Representation and presentation of information in healthcare is problematic, including issues related to common formats and accessibility. XML technology infrastructure (particularly XForms and XML events) appears promising in addressing some of these issues. These technologies were investigated in the context of decision support for medication management. XForms allows rapid prototyping ...

Health information technology (HIT) is generally accepted as the solution for the nation's medical error crisis. Although limited studies suggest the importance of using HIT in the process of medication management, research has failed to adequately describe how HIT actually works in capturing medication error data and improving patient safety ...

In this study we investigated safety-related usability issues of an advanced medical technology, a radiosurgery system. We were interested in which criteria are important for users when a system's usability and safety is to be improved. The data collection was based on interviews and observations at three different sites where ...

Despite large investment by higher education institutions in technology for faculty and student use, instructional technology is not being integrated into instructions in the higher education institutions, including medical education institutions. While diffusion of instructional technologies has been reached a saturation point with early adopters of technology, it has remained ...

Grid technology can provide medical organisations with powerful tools through which they can gain coordinated access to computational resources that hitherto where inaccessible to them. This paper discusses how several classes of medical applications could benefit from the use of Grid technology. We concentrate on applications that were put forward ...

Evidence-based technology assessment can help answer critical questions concerning the safety, effectiveness, and appropriate uses of medical technologies. This practice can be used to avoid the promotion of ineffective technologies and the premature diffusion of technologies that have not been demonstrated to improve patient-oriented health outcomes, both of which draw ...

The convergence of information technology and telecommunications, including Internet technologies, is emerging as a key tool to drive increased efficiency and effectiveness in health systems worldwide. With part of its roots in medical research for military and space applications, telemedicine is expected to make it possible to link medical expertise ...

BACKGROUND: The training of local clinicians is the best way to raise the standard of medical knowledge in developing countries. This requires transferring skills, techniques and resources. OBJECTIVES: Grid technology opens new perspectives for preparation and follow-up of medical missions in developing countries as well as support to local medical ...

We work hard on creating AI-wings for physicians to let them fly higher and faster in diagnosing patients--a task that physicians do not want to automate. What we do not work hard on is determining the ENVIRONMENT in which physicians' AI wings are supposed to function. It seems to be ...

OBJECTIVE: This paper shows the use of the emerging Grid technology for gathering underused resources that are distributed among a corporate network. The work of these resources is coordinated for facing tasks which are not affordable by the individual usage of each of them. METHODS: This paper shows an application ...

Medical technology in Australian public hospitals has a replacement cost of approximately A$3 billion. The management of this invaluable asset suggests the need for a planning framework to facilitate equipment replacement and acquisition decisions, an accurate inventory of technology assets, and an implementation process to enable prioritisation and the allocation ...

We developed a secure medical image transmission system by using TCP2 which is a new technology that establishes secure communications in transport layer. Two experiments were conducted; TCP2 performance tests, and field tests that transmit real-time digital video image in domestic and international settings by equipping TCP2 with DVTS (Digital ...

Diazeniumdiolate ions are convenient and, for a variety of applications, uniquely advantageous nitric oxide (NO) dosage forms. Ionic diazeniumdiolates generate bioactive NO in physiological fluids truly spontaneously (i. e., without metabolism or redox activation), with reliable half-lives ranging from 2 seconds to 20 hours depending on the ion's structure. They ...

Inherent characteristics of duckweed, including fast, clonal growth, small size and simple growth habit, argue for their use as a biomanufacturing platform for proteins, polymers and small molecules. This review addresses five areas relevant to commercialization of the duckweed platform: (1) the characteristics of wild-type duckweed and general cultural requirements; ...

Bio-impedance is the electrical impedance of living matter. Bio-impedance methods present a range of known advantages for medical and clinical applications including low-cost, non-invasiveness and harmlessness. The measured parameter reflects the physiological and pathological processes that take place within human body. The technological progress in instrumentation has significantly contributed to ...

Appropriate deployment of technological innovation contributes to improvement in the quality of healthcare delivered, the containment of cost, and access to the healthcare system. Hospitals have been allocating a significant portion of their resources to procuring and managing capital assets; they are continuously faced with demands for new medical equipment ...

