Three Realizations and Comparison of Hardware for Piezoresistive Tactile Sensors

Tactile sensors are basically arrays of force sensors that are intended to emulate the skin in applications such as assistive robotics. Local electronics are usually implemented to reduce errors and interference caused by long wires. Realizations based on standard microcontrollers, Programmable Systems on Chip (PSoCs) and Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) have been proposed by the authors for the case of piezoresistive tactile sensors. The solution employing FPGAs is especially relevant since their performance is closer to that of Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs) than that of the other devices. This paper presents an implementation of such an idea for a specific sensor. For the purpose of comparison, the circuitry based on the other devices is also made for the same sensor. This paper discusses the implementation issues, provides details regarding the design of the hardware based on the three devices and compares them.This work has been partially funded by the Spanish Government under contracts TEC2006-12376 and TEC2009-14446

Strategic Intelligence Monitor on Personal Health Systems Phase 3 (SIMPHS3). MOMA and Maccabi Healthcare Services (Israel). Case Study Report

MOMA is a care model based on a multidisciplinary 24/7 advanced technology call centre for treatment of various chronic diseases. It was established in 2012 by Maccabi Healthcare Services in cooperation with the Gertner Institute. Maccabi Healthcare Services is one of the four authorised health funds providing universal healthcare services in Israel. The MOMA initiative was designed as a technological tool to improve the integration of different services such as long-term care, pharmacy, homecare and hospital care, in coordination with the patient’s primary care physician and other community-based resources. MOMA addresses the needs of chronically ill patients, which Maccabi Healthcare Services considered as patients who should receive special care instead of standard care.JRC.J.3-Information Societ

Strategic Intelligence Monitor on Personal Health Systems Phase 3 (SIMPHS3).Veterans Health Administration (USA). Case Study Report

The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) is an agency of the United States Department of Veterans’ Affairs (this Department that has the 3rd largest budget among departments of the US administration). The medical assistance program implemented by the VHA is the largest integrated care system in the US (consisting of 150 medical centres and nearly 1,700 facilities comprising community-based outpatient clinics, community living centres, Veterans’ Centres and domiciliary assistance). It provides comprehensive care to almost 9 million veterans every year. The VHA is centrally administered and fully integrated; its services are funded and provided by the federal government. Therefore the VHA works both as a provider and payer, a rather unusual feature in the US health care structure. In fact, VHA is the only truly national health care system in the US, with hospitals or other facilities in every state and major metropolitan area of the country, as well as in Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa and the Philippines. The VHA network is divided into 23 Veterans Integrated Service Networks, or VISNs, i.e. regional systems of care working together to better meet local health care needs and provide greater access to care.JRC.J.3-Information Societ

Strategic Intelligence Monitor on Personal Health Systems Phase 3 (SIMPHS3). Diabmemory (Austria). Case Study Report

In 2010, the Austrian Social Insurance Institution for Railways and Mining Industry (Versicherungsanstalt für Eisenbahnen und Bergbau, VAEB) started a proof-of-concept diabetes telemonitoring project called DiabMemory, as part of a wider programme called "Health Dialogue" (“Gesundheitsdialog”). DiabMemory allows diabetes patients to track health parameters using a mobile phone and share this data with their General Practitioner (GP). After being diagnosed with type 1 or 2 diabetes in primary or secondary care, patients insured by VAEB are given the opportunity to stay for a period of one to three weeks at a special rehabilitation facility in Breitenstein (Lower Austria) to receive education on all aspects relevant to their health and medical conditions like nutrition, physical activity, and psychological aspects. If they decide to join the programme, they receive the equipment and training on how to use the DiabMemory system and how to integrate it into their everyday lives. After their stay in Breitenstein, participants are able to use DiabMemory without further help. A web-based application allows health professionals responsible for therapy management within the Health Dialogue programme to access patient data and adjust therapy plans when needed. Moreover, they can provide users with motivational messages and feedback can be sent directly to the patient’s mobile.JRC.J.3-Information Societ

Strategic Intelligence Monitor on Personal Health Systems Phase 3 (SIMPHS3). Integrated care programme for older in- and out-patients University Hospital of Getafe (Spain). Case Study Report

For more than 20 years the Geriatrics Service of the University Hospital of Getafe (Hospital Universitario de Getafe – HUG) has been offering integrated care programmes for older in- and out-patients. These services provide continuous, progressive and coordinated attention to patients at high risk of functional decline, institutionalisation, and hospitalisation, at home or in residential care settings. The objective is to offer the most appropriate care according to the changing needs of the patients. The programme is twofold: for people admitted to the hospital, the care teams responsible for the different phases of the treatment are coordinated through periodic meetings (both physical and remote, the latter to coordinate care with other hospitals) and coordinate with the team in primary care before discharge; for patients who are at home or in residential care facilities, the programme includes follow-up of the patient directly, or in close collaboration with primary care and social care agents when needed.JRC.J.3-Information Societ

Strategic Intelligence Monitor on Personal Health Systems Phase 3 (SIMPHS3). Renewing Health Carinthia (Austria). Case Study Report

Renewing Health is a European project (February 2010-December 2013), partly funded by the European Union under the ICT Policy Support Programme, part of the Competitiveness and Innovation framework Programme (CIP), with a total budget of €14 million and European co-financing of €7 million. The project aimed to implement health-related ICT services through large-scale real-life test beds for the validation and subsequent evaluation of innovative eHealth services, using a patient-centred approach and a rigorous common assessment methodology. This case study focuses on the Austrian Partner of the project: the Carinthia region and, more precisely, KABEG (Krankenanstalten Betriebsgesellschaft), the hospital management company in the region. In RENEWING HEALTH, KABEG integrated a set of telemonitoring solutions into their existing systems for two target groups - patients suffering from Diabetes Mellitus Type II and patients suffering from COPD – in order to carry out two pilots to test the effects of the resulting system.JRC.J.3-Information Societ

Trabectedin plus radiotherapy for advanced soft-tissue sarcoma: experience in forty patients treated at a sarcoma reference center

Symptomatic control and tumoral shrinkage is an unmet need in advanced soft-tissue sarcoma (STS) patients beyond first-line. The combination of trabectedin and radiotherapy showed activity in a recently reported clinical trial in this setting. This retrospective series aims to analyze our experience with the same regimen in the real-life setting. We retrospectively reviewed advanced sarcoma patients treated with trabectedin concomitantly with radiotherapy with palliative intent. Growth-modulation index (GMI) was calculated as a surrogate of efficacy. Forty metastatic patients were analyzed. According to RECIST, there was one (2.5%) complete response, 12 (30%) partial responses, 18 (45%) disease stabilizations, and nine (22.5%) progressions. After a median follow-up of 15 months (range 2–38), median progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were 7.5 months (95% CI 2.8–12.2) and 23.5 months (95% CI 1.1–45.8), respectively. Median GMI was 1.42 (range 0.19–23.76), and in 16 (53%) patients, it was >1.33. In patients with GMI >1.33, median OS was significantly longer than in those with GMI 0–1.33 (median OS 52.1 months (95% CI not reached) vs. 8.9 months (95% CI 6.3–11.6), p = 0.028). The combination of trabectedin plus radiotherapy is an active therapeutic option in patients with advanced STS, especially when tumor shrinkage for symptomatic relief is neede