Technology and Health Care - Volume 30, issue S1

Authors: Kim, Ji-Won | Eom, Gwang-Moon | Kwon, Yu-Ri

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Infant care activities can induce musculoskeletal disease. However, little is known about the biomechanical joint load during lifting-up of an infant. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate normalized maximum moment during lifting-up of infant dummies weighing 4.6 kg, 7.6 kg, and 9.8 kg. METHODS: Six healthy young subjects participated in our study. All subjects performed lifting-up activities of dummies to shoulder height with their feet apart and natural postures in their comfortable speed. Three-dimensional reflective marker trajectories and ground reaction forces were used as input to calculate joint moments using a full …body musculoskeletal model. Joint moments were normalized by each subject’s body mass. Friedman’s test was performed to compare mean differences of normalized joint moments for lifting up three dummy weights. RESULTS: Lumbar joint had the greatest normalized joint moment. Lumbar and hip extension moments were significantly increased with dummy weight (P < 0.05). In contrast, knee extension and ankle plantarflexion moment were not significantly affected by dummy weight (P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: These results indicate that the lumbar joint plays the most important role in infant lifting-up motion and that the load of lumbar and hip joint should be reduced when lifting a heavier infant. These results could contribute to the development of an effective lifting strategy and an assisting device for lifting an infant. Show more

Keywords: Joint moment, back pain, inverse dynamic simulation, infant care, lifting-up motion

DOI: 10.3233/THC-THC228040

Citation: Technology and Health Care, vol. 30, no. S1, pp. 441-450, 2022

Authors: He, Min-Fan | Liang, Yong | Huang, Hai-Hui

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Targeted therapy using anti-TNF (tumor necrosis factor) is the first option for patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Anti-TNF therapy, however, does not lead to meaningful clinical improvement in many RA patients. To predict which patients will not benefit from anti-TNF therapy, clinical tests should be performed prior to treatment beginning. OBJECTIVE: Although various efforts have been made to identify biomarkers and pathways that may be helpful to predict the response to anti-TNF treatment, gaps remain in clinical use due to the low predictive power of the selected biomarkers. METHODS: In this paper, …we used a network-based computational method to identify the select the predictive biomarkers to guide the treatment of RA patients. RESULTS: We select 69 genes from peripheral blood expression data from 46 subjects using a sparse network-based method. The result shows that the selected 69 genes might influence biological processes and molecular functions related to the treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Our approach advances the predictive power of anti-TNF therapy response and provides new genetic markers and pathways that may influence the treatment. Show more

Keywords: Rheumatoid arthritis, anti-TNF, network-based

DOI: 10.3233/THC-THC228041

Citation: Technology and Health Care, vol. 30, no. S1, pp. 451-457, 2022

Authors: Yan, Gen | Cheng, Xiaofang | Wu, Shuohua | Ge, Yuxi | Li, Shanhua | Xuan, Yinghua

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) is a minimally invasive technique for the diagnosis and management of small pulmonary nodular lesions However, the identification of some lung nodules remains difficult. OBJECTIVE: This research aimed to investigate the clinical value of preoperative computed tomography (CT)-guided hookwire localization of solitary pulmonary nodules (SPNs) for thoracoscopic resection. METHODS: Seventy-one patients with 74 SPNs underwent VATS wedge resection after CT-guided hookwire localization. The mean diameter of the SPNs was 8.50 ± 4.53 mm,,besides, the mean distance from the SPNs to the parietal pleura was 16.81 ± …5.23 mm. RESULTS: Sixty-nine of the 74 nodules were successfully localized using a CT-guided hookwire. The success rate of CT-guided localization was 93.2%. The average localization time was 15.23 ± 7.21 min per lesion. Seven patients (9.5%) had asymptomatic pneumothorax and 10 (13.5%) had minimal needle tract parenchymal hemorrhages after localization no clinical intervention was required for these patients. The rate of success for VATS wedge resection of the SPNs was 100%. Histological analysis of the SPNs revealed malignant disease in 67.4% of the patients. CONCLUSIONS: Preoperative CT-guided hookwire localization for thoracoscopic resection is a safe and effective operation for the identification and stable fixation of SPNs. Show more

