A Review of Telemedicine in China

Telemedicine changes conventional medical practice and enables patients to access medical service via telecommunication. Telemedicine thus establishes a new kind of relationship between smaller hospitals and larger ones, and between patients and hospitals generally. Patients and subordinate hospitals may benefit from the resources of large hospitals, via teleconsultation, telediagnosis and telemonitoring. This is particularly beneficial for patients living in rural areas, where the health-care system is less well developed than in cities

The organizational implications of medical imaging in the context of Malaysian hospitals

This research investigated the implementation and use of medical imaging in the context of Malaysian hospitals. In this report medical imaging refers to PACS, RIS/HIS and imaging modalities which are linked through a computer network. The study examined how the internal context of a hospital and its external context together influenced the implementation of medical imaging, and how this in turn shaped organizational roles and relationships within the hospital itself. It further investigated how the implementation of the technology in one hospital affected its implementation in another hospital. The research used systems theory as the theoretical framework for the study. Methodologically, the study used a case-based approach and multiple methods to obtain data. The case studies included two hospital-based radiology departments in Malaysia. The outcomes of the research suggest that the implementation of medical imaging in community hospitals is shaped by the external context particularly the role played by the Ministry of Health. Furthermore, influences from both the internal and external contexts have a substantial impact on the process of implementing medical imaging and the extent of the benefits that the organization can gain. In the context of roles and social relationships, the findings revealed that the routine use of medical imaging has substantially affected radiographers’ roles, and the social relationships between non clinical personnel and clinicians. This study found no change in the relationship between radiographers and radiologists. Finally, the approaches to implementation taken in the hospitals studied were found to influence those taken by other hospitals. Overall, this study makes three important contributions. Firstly, it extends Barley’s (1986, 1990) research by explicitly demonstrating that the organization’s internal and external contexts together shape the implementation and use of technology, that the processes of implementing and using technology impact upon roles, relationships and networks and that a role-based approach alone is inadequate to examine the outcomes of deploying an advanced technology. Secondly, this study contends that scalability of technology in the context of developing countries is not necessarily linear. Finally, this study offers practical contributions that can benefit healthcare organizations in Malaysia

Application of Asynchronous Transfer Mode (Atm) technology to Picture Archiving and Communication Systems (Pacs): A survey

Broadband Integrated Services Digital Network (R-ISDN) provides a range of narrowband and broad-band services for voice, video, and multimedia. Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) has been selected by the standards bodies as the transfer mode for implementing B-ISDN; The ability to digitize images has lead to the prospect of reducing the physical space requirements, material costs, and manual labor of traditional film handling tasks in hospitals. The system which handles the acquisition, storage, and transmission of medical images is called a Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS). The transmission system will directly impact the speed of image transfer. Today the most common transmission means used by acquisition and display station products is Ethernet. However, when considering network media, it is important to consider what the long term needs will be. Although ATM is a new standard, it is showing signs of becoming the next logical step to meet the needs of high speed networks; This thesis is a survey on ATM, and PACS. All the concepts involved in developing a PACS are presented in an orderly manner. It presents the recent developments in ATM, its applicability to PACS and the issues to be resolved for realising an ATM-based complete PACS. This work will be useful in providing the latest information, for any future research on ATM-based networks, and PACS

Grid technology in tissue-based diagnosis: fundamentals and potential developments

Tissue-based diagnosis still remains the most reliable and specific diagnostic medical procedure. It is involved in all technological developments in medicine and biology and incorporates tools of quite different applications. These range from molecular genetics to image acquisition and recognition algorithms (for image analysis), or from tissue culture to electronic communication services. Grid technology seems to possess all features to efficiently target specific constellations of an individual patient in order to obtain a detailed and accurate diagnosis in providing all relevant information and references. Grid technology can be briefly explained by so-called nodes that are linked together and share certain communication rules in using open standards. The number of nodes can vary as well as their functionality, depending on the needs of a specific user at a given point in time. In the beginning of grid technology, the nodes were used as supercomputers in combining and enhancing the computation power. At present, at least five different Grid functions can be distinguished, that comprise 1) computation services, 2) data services, 3) application services, 4) information services, and 5) knowledge services. The general structures and functions of a Grid are described, and their potential implementation into virtual tissue-based diagnosis is analyzed. As a result Grid technology offers a new dimension to access distributed information and knowledge and to improving the quality in tissue-based diagnosis and therefore improving the medical quality

Half a century of computer methods and programs in biomedicine: A bibliometric analysis from 1970 to 2017

