Design and implementing an instrument for psychophysiologycal diagnosis (case of electrodermal activity EDA)

Advances in electronics, and particularly in instrumentation have made possible the modernization of medical equipment and the emergence of neuroimaging. However despite the groundwork laid by Fere and Tarchanoff since 1888, a delay occurs in the field of psychophysiology. In this paper we describe a new instrument based on FERE’s method, designed and implemented for EDA’s record and analysis. The hard and soft parts of the instrument are based on the skills of microcontroller ATmega168. An amplitude analysis achieves the diagnosis skills of the instrument.Досягнення в електроніці, й особливо в інструментарії, зробили можливою модернізацію медичного обладнання та появу нейровізуалізації. Однак незважаючи на грунтовну роботу, яка проводилася Фере і Тархановим з 1888 р., у галузі психофізіології у подальшому спостерігалося відставання. У цій статті ми описуємо нове обладнання, засноване на методі Фере, спроектоване і впроваджене для реєстрації та аналізу показників електродермальної активності. Усі частини цього обладнання зроблені на основі мікроконтролера АТmega168

New intelligent network approach for monitoring physiological parameters : the case of Benin

Benin health system is facing many challenges as: (i) affordable high-quality health care to a growing population providing need, (ii) patients’ hospitalization time reduction, (iii) and presence time of the nursing staff optimization. Such challenges can be solved by remote monitoring of patients. To achieve this, five steps were followed. 1) Identification of the Wireless Body Area Network (WBAN) systems’ characteristics and the patient physiological parameters’ monitoring. 2) The national Integrated Patient Monitoring Network (RIMP) architecture modeling in a cloud of Technocenters. 3) Cross-analysis between the characteristics and the functional requirements identified. 4) Each Technocenter’s functionality simulation through: a) the design approach choice inspired by the life cycle of V systems; b) functional modeling through SysML Language; c) the communication technology and different architectures of sensor networks choice studying. 5) An estimate of the material resources of the national RIMP according to physiological parameters. A National Integrated Network for Patient Monitoring (RNIMP) remotely, ambulatory or not, was designed for Beninese health system. The implementation of the RNIMP will contribute to improve patients’ care in Benin. The proposed network is supported by a repository that can be used for its implementation, monitoring and evaluation. It is a table of 36 characteristic elements each of which must satisfy 5 requirements relating to: medical application, design factors, safety, performance indicators and materiovigilance

Ineffective Healthcare Technology Management in Benin’s Public Health Sector: The Perceptions of Key Actors and Their Ability to Address the Main Problems

Background: Low-income countries face many contextual challenges to manage healthcare technologies effectively, as the majority are imported and resources are constrained to a greater extent. Previous healthcare technology management (HTM) policies in Benin have failed to produce better quality of care for the population and costeffectiveness for the government. This study aims to identify and assess the main problems facing HTM in Benin’s public health sector, as well as the ability of key actors within the sector to address these problems. Methods: We conducted 2 surveys in 117 selected health facilities. The first survey was based on 377 questionnaires and 259 interviews, and the second involved observation and group interviews at health facilities. The Temple-Bird Healthcare Technology Package System (TBHTPS), tailored to the context of Benin’s health system, was used as a conceptual framework. Results: The findings of the first survey show that 85% of key actors in Benin’s HTM sector characterized the system as failing in components of the TBHTPS framework. Biomedical, clinical, healthcare technology engineers and technicians perceived problems most severely, followed by users of equipment, managers and hospital directors, international organization officers, local and foreign suppliers, and finally policy-makers, planners and administrators at the Ministry of Health (MoH). The 5 most important challenges to be addressed are policy, strategic management and planning, and technology needs assessment and selection – categorized as major enabling inputs (MEI) in HTM by the TBHTPS framework – and installation and commissioning, training and skill development and procurement, which are import and use activities (IUA). The ability of each key actor to address these problems (the degree of political or administrative power they possess) was inversely proportional to their perception of the severity of the problems. Observational data gathered during site visits described a different set of challenges including maintenance and repair, distribution, installation and commissioning, use and training and personnel skill development. Conclusion: The lack of experiential and technical knowledge in policy development processes could underpin many of the continuing problems in Benin’s HTM system. Before solutions can be devised to these problems, it is necessary to investigate their root causes, and which problems are most amenable to policy development

A framework for assessing healthcare facilities in low-resource settings : field studies in Benin and Uganda

