Designing Data-Driven Virtual Patients for Health Sciences Education

Electronic virtual patients (VPs) are interactive screen-based computer simulations of real-life clinical scenarios that are widely used for the purposes of health sciences education. Advances in computational modeling and availability of large patient cohort datasets from Electronic Medical Record (EMR) systems have created an opportunity to develop a new type of VPs, where cases are based on and simulate real patient clinical treatment processes and outcomes. Traditional VP cases are static narrative representations of clinical scenarios that are presented to health sciences students in order to teach a clinical topic of interest. This research investigates the feasibility of authoring and presenting virtual patient cases that leverage Bayesian network (BN) models learned from EMR data to present clinical scenarios and control outcomes of learners' decisions within the context of a presented VP. Because the underlying models are based on real patient data, each decision made by a learner would affect the probability of each outcome occurring in the same way as with real patients. Additionally, this dissertation explores the challenges related to using BN models in the context of VP case authoring and presentation, and experimentally compares a VP case based on a BN model to one created using a traditional narrative-branched VP system across multiple categories, including meeting learning objectives, accuracy in depicting the chosen clinical scenario, introducing/reinforcing relevant clinical skills, providing formative feedback, scenario realism, and learner engagement. Furthermore, this work investigates the extent to which the use of annotated BN models in VP cases facilitates modifying an existing VP case by allowing case authors to manipulate the underlying model in such a way that the modified VP case meets alternate learning objectives. Last, but not least, this research provides practical and methodological contributions to the body of work in the areas of health sciences education, problem-based learning, and clinical simulation design and evaluation. More specifically, this work (1) defines criteria and guidelines for designing VP cases based on BN models, (2) identifies and describes shortcomings and challenges associated with different BN modeling approaches for different types of clinical scenarios, (3) and presents a framework for evaluating VP cases

Étude des paramètres physiques en vue d'applications médicales de l'actionnement magnétique de dispositifs médicaux par un système d'imagerie par résonance magnétique

Mécanismes d'actionnement pour dispositifs minimalement invasifs -- Traitements oncologiques par embolisation du foie -- Modélisation du guidage de particules en suspension -- Structure des agrégats magnétiques -- Méthodologie -- Aspects physiques de l'actionnement magnétique par IRM -- Contrôle in vivo d'une bille magnétique par IRM -- Bobines de gradient dédiées à l'actionnement magnétique -- Preuve de concept du principe de guidage de microparticules magnétiques : synthèse de l'article intitulé > -- Retour sur les méthodes d'injection de suspensions de microparticules magnétiques en IRM et amélioration des protocoles et montages -- Étude de l'agrégation de microparticules magnétiques dans le contexte du guidage en IRM : synthèse de l'article intitulé >. Étude du guidage magnétique de microparticules magnétiques agrégées : synthèse de l'article intitulé > -- Préparation au guidage in vivo de particules magnétiques -- Étude des applications de l'actionnement magnétique à la déflexion de guidance force for navigation of magnetic catheters>> -- Magnetic microparticles steering within the constraints of an MRI system : proof of concept of a novel targeting approach -- Dedicated steering coils -- Materials and methods -- Aggregation of magnetic microparticles in the context of MRI actuated targeted therapies -- Magneticdipole-dipole interaction -- MRI steering of aggregating magnetic microparticles for enhanced therapeutic efficacy in cancer targeting -- Model of magnetic steering efficiency -- Préparation au guidage in vivo de particules magnétiques -- Anatomie et paramètres physiologiques -- Choix des particules -- Bobines de gradients -- Quantification de l'efficacité de guidage -- Application of MRI guidance force for navigation of magnetic catheters

Smart and Functional Polymers

This book is based on the Special Issue of the journal Molecules on “Smart and Functional Polymers”. The collected research and review articles focus on the synthesis and characterization of advanced functional polymers, polymers with specific structures and performances, current improvements in advanced polymer-based materials for various applications, and the opportunities and challenges in the future. The topics cover the emerging synthesis and characterization technology of smart polymers, core?shell structure polymers, stimuli-responsive polymers, anhydrous electrorheological materials fabricated from conducting polymers, reversible polymerization systems, and biomedical polymers for drug delivery and disease theranostics. In summary, this book provides a comprehensive overview of the latest synthesis approaches, representative structures and performances, and various applications of smart and functional polymers. It will serve as a useful reference for all researchers and readers interested in polymer sciences and technologies

Actas de las XXXIV Jornadas de Automática

Postprint (published version

Massachusetts Domestic and Foreign Corporations Subject to an Excise: For the Use of Assessors (2004)

International audienc