© 2019 Background and Objective: Computer Methods and Programs in Biomedicine (CMPB) is a leading international journal that presents developments about computing methods and their application in biomedical research. The journal published its first issue in 1970. In 2020, the journal celebrates the 50th anniversary. Motivated by this event, this article presents a bibliometric analysis of the publications of the journal during this period (1970–2017). Methods: The objective is to identify the leading trends occurring in the journal by analysing the most cited papers, keywords, authors, institutions and countries. For doing so, the study uses the Web of Science Core Collection database. Additionally, the work presents a graphical mapping of the bibliographic information by using the visualization of similarities (VOS) viewer software. This is done to analyze bibliographic coupling, co-citation and co-occurrence of keywords. Results: CMPB is identified as a leading and core journal for biomedical researchers. The journal is strongly connected to IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering and IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging. Paper from Wang, Jacques, Zheng (published in 1995) is its most cited document. The top author in this journal is James Geoffrey Chase and the top contributing institution is Uppsala U (Sweden). Most of the papers in CMPB are from the USA followed by the UK and Italy. China and Taiwan are the only Asian countries to appear in the top 10 publishing in CMPB. A keyword co-occurrences analysis revealed strong co-occurrences for classification, picture archiving and communication system (PACS), heart rate variability, survival analysis and simulation. Keywords analysis for the last decade revealed that machine learning for a variety of healthcare problems (including image processing and analysis) dominated other research fields in CMPB. Conclusions: It can be concluded that CMPB is a world-renowned publication outlet for biomedical researchers which has been growing in a number of publications since 1970. The analysis also conclude that the journal is very international with publications from all over the world although today European countries are the most productive ones

Focal Spot, Summer 2002

https://digitalcommons.wustl.edu/focal_spot_archives/1091/thumbnail.jp

Does Prehabilitation modify muscle mass in patients with rectal cancer undergoing neoadjuvant therapy?:A subanalysis from the REx Randomised Controlled Trial

Background: Patients with rectal cancer who present with sarcopenia (low muscle mass) are at significantly greater risk of postoperative complications and reduction in disease-free survival. We performed a subanalysis of a randomised controlled study [the REx trial; www.isrctn.com; 62859294] to assess the potential of prehabilitation to modify muscle mass in patients having neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (NACRT). Methods: Patients scheduled for NACRT, then potentially curative surgery (August 2014–March 2016) had baseline physical assessment and psoas muscle mass measurement (total psoas index using computed tomography-based measurements). Participants were randomised to either the intervention (13–17-week telephone-guided graduated walking programme) or control group (standard care). Follow-up testing was performed 1–2 weeks before surgery. Results: The 44 patients had a mean age of 66.8 years (SD 9.6) and were male (64%); white (98%); American Society of Anesthesiologists class 2 (66%); co-morbid (58%); overweight (72%) (body mass index ≥ 25 kg/m2). At baseline, 14% were sarcopenic. At follow-up, 13 (65%) of patients in the prehabilitation group had increased muscle mass versus 7 (35%) that experienced a decrease. Conversely, 16 (67%) controls experienced a decrease in muscle mass and 8 (33%) showed an increase. An adjusted linear regression model estimated a mean treatment difference in Total Psoas Index of 40.2mm2/m2 (95% CI − 3.4 to 83.7) between groups in change from baseline (p = 0.07). Conclusions: Prehabilitation improved muscle mass in patients with rectal cancer who had NACRT. These results need to be explored in a larger trial to determine if the poorer short- and long-term patient outcomes associated with low muscle mass can be minimised by prehabilitation

The fiction of reality: confinement and displacement, an introduction to research

This PHD project has been based on 100% studio practice; the original title for the research programme was Between Reality and Fiction and aimed at exploring the construction of reality and truth in our society, a society strictly controlled by the mass media. Whilst developing the first project within this body of research - Isolation (an attempt to contrast a real life experience of a visit to a prison with existing institutional information obtained through second and third hand sources - readings, media, films...), a range of other more pertinent concepts arose, causing a shift from those initial ideas to ones incorporating control, displacement and space, understanding this, not only as a physical entity, but also as a socio-political construction.Based on the different projects that form the basis of my research, I explored the concept of control and how that is exercised on individuals in free/democratic societies- from spatial control (access/no access), economical, cultural (oneself/others), medical/technological, or media control (the creation of public opinion). This research attempts to question/reflect public awareness of these control measures, in order to assess their limitations, whilst investigating any existing gaps in the system which could potentially subvert it.What has been particularly relevant has been the exploration of issues relating to space, understood not only as a physical entity, but also as a socio-political construction, how space is organised, divided and controlled in an era of globalisation, and whether, or why access to certain ‘spaces’ is either severely restricted or completely denied.Work developed during the PhD has consisted of: Practical studio research (mainly installations, video and photography), site specific visits/trips relevant to particular themes within the project (HMP Winchester, Strait of Gibraltar, Canary Islands, container depots, airports...); related readings; compilation of explicit news reportage; and the construction of an extensive archive that includes all printed and digital matter tracking the entire research process and its methodology. Personal experience has also been a main factor, influencing the development of specific research: temporary/precarious housing, part-time jobs, or in general, the situation of living abroad with all that that implies in the way of physical and cultural displacement