Purpose. The aim of this paper is to present and validate a framework for assessing healthcare facilities in low-resource settings to collect evidence and inform policies on the harmonisation, regulation and contextualised design of medical devices. Methods. A literature review and focus groups with several experts of medical device design, clinical engineering, health technology assessment and management, allowed the creation of a protocol, comprising two parts: a semi-structured interview and electrical safety measures. Results. Three hospitals were assessed in Benin and three in Uganda. All the health centres resulted to be facing typical challenges for low-resource settings, including the lack of funding, expertise, a well-established maintenance program, spare parts and consumables, and unreliable power supplies. Conclusion. As there is a paucity of information regarding low-resource settings, the proposed framework can be used by clinical or biomedical engineers to assess and thereby propose actions for improving the conditions of healthcare settings

N-Beats as an EHG signal forecasting method for labour prediction in full term pregnancy

The early prediction of onset labour is critical for avoiding the risk of death due to pregnancy delay. Low-income countries often struggle to deliver timely service to pregnant women due to a lack of infrastructure and healthcare facilities, resulting in pregnancy complications and, eventually, death. In this regard, several artificial-intelligence-based methods have been proposed based on the detection of contractions using electrohysterogram (EHG) signals. However, the forecasting of pregnancy contractions based on real-time EHG signals is a challenging task. This study proposes a novel model based on neural basis expansion analysis for interpretable time series (N-BEATS) which predicts labour based on EHG forecasting and contraction classification over a given time horizon. The publicly available TPEHG database of Physiobank was exploited in order to train and test the model, where signals from full-term pregnant women and signals recorded after 26 weeks of gestation were collected. For these signals, the 30 most commonly used classification parameters in the literature were calculated, and principal component analysis (PCA) was utilized to select the 15 most representative parameters (all the domains combined). The results show that neural basis expansion analysis for interpretable time series (N-BEATS) forecasting can forecast EHG signals through training after few iterations. Similarly, the forecasting signal’s duration is determined by the length of the recordings. We then deployed XG-Boost, which achieved the classification accuracy of 99 percent, outperforming the state-of-the-art approaches using a number of classification features greater than or equal to 15

Operaciones de Defensa en el Ciberespacio desde una perspectiva MILDEC

Durante años, el ciberespacio ha sido considerado como el quinto dominio de batalla. No es de extrañar que las tácticas de guerra tradicionales se hayan traducido al Ciberespacio, tales como las tácticas de guerrilla, guerra asimétrica, engaño, atribución, entre otros. Recientemente, en las doctrinas de OTAN y Países Miembros se empieza a hablar de Operaciones Ofensivas en el Ciberespacio. Dichas operaciones son de apoyo o de actuación directa en dicho quinto dominio de batalla, como parte de una planificación inherentemente conjunta y/o combinada. Sin embargo, en el año de 2022, las operaciones en el ciberespacio siguen predominantemente basadas en efectos, donde su finalidad típicamente escala hacia una pretensión de objetivos estratégicos no convencionales (diplomáticos, económicos, sociales, políticos, etc.). No es de extrañar pues su proximidad a las operaciones MILDEC (‘Military Deception’ o Engaño Militar), siendo su uso en operaciones de defensa vinculado a conceptos como la estratagema o la disuasión; en ocasiones vinculadas a operaciones psicológicas y/o de información (de cara a articular una misión o narrativa paralela a la realidad englobando esta narrativa de engaño todos los dominios excepto el de ciberespacio). De ahí que es necesario realizar una síntesis del uso del ciberespacio como campo de batalla desde una perspectiva OTAN y proponer puntos de entrada de procedimientos MILDEC

Instrument d’aide au diagnostic en psychophysiologie : Cas de l’activite electrodermale (AED)

