining the relationship between Pocc and P0.1 in brain-injured patients on pressure support ventilation and their ability to predict successful extubation. Additionally, comparing these values between brain-damaged and non-brain-damaged patients may provide valuable insights. Key Areas of Inquiry: 1. How do Pocc and P0.1 values correlate within brain injury patients undergoing pressure support ventilation? 2. To what extent can Pocc and P0.1 values serve as predictive indicators for successful extubation in patients with brain injuries? 3. What differentiates the Pocc and P0.1 values between patients with brain injuries and those without? Methodology: P0.1 and occlusion pressures are standard measurements for pressure support ventilation patients, taken by attending doctors as per protocol. We utilize electronic patient records for existing data. Unpaired T-test will be conducted to compare P0.1 and Pocc values between both study groups. Associations between P0.1 and Pocc and other study variables, such as extubation, will be explored with simple regression and correlation analysis. Depending on how the data evolve, subgroup analysis will be performed for patients with and without extubation failure. Results: While it is anticipated that neuro patients may exhibit high respiratory drive, the linkage between such elevation, quantified by P0.1, and successful extubation remains unknown The analysis will focus on determining the ability of these values to predict successful extubation and their potential impact on ventilation strategies. Conclusion: Further research is pending to fully understand the potential of these indices and their impact on mechanical ventilation in different patient populations and clinical scenarios. Understanding these relationships can aid in determining extubation readiness and tailoring ventilation strategies to improve patient outcomes in this specific patient population. Additionally, it is vital to account for the influence of sedatives, neurological scores, and BMI on respiratory drive and occlusion pressures to ensure a comprehensive analysis.

Keywords: brain damage, diaphragm dysfunction, occlusion pressure, p0.1, respiratory drive

Procedia PDF Downloads 46

Authors: Jonghoon Kim, Gilwon Yoon

Abstract:

A wrist-band type biosignal measurement system and its data transfer through human body communication (HBC) were investigated. An HBC method based on pulses of ultra-wide band instead of using frequency or amplitude modulations was studied and implemented since the system became very compact and it was more suited for personal or mobile health monitoring. Our system measured photo-plethysmogram (PPG) and measured PPG signals were transmitted through a finger to a monitoring PC system. The device was compact and low-power consuming. HBC communication has very strong security measures since it does not use wireless network. Furthermore, biosignal monitoring system becomes handy because it does not need to have wire connections.

Keywords: biosignal, human body communication, mobile health, PPG, ultrawide band

Procedia PDF Downloads 451

Authors: Ozgun Oktar, Sevilay Can, Cengiz V. Ekici

Abstract:

The oil spill is a form of pollution caused by releasing of a liquid petroleum hydrocarbon into the marine environment. Considering the growth of ship traffic, increasing of off-shore oil drilling and seaside refineries affect the risk of oil spill upward. The oil spill is easy to spread to large areas when occurs especially on the sea surface. Remote sensing technology offers the easiest way to control/monitor the area of the oil spill in a large region. It’s usually easy to detect pollution when occurs by the ship accidents, however monitoring non-accidental pollution could be possible by remote sensing. It is also needed to observe specific regions daily and continuously by satellite solutions. Remote sensing satellites mostly and effectively used for monitoring oil pollution are RADARSAT, ENVISAT and MODIS. Spectral coverage and transition period of these satellites are not proper to monitor Marmara Sea and Istanbul Strait continuously. In this study, RASAT and GOKTURK-2 are suggested to use for monitoring Marmara Sea and Istanbul Strait. RASAT, with spectral resolution 420 – 730 nm, is the first Turkish-built satellite. GOKTURK-2’s resolution can reach up to 2,5 meters. This study aims to analyze the images from both satellites and produce maps to show the regions which have potentially affected by spills from shipping traffic.

