Towards a Multidisciplinary Approach for Designing Multimodal Sensory Communication Devices for Aeronautics

International audienceDeaf pilots in France are currently allowed to fly planes with the help of a second pilot handling voice and radio communication. Yet, they are not allowed to pilot independently. Fans4All is an association that aims at making aeronautics more accessible to pilots who are hearing or speaking impaired (HSI). In this paper we present our experience as a multidisciplinary design team (including two HSI pi-lots) working towards this goal. We present the current and past steps to develop a Multimodal Sensory Communication Device (MSCD) composed of a touchscreen tablet and a haptic jacket, as well as the visual vocabulary to define messages between HSI pilots and air traffic controllers. Moreover, we present our approach combining quantitative and qualitative methods for evaluation. We hope that our work will help making aeronautics more accessible to people with impairments

The importance of EN ISO 15189 accreditation of allergen-specific IgE determination for reliable in vitro allergy diagnosis

International audienceBackground: Allergen-specific serum immunoglobulin E detection and quantification have become an important step in allergy diagnosis and follow-up. In line with the current trend of laboratory test accreditation to international standards, we set out to design and assess an accreditation procedure for allergen-specific serum IgE.Methods: Method validation according to the accreditation procedure under the EN ISO 15189 standard was carried out for allergen-specific immunoglobulin E determination using the fluoroimmunoenzymatic method ImmunoCAP(®) (ThermoFisher). Data were produced by 25 hospital laboratories in France. A total of 29 allergen specificities including mixes, extracts, and molecular allergens were assayed. Allergen-specific serum immunoglobulin E concentrations ranged from 0.1 to 100 kUA /l.Results: Repeatability, reproducibility, and accuracy results fulfilled method validation criteria for automated laboratory tests and proved similar irrespective of the allergen specificity, allergen-specific serum immunoglobulin E concentration, or individual laboratory.Conclusion: Allergen-specific serum immunoglobulin E determination with the fluoroimmunoenzymatic method ImmunoCAP(®) is a highly repeatable, reproducible, and accurate method which may be considered as a single analyte assay in view of the EN ISO 15189 accreditation procedure