Keywords: Solitary pulmonary nodules, CT-guided, hookwire, video-assisted thoracic surgery

DOI: 10.3233/THC-THC228042

Citation: Technology and Health Care, vol. 30, no. S1, pp. 459-467, 2022

Authors: Hao, Chenru | Cheng, Li | Guo, Lisha | Zhao, Ruibin | Wu, Yanru | Li, Xiuyuan | Chi, Ziqiang | Zhang, Jingjing | Liu, Xu | Ma, Xiaohan | Wang, Anqi | Dong, Chunnan | Li, Jing

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Spatial disorientation (SD) is a problem that pilots often encounter during a flight. One reason for this problem is that among the three types of SD, there is no validated method to detect the Type I (unrecognized) SD. OBJECTIVE: In this pursuit, initially we reviewed the problems and the evaluation methods of associated with SD. Subsequently, we discussed the advantages and disadvantages of the subjective questionnaire evaluation method and the behavior evaluation method. METHODS: On the basis of these analyses, we proposed a method to detect the unrecognized SD that improved the …assessment of SD to a significant extent. We developed a new direction to study the unrecognized SD based on the subjective report and the center of pressure (CoP). RESULTS: The proposed evaluation method can assist the pilots to understand the feelings and physical changes, when exposed to unrecognized SD. CONCLUSION: We hope that this evaluation method can provide a strong support in developing a countermeasure against the unrecognized SD and fundamentally solve the severe flight accidents arising due to them. Show more

Keywords: Aerospace medicine, spatial disorientation, evaluation method, cognition, postural sway

DOI: 10.3233/THC-THC228043

Citation: Technology and Health Care, vol. 30, no. S1, pp. 469-480, 2022

Authors: Shen, Zhangmin | Chou, Ying-Hsiang | Lu, Cheng-Chang | Huang, Ren-Jing | Ke, Ching-Hsiu | Pan, Lung-Kwang | Chen, Chien-Yi

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: BACKGROUND: In the last 40 years, the number of deaths due to cancer has been the highest in Taiwan OBJECTIVE: To optimize the readout system of the thermoluminescent dosimeter (TLD)-100H, the radiation rates among the Tomotherapy (TOMO) facility of the Department of Radiology Oncology of Chung Shan Medical University Hospital (CSMUH) were calculated with a 3 2 full factorial design (FFD). METHODS: A ten-month survey of the facility was employed using the sensitive and accurate TLD method. The TLD system was optimized for maximum temperature, heat rate, and …preheat temperature of Harshaw 3500 reader. Eight analyzed groups with different factors were tested. RESULTS: The TOMO facility had significantly different radiation rates. The farther away from the gantry head, environmental radiation rates. The half value layer (HVL) was also determined. These results were compared with published. No significant contributions of environmental gamma radiations were detected except in the treatment room. CONCLUSIONS: Those were far below the occupational doses recommended by ICRP 60. Show more

Keywords: Full factorial design, tomotherapy facility, environmental radiations, thermoluminescence dosimeter (TLD), half value layer (HVL)

DOI: 10.3233/THC-THC228044

Citation: Technology and Health Care, vol. 30, no. S1, pp. 481-491, 2022

Authors: Liu, Yanfei | Lei, Pengcheng | Wang, Yu | Zhou, Jingjie | Zhang, Jie | Cao, Hui

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Prediction of the depth of anesthesia is a difficult job in the biomedical field. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to build a boosting-based prediction model to predict the depth of anesthesia based on four clinical monitoring data. METHODS: Boosting is a framework algorithm that is used to train a series of weak learners into strong learners by assigning different weights according to their classification accuracy. The input of the boosting-based prediction model included four types of clinical monitoring data: electromyography, end-tidal carbon dioxide partial pressure, remifentanil dosage, and flow rate. The output was …the depth of anesthesia. RESULTS: The boosting framework model built in this study achieved higher prediction accuracy and a lower discrete degree in predicting the depth of anesthesia compared with the DT-, KNN-, and SVM-based models. CONCLUSIONS: The boosting framework was used to set up a prediction model to predict the depth of anesthesia based on four clinical monitoring data. In the experiments, the boosting framework model of this study achieved higher prediction accuracy and a lower discrete degree. This model will be useful in predicting the depth of anesthesia. Show more

