Technology and Health Care - Volume 26, issue 4

Authors: Gholampour, Seifollah | Shakouri, Ehsan | Deh, Hossein Haghighi Hassanali

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: Thermal necrosis is one of the main concerns in bone drillings. This study has been designed with the aim of improving the surgeons’ knowledge on how to reduce thermal necrosis in tibia drilling with various depths and directions. A drilling machine was developed, which made the direct transfer of gas coolants into the drilling site during drilling possible. Results indicated that 2000 r/min is the most proper rotational speed for minimizing thermal necrosis. Changing the drilling direction from radial to longitudinal raised the temperature at drilling site. Increasing the drilling depth from 8 to 50 mm raised the temperature by at least …22.5%. Increasing the drilling depth up to 50 mm raised the drilling site temperature above the threshold temperature of tibia thermal necrosis as well as the temperature durability at the drilling site. However, in contrast to conventional cooling modes, using gas coolants, especially CO 2 , brought the temperature to a level less than the threshold temperature of tibia thermal necrosis and reduced the durability of temperature at the drilling site by at least 1 minute. Using the drilling machine developed in this study and CO 2 coolant, orthopedic surgeons can perform tibia drilling in various directions up to the depth of 50 mm without the risk of thermal necrosis since the internal gas coolants, due to their direct contact with the drilling site and the rapid discharge of the chips, reduce the temperature increase in tibia caused by changing the drilling depth and the drilling direction from radial to longitudinal, greatly. Show more

Keywords: CO2 gas, N2 gas, coolant, non-radial drilling, longitudinal drilling, temperature durability

DOI: 10.3233/THC-181246

Citation: Technology and Health Care, vol. 26, no. 4, pp. 687-697, 2018

Authors: Belfiore, Patrizia | Scaletti, Alessandro | Frau, Alberto | Ripani, Maurizio | Spica, Vincenzo Romano | Liguori, Giorgio

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: BACKGROUND: The Human Body Posturizer (HPB), an innovative therapeutic tool able to correct postural changes dynamically, fits perfectly in this framework. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this paper is to consider the potential economic benefits of using the Human Body Posturizer both in terms of direct and indirect cost reduction in one year. METHODS: This study was carried out using an estimation method in order to investigate the possible economic impact related to the adoption of the HBP in subjects with low back pain as an attempt to quantify the costs (direct and indirect) …generated at different levels of the path therapeutic. RESULTS: The use of therapy with HBP would generate a saving of € 971.40/year in case of sub-acute LBP and amounted to € 2,922.90/year in case of chronic low back pain. CONCLUSION: This paper provides guidance on the potential economic benefits resulting from the adoption of the Human Body Posturizer as an innovative therapeutic approach by the Italian Health System. Show more

Keywords: Low back pain cost, Human Body Posturizer, economic analysis

DOI: 10.3233/THC-181311

Citation: Technology and Health Care, vol. 26, no. 4, pp. 699-708, 2018

Authors: Wang, Wendong | Zhang, Peng | Liang, Chaohong | Shi, Yikai

Article Type: Other

Abstract: OBJECTIVE: A portable back massage robot which can complete the massage operations such as tapping, kneading and rolling was designed to improve the level of intelligence and massage effect. An efficient full covered path planning algorithm was put forward for a portable back massage robot to improve the coverage. BACKGROUND: Currently, massage robots has become one of important research focuses with the increasing requirements for healthcare. The massage robot is difficult to be widely accepted as there are problems of massage robot in control, structure, and coverage path planning. METHOD: The 3D electromagnetic …simulation model was established to optimize electromagnetic force. By analyzing the Traditional Chinese Medicine massage operation and the demands, the path planning algorithm models were established. The experimental platform of the massage robot was built. RESULTS: The simulation results show presented path planning algorithm is suitable for back massage, which ensures that the massage robot traverse the entire back area with improved massage coverage. The tested results show that the massage effect is best when the duty cycle is in the range of 1/8 to 1/2, and the massage force increases with the increase of the input voltage. CONCLUSIONS: The massage robot eventually achieved the desired massage effect, and the proposed efficient algorithm can effectively improve the coverage and promote the massage effect. Show more

Keywords: Coverage of massage area, portable massage robot, path planning, Traditional Chinese Medicine

DOI: 10.3233/THC-181300

Citation: Technology and Health Care, vol. 26, no. 4, pp. 709-713, 2018

Authors: Zhang, Xueyi | Fiedler, Goeran | Cao, Zhe | Liu, Zhicheng

Article Type: Other

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Prosthetists conventionally evaluate alignment based on visual interpretation of patients’ gait, which is convenient, but largely subjective and depends on prosthetists’ experience. OBJECTIVE: In this paper, we explore the feasibility of using a support vector machine (SVM) approach to automatically detect misalignment of trans-tibial prostheses through ground reaction force (GRF). METHODS: Alternate classification algorithms with varying kernels and feature sets were compared to assess the suitability for detection of a representative misalignment (six degrees of