This paper proposes a wireless patient monitoring system which integrates Bluetooth and WiFi wireless technologies. A wireless portable multi-parameter device was designated to acquire physiological signals and transmit them to a local server via Bluetooth wireless technology. Four kinds of monitor units were designed to communicate via the WiFi wireless ...

Many predicted that in the latter part of the twentieth century modern technology would revolutionize higher education and "create a second Renaissance" (Sculley J. The relationship between business and higher education: A perspective on the 21st century. Commun ACM32:1056-1061, 1989 p1061). However, as the reality of the twenty-first century has ...

BACKGROUND: Current treatments for acne vulgaris include topical and oral medications that counteract microcomedone formation, sebum production, Propionibacterium acnes, and inflammation. Concerns about the short- and long-term consequences of these medications, along with technological advancements, have to significant progress in the management of acne. These developments include light, laser, and ...

Within the next parliamentary term, the German government is expected to replace the current Embryo Protection Act with a new Human Reproductive Technology Act. Before introducing new legislation, policy makers may want to survey public attitudes towards novel applications of reproductive technology. In order to assess opinions and concerns about ...

Medicine in the Antarctic is probably the most isolated situation in which a doctor can practise, differing in degree of severity even from that of the Arctic region. The increasing use of Telemedicine has helped to reduce this isolation and to improve access to secondary healthcare for those who live ...

Over the last two decades, virtual reality, haptics, simulators, robotics, and other "advanced technologies" have emerged as important innovations in medical learning and practice. Reports on simulator applications in medicine now appear regularly in the medical, computer science, engineering, and popular literature. The goal of this article is to review ...

PURPOSE: We developed innovations in shock wave lithotripsy (SWL) technology. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two technical upgrades were implemented in an original unmodified HM-3 lithotriptor (Dornier Medical Systems, Inc., Kennesaw, Georgia). First, a single unit ellipsoidal reflector insert was used to modify the profile of lithotriptor shock wave (LSW) to decrease ...

Medical systems biology has generated widespread interest because of its bold conception and exciting potential, but the field is still in its infancy. Although there has been tremendous progress achieved recently in generating, integrating and analysing data in the medical and pharmaceutical field, many challenges remain, especially with respect to ...

Healthcare systems in developed countries are experiencing severe financial stress as age demographics shift upward, leading to a larger percentage of older adults needing care. One way to potentially reduce or slow spiraling medical costs is to use technology, not only to cure sickness, but also to promote wellness throughout ...

The completion of the human genome project in 2003 ushered in the era of genomics, the systematic study of our DNA sequence. Proteomics, the study of the full complement of proteins present in a cell, is a natural extension of genomics. Together, the information obtainable through genomics and proteomics has ...

At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) the first fission converter-based epithermal neutron beam (FCB) has proven suitable for use in clinical trials of boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT). The modern facility provides a high intensity beam together with low levels of contamination that is ideally suited for use with ...

RATIONALE: Information retrieval technology tends to become nothing less than crucial in physician daily practice, notably in family medicine. Nevertheless, few studies examine impacts of this technology and their results appear controversial. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: Our article aims to explore these impacts using the medical literature, an organizational case study ...

In order to improve the management of transformed populations in a routine application of transgenesis technology in Bombyx mori, we modified its mode of reproduction and its voltinism. On one hand, after a stable integration of the gene of interest by transgenesis, it is preferable to maintain this gene in ...

It is common to talk of wise physicians, but not so common to talk of wise patients. "Patient" isa word derived from the Latin patior--"to suffer," but also "to let be." Suffering has been the universal lot of humanity, and medicine rightly tries to relieve suffering. Medical progress, like all ...

Despite widespread institutional and professional support, the recommendations of the Bristol Royal Infirmary Inquiry may be insufficient to reduce patient risk from impaired senior medical practitioners. Using the First Inquiry into Neurosurgical Services at the Canberra Hospital as a case study, this article argues that the Bristol-type recommendations--which emphasise reformulation ...

The introduction of hydrogen-peroxide whitening strips in 2000 contributed to new paradigms for treatment and expanded interest in tooth whitening. Further research on peroxide gels has resulted in a professional-only whitening system (Crest Whitestrips Supreme), a thin 14% hydrogen-peroxide gel on an easy-to-use whitening strip. Characterized as a two variable ...

One of the interesting things about medical technology is that it addresses so many diverse subjects, which is indeed the case in all departments of a hospital, in general practice and in other care agencies. Medical technology contributes to the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disease and disorders. Designing for ...