Keywords: Boosting framework, depth of anesthesia, prediction model

DOI: 10.3233/THC-THC228045

Citation: Technology and Health Care, vol. 30, no. S1, pp. 493-500, 2022

Authors: Yang, Jin | Chen, Xiaodong | Cai, Huaiyu | Wang, Yi

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: BACKGROUND: The beamforming algorithm is key to the image quality of the medical ultrasound system. The generalized sidelobe canceler (GSC) beamforming can improve the image quality in lateral resolution, but the contrast is not improved correspondingly. OBJECTIVE: In our research, we try to optimize the generalized sidelobe canceler to obtain images that achieve an improvement in both lateral resolution and contrast. METHODS: We put forward a new beamforming algorithm which combines the generalized sidelobe canceler and Eigenspace-Wiener postfilter. According to eigenspace decomposition of the covariance matrix of the received data, the components of …the Wiener postfilter can be calculated from the signal matrix and the noise matrix. Then, the adaptive weight vector of GSC is further constrained by the Eigenspace-Wiener postfilter, which make the output energy of the receiving array closer to the desired signal than the conventional GSC output. RESULTS: We compare the new beamforming algorithm with delay-and-sum (DS) beamforming, synthetic aperture (SA) beamforming, and GSC beamforming using the simulated and experimental data sets. The quantitative results show that our method reduces the FWHM by 85.5%, 80.5%, and 38.9% while improving the CR by 123.6%, 47.7%, 84.4% on basis of DS, SA, and GSC beamforming, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The new beamforming algorithm can obviously improve the imaging quality of medical ultrasound imaging systems in both lateral resolution and contrast. Show more

Keywords: Adaptive beamforming, generalized sidelobe canceler, Wiener postfilter, eigenspace

DOI: 10.3233/THC-THC228046

Citation: Technology and Health Care, vol. 30, no. S1, pp. 501-512, 2022

Authors: Choi, Hojong

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: BACKGROUND: The limiters have been used to protect the ultrasound receivers because of the inherent characteristic of the transducers which are required to use the high voltage excitation to obtain the reasonable echo signal amplitudes. OBJECTIVE: Among the variety of the limiters, the performances of discharge voltage degradation from the limiters gradually deteriorate the whole ultrasound systems according to the applied voltages of the ultrasonic transducers. This could cause the ultrasound systems to be unreliable for the long-term operations, resulting in possibly breaking the receiver systems. METHODS: Designed limiters were evaluated with insertion …loss, total harmonic distortion, and pulse-echo responses with the ultrasound transducer devices. RESULTS: Designed new dual-resistor-diode limiters exhibited greater and faster suppression of the pulse width (1.15 V and 6.1 μ s) for high-voltage signals. CONCLUSIONS: Our proposed dual-resistor-diode limiter could be one of the potential candidates for reliable ultrasound receiver system. Show more

Keywords: Dual-resistor-diode limiter, ultrasound receiver system, transducers

DOI: 10.3233/THC-228047

Citation: Technology and Health Care, vol. 30, no. S1, pp. 513-520, 2022

Authors: Lyu, Ruo-yun | Wen, Zong-lin | Tang, Wen-chao | Yang, Xu-ming | Wen, Jun-ling | Wang, Bo | Gao, Ming

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Neck pain is the most common symptom of cervical spondylosis. OBJECTIVE: To discuss the indications for conventional acupuncture therapy (CAT) and motion style acupuncture therapy (MSAT) combined with CAT in neck pain patients using data mining. METHOD: Seventy-six participants with neck pain were recruited and randomly divided into two paralleled groups. Participants in intervention group received two-course MSAT at Houxi (SI3) and CAT at local neck region, while the control group received CAT at neck only. Take the SF-36 score scale and pain pressure threshold (PPT) values as the raw data and …use data-mining to evaluate the clinical effect of two treatments. RESULT: Both groups have the best effect after one-time and one-course treatment. The main factors influencing effect most are Role-Emotional (RE), Physical Functioning (PF) and Social Functioning (SF) in intervention group, while it transfers to General Health (GH), RE and SF in control group. To patients in intervention group who scores 41.70 to 68.70 in PF before treatment, MSAT can effectively improve the restriction of activities and play an analgesic effect; to patients in control group who score 56.09 to 66.09 in GH before treatment, CAT may have curative effect. CONCLUSION: Both MSAT and CAT can improve the life-quality of neck pain patients. Patients with high general health status before treatment can choose CAT, while patients who score mild to moderate decline in physiological function can choose MSAT combined with CAT. Show more

