A Review of Wireless Body Area Networks for Medical Applications

Recent advances in Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) technology, integrated circuits, and wireless communication have allowed the realization of Wireless Body Area Networks (WBANs). WBANs promise unobtrusive ambulatory health monitoring for a long period of time and provide real-time updates of the patient's status to the physician. They are widely used for ubiquitous healthcare, entertainment, and military applications. This paper reviews the key aspects of WBANs for numerous applications. We present a WBAN infrastructure that provides solutions to on-demand, emergency, and normal traffic. We further discuss in-body antenna design and low-power MAC protocol for WBAN. In addition, we briefly outline some of the WBAN applications with examples. Our discussion realizes a need for new power-efficient solutions towards in-body and on-body sensor networks.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figures, and 3 tables. In V3, the manuscript is converted to LaTe

HIV AND AIDS: A SURVEY AMONG DENTAL STUDENTS.

Introduction: One of the cornerstones in the fight against HIV/AIDS is the knowledge regarding the disease. The present survey aimed primarily at assessing the knowledge of dental students in Krishnadevaraya College of Dental Scienceson HIV/AIDS. Materials and Methods: Pre-formed questionnaire of 25 questions was given out to 100 dental students aged between18?25 years willing to participate in study. All participants were requested to complete the questionnaire with best of their knowledge and without any assistance. Questionnaire once completed were collected back personally. Results: Majority students (80%) had generally positive attitudes about patients with HIV and AIDS. About 12% expressed discomfort with taking a patient\'s sexual history Most of the students (96%) knew that HIV/AIDS patients can infect dental workers and 10% were unaware of the fact that HIV/AIDS patients can be diagnosed with oral manifestations. Conclusions: All the students were aware of HIV/AIDS. The majorty of participants demonstrated an adequate understanding of HIV transmission and prevention. In order to combat these issues, effective learning interventions must be introduced

Currently Available Tools and Teaching Strategies for the Interprofessional Education of Students in Health Professions : Literature review

Interprofessional education (IPE) is designed to provide students from different health sectors with opportunities to work together to enhance future collaboration. The implementation of IPE activities is a current trend in various countries. This review exclusively targets IPE issues involving undergraduate health profession students and highlights various approaches in different regions. A total of 28 articles published in peer-reviewed journals between January 2012 and July 2015 were assessed to determine recent trends in IPE implementation. Nine main strategies were identified: simulation-based education programmes; rotations in rural and community settings; interprofessional training wards; patient-centred case studies; theme-centred workshops; student seminars; student-delivered lectures; health promotion activities; and interactive lectures in a common setting. Many of these institutions had not restricted themselves to a single strategy and supplemented these activities with additional teaching or learning methods. Recommendations gathered from these diverse approaches may assist the development of sustainable strategies for implementing IPE in undergraduate medical curricula

Botulism in children: a diagnostic dilemma in developing countries

Botulism is a well-known disease of the neuromuscular junction. It is a rare but curable cause of paralysis in paediatric population. In addition to classical clinical signs and symptoms, the diagnosis of botulism requires laboratory confirmation of intoxication by various biological tests. These include demonstration of botulinum toxin in serum or isolation of the Clostridium botulinum from stool/gastric aspirates. However, it is not always possible to confirm intoxication due to unavailability of technical facilities, especially in resource limited countries like Pakistan. Under these circumstances, electrophysiological studies serve as an excellent diagnostic tool. These studies can provide quick diagnosis of botulism so that early administration of botulism immunoglobulin, if available, can reduce morbidity, mortality and length of stay in hospital. We report a case of botulism from Pakistan diagnosed on the basis of electrophysiological studies

A Study of Medium Access Control Protocols for Wireless Body Area Networks

The seamless integration of low-power, miniaturised, invasive/non-invasive lightweight sensor nodes have contributed to the development of a proactive and unobtrusive Wireless Body Area Network (WBAN). A WBAN provides long-term health monitoring of a patient without any constraint on his/her normal dailylife activities. This monitoring requires low-power operation of invasive/non-invasive sensor nodes. In other words, a power-efficient Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol is required to satisfy the stringent WBAN requirements including low-power consumption. In this paper, we first outline the WBAN requirements that are important for the design of a low-power MAC protocol. Then we study low-power MAC protocols proposed/investigated for WBAN with emphasis on their strengths and weaknesses. We also review different power-efficient mechanisms for WBAN. In addition, useful suggestions are given to help the MAC designers to develop a low-power MAC protocol that will satisfy the stringent WBAN requirements.Comment: 13 pages, 8 figures, 7 table

