Assessment of the effectiveness of medical simulators in the practical training of medical students: Preliminary results in MU-Varna

INTRODUCTION: Nowadays, simulators have become part of most medical universities’ educational strategy. In recent years, Medical University of Varna has been equipped with the most modern medical simulators, aiming to meet the practical training needs of all specialties taught at the university.AIM: The aim of this study is to perform an initial assessment of the effectiveness in the use of simulators, as well as simulation-based training provided at the Medical University of Varna. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We developed a set of criteria to evaluate the effectiveness of the simulation training including: simulators accessibility, complexity and safety, as well as training environment and trainers’ preparedness. Based on these criteria, a questionnaire was developed and a survey conducted to study the students’ opinion on the training quality with two medical simulators: dental and anesthesiology. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Two groups of medical students - 73 students in dental medicine and 186 students in anesthesiology and intensive care, were enrolled in the study. The results showed a strong relationship between the students’ specialty and simulation training in all evaluation criteria except one. The results revealed that medical simulators play an essential role in the practical training of medical students, and may substantially improve their future medical performance. Medical University of Varna effectively integrates simulation medicine into its educational program

Models of breast lesions based on three-dimensional X-ray breast images

This paper presents a method for creation of computational models of breast lesions with irregular shapes from patient Digital Breast Tomosynthesis (DBT) images or breast cadavers and whole-body Computed Tomography (CT) images. The approach includes six basic steps: (a) normalization of the intensity of the tomographic images; (b) image noise reduction; (c) binarization of the lesion area, (d) application of morphological operations to further decrease the level of artefacts; (e) application of a region growing technique to segment the lesion; and (f) creation of a final 3D lesion model. The algorithm is semi-automatic as the initial selection of the region of the lesion and the seeds for the region growing are done interactively. A software tool, performing all of the required steps, was developed in MATLAB. The method was tested and evaluated by analysing anonymized sets of DBT patient images diagnosed with lesions. Experienced radiologists evaluated the segmentation of the tumours in the slices and the obtained 3D lesion shapes. They concluded for a quite satisfactory delineation of the lesions. In addition, for three DBT cases, a delineation of the tumours was performed independently by the radiologists. In all cases the abnormality volumes segmented by the proposed algorithm were smaller than those outlined by the experts. The calculated Dice similarity coefficients for algorithm-radiologist and radiologist-radiologist showed similar values. Another selected tumour case was introduced into a computational breast model to recursively assess the algorithm. The relative volume difference between the ground-truth tumour volume and the one obtained by applying the algorithm on the synthetic volume from the virtual DBT study is 5% which demonstrates the satisfactory performance of the proposed segmentation algorithm. The software tool we developed was used to create models of different breast abnormalities, which were then stored in a database for use by researchers working in this field

Wyzwania kierownicze w realizacji projektów naukowych podczas pandemii COVID-19

The aim of this work is to outline the management and risk management activities related to the successful implementation of scientific projects, which have been severely affected by the pandemic situation. The methodology includes a comparative analysis between planned and implemented activities on running scientific projects. Time, budget and scope are the main three constraints of the project used in the assessment. Five main groups of activities are analysed: Management, Scientific, Educational, Dissemination and Production. While published studies present qualitative and quantitative risk analysis due to the pandemic, this work goes a step forward by suggesting risk response planning, management procedures and activities to reduce threats to the project’s objectives. To the best of authors’ knowledge, there is no research systemized by other research groups.Celem pracy jest przedstawienie działań związanych z zarządzaniem i zarządzaniem ryzykiem związanym z pomyślną realizacją projektów naukowych, które zostały poważnie dotknięte sytuacją pandemiczną. Metodologia zawiera analizę porównawczą planowanych i realizowanych działań związanych z prowadzeniem projektów naukowych. Czas, budżet i zakres to trzy główne ograniczenia projektu wykorzystywane w ocenie. Analizie poddano pięć głównych grup działań: Zarządzanie, Nauka, Edukacja, Upowszechnianie i Produkcja. Chociaż opublikowane badania przedstawiają jakościową i ilościową analizę ryzyka związanego z pandemią, praca ta idzie o krok naprzód, sugerując planowanie reakcji na ryzyko, procedury zarządzania i działania mające na celu zmniejszenie zagrożeń dla celów projektu. Według najlepszej wiedzy autorów nie ma badań usystematyzowanych przez inne grupy badawcze

Challenges of the Biomedical Engineering Education in Europe

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