Tangibot: A collaborative multiplayer game for pediatric patients

[EN] Background Previous research has studied the effects of games in pediatric wards, but none of it has focused on the impact of the hospital¿s school staff on the psychosocial state of the children nor on the gameplay itself. Objectives To present the Tangibot application and evaluate its impact on the children¿s psychosocial state in the short term and the impact of the teacher on their psychosocial state, communications and coordination during the activity. Methods A study was conducted in a hospital classroom with 20 participants, who participated twice in the game: one with the teacher playing along and another without her. An observational scale was used by two evaluators in order to assess the impact on the children. Results and conclusions The study revealed that the teacher has an impact on the children¿s communication and coordination procedures but has no impact on the psychosocial state of the participants. The teacher¿s impact was found to be positive about communications. Dialogue management significantly improves when the communication includes the teacher, which means speaking turns are observed more consistently. Information pooling also improves, and the participants ask the teacher more questions. Consensus is also reached more often and more easily, but this does not reflect on the performance, as the time management is evidently worse when the teacher is present, as is also the joint task orientation. On the other hand, it was found that the teacher does not have an impact on the psychosocial state of the participants during the game, and that it is the game itself which changes their state over time. In the case of affection, which reflects the participants¿ emotions of joy or boredom, their state improved significantly after a few minutes of play. The same thing occurred for physical activity, interest in the activity and interaction between peers, which increased in value in the first part of the game, although physical activity and interaction were reduced towards the end. No changes were found throughout the game in the number of complaints, nervousness or satisfied comments, which remained very low for all these aspects, showing that the game distracted them from their various symptoms. Based on these results, future work will explore the effects of gamification on the overall hospitalization perception, with special focus on the social opportunities during the hospital stay, to provide ways for the children to meet others during their treatment, to make the experience less painful and reduce their feelings of isolation. Some game strategies should also be evaluated to determine the ones that provide the best opportunities to improve the children¿s hospital experience.This work is funded by the European Development Regional Fund (EDRF-FEDER) and supported by Spanish MINECO with Project TIN2014-60077-R-AR. The work of Jorge Montaner is supported by a national grant from the Spanish Ministry for Education (FPU17/03333). Special thanks to the staff of La Fe Hospital in Valencia who have collaborated in the experiment.Montaner-Marco, J.; Carrión-Plaza, A.; García Sanjuan, F.; Jaén Martínez, FJ. (2019). Tangibot: A collaborative multiplayer game for pediatric patients. International Journal of Medical Informatics. 132. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2019.103982S13

A systematic review of game technologies for pediatric patients

[EN] Children in hospital are subjected to multiple negative stimuli that may hinder their development and social interactions. Although game technologies are thought to improve children's experience in hospital, there is a lack of information on how they can be used effectively. This paper presents a systematic review of the literature on the existing approaches in this context to identify gaps for future research. A total of 1305 studies were identified, of which 75 were thoroughly analyzed according to our review protocol. The results show that the most common approach is to design mono-user games with traditional computers or monitor-based video consoles, which serve as a distractor or a motivator for physical rehabilitation for primary school children undergoing fearful procedures such as venipuncture, or those suffering chronic, neurological, or traumatic diseases/injures. We conclude that, on the one hand, game technologies seem to present physical and psychological benefits to pediatric patients, but more research is needed on this. On the other hand, future designers of games for pediatric hospitalization should consider: 1. The development for kindergarten patients and adolescents, 2. Address the psychological impact caused by long-term hospitalization, 3. Use collaboration as an effective game strategy to reduce patient isolation, 4. Have purposes other than distraction, such as socialization, coping with emotions, or fostering physical mobility, 5. Include parents/caregivers and hospital staff in the game activities; and 6. Exploit new technological artifacts such as robots and tangible interactive elements to encourage intrinsic motivation.This work is supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and the European Development Regional Fund (EDRF-FEDER) with Project TIN2014-60077-R.El Jurdi, S.; Montaner-Marco, J.; García Sanjuan, F.; Jaén Martínez, FJ.; Nácher-Soler, VE. (2018). A systematic review of game technologies for pediatric patients. Computers in Biology and Medicine. 97:89-112. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compbiomed.2018.04.019S891129

Atrial fibrillation genetic risk differentiates cardioembolic stroke from other stroke subtypes

AbstractObjectiveWe sought to assess whether genetic risk factors for atrial fibrillation can explain cardioembolic stroke risk.MethodsWe evaluated genetic correlations between a prior genetic study of AF and AF in the presence of cardioembolic stroke using genome-wide genotypes from the Stroke Genetics Network (N = 3,190 AF cases, 3,000 cardioembolic stroke cases, and 28,026 referents). We tested whether a previously-validated AF polygenic risk score (PRS) associated with cardioembolic and other stroke subtypes after accounting for AF clinical risk factors.ResultsWe observed strong correlation between previously reported genetic risk for AF, AF in the presence of stroke, and cardioembolic stroke (Pearson’s r=0.77 and 0.76, respectively, across SNPs with p &lt; 4.4 × 10−4 in the prior AF meta-analysis). An AF PRS, adjusted for clinical AF risk factors, was associated with cardioembolic stroke (odds ratio (OR) per standard deviation (sd) = 1.40, p = 1.45×10−48), explaining ∼20% of the heritable component of cardioembolic stroke risk. The AF PRS was also associated with stroke of undetermined cause (OR per sd = 1.07, p = 0.004), but no other primary stroke subtypes (all p &gt; 0.1).ConclusionsGenetic risk for AF is associated with cardioembolic stroke, independent of clinical risk factors. Studies are warranted to determine whether AF genetic risk can serve as a biomarker for strokes caused by AF.</jats:sec

