A Comprehensive Study on Pain Assessment from Multimodal Sensor Data

Pain assessment is a critical aspect of healthcare, influencing timely interventions and patient well-being. Traditional pain evaluation methods often rely on subjective patient reports, leading to inaccuracies and disparities in treatment, especially for patients who present difficulties to communicate due to cognitive impairments. Our contributions are three-fold. Firstly, we analyze the correlations of the data extracted from biomedical sensors. Then, we use state-of-the-art computer vision techniques to analyze videos focusing on the facial expressions of the patients, both per-frame and using the temporal context. We compare them and provide a baseline for pain assessment methods using two popular benchmarks: UNBC-McMaster Shoulder Pain Expression Archive Database and BioVid Heat Pain Database. We achieved an accuracy of over 96% and over 94% for the F1 Score, recall and precision metrics in pain estimation using single frames with the UNBC-McMaster dataset, employing state-of-the-art computer vision techniques such as Transformer-based architectures for vision tasks. In addition, from the conclusions drawn from the study, future lines of work in this area are discussed

The Evaluation of Teaching the Nursing Process Using Traditional Lecture, Campus Laboratory, Clinical, and the Addition of High Fidelity Human Simulation (HFHS) Unfolding Scenarios

It is not sufficient to just make changes in a nursing curriculum without a plan to evaluate the impact on program outcomes. This study sought to determine the outcomes of teaching the nursing process to Foundation of Nursing students in an Associate Degree Nursing program using a factorial design study. Four groups of students were taught the nursing process as follows: case study and concept mapping; case study, concept mapping with a pocket reference; case study, two hours HFHS, concept mapping with a pocket reference, or four hours of HFHS, concept mapping with a pocket reference. The Simulation Design Scale (SDS) measured the perceptions of the simulation groups for design elements. The four hour group mean was significantly lower on both the importance of the objectives and information and importance of fidelity design elements (p \u3c .05). This suggests that as time in a simulation increases more attention to these elements is required. There was not a significant difference between the four study groups on the Nursing Process or the Assessment Technology Institute (ATI) RN Fundamentals 2010 Assessment Form B examinations individual scores. Two sub-categories on the ATI were significant. Planning was significantly higher for fall 2012 cohort (p = .024) and analysis/diagnosis was almost significant for fall 2011 cohort (p = .054). The results for Factorial Groups was not significant. The National League for Nursing (NLN) PAX-RN entrance examination had a significant correlation with students passing onto the second semester in a nursing program (p \u3c .001). The ATI results of students were the same without regard to the Factorial Group assigned in relation to instructor employment status of full time versus part time

Ultimate Guide to Outpatient Care

The book presents a qualitative and quantitative approach to understanding, managing, and collaborating outpatient care. Utilizing a sound theoretical and practical foundation and illustrating procedural techniques through scientific examples, this book provides a comprehensive overview of outpatient care whether it occurs via telemedicine or in a hospital, clinic, prison, school, or other settings

Psychological Factors In The Use Of Music Therapy With Individuals Experiencing Pain: A Survey Of Current Practice

This study examined how music therapists consider psychological factors when working with individuals experiencing acute pain and individuals experiencing chronic pain. Since psychological factors such as anxiety and depression can increase the perception of acute pain, integrative therapies, such as music therapy, that address these factors are increasingly needed. This study utilized a mixed methods design to examine how music therapists address psychological factors when working with individuals experiencing acute and chronic pain. The researcher constructed and distributed a survey to 489 board-certified music therapists working with populations likely to include individuals experiencing pain. Sixty-eight music therapists responded to the questionnaire. From those participants, three music therapists volunteered and participated in semi-structured interviews to share their expertise about the topic. Results of the study suggested that music therapists address psychological factors such as trait anxiety and depression prior to an acute pain event or during chronic pain; results further suggested that music therapists tended to prioritize trait anxiety when working with individuals experiencing acute pain. The results of the study demonstrated a need for music therapists to continue to address depression and trait anxiety at all stages of the pain process

