Descriptive Analysis of Patients’ EMS Use Related to Severity in Tokyo: A Population-Based Observational Study

IntroductionFew studies are available on the clinical characteristics of patients using emergency medical transports in Japan. In this study, we aimed to investigate reasons for emergency medical transports and their relation to clinical severity.MethodsWe conducted a 3-year population-based observational study of patients transported by ambulance to emergency departments (ED) in the capital of Japan, Tokyo, which has a population of about 13 million. Demographic data, reasons for transport, and the severity of initial assessment at ED were recorded. Logistic regression was used to determine the odds of the clinical severity of each reason for transport.ResultsThe number of emergency medical transports in the three-year study period was 1,832,637. Mean age was 53±26. Males were 976,142 (53%). Overall, 92% of all transported patients were in a mild or moderate medical state and patients with the 17 most frequent reasons for transport occupied 82% (1,506,017) of all transports. Pain was the most frequent reason for transport, followed by traffic accident. Considering all the patients and their reasons for transport, patients whose reason was pain or a traffic accident (29% of all patients) were in a relatively mild state compared with patients with other reasons for transport. Patients in an altered mental state in the prehospital setting (6.8% of all patients) were in a more severe medical state than other patients.ConclusionsIn Tokyo, Japan, 92% of transported patients were in a mild or moderate medical state. In particular, most patients from traffic accidents were in a mild state, even though traffic accidents were the second most frequent reason for transport. Patients in an altered mental state were most likely to be in a severe medical state

Input Devices to Support Communication for People with Serious Disability

Persons suffering from intractable disease like ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) and spinal cord injury often show deterioration in muscular function. Some of these patients are obliged to use artificial respirators and cannot have verbal communication with others. In order to support their communication, there exist various input devices like touch sensor input devices, capacitance sensor input devices and also vision input devices. In addition, computer controlled environment is helpful for such patients. By developing proper computer controlled environment which is controlled by the proper input device, even the patient with serious disability can live sound life. Due to the infrared network system, the computer controlled environment could be well organized.9th IEEE International Conference on Mobile Ad-Hoc and Sensor Networks, MSN 2013; Dalian; China; 11 December 2013 through 13 December 201

A sensor to measure hardness of human tissue

An innovative sensor is developed to evaluate hardness of human soft tissue. This sensor provides easy and accurate hardness measurements based on a unique sensing mechanism. Hardness of soft materials is often evaluated by using international standards of hardness such as IRHD (International Rubber Hardness Degree) and durometer hardness. However the conventional scales based on these standards requires a stable pressuring condition to the target. Therefore, these scales cannot be used for targets that are in motion or targets that require quick measurement such as human muscles during exercises and a liver exposed at a surgery. The prototyped sensor has a compact body and allows continuous hardness measurement with an arbitrary pressing force. This sensor always monitors the force exerted on the sensor and automatically eliminates the unintended effect from the fluctuation of the pressing force. Therefore, continuous time series of the hardness data is real-timely available. This paper reports results of a test as well as the detail of the mechanism and data processing technique of the latest version of the sensor.2006 5th IEEE Conference on Sensors : Daegu, Korea, 2006.10.22-2006.10.2

Dopamine as a polymerizable reagent for enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay using horseradish peroxidase

We demonstrate that dopamine can be used as a reagent for colorimetric enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using horseradish peroxidase (HRP). Dopamine was able to be polymerized in the presence of HRP and H2O2, and black polydopamine was obtained after the enzymatic reaction. Because of the black color, the absorbance was significantly changed in the whole range of the visible light region. Here, an indirect competitive ELISA based on the polymerization of dopamine was performed to detect a fluoroquinolone antibiotic, enrofloxacin. The antibiotic is commonly used in livestock farming. The anti-antibiotics antibody was produced from egg yolk from chicken hens. In the visible range, sufficient absorbance changes of ∼0.4∼0.5 and a low background level for the ELISA response were obtained, and the 50 % inhibitory concentration value at 450 nm was determined to be 26 ppb. The performance of the indirect competitive ELISA based on the polymerization of dopamine was compared to that based on the oxidation of catechol because dopamine has a catechol skeleton. By the complex of HRP and H2O2, catechol can be oxidized to o-benzoquinone having a maximum absorption wavelength of 420 nm. It was shown that the absorbance change in the case of polydopamine was about 2.5 times higher than that of catechol, where the background levels were similar. This confirms that the polymerization of dopamine significantly enhanced the photosignal

Univariate analysis using logistic regression for severe patients by reason for ambulance transport.

<p>Univariate analysis using logistic regression for severe patients by reason for ambulance transport.</p

Characteristics of emergency medical transports in Tokyo.

<p>Characteristics of emergency medical transports in Tokyo.</p