Diseño e Implementación de Servicios de Interacción Social para una Aplicación de Ludoterapia en el Ámbito de la Hospitalización Pediátrica

[ES] En este trabajo final de grado se lleva a cabo el análisis, diseño e implementación de una extensión de HabitApp (una aplicación de visualización e interacción con cámaras en hábitats de animales para uso en entornos pediátricos) con el fin de dotarla de servicios de interacción social y educativos, así como una aplicación específica para especialistas en el cuidado de animales para que puedan resolver dudas acerca de los animales que vean en HabitApp estos pacientes[EN] This paper consists in the analysis, design and implementation of an extension of HabitApp (which is an app that allows hospitalized children to view and interact with cameras in animal environment) with the aim of adding social interaction and educative services to it, and also of the development of a new app to allow animal-care specialists to answer questions from these children about animals they watch in HabitApp.Montaner Marco, J. (2017). Diseño e Implementación de Servicios de Interacción Social para una Aplicación de Ludoterapia en el Ámbito de la Hospitalización Pediátrica. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/88464.TFG

Evaluación de tecnologías de ludoterapia como herramientas de socialización en contextos hospitalarios pediátricos

[ES] Este trabajo de fin de máster aborda la problemática de la socialización del paciente pediátrico en el contexto hospitalario mediante el estudio de dos estrategias de ludoterapia colaborativa. Por un lado, la basada en el juego co-localizado en un mismo espacio físico y, por otro, la basada en el juego remoto mediado por superficies interactivas. Para el primer caso, el presente trabajo de máster lleva a cabo una evaluación de un juego con un robot en el aula pediátrica de un hospital, con la finalidad de promover iniciativas de interacción social en un entorno en el que este tipo de relación se ve dificultada. Para el segundo caso se implementa y evalúa una aplicación de dibujado multijugador en entornos pediátricos. Se analizarán las dificultades encontradas, los resultados obtenidos, y se ofrecerán conclusiones para mejorar este aspecto de los pacientes durante su estancia hospitalaria.[EN] This work focuses on the problems derived from pediatric patient socialization in the context of hospitalization by studying two play therapy strategies. On one hand, a strategy which is based on the same physical space. On the other, another one based on remote playing through interactive surfaces. Specifically, in the first one, this work performs an evaluation of a game played with a robot in a pediatric classroom inside the hospital, with the aim of providing social interaction initiatives in a context in which this kind of relationship is difficult to achieve. In the second one, a multiplayer drawing application is implemented and evaluated. Finally, all challenges and difficulties found and the results obtained are analyzed, and conclusions are drawn to improve this aspect of pediatric hospitalization.Montaner Marco, J. (2018). Evaluación de tecnologías de ludoterapia como herramientas de socialización en contextos hospitalarios pediátricos. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/147054TFG

ANIM3: ANIMated ANIMals as A Numbing Immersive Mechanic

A high prevalence of "acute pain"within hospital emergency departments and side-effects of current practices calls for new additional treatment measures. Alternatives to analgesics include Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT) and Virtual Reality (VR). Whereas proven effectively separately, the combination AAT techniques and VR analgesia has received no or scant attention. In this paper we focus on exploring this field through exploring the literature from the separate approaches and show how they would fit together, conceptualized in a new VR application ANIM3. Leading in this development process, besides the extensive literature review, were stakeholder interviews. Our first user encounters gained positive responses to the prototype. As a whole, we see strong indications that "acute pain"reduction in the hospital based on AAT principles in Virtual Reality is a promising technique. We postulate that these experiences should add well timed heightened distractions, while keeping the contextual factors in mind leading to interactions of a maximum of about 15 mins, with limited or no need for explanations, and limit need of locomotion and two-hand controls. We recommend the creation of proposals to further development and research to explore these possibilities to their full potential

Investigación educativa en las aulas de primaria

Reúne trabajos derivados de la experiencias de diversos docentes en educación primaria en los siguientes temas: Tecnología de Información y Comunicación, educación inclusiva, enseñanza de la música, educación física, enseñanza de la historia, acoso escolar, auto-evaluación, métodos de enseñanza, inteligencia emocional, percepción del alumno, marco cognitivo en comprensión lectora y comunicación escuela-familia

Atrial fibrillation genetic risk differentiates cardioembolic stroke from other stroke subtypes

Objective: We sought to assess whether genetic risk factors for atrial fibrillation (AF) can explain cardioembolic stroke risk. Methods: We evaluated genetic correlations between a previous genetic study of AF and AF in the presence of cardioembolic stroke using genome-wide genotypes from the Stroke Genetics Network (N = 3,190 AF cases, 3,000 cardioembolic stroke cases, and 28,026 referents). We tested whether a previously validated AF polygenic risk score (PRS) associated with cardioembolic and other stroke subtypes after accounting for AF clinical risk factors. Results: We observed a strong correlation between previously reported genetic risk for AF, AF in the presence of stroke, and cardioembolic stroke (Pearson r = 0.77 and 0.76, respectively, across SNPs with p 0.1). Conclusions: Genetic risk of AF is associated with cardioembolic stroke, independent of clinical risk factors. Studies are warranted to determine whether AF genetic risk can serve as a biomarker for strokes caused by AF.status: publishe