Measuring the quantity and quality of midwifery support of women during labour and childbirth: The development and testing of the 'Supportive Midwifery in Labour Instrument'

The thesis describes the development and testing of a new computer based systematic observation instrument designed to facilitate the recording and measurement of the quantity and quality of midwifery intrapartum support. The content of the systematic observation instrument, the ‘SMILI’ (Supportive Midwifery in Labour Instrument), was based on a comprehensive review of the literature. The instrument was found to be valid and reliable in a series of studies. The feasibility and usability of the SMILI was extensively tested in the clinical setting in four maternity units in Scotland, UK. One hundred and five hours of direct observation of forty nine labour episodes were undertaken by four trained midwife observers. The clinical study demonstrated that the study and the instrument were feasible, usable and successful in measuring the quantity and quality of midwifery intrapartum support. The data collected has provided significant new information about the support given by midwives in the National Health Service of Scotland, UK. Continuous one to one support was the norm, with 92% of the observed midwives in the room for more than 80% of the observation period. Emotional support, including rapport building, encouragement and praise, was the most frequently recorded category of support

Recognising Complex Mental States from Naturalistic Human-Computer Interactions

New advances in computer vision techniques will revolutionize the way we interact with computers, as they, together with other improvements, will help us build machines that understand us better. The face is the main non-verbal channel for human-human communication and contains valuable information about emotion, mood, and mental state. Affective computing researchers have investigated widely how facial expressions can be used for automatically recognizing affect and mental states. Nowadays, physiological signals can be measured by video-based techniques, which can also be utilised for emotion detection. Physiological signals, are an important indicator of internal feelings, and are more robust against social masking. This thesis focuses on computer vision techniques to detect facial expression and physiological changes for recognizing non-basic and natural emotions during human-computer interaction. It covers all stages of the research process from data acquisition, integration and application. Most previous studies focused on acquiring data from prototypic basic emotions acted out under laboratory conditions. To evaluate the proposed method under more practical conditions, two different scenarios were used for data collection. In the first scenario, a set of controlled stimulus was used to trigger the user’s emotion. The second scenario aimed at capturing more naturalistic emotions that might occur during a writing activity. In the second scenario, the engagement level of the participants with other affective states was the target of the system. For the first time this thesis explores how video-based physiological measures can be used in affect detection. Video-based measuring of physiological signals is a new technique that needs more improvement to be used in practical applications. A machine learning approach is proposed and evaluated to improve the accuracy of heart rate (HR) measurement using an ordinary camera during a naturalistic interaction with computer

Recognising Complex Mental States from Naturalistic Human-Computer Interactions

New advances in computer vision techniques will revolutionize the way we interact with computers, as they, together with other improvements, will help us build machines that understand us better. The face is the main non-verbal channel for human-human communication and contains valuable information about emotion, mood, and mental state. Affective computing researchers have investigated widely how facial expressions can be used for automatically recognizing affect and mental states. Nowadays, physiological signals can be measured by video-based techniques, which can also be utilised for emotion detection. Physiological signals, are an important indicator of internal feelings, and are more robust against social masking. This thesis focuses on computer vision techniques to detect facial expression and physiological changes for recognizing non-basic and natural emotions during human-computer interaction. It covers all stages of the research process from data acquisition, integration and application. Most previous studies focused on acquiring data from prototypic basic emotions acted out under laboratory conditions. To evaluate the proposed method under more practical conditions, two different scenarios were used for data collection. In the first scenario, a set of controlled stimulus was used to trigger the user’s emotion. The second scenario aimed at capturing more naturalistic emotions that might occur during a writing activity. In the second scenario, the engagement level of the participants with other affective states was the target of the system. For the first time this thesis explores how video-based physiological measures can be used in affect detection. Video-based measuring of physiological signals is a new technique that needs more improvement to be used in practical applications. A machine learning approach is proposed and evaluated to improve the accuracy of heart rate (HR) measurement using an ordinary camera during a naturalistic interaction with computer

