Technology and Health Care - Volume 24, issue 6

Authors: Thanaraj, Palani | Roshini, Mable | Balasubramanian, Parvathavarthini

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: BACKGROUND: The fetal electrocardiogram (FECG) signals are essential to monitor the health condition of the baby. Fetal heart rate (FHR) is commonly used for diagnosing certain abnormalities in the formation of the heart. Usually, non-invasive abdominal electrocardiogram (AbECG) signals are obtained by placing surface electrodes in the abdomen region of the pregnant woman. AbECG signals are often not suitable for the direct analysis of fetal heart activity. Moreover, the strength and magnitude of the FECG signals are low compared to the maternal electrocardiogram (MECG) signals. The MECG signals are often superimposed with the FECG signals that make the monitoring …of FECG signals a difficult task. OBJECTIVE: Primary goal of the paper is to separate the fetal electrocardiogram (FECG) signals from the unwanted maternal electrocardiogram (MECG) signals. METHOD: A multivariate signal processing procedure is proposed here that combines the Multivariate Empirical Mode Decomposition (MEMD) and Independent Component Analysis (ICA). RESULTS: The proposed method is evaluated with clinical abdominal signals taken from three pregnant women (N= 3) recorded during the 38-41 weeks of the gestation period. The number of fetal R-wave detected (NEFQRS ), the number of unwanted maternal peaks (NMQRS ), the number of undetected fetal R-wave (NUFQRS ) and the FHR detection accuracy quantifies the performance of our method. Clinical investigation with three test subjects shows an overall detection accuracy of 92.8%. CONCLUSION: Comparative analysis with benchmark signal processing method such as ICA suggests the noteworthy performance of our method. Show more

Keywords: Multivariate empirical mode decomposition, independent component analysis, fetal ECG, maternal ECG, signal separation, fetal heart rate

DOI: 10.3233/THC-161224

Citation: Technology and Health Care, vol. 24, no. 6, pp. 783-794, 2016

Authors: Behbahani, Soroor | Dabanloo, Nader Jafarnia | Nasrabadi, Ali Motie | Dourado, Antonio

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Until now, different approaches have been published to resolve the problem of predicting epileptic seizures. The results are reminiscent of a substantial need for improvements in these methods to reach the stage of the clinical application. Our aim is to develop a reliable epileptic seizure prediction algorithm based on the Heart Rate Variability (HRV) analysis. METHODS: We analyzed the HRV of sixteen epileptic patients with a total of 170 seizures, to predict the occurrence of seizures based on the dynamic changes of Electrocardiogram (ECG) during the pre-ictal period. Time and frequency-domain features were computed forthe …consecutive time windows with a length of five minutes. An adaptive decision threshold method was used for raising alarms. Predictions were made when selected features exceeded the decision thresholds. RESULTS: For the seizure occurrence period (SOP) of 4:30 minutes, and intervention time (IT) of 110 Sec, the presented method showed an average sensitivity of 78.59%, and average false prediction rate of 0.21/Hr, which indicates that the system has superiority to the random predictor. CONCLUSION: The proposed approach shows a potential in the monitoring of epileptic patients and improving their life quality. The overall performance of the algorithm is a step forward for clinical implementation. Show more

Keywords: Epilepsy, HRV, prediction, threshold, circadian rhythm

DOI: 10.3233/THC-161225

Citation: Technology and Health Care, vol. 24, no. 6, pp. 795-810, 2016

Authors: Najafi, Ali | Ghanei, Mostafa | Jamalkandi, Sadegh Azimzadeh

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: Airway Remodeling, a patho-physiologic process, is considered as a key feature of chronic airway diseases. In recent years, our understanding of the complex diseases has increased significantly by the use of combined approaches, including systems biology, which may contribute to the development of personalized and predictive medicine approaches. Integrative analysis, along with the cooperation of clinicians, computer scientists, research scientists, and bench scientists, has become an important part of the experimental design and therapeutic strategies in the era of omics. The airway remodeling process is the result of the dysregulation of several signaling pathways that modulate the airway regeneration; therefore, …high-throughput experiments and systems biology approach can help to understand this process better. The study reviews related literature and is consistent with the existing clinical evidence. Show more

Keywords: Airway remodeling, systems biology, clinical strategy

DOI: 10.3233/THC-161228

Citation: Technology and Health Care, vol. 24, no. 6, pp. 811-819, 2016

Authors: Zhang, Shuang | Pun, Sio Hang | Mak, Peng Un | Qin, Yu-Ping | Liu, Yi-He | Vai, Mang I.

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: In this study, an experiment was designed to verify the low power consumption of galvanic coupling human-body communication. A silver electrode (silver content: 99%) is placed in a pig leg and a sine wave signal with the power of 0 dBm is input. Compared with radio frequency communication and antenna transmission communication, attenuation is reduced by approximately 10 to 15 dB, so channel characteristics are highly improved.