Keywords: Marmara Sea, monitoring, oil spill, satellite remote sensing

Procedia PDF Downloads 391

Authors: Katie Dolaghan, Christina Tran, Kim Hamilton, Amanda Beresford, Vicky Adams, Jamie Toole, John Marley

Abstract:

During the Covid 19 pandemic routine outpatient appointments were not possible face to face. That resulted in many branches of healthcare starting virtual clinics. These clinics have continued following the return to face to face patient appointments. With these new types of clinic it is important to ensure that a high standard of patient care is maintained. In order to improve patient and clinician experience of the telephone clinics a quality improvement project was carried out to ensure the patient and clinician experience of these clinics was enhanced whilst remaining a safe, effective and an efficient use of resources. The project began by developing a process map for the consultation process and agreed on the design of a driver diagram and tests of change. In plan do study act (PDSA) cycle1 a single consultant completed an online survey after every patient encounter over a 5 week period. Baseline patient responses were collected using a follow-up telephone survey for each patient. Piloting led to several iterations of both survey designs. Salient results of PDSA1 included; patients not receiving appointment letters, patients feeling more anxious about a virtual appointment and many would prefer a face to face appointment. The initial clinician data showed a positive response with a provisional diagnosis being reached in 96.4% of encounters. PDSA cycle 2 included provision of a patient information sheet and information leaflets relevant to the patients’ conditions were developed and sent following new patient telephone clinics with follow-up survey analysis as before to monitor for signals of change. We also introduced the ability for patients to send an images of their lesion prior to the consultation. Following the changes implemented we noted an improvement in patient satisfaction and, in fact, many patients preferring virtual clinics as it lead to less disruption of their working lives. The extra reading material both before and after the appointments eased patients’ anxiety around virtual clinics and helped them to prepare for their appointment. Following the patient feedback virtual clinics are now used for review patients as well, with all four consultants within the department continuing to utilise virtual clinics. During this presentation the progression of these clinics and the reasons that these clinics are still operating following the return to face to face appointments will be explored. The lessons that have been gained using a QI approach have helped to deliver an optimal service that is valid and reliable as well as being safe, effective and efficient for the patient along with helping reduce the pressures from ever increasing waiting lists. In summary our work in improving the quality of virtual clinics has resulted in improved patient satisfaction along with reduced pressures on the facilities of the health trust.

Keywords: clinic, satisfaction, telephone, virtual

Procedia PDF Downloads 39

Authors: Rachel Ashwell, Sally Millett

Abstract:

Introduction: Adequate post-operative pain relief is a key priority in the delivery of caesarean sections. This improves patient experience, reduces morbidity and enables optimal mother-infant interaction. Recommendations outlined in the NICE guidelines for caesarean section (CS) include offering peri-operative intrathecal/epidural diamorphine and post-operative opioid analgesics; offering non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) unless contraindicated and taking hourly observations for 12 hours following intrathecal diamorphine. Method: This audit assessed the provision of post-CS analgesia in 29 women over a two-week period. Indicators used were the use of intrathecal/epidural opioids, use of post-operative opioids and NSAIDs, frequency of observations and patient satisfaction with pain management on post-operative days 1 and 2. Results: All women received intrathecal/epidural diamorphine, 97% were prescribed post-operative opioids and all were prescribed NSAIDs unless contraindicated. Hourly observations were not maintained for 12 hours following intrathecal diamorphine. 97% of women were satisfied with their pain management on post-operative day 1 whereas only 75% were satisfied on day 2. Discussion: This service meets the proposed standards for the provision of post-operative analgesia, achieving high levels of patient satisfaction 1 day after CS. However, patient satisfaction levels are significantly lower on post-operative day 2, which may be due to reduced frequency of observations. The lack of an official audit standard for patient satisfaction on postoperative day 2 may result in reduced incentive to prioritise pain management at this stage.