Models and analysis of vocal emissions for biomedical applications: 5th International Workshop: December 13-15, 2007, Firenze, Italy

The MAVEBA Workshop proceedings, held on a biannual basis, collect the scientific papers presented both as oral and poster contributions, during the conference. The main subjects are: development of theoretical and mechanical models as an aid to the study of main phonatory dysfunctions, as well as the biomedical engineering methods for the analysis of voice signals and images, as a support to clinical diagnosis and classification of vocal pathologies. The Workshop has the sponsorship of: Ente Cassa Risparmio di Firenze, COST Action 2103, Biomedical Signal Processing and Control Journal (Elsevier Eds.), IEEE Biomedical Engineering Soc. Special Issues of International Journals have been, and will be, published, collecting selected papers from the conference

The nature and function of human nonverbal vocalisations

Though human nonverbal vocalisations are widespread, scientific consideration of their mechanisms and communicative functions has been largely overlooked. This is despite their close alignment with the vocal communicative systems of primates and other mammals, whose primary function is to signal indexical information relevant to sexual and natural selection processes. In this thesis, I examine human nonverbal vocalisations from an evolutionary perspective, with the central hypothesis that they are functionally and structurally homologous to nonhuman mammal calls, communicating evolutionarily relevant indexical information that is perceived and utilised by listeners. In Chapter 1, I introduce the methodological framework (source-filter theory) necessary to understand the production of vocal signals in mammals, before summarising the information contained within the acoustic structure of nonhuman mammals and human speech, and the effects these cues have on both vocaliser and listener. I then examine the current evidence for functional and structural homology between human and nonhuman nonverbal vocalisations. In Chapters 2 to 5, I quantitatively analyse the acoustic structure of a number of nonverbal vocalisations, and perform playback experiments to examine their functional effects on listeners. In Chapters 2 and 3, I investigate whether aggressive roars and distress screams communicate acoustic cues to absolute and relative strength and height. In Chapter 4, I analyse the acoustic structure of pain cries of varying intensity, and conduct playback experiments to explore the acoustic and perceptual correlates of pain. In Chapter 5, I examine whether the fundamental frequency of tennis grunts produced during professional tennis matches is dependent on the sex and body posture of the vocaliser, as well as the progress and outcome of the contest, and whether listeners can infer these cues. In Chapter 6, I tie these findings together, arguing that the acoustic structure of human nonverbal vocalisations, in continuity with nonhuman mammal vocalisations, has been selected to support the functional communication of indexical and motivational information

An exploratory study of priority setting in gynaecology nursing practice

ABSTRACT This study explored how nurses in acute and nurse-led gynaecology wards prioritised patient caseloads ranging in diversity and number of patient conditions. Statistics show that since the introduction of medical termination of pregnancy (MTOP) procedures into the National Health Service (NHS) in 1991, the number of women having this procedure is increasing year on year. To date very little is known about the impact this procedure may have had on nursing practice. The focus of this study was to explore the nursing care when this included, and did not include, caring for women having MTOP. The study was conducted in two parts. The first qualitative study employed non-participant observation and semi-structured interviews of nurses in gynaecology and surgical wards at two hospital sites to examine the external context in which nursing decisions were made. This found that nurses in gynaecology focused on emotional or psychosocial aspects more so than surgical nurses who focused on physical aspects of patient care. The second quantitative study involved a cross-sectional survey of nurses from both ward types in two hospitals sites in Scotland. Internal constructs were examined using personality and thinking styles measures. Nurses were assessed on their emotionality, that is, the numbers of times an emotional care aspect was prioritised. This found that nurses who prioritised the emotional aspects of the task tended to be more conscientious and elected preference for a ‘people-centred’ thinking style. The context in which women have TOP is also important since the findings suggest women may benefit from being cared for in nurse-led rather than in acute wards. Knowing how a person thinks about emotional and physical aspects of care also has implications for those involved in education, and career planning.N& M departmental scholarshi