Les progrès de l’électronique et en particulier ceux réalisés en instrumentation ont rendu possible la modernisation des électrophysiographes et  l’émergence de la neuro-imagerie. Toutefois malgré les bases posées par FERE et TARCHANOFF depuis 1888, un retard s’observe dans les domaines  de la psychophysiologie compte tenu de la quasi-inexistence d’un outil fiable d’aide au diagnostic. Dans cet article, un appui est pris sur la méthode  de FERE pour concevoir et réaliser un instrument d’enregistrement et d’analyse de l’activité électrodermale. En effet, peu exploitée dans les  diagnostics psychiatriques, l’activité électrodermale est un paramètre physiologique qui traduit de façon instantanée l’état émotif ou mental d’une  personne à travers la variation de la conductance cutanée. Ainsi, une tension continue constante de 500 mV appliquée aux bornes de deux  électrodes placées sur les phalanges distales de l’index et du majeur de la main non dominante de cinq (5) candidats, défendant leur mémoire de fin  de formation, a permis d’enregistrer les variations de la conductance de leur peau. La valeur analogique mesurée est échantillonnée par le  convertisseur analogique-numérique de l’ATmega168, avant d’être transmise via une liaison série sur l’ordinateur pour enfin faire l’objet d’une  analyse d’amplitude.   Advances in electronics and in particular those made in instrumentation have made possible the modernization of electrophysiographs and the  emergence of neuro-imaging. However despite the groundwork laid by FERE and TARCHANOFF since 1888, a delay occurs in the field of psychiatry  and psychophysiology, given the virtual absence of a tool for diagnosis. In this project, basis is taken on the method of FERE to design and  implement an instrument for recording and analysis of ElectroDermal Activity. Indeed, little used in psychiatric diagnosis, electrodermal activity is a  physiological parameter which expresses the instantaneous emotional or mental state of a person through the change in skin conductance or  potential. Thus, we applied a constant voltage of 500 mV at the terminals of two electrodes placed on the distal phalanges of index and middle  fingers of the non-dominant hand of five (5) candidates, defending their thesis at the end of training, and we recorded the changes in conductance  of their skin. The measured analog value is sampled by the analog-digital converter of the ATmega168, before being transmitted via a serial port on  the computer for amplitude analysis.&nbsp

The impact of Benin’s first public procurement code and its amendment on healthcare equipment acquisition prices

Purpose: To satisfy donors and reduce public procurement acquisition prices, Benin has implemented and amended its first public procurement code guided by top-down principles of good governance. Design/methodology/approach: This study aims to measure the impact of the code and its amendment on public procurement acquisition prices of health-care equipment from 1995 to 2010. Findings: A segmented linear regression analysis was performed using interrupted time-series data. The analysis shows that the code and its amendment did not reduce acquisition prices, indicating the limited impact of the code. The authors recommend the implementation of bottom-up processes in establishing the public procurement system, and the development of a reference pricelist of the most widely used health-care equipment, as possible solutions for improving the effectiveness of the code

EFFECT OF COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY (CT) SCAN EXPOSURE ON HEMATOLOGICAL PARAMETERS

Background and aims: CT scan is more used in diagnosis; however, this examined was delivered a low dose estimated approximately to 50 mGy. In this study, the impact of CT scan exposure on hematological parameters for Congo-Brazzaville patients was analyzed. Methods: Blood samples have been obtained from 61 patients including 23 young patients (<17 years). Blood sample was obtained before and 24h after CT-scan exposure from three different hospitals Congo-Brazzaville. 30 healthy donors have been included as a control. Hematological parameters have been analyzed using software. Results: Significant decrease of red blood and hemoglobin were observed after 24 h of CT scan exposure for all patients (p=0.0002 and p=0.0004 respectively). Significant increase of white blood and granulocyte were observed only in adult patients (p=0.0057 and p=0.011 respectively). Significant correlation was observed between the Abdominal-Pleven CT-scan and the variation of white blood and granulocytes. Interestingly, decrease of lymphocytes was observed in adult patients and lymphocyte increase was detected in young patients. Conclusion: We were demonstrated for the first time the variation of hematological parameters after exposure to be very lower doses such as CT-Scan doses. These variations could be reflected inflammatory reactions. Additional analysis can be performed for the validation of these data using a large cohort.                          Peer Review History: Received: 23 June 2023; Revised: 18 July; Accepted: 25 August, Available online: 15 September 2023 Academic Editor: Prof. Dr. Gorkem Dulger, Duzce University, Turkey, [email protected] Received file:                             Reviewer's Comments: Average Peer review marks at initial stage: 5.0/10 Average Peer review marks at publication stage: 7.0/10 Reviewers: Dr. Sheikh Abdul Khaliq, Department of Pharmacy Practice, Faculty of Pharmacy, Hamdard University, Karachi, Pakistan, [email protected] Prof. Hassan A.H. Al-Shamahy, Sana'a University, Yemen, [email protected] Ali Jaber, Laboratory for Research and Development of Medicines and Natural Products, RDMPN, Faculty of Pharmacy, Lebanese University, Beirut, Lebanon, [email protected]