Keywords: Caesarean section, analgesia, postoperative care, patient satisfaction

Procedia PDF Downloads 367

Authors: Chukwunonso Igboamalu, Daprim Ogaji

Abstract:

Background: With the limited number of trained health care providers in Nigeria, patent and proprietary medicine vendors (PPMVs) are inevitable and highly needed especially in the rural areas for the supply of drugs in treating minor illnesses. These vendors serve as a crucial link between the healthcare system and the community, aiding in the distribution of medications and healthcare information, particularly in areas with limited hospital infrastructure. Objectives: The study set to measure the participants’ knowledge, attitude and patient referral practice and any association of their characteristics with patient referral. Methodology: This cross-sectional descriptive survey was conducted among PPMVs in Obio-Akpor LGA of Rivers State. Data was collected using a self-administered structured questionnaire and analysed using SPSS version 25. Results: The study showed that 18.3% had adequate knowledge, 62.4% had moderate knowledge and 19.2% had poor knowledge. Attitude was moderate among 73.4% of the study participants with only 13% showing adequate attitude. In reporting their referral practice, 34% showed poor referral practice, 58% reported moderate practice and only 8% showed adequate practice. Conclusion: Various facilitators as well as barriers to patient referral were highlighted by the respondents. This study indicated that while attitude and practice were moderate among respondents, the percentage of PPMVs with the adequate knowledge of patient referral was high. To enhance the effectiveness of patient referrals, addressing barriers to referral and promoting education and training for PPMVs are critical steps forward.

Keywords: knowledge, attitude, practice, barriers, facilitators, patent medicine vendor, referral

Procedia PDF Downloads 39

Authors: Gholam Reza Parvizi, Ali Reza Kargar, Amir Arani

Abstract:

In the present days, learning and teaching researchers have emphasized the role which teachers, tutors, and trainers’ constraint knowledge treat in resizing and trimming what they perform in educational atmosphere. Regarding English language as subject to teaching, although the prominence of instructor’s knowledge about grammar has also been stressed, but the lack of empirical insights into the relationship between teacher’ self-monitoring and self-response of grammar knowledge have been observed. With particular attention to the grammar this article indicates and discusses information obtained self- feedback and conversing teachers of a kind who backwash the issue. The result of the study indicates that enabling teachers to progress and maintain a logical and realistic awareness of their knowledge about grammar have to be prominent goal for teachers’ education and development programs.

Keywords: grammar knowledge, self-monitoring, self-response, teaching grammar, language teaching program

Procedia PDF Downloads 530

Authors: Luís Pina

Abstract:

The conservation of marine biodiversity keeps ecosystems in balance and ensures the sustainable use of resources. In this context, technological resources have been used for monitoring marine species to allow biologists to obtain data in real-time. There are different mobile applications developed for data collection for monitoring purposes, but these systems are designed to be utilized only on third-generation (3G) phones or smartphones with Internet access and in rural parts of the developing countries, Internet services and smartphones are scarce. Thus, the objective of this work is to develop a system to monitor marine turtles using Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD), which users can access through basic mobile phones. The system aims to improve the data collection mechanism and enhance the effectiveness of current systems in monitoring sea turtles using any type of mobile device without Internet access. The system will be able to report information related to the biological activities of marine turtles. Also, it will be used as a platform to assist marine conservation entities to receive reports of illegal sales of sea turtles. The system can also be utilized as an educational tool for communities, providing knowledge and allowing the inclusion of communities in the process of monitoring marine turtles. Therefore, this work may contribute with information to decision-making and implementation of contingency plans for marine conservation programs.

Keywords: GSM, marine biology, marine turtles, unstructured supplementary service data (USSD)

Procedia PDF Downloads 187

Authors: Lateef Bamidele

Abstract:

Over the years, radiographic examinations are the most used diagnostic tools in the Nigerian health care system, but most diagnostic examinations carried out do not have records of patient doses. Lack of adequate information on patient doses has been a major hindrance in quantifying the radiological risk associated with radiographic examinations. This study aimed at estimating dose–area product (DAP) of patient examined in X-Ray units in selected hospitals in Southern Nigeria. The standard projections selected are chest posterior-anterior (PA), abdomen anterior-posterior (AP), pelvis AP, pelvis lateral (LAT), skull AP/PA, skull LAT, lumbar spine AP, lumbar spine, LAT. Measurement of entrance surface dose (ESD) was carried out using thermoluminescent dosimeter (TLD). Measured ESDs were converted into DAP using the beam area of patients. The results show that the mean DAP ranged from 0.17 to 18.35 Gycm². The results obtained in this study when compared with those of NRPB-HPE were found to be higher. These are an indication of non optimization of operational conditions.