Keywords: Chronic neck pain, acupuncture, motion style acupuncture therapy, SF-36, pain pressure threshold

DOI: 10.3233/THC-228048

Citation: Technology and Health Care, vol. 30, no. S1, pp. 521-533, 2022

Authors: Zhu, Yamei | Tang, Lei | Chen, Qiao | Chen, Man

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: BACKGROUND: The diagnosis of benign and malignant menopausal endometrial lesions (MEL) is often misled by complicated clinical indicators and ultrasonographic parameters in actual clinical applications. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the performance of clinical indicators and ultrasonographic parameters in the diagnosis of MEL. METHODS: A cohort of 156 enrolled menopausal patients with MEL was divided into benign group (128 cases) and malignant group (28 cases). Two clinical indicators of patient age (PA), abnormal vaginal bleeding (AVB) and three transvaginal ultrasonography (TVS) parameters of endometrial thickness (ET), endometrial uneven echo (EUE) and endometrial blood flow signal …(EBFS) were measured for the mathematical modelling. The performance of combined indicators and individual indicators were firstly compared, and then the optimized combined indicators was compared with corresponding individual indicators, respectively. RESULTS: Our experiments verified that the mathematical modelling presented robust capabilities in the diagnosis of MEL with the sensitivity, specificity and AUC of 78.6%, 75.8% and 0.83 for combined indicators, and 75.0%, 81.3% and 0.85 for optimized combined indicators, respectively. The cut off thresholds of PA was 57.5 years, ET was 11.5 mm. Furthermore, the AVB presented the most important risk factor among the optimized indicators of PA, ET and AVB (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The combined indicators presented better performance in differentiating benign and malignant MEL and the AVB demonstrated the most capability for clinical applications. Show more

Keywords: Transvaginal ultrasonography (TVS), menopausal endometrial lesions (MEL), scoring model, multivariate logistic regression

DOI: 10.3233/THC-228049

Citation: Technology and Health Care, vol. 30, no. S1, pp. 535-544, 2022

Authors: Li, Kai | Zhang, Shuang | Qiu, XuZhong | Huang, HaiJun | Sheng, Hao | Zhang, Yun | Chang, Jihui | Kuang, Jiangming | Yang, Jining

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Tibial plateau fracture is a common fracture encountered in the clinic. OBJECTIVE: This study determined the optimal timing and surgical approach for patients with tibial plateau fracture. METHODS: Fifty-two patients with complex tibial plateau fractures were treated in our hospital (the People’s Hospital of Zhongjiang County) between 2013 and 2015. These patients were recruited as participants in this study; all patients were randomly allocated into two groups of 26 patients each. Patients in Group 1 underwent single-incision, single-plate knee surgeries via an antero-lateral approach, and patients in Group 2 underwent anterior median …incisions of the knee for double-plate surgeries. The effects of the approaches were compared and analyzed. RESULTS: The best time to perform surgery was 6–8 days post-injury. The anterior median incision, double-plate method approach was better than the antero-lateral, single-incision, single-plate method. For the former method, the healing among middle-aged and young patients was better than that of elderly patients, and that healing of men was slightly better than that of female patients. However, the degree of healing among patients was > 80% at 5 months postoperatively. The purpose of surgical management has been fully achieved. CONCLUSION: The optimal timing of surgery for patients with complex tibial plateau fractures is 6–8 days post-injury. The surgical approach needs to be determined based on the actual condition of the patient. However, the treatment effect of an anterior median incision, double-plate method is better, and the recovery rate may approach 80% at 5 months postoperatively. Show more

Keywords: Tibial plateau fracture, surgical timing, operative mode, statistics, imageology

DOI: 10.3233/THC-228050

Citation: Technology and Health Care, vol. 30, no. S1, pp. 545-551, 2022