Incidence of Phlebitis with Intravascular Cannulas in Surgical Patients during the Postoperative Period

Background: Peripheral intravenous cannulation (PIVC) is a routine invasive procedure being done on both medical and surgical patients. Phlebitis is its most widespread complication. The objective of this study was to determine the incidence of phlebitis with PIVC in surgical patients post-operatively. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in surgical units of Benazir Bhutto Hospital and Holy Family Hospital, Rawalpindi from 19th Feb 2018 to 1st April 2018. A total of 222 postoperative patients, with a PIVC in situ, were inspected. Patients who had elective surgical procedures were included, while patients with emergency surgeries, minor surgical procedures or active bloodstream infections were excluded from this study. Twenty-two entries were discarded because of incomplete documentation. Data was analyzed using SPSS, Chi-squared test was applied, and p ≤0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Median age (years) of the samples was 35, 110(55%) were males and 90(45%) females. The upper limb veins were more frequently cannulized 197(98.5%), with the dorsum of the hand being the most common site. Most of the cannulas were being used for the administration of intravenous fluids and medications 136(68%). Only 12(6%) of the inspected cannula sites showed signs of phlebitis and were treated by removal only. Conclusion: In our study, post-operative rate of cannula site phlebitis discovered was 6%. This is marginally more than global principles of 5%, set up by Infusion Nursing Society (INS) for any given population. Although, this has been lessened from a reference range of 21.9% - 51.49% in the course for the last few decades. Keywords: Cannula; Surgery; Phlebitis; Elective Surgical Procedures; Peripheral Venous Catheterization

Experience of Emergency Peripartum Hysterectomies at a Tertiary Care Hospital in Quetta, Pakistan

Emergency peripartum hysterectomy (EPH) is associated with significant morbidity and mortality worldwide. The purpose of our paper was to determine the incidence, morbidity, and mortality of EPH done at our institution; the largest tertiary care government hospital in the city of Quetta, Pakistan. During the study period there were 12,642 deliveries, out of which 46 women had undergone an EPH, translating into an incidence of ∼4 per 1,000 births. Disturbingly, 82.6% of these patients had received no antenatal care prior to their presentation. There were 4 (8.7%) maternal deaths and 31 (67.4%) perinatal deaths. The commonest indication noted was uterine rupture in 21 (45.7%) cases. Lack of antenatal care is indeed a modifiable factor that needs to be addressed to help reduce maternal and fetal morbidity/mortality not only from emergency hysterectomies but also from all other preventable causes

Analysis of cervical smears in a muslim population

Background: Screening for cancer of the cervix remains a neglected health care issue in Pakistan. To provide baseline data for future efforts to improve screening, we conducted a retrospective analysis of cervical smears taken in the obstetrics and gynaecological clinics of the Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, Pakistan.Method: We collected data on cervical smear cytology for cervical smears taken from January 1, 1990 to December 31,1996. We assessed risk factors for dysplasia, including age, age at first marriage, and number of pregnancies.Results: The overall prevalence of abnormal smears in our study was 0.5%. Of 20,995 cervical smears, 12,451 (59.3%) smears showed non-specific inflammation, 7302 (34.8%) were reported as normal, 809 (3.85%) showed monillial infection, 148 (0.71%) showed atypia, 105 (0.5%) had dysplastic cytology, and 52 (0.25%) samples were inadequate. The highest incidence of dysplastic smears was seen in the age group 35 to 44 years. Of 105 patients with dysplasia, 12 were pregnant, and all were asymptomatic, while in 93 non-pregnant women, 33 were symptomatic.Conclusion: The low prevalence of abnormal smears, compared with data from Western populations, could be due to the inherent bias of health awareness in the women who attended our hospital. The results of this study may serve as a baseline for future comparisons. A larger community-based study may establish the exact prevalence of malignant and premalignant lesions so as to plan for future screening