És possible una nova comunicació entre metge i malalt?

La comunicació, privilegi de la condició humana, està present i influeix de manera decisiva sobre totes les àrees de la vida. La medicina actual ha perdut molta sensibilitat a causa del fet que no es reforça la comunicació, que passa a segon lloc. En canvi, agafa preeminència el coneixement. La sanitat actual -abans la medicina- tracta usuaris -abans malalts-, i valorant-los així actua com un problema tècnic que s’ha de solucionar. Els patiments com el dolor o l'angoixa vital s’enfoquen com a problemes tècnics que s’han de reparar. Però des del moment en què s’han codificat els drets del malalt, la salut és un dret fonamental, recollit en la nova legislació. Els malalts passen a tenir un paper central en la presa de decisions sobre la seva salut. És un canvi radical sobre el concepte anterior de la praxis mèdica. Ara les habilitats de comunicació estan especialment indicades i destinades a millorar la relació metge-malalt, en general, i de manera especial en les malalties greus. D’aquí la importància que el metge tingui formació en habilitats de comunicació per poder comprendre el seu significat. Les directrius de Bolonya i els nous programes formatius de medicina van en aquesta direcció.Mots clau: medicina, relació entre metge i malalt, comunicació, males noticies, directrius de Bolonya.ResumenLa comunicación, privilegio de la condición humana, está presente e influye de manera decisiva en todas las áreas de la vida. La medicina actual ha perdido mucha sensibilidad, debido a que no se refuerza la comunicación y pasa a un segundo lugar. En cambio toma preeminencia, el conocimiento. La sanidad actual, antes la medicina, trata usuarios, antes enfermos, y valorándolos así actúa como un problema técnico que tiene que solucionar. Los sufrimientos con dolor o angustia vital, se enfocan como problemas técnicos que deben ser reparados. Pero desde el momento en el que se han codificado los derechos de los enfermos, la salud es un derecho fundamental, recogido en la nueva legislación. Los enfermos, pasan a tener un papel central en la toma de decisiones sobre su salud. Es un cambio radical sobre el concepto anterior de la praxis médica. Ahora les habilidades de comunicación están especialmente indicadas y destinadas a mejorar la relación entre médico y enfermo, en general, y de manera especial en las enfermedades graves. De aquí la importancia que el médico tinga formación en habilidades de comunicación para poder comprender su significado. Las directrices de Boloña y los nuevos programas formativos de Medicina van en esta dirección.Palabras clave: medicina, relación entre médico y enfermo, comunicación, malas noticias, directrices de Boloña.AbstractThe communication is a privilege of the human condition, and is present and decisively influence in all areas of life. Medicine has lost a lot of sensitivity, because it strengthens the communication, which happens to second place. Instead take preeminence, knowledge.  Healthcare now, Medicine before, valuing them users so it's acting as a technical problem should solve.  Pain or vital anguish, sufferings as technical problems that they'd focus be repaired. But from the moment that the rights of the sick it's been encoded, health is a fundamental right, picked up on the new legislation. The sick, they play a central role in making decisions about your health. The concept is a radical change on the previous medical practice. Now communication skills are specially indicated and doctor-patient relationship, aimed at improving in general, and especially in the serious diseases. From here the importance that the doctor has training in communication skills to be able to understand their meaning. The guidelines of Bologna and new medical training programs were in that direction.Key words: medicine, doctor-patient relationship, communication, bad  news, guidelines of Bologna

Computational design of artificial organs

C

Procuring organs for transplantation : a European perspective

Background: The shortage of organs for transplant In Europe has been considerable for many years. A number of different policies have been implemented in an attempt to address this problem. These have had varying degrees of success from country to country. Methods: This article provides an up-to-date review of organ procurement policies throughout Europe. Alternative and In some cases controversial organ procurement programmes are also considered to establish whether the increasing demand for organs can be met elsewhere. Results: Transplant waiting lists are the greatest by far for those patients waiting for a kidney replacement. Norway has best managed to address this need through adopting a positive policy choice towards live donation whilst still maintaining an active cadaveric donation policy. Conclusion: With the lowering of both physical and social barriers In Europe, there has been a recent shift towards co-operation between some European countries in promoting transplant activity. This ensures that if an organ becomes available in one country and has no suitable recipient, then it can be used elsewhere. The future may show and increasing trend towards this level of European cooperation in order to make transplant activity more efficient

Nuclear medicine procedures and the evaluation of male sexual organs: a short review