Keywords: dose–area product, radiographic examinations, patient doses, optimization

Procedia PDF Downloads 156

Authors: Jifang Tao, Fei Gao, Hong Cai, Yuan Jin Zheng, Yuan Dong Gu

Abstract:

Photoacoustic technology is used to measure effect absorption of a light by means of acoustic detection, which provides a high sensitive, low-cross response, cost-effective solution for gas molecular detection. In this paper, we proposed an integrated photoacoustic sensor for Indoor-air quality (IAQ) monitoring. The sensor consists of an acoustically resonant cavity, a high silicon acoustic transducer chip, and a low-cost light source. The light is modulated at the resonant frequency of the cavity to create an enhanced periodic heating and result in an amplified acoustic pressure wave. The pressure is readout by a novel acoustic transducer with low noise. Based on this photoacoustic sensor, typical indoor gases, including CO2, CO, O2, and H2O have been successfully detected, and their concentration are also evaluated with very high accuracy. It has wide potential applications in IAQ monitoring for agriculture, food industry, and ventilation control systems used in public places, such as schools, hospitals and airports.

Keywords: indoor-air quality (IAQ) monitoring, photoacoustic gas sensor, cavity enhancement, integrated gas sensor

Procedia PDF Downloads 636

Authors: Visith Siriphuwanun, Yodying Punjasawadwong, Suwinai Saengyo, Kittipan Rerkasem

Abstract:

Objective: To determine incidences and factors associated with perioperative cardiac arrest in trauma patients who received anesthesia for emergency surgery. Design and setting: Retrospective cohort study in trauma patients during anesthesia for emergency surgery at a university hospital in northern Thailand country. Patients and methods: This study was permitted by the medical ethical committee, Faculty of Medicine at Maharaj Nakorn Chiang Mai Hospital, Thailand. We clarified data of 19,683 trauma patients receiving anesthesia within a decade between January 2007 to March 2016. The data analyzed patient characteristics, traumas surgery procedures, anesthesia information such as ASA physical status classification, anesthesia techniques, anesthetic drugs, location of anesthesia performed, and cardiac arrest outcomes. This study excluded the data of trauma patients who had received local anesthesia by surgeons or monitoring anesthesia care (MAC) and the patient which missing more information. The factor associated with perioperative cardiac arrest was identified with univariate analyses. Multiple regressions model for risk ratio (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were used to conduct factors correlated with perioperative cardiac arrest. The multicollinearity of all variables was examined by bivariate correlation matrix. A stepwise algorithm was chosen at a p-value less than 0.02 was selected to further multivariate analysis. A P-value of less than 0.05 was concluded as statistically significant. Measurements and results: The occurrence of perioperative cardiac arrest in trauma patients receiving anesthesia for emergency surgery was 170.04 per 10,000 cases. Factors associated with perioperative cardiac arrest in trauma patients were age being more than 65 years (RR=1.41, CI=1.02–1.96, p=0.039), ASA physical status 3 or higher (RR=4.19–21.58, p < 0.001), sites of surgery (intracranial, intrathoracic, upper intra-abdominal, and major vascular, each p < 0.001), cardiopulmonary comorbidities (RR=1.55, CI=1.10–2.17, p < 0.012), hemodynamic instability with shock prior to receiving anesthesia (RR=1.60, CI=1.21–2.11, p < 0.001) , special techniques for surgery such as cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) and hypotensive techniques (RR=5.55, CI=2.01–15.36, p=0.001; RR=6.24, CI=2.21–17.58, p=0.001, respectively), and patients who had a history of being alcoholic (RR=5.27, CI=4.09–6.79, p < 0.001). Conclusion: Incidence of perioperative cardiac arrest in trauma patients receiving anesthesia for emergency surgery was very high and correlated with many factors, especially age of patient and cardiopulmonary comorbidities, patient having a history of alcoholic addiction, increasing ASA physical status, preoperative shock, special techniques for surgery, and sites of surgery including brain, thorax, abdomen, and major vascular region. Anesthesiologists and multidisciplinary teams in pre- and perioperative periods should remain alert for warning signs of pre-cardiac arrest and be quick to manage the high-risk group of surgical trauma patients. Furthermore, a healthcare policy should be promoted for protecting against accidents in high-risk groups of the population as well.