Keywords: Implantable, galvanic coupling human-body communication, attenuation, measurement

DOI: 10.3233/THC-161229

Citation: Technology and Health Care, vol. 24, no. 6, pp. 821-826, 2016

Authors: Fragidis, Leonidas L. | Chatzoglou, Prodromos D. | Aggelidis, Vassilios P.

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: BACKGROUND: The integration of heterogeneous electronic health records systems by building an interoperable nationwide electronic health record system provides undisputable benefits in health care, like superior health information quality, medical errors prevention and cost saving. OBJECTIVE: This paper proposes a semi-distributed system architecture approach for an integrated national electronic health record system incorporating the advantages of the two dominant approaches, the centralized architecture and the distributed architecture. METHODS: The high level design of the main elements for the proposed architecture is provided along with diagrams of execution and operation and data …synchronization architecture for the proposed solution. RESULTS: The proposed approach effectively handles issues related to redundancy, consistency, security, privacy, availability, load balancing, maintainability, complexity and interoperability of citizen's health data. CONCLUSIONS: The proposed semi-distributed architecture offers a robust interoperability framework without healthcare providers to change their local EHR systems. It is a pragmatic approach taking into account the characteristics of the Greek national healthcare system along with the national public administration data communication network infrastructure, for achieving EHR integration with acceptable implementation cost. Show more

Keywords: Electronic health records, system integration, interoperability, semi-distributed architecture, middleware, ehealth

DOI: 10.3233/THC-161231

Citation: Technology and Health Care, vol. 24, no. 6, pp. 827-842, 2016

Authors: DesJardins, Ashley M. | Schiller, Martha | Eraqi, Enas | Samuels, Amanda Nicole | Galen, Sujay S.

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: BACKGROUND: The wireless gait assessment tool (Wi-GAT) measures have been shown to have good to excellent concurrent validity with preferred walking speeds, however, the validity of the Wi-GAT measures at slow and fast walking speeds is unknown. OBJECTIVE: To establish validity of the Wi-GAT spatio-temporal gait measures at slow, fast, and preferred walking speeds. METHODS: Twenty two healthy adult volunteers, with a mean age of 25.7 (± 5.3) participated in this study. The spatio-temporal gait variables of each participant were concurrently recorded using the GAITrite and the Wi-GAT system, while the …participants performed 3 trials for each walking speed in a randomized order. Intraclass correlation analyses were performed to establish the agreement between the measures recorded by the GAITrite and Wi-GAT systems. RESULTS: Walking speed measured both by the Wi-GAT and the GAITrite systems showed excellent agreement for preferred (ICC = 0.979 p< 0.001), slow (ICC = 0.989 p< 0.001) and fast (ICC = 0.967 p< 0.001) walking speeds. Most gait parameters recorded at slow walking speed showed good (ICC > 0.70) to excellent (ICC > 0.85) agreement. CONCLUSIONS: Gait parameters recorded by the Wi-GAT system showed fair to excellent validity for preferred and slow walking speeds. Show more

Keywords: Gait analysis, gait speed, spatio-temporal gait parameters, wireless sensors

DOI: 10.3233/THC-161232

Citation: Technology and Health Care, vol. 24, no. 6, pp. 843-852, 2016

Authors: Ojoawo, Adesola O. | Olaogun, Matthew O.B. | Hassan, Mariam A.

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: PURPOSE: The study compared the effects of isometric quadriceps exercise and proprioceptive exercise on pain, joint stiffness and physical difficulties of patients with knee osteoarthritis. SUBJECTS: Forty-five patients with history of knee osteoarthritis were randomly allocated into two groups; A with 23 subjects and B with 22 subjects. METHODS: All subjects received infrared radiation for 20 minutes and kneading massage with methyl salicylate ointment. Group A underwent proprioceptive exercises while Group B had isometric quadriceps exercise. Each exercise session lasted for 10 minutes according to standard protocol, twice in a …week for six weeks. Pre-treatment, 3rd week and 6th week pain intensity, joint stiffness and physical difficulties were assessed using Western Ontario McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) questionnaire. Statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 17 was used to analyse the data while descriptive and inferential statistics were used to summarise the result. RESULTS: Proprioceptive exercises reduced pain intensity significantly (F = 4.76; p = 0.00) at 6th week with effect size of 2.79, and physical difficulty (F = 3.69; p < 0.04) with effect size of 7.53 better than isometric exercises. There was a significant reduction in the pain intensity (F = 12.08; p < 0.001), and physical difficulties (F = 3.69, p = 0.04) in pre-treatment, 3rd week and 6th week in both Group A and B. CONCLUSION: Both exercises are effective but proprioceptive exercises may be more effective in the management of patients with knee osteoarthritis (KOA) than isometric exercises. Show more

Keywords: Knee osteoarthritis, proprioceptive exercises, isometric exercise, pain intensity, joint stiffness