Wireless information technologies are providing new ways to communicate, and are one of several information and communication technologies touted as an opportunity to reduce society's overall environmental impacts. However, rigorous system-wide environmental impact comparisons of these technologies to the traditional applications they may replace have only recently been initiated, and ...

Recent advances in mobile technologies have greatly extended traditional communication technologies to mobile devices. At the same time, healthcare environments are by nature "mobile" where doctors and nurses do not have fixed workspaces. Irregular and exceptional events are generated in daily hospital routines, such as operations rescheduling, laboratory/examination results, and ...

The JCAHO is proposing mandatory bar-code technology at bedside by 2007. Michael Cohen, left, of the Institute of Safe Medication Practices, says the deadline may be too soon. Others say it could be met and are starting to train staff members on the equipment. In the cover photo, workers at ...

The development of medical applications is fuelled in the context of steadily growing needs and the requirement of lowering overall costs. Micro systems will have an extremely important impact on medical technology in the future. The great challenges for the wider use of micro structures in health applications are biocompatibility ...

Treatment philosophies in the management of alveolar clefts have changed greatly over the years. Currently. the most widely accepted protocol is for repair using autologous cancellous bone from the iliac crest during the stage of mixed dentition. Preliminary data suggest that the appropriate age for surgical repair during the secondary ...

Handheld technology has grown in both popularity and capabilities. Studies continue to be done on their impact in numerous fields. At The Ohio State University Medical Center, a handheld program was started in 2001, initially involving third- and fourth-year medical students and residents. The presence of these digital devices presented ...

An independent expert panel conducted a multi-year research/education/advocacy initiative on the impact of the new drug-eluting stent technology. They conclude that this technology represents a "tipping point" in a series of transformative drugs and medical devices, often used in combination, and recommend that healthcare decision makers develop careful, data-based strategies ...

AIMS: The efficacy of ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI) and the UVGI dose necessary to inactivate fungal spores on an agar surface for cultures of Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus fumigatus were determined. METHODS AND RESULTS: A four-chambered UVGI testing unit with a 9-W, Phillips, low pressure, mercury UVGI lamp in each ...

Thesis (M.A.)--National Taiwan University Graduate Institute of Medical Technology

To meet the various communication requirements of the wearable medical sensor network, the reusable and expandable wireless communications platform has been developed. The connection between the central monitoring unit and the sensors around the body is implemented using the Bluetooth technology. And the data can be uploaded and downloaded to ...

Continuous Speech Recognition Technology implementation is expensive, and the failure of leading companies in this niche can hamper usefulness. C-SRT, if deployed and used with speech macros, experiences vastly improved implementations and drastically reduces medical transcription costs.A speech macro is a short phrase that is automatically translated into a block ...

There are quite a number of the Russian medical institutions using different telemedicine technologies. There are also several telehealth networks created around the scientific medical centers and large hospitals. They use store-and-forward technology and real-time video conferencing over ISDN and IP-channels. Quality issues, management and legal issues, integration and financing ...

During the last hundred years medical language has been influenced by scientific and technological progress. As a result uncertainty in medical communication is increasing. This may have serious consequences not only for health care delivery but also for medical science. Disease classification, assessment of the validity of epidemiological investigations and ...

New (and proposed) advances in packaging, preserving, labeling, and verifying product integrity of individual tablets and capsules may allow for the recycling of certain expensive medicines. Previously sold, but unused, medication, if brought back to special pharmacies for resale or donation, may provide a low-cost source of patent-protected medicines. Benefits ...

Professional labor shortage in healthcare delivery system and specifically the management of staffing effectiveness in clinical engineering field are recent developments where shortage of comparative information exist and almost no information on its impact on performance outcomes. We attempted over the past few years to define and measure optimal application ...

Newborn screening for fragile X syndrome (FXS) is technically possible, and in the relatively near future accurate and inexpensive screening technologies are likely to be available. When that happens, will America's public health system adopt newborn screening for fragile X syndrome? This article addresses this issue by first placing screening ...

The authors briefly review traditional medical education teaching methods and present a description of new developments at the OU College of Medicine using computers and advanced technologies for the enhancement of medical education. The focus is on how computers, educational facilities, online curriculum, medical simulation devices and other technologies are ...