Keywords: perioperative cardiac arrest, trauma patients, emergency surgery, anesthesia, factors risk, incidence

Procedia PDF Downloads 143

Authors: Jia Liu

Abstract:

This article explores the shifting nature of physician-patient relationship in mainland China. Specifically, it takes the physician-patient relationship during the barefoot doctor program in 1968-1978, the marketization of healthcare services in 1978-2002, and the healthcare reform in 2003-2020 as three typical historical periods, illustrating how the nature of the physician-patient relationship has changed over time in mainland China. Drawing on recent jurisprudential literature that emphasizes the roles and functions done by and through obligation rather than right, it explores how the obligations of physicians and patients along with the implementation of informed consent, marketization of the healthcare system, and the basic healthcare reform have affected their relationship. One key feature of this article is that it analyzes the ways in which commodification and decommodification of healthcare have defined and in many different ways have determined the expectations and practices of physicians and patients, which illustrates how the trust between physicians and patients threatens to collapse and the bond between the citizen and the state fails to be firmly established in the mainland Chinese healthcare context. It also pays special attention to the role played by law and legal institutions—for instance, the implementation of informed consent and the liability law—in being complicit in facilitating the decoupling of the practices of physicians and patients from their ethical senses of obligation and undermining the bond (the trust relationship) between them.

Keywords: healthcare, marketization, physician-patient relationship, sense of obligation

Procedia PDF Downloads 122

Authors: Sophia Shi

Abstract:

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is the sudden onset of kidney damage in which the kidneys cannot filter waste from the blood, requiring emergency hospitalization. AKI patient mortality rate is high in the ICU and is virtually impossible for doctors to predict because it is so unexpected. Currently, there is no hybrid model predicting AKI that takes advantage of two types of data. De-identified patient data from the MIMIC-III database and de-identified kidney images and corresponding patient records from the Beijing Hospital of the Ministry of Health were collected. Using data features including serum creatinine among others, two numeric models using MIMIC and Beijing Hospital data were built, and with the hospital ultrasounds, an image-only model was built. Convolutional neural networks (CNN) were used, VGG and Resnet for numeric data and Resnet for image data, and they were combined into a hybrid model by concatenating feature maps of both types of models to create a new input. This input enters another CNN block and then two fully connected layers, ending in a binary output after running through Softmax and additional code. The hybrid model successfully predicted AKI and the highest AUROC of the model was 0.953, achieving an accuracy of 90% and F1-score of 0.91. This model can be implemented into urgent clinical settings such as the ICU and aid doctors by assessing the risk of AKI shortly after the patient’s admission to the ICU, so that doctors can take preventative measures and diminish mortality risks and severe kidney damage.

Keywords: Acute kidney injury, Convolutional neural network, Hybrid deep learning, Patient record data, ResNet, Ultrasound kidney images, VGG

Procedia PDF Downloads 107

Authors: Carmen E. Zapata, José F. Jiménez, Mauricio Ramiréz, Natalia A. Cano

Abstract:

The majority of the urban areas in Latin America face the challenges associated with city planning and development problems, attributed to human, technical, and economical factors; therefore, we cannot ignore the issues related to climate change because the city modifies the natural landscape in a significant way transforming the radiation balance and heat content in the urbanized areas. These modifications provoke changes in the temperature distribution known as “the heat island effect”. According to this phenomenon, we have the need to conceive the urban planning based on climatological patterns that will assure its sustainable functioning, including the particularities of the climate variability. In the present study, it is identified the Local Climate Zones (LCZ) in the Metropolitan Area of the Aburrá Valley (Colombia) with the objective of relocate the air quality monitoring stations as a partial solution to the problem of how to measure representative air quality levels in a city for a local scale, but with instruments that measure in the microscale.

Keywords: air quality, monitoring, local climatic zones, valley, monitoring stations

Procedia PDF Downloads 244