\u3ci\u3eMedicine Meets Virtual Reality 21\u3c/i\u3e

Editors: James D. Westwood, Susan W. Westwood, Li Felländer-Tsai, Cali M. Fidopiastis, Randy S. Haluck, Richard A. Robb, Steven Senger, Kirby G. Vosburgh. Chapter, Varying the Speed of Perceived Self-Motion Affects Postural Control During Locomotion, co-authored by Joshua Pickhinke, Jung Hung Chien, Mukul Mukherjee, UNO faculty and staff members. Virtual reality environments have been used to show the importance of perception of self-motion in controlling posture and gait. In this study, the authors used a virtual reality environment to investigate whether varying optical flow speed had any effect on postural control during locomotion. Healthy young adult participants walked under two conditions, with optical flow matching their preferred walking speed, and with a randomly varying optic flow speed compared to their preferred walking speed. Exposure to the varying optic flow increased the variability in their postural control as measured by area of COP when compared with the matched speed condition. If perception of self-motion becomes less predictable, postural control during locomotion becomes more variable and possibly riskier.https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/facultybooks/1261/thumbnail.jp

TPM: Cloud-Based Tele PTSD Monitor Using Multi-Dimensional Information

An automated system that can remotely and non-intrusively screen individuals at high risk for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and monitor their progress during treatment would be desired by many Veterans Affairs (VAs) as well as other PTSD treatment and research organizations. In this paper, we present an automated, cloud-based Tele-PTSD Monitor (TPM) system based on the fusion of multiple sources of information. The TPM system can be hosted in a cloud environment and accessed through landline or cell phones, or on the Internet through a web portal or mobile application (app)

A Voice-Based Automated System for PTSD Screening and Monitoring

Comprehensive evaluation of PTSD includes diagnostic interviews, self-report testing, and physiological reactivity measures. It is often difficult and costly to diagnose PTSD due to patient access and the variability in symptoms presented. Additionally, potential patients are often reluctant to seek help due to the stigma associated with the disorder. A voice-based automated system that is able to remotely screen individuals at high risk for PTSD and monitor their symptoms during treatment has the potential to make great strides in alleviating the barriers to cost effective PTSD assessment and progress monitoring. In this paper we present a voice-based automated Tele-PTSD Monitor (TPM) system currently in development, designed to remotely screen, and provide assistance to clinicians in diagnosing PTSD. The TPM system can be accessed via a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) or the Internet. The acquired voice data is then sent to a secure server to invoke the PTSD Scoring Engine (PTSD-SE) where a PTSD mental health score is computed. If the score exceeds a predefined threshold, the system will notify clinicians (via email or short message service) for confirmation and/or an appropriate follow-up assessment and intervention. The TPM system requires only voice input and performs computer-based automated PTSD scoring, resulting in low cost and easy field-deployment. The concept of the TPM system was supported using a limited dataset with an average detection accuracy of up to 95.88%

A virtual reality patient and environments for image guided diagnosis

We describe a real-time virtual reality platform and a novel visualization technique designed to deliver constant rendering speed of highly detailed anatomical structures at interactive rates using portable, and low-cost computers. Our solution represents the torso section of the human body as a volumetric data set and employs label maps as the prime data format of storing anatomical structures. Multi-channel 3D textures are uploaded to the GPU and a simple pixel shader algorithm allows operators to select structures of interest in real-time. The visualization module described herein was successfully integrated into a virtual-reality 3D Anatomical Guidance System for Ultrasound Operators and its rendering performance tested on a “backpack” system

Natural Orifice Transluminal Endoscopic Surgery (NOTES): An Opportunity for Augmented Reality Guidance

Abstract. Laparoscopic techniques have gained wide acceptance because they offer a safe and less invasive alternative to open surgery. To further reduce the invasiveness of peritoneal access, the next logical step is to eliminate the incision through the abdominal wall using natural orifices as entry points. This Natural Orifice Transluminal Endoscopic Surgery (NOTES) approach has the potential to replace or augment current techniques. Several research groups have cut through the stomach or colon wall (per-oral transgastric or per-anal transcolonic) to perform organ resections in animal models, and some procedures in humans have been reported anecdotally. Widespread use of these techniques will depend on providing the physician with adequate visual feedback, clear indicators of instrument location and orientation, and support in the recognition of anatomic structures. Compared with laparoscopy, successful endoscopy must accommodate several additional complexities: (1) The flexibility of the endoscope tip complicates the understanding of its distal orientation. Successful navigation inside the stomach and in the abdominal cavity generally requires two years of sub-specialty training. (2) Several surgical targets lie in a retrograde position with respect to an incision in the stomach wall. Efficient and safe acces

Differential fragmentation cross sections for 7.3 GeV nitrogen ions incident on protons

Differential cross sections dd for the inclusive reaction N14 + pZ + anything (for 3Z6) have been measured at six laboratory production angles (\u3c5°) for 7.3 GeV nitrogen ions interacting in liquid hydrogen. The angular distributions for C, B, and Be fragments decrease sharply with increasing angle, as expected for this type of peripheral reaction. The corresponding transverse momentum (pt) distributions for these fragments can be represented by Gaussian functions of pt. The Li distribution appears to be non-Gaussian, suggesting one (or more) different production mechanisms. The dependence of the widths of the momentum distributions on fragment mass is not consistent with theoretical predictions, and shows some evidence for an quot;effective number of nucleons which determine the fragmentation spectrum of the nitrogen nucleus. Integration of the angular distributions gives partial production cross sections which are consistent with results at higher energy. This energy-independent behavior implies that limiting fragmentation is applicable down to energies of 0.5 GeV/nucleon. NUCLEAR REACTIONS Relativistic heavy ions; fragmentation of 7.3 GeV nitrogen on protons. © 1979 The American Physical Society