Sexuality consists of three aspects that are interrelated and inseparable, biological, physiological and social. The biological aspect considers the individual's capability to give and to receive pleasure. In consequence, it covers the functionality of the sexual organs and the physiology of human sexual response cycle. Diagnostic imaging modalities, such as single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) and positron emission tomography (PET) have been used to evaluate clinical disorders of the male reproductive system. PET and SPECT procedures basically involve the administration of a radiopharmaceutical that has a higher uptake in a specific tumor or tissue. The aim of this brief review is to present some radiopharmaceuticals that have been used in the clinical evaluation of the male sexual organs (testes, prostate, seminal vesicles, penis) related with male sexuality. This information could be useful in better understanding the male sexual response cycle, as well as the sexual disorders, when considering the male sexual organs and the pelvic floor. Moreover, the findings obtained with PET and SPECT imaging could help to evaluate the efficacy of clinical results of therapeutic procedures. In conclusion, the knowledge from these images could aid in better understanding the physiology of the different organs related with sexuality. Furthermore, they could be important tools to evaluate the physiological integrity of the involved organs, to improve clinical strategies and to accompany the patients under treatment

Organs and universities: a universal association?

Short essay on the association between organs and universitie

A Study of Speed of the Boundary Element Method as applied to the Realtime Computational Simulation of Biological Organs

In this work, possibility of simulating biological organs in realtime using the Boundary Element Method (BEM) is investigated. Biological organs are assumed to follow linear elastostatic material behavior, and constant boundary element is the element type used. First, a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) is used to speed up the BEM computations to achieve the realtime performance. Next, instead of the GPU, a computer cluster is used. Results indicate that BEM is fast enough to provide for realtime graphics if biological organs are assumed to follow linear elastostatic material behavior. Although the present work does not conduct any simulation using nonlinear material models, results from using the linear elastostatic material model imply that it would be difficult to obtain realtime performance if highly nonlinear material models that properly characterize biological organs are used. Although the use of BEM for the simulation of biological organs is not new, the results presented in the present study are not found elsewhere in the literature.Comment: preprint, draft, 2 tables, 47 references, 7 files, Codes that can solve three dimensional linear elastostatic problems using constant boundary elements (of triangular shape) while ignoring body forces are provided as supplementary files; codes are distributed under the MIT License in three versions: i) MATLAB version ii) Fortran 90 version (sequential code) iii) Fortran 90 version (parallel code

Commercialisation of the supply of organs for transplantation

Internationally, there is a shortage of organs available for organ donation. Human tissue and cells are becoming increasingly valuable as part of commercially valuable biotechnological research. The developments have outstripped the existing legal controls and have led to concerns about the use of human tissue retained after post mortems in England and Australia and the growth of black markets dealing in human organs and tissue. There is a need for ethical discourse about the extent to which such developments should be recognised and controlled by the law. Further, if the supply of organs available for transplantation is to be increased, the systems of consent in many countries are unsuitable. Development of a system in which benefits are available to the donors or their families may increase the supply of organs. If financial benefits are available from biotechnological advances, the people providing the necessary materials in the form of human tissue or organs may believe they have a right to share in the resultant benefits. This paper considers the ethical issues arising from the various systems of consent to organ donation that have been adopted in different jurisdictions. Fundamental to any such debate is the issue of property rights- whether a living person has property rights over their own body and whether there exist property rights to a human body following death. The role of the State is fundamental to such a debate. This paper considers the potential for the commercialisation of the supply of organs and some approaches that might facilitate commercialisation. Aspects of the law contract that might arise are outlined. Overall, the conclusion is that these issues must be addressed by way of legislation. If commercialisation is permitted in some form, this must be carefully controlled to ensure that the vulnerable members of Society are not disadvantaged. It is suggested that any benefit should be provided by the State rather than by way of individual contracts between donor and recipient, to avoid the situation arising where only the financially advantaged could afford treatment

Experimentally based numerical models and numerical simulation with parameter identification of human lumbar FSUs in traction

Numerical simulation of the behaviour of human lumbar spine segments, moreover, parameter-identification of the component organs of human lumbar FSUs are presented in traction therapies, by using FEM analysis. First, a simple 2D model, than a refined 2D model, and finally a refined 3D model were applied for modeling lumbar FSUs. For global numerical simulation of traction therapies the material constants of component organs have been obtained from the international literature. For local parameter identification of the component organs, an interval of the possible material moduli has been considered for each organ, and the possible combinations of real moduli were obtained, controlling the process by the measured global deformations. In this way, the efficiency of conservative traction therapies can be improved by offering new experimental tensile material parameters for the international spine research