Multi-purpose HealthCare Telemedicine Systems with mobile communication link support

The provision of effective emergency telemedicine and home monitoring solutions are the major fields of interest discussed in this study. Ambulances, Rural Health Centers (RHC) or other remote health location such as Ships navigating in wide seas are common examples of possible emergency sites, while critical care telemetry and telemedicine home follow-ups are important issues of telemonitoring. In order to support the above different growing application fields we created a combined real-time and store and forward facility that consists of a base unit and a telemedicine (mobile) unit. This integrated system: can be used when handling emergency cases in ambulances, RHC or ships by using a mobile telemedicine unit at the emergency site and a base unit at the hospital-expert's site, enhances intensive health care provision by giving a mobile base unit to the ICU doctor while the telemedicine unit remains at the ICU patient site and enables home telemonitoring, by installing the telemedicine unit at the patient's home while the base unit remains at the physician's office or hospital. The system allows the transmission of vital biosignals (3-12 lead ECG, SPO2, NIBP, IBP, Temp) and still images of the patient. The transmission is performed through GSM mobile telecommunication network, through satellite links (where GSM is not available) or through Plain Old Telephony Systems (POTS) where available. Using this device a specialist doctor can telematically "move" to the patient's site and instruct unspecialized personnel when handling an emergency or telemonitoring case. Due to the need of storing and archiving of all data interchanged during the telemedicine sessions, we have equipped the consultation site with a multimedia database able to store and manage the data collected by the system. The performance of the system has been technically tested over several telecommunication means; in addition the system has been clinically validated in three different countries using a standardized medical protocol

The efficacy and safety of pregabalin in the treatment of neuropathic pain associated with chronic lumbosacral radiculopathy.

Item does not contain fulltextWe evaluated the efficacy of pregabalin in patients with chronic lumbosacral radiculopathy. This randomized, controlled, withdrawal trial included five phases: screening (4-18 days); run-in (4-10 days) to screen out placebo responders; single-blind (28 days) to identify pregabalin responders; double-blind to randomize responders to pregabalin or placebo (35 days); and final study medication taper (7 days). The primary endpoint was time to loss of response (LOR) during the double-blind phase (1-point increase in pain, discontinuation, or rescue-medication use). In the single-blind phase, 58% of patients had 30% pain reduction. In the double-blind phase, pregabalin (n=110) and placebo (n=107) groups did not differ significantly in time to LOR. Adverse events caused the discontinuation of 9.9% and 5.6% of pregabalin-treated and placebo-treated patients, respectively. Most patients with chronic lumbosacral radiculopathy responded to pregabalin therapy; however, time to LOR did not significantly differ between pregabalin and placebo. Considering the results of all phases of the study, it is difficult to draw definitive conclusions from it, suggesting a need for further work to understand the clinical potential of pregabalin treatment for lumbosacral radiculopathy.1 september 201