DOI: 10.3233/THC-161234

Citation: Technology and Health Care, vol. 24, no. 6, pp. 853-863, 2016

Authors: Russell, Robert D. | Huo, Michael H. | Rodrigues, Danieli C. | Kosmopoulos, Victor

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Stable femoral fixation during uncemented total hip arthroplasty is critical to allow for subsequent osseointegration of the prosthesis. Varying stem designs provide surgeons with multiple options to gain femoral fixation. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to compare the initial fixation stability of cylindrical and tapered stem implants using two different underreaming techniques (press-fit conditions) for revision total hip arthroplasty (THA). METHODS: A finite element femur model was created from three-dimensional computed tomography images simulating a trabecular bone defect commonly observed in revision THA. Two 18-mm generic femoral hip implants were …modeled using the same geometry, differing only in that one had a cylindrical stem and the other had a 2 degree tapered stem. Surgery was simulated using a 0.05-mm and 0.01-mm press-fit and tested with a physiologically relevant loading protocol. RESULTS: Mean contact pressure was influenced more by the surgical technique than by the stem geometry. The 0.05-mm press-fit condition resulted in the highest contact pressures for both the cylindrical (27.35 MPa) and tapered (20.99 MPa) stems. Changing the press-fit to 0.01-mm greatly decreased the contact pressure by 79.8% and 78.5% for the cylindrical (5.53 MPa) and tapered (4.52 MPa) models, respectively. The cylindrical stem geometry consistently showed less relative micromotion at all the cross-sections sampled as compared to the tapered stem regardless of press-fit condition. CONCLUSIONS: This finite element analysis study demonstrates that tapered stem results in lower average contact pressure and greater micromotion at the implant-bone interface than a cylindrical stem geometry. More studies are needed to establish how these different stem geometries perform in such non-ideal conditions encountered in revision THA cases where less bone stock is available. Show more

Keywords: Finite element analysis, total hip replacement, mechanics, arthroplasty, orthopaedics

DOI: 10.3233/THC-161235

Citation: Technology and Health Care, vol. 24, no. 6, pp. 865-872, 2016

Authors: Frosini, Francesco | Miniati, Roberto | Grillone, Saverio | Dori, Fabrizio | Gentili, Guido Biffi | Belardinelli, Andrea

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: OBJECTIVES: The following study proposes and tests an integrated methodology involving Health Technology Assessment (HTA) and Failure Modes, Effects and Criticality Analysis (FMECA) for the assessment of specific aspects related to robotic surgery involving safety, process and technology. METHODS: The integrated methodology consists of the application of specific techniques coming from the HTA joined to the aid of the most typical models from reliability engineering such as FMEA/FMECA. The study has also included in-site data collection and interviews to medical personnel. RESULTS: The total number of robotic procedures included in the analysis was …44: 28 for urology and 16 for general surgery. The main outcomes refer to the comparative evaluation between robotic, laparoscopic and open surgery. Risk analysis and mitigation interventions come from FMECA application. CONCLUSIONS: The small sample size available for the study represents an important bias, especially for the clinical outcomes reliability. Despite this, the study seems to confirm the better trend for robotics' surgical times with comparison to the open technique as well as confirming the robotics' clinical benefits in urology. More complex situation is observed for general surgery, where robotics' clinical benefits directly measured are the lowest blood transfusion rate. Show more

Keywords: Robotic surgery, FMECA, HTA

DOI: 10.3233/THC-161236

Citation: Technology and Health Care, vol. 24, no. 6, pp. 873-887, 2016

Authors: Manimaran, S. | Jayakumar, S. | Lakshmi, K. Bhagya

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: Education Management Information System (EMIS) is a widely acceptable and developing technology within the Information Technology field. The advancement in technology in this century is being collaborated with scientific invention or explorer and information strengthening or development. This paper presents the results and experiences gained from applying students oriented EMIS for monitoring and managing mental health. The Mental Health of students depends on the acquiring adequate knowledge on basic concepts within a time period or academic schedule. It's obviously significance to evaluate and appraise the stress stimulators as a challenge or threat. The theoretical framework for the …study was designed for analyzing the stress stimulators, academic performance and EMIS accessibility. The sample examined in this study was stratified random sample from 75 students specifically all engineering college in Dindigul District of Tamilnadu. The primary factor is the academic stress stimulators that form one module of EMIS for each of the key variable such as curriculum & instruction related stressors, placement related, teamwork related and assessment related. The Mental Health related stress stimulators namely curriculum & syllabus, placement related, assessment related and team work related have a significant influence on academic performance by students in various institution. The important factor leading to the EMIS application in monitoring stress stimulators is curriculum & syllabus related and assessment related. Show more

Keywords: EMIS, stress management, Mental Health, academic stress, stress stimulators

DOI: 10.3233/THC-161250

Citation: Technology and Health Care, vol. 24, no. 6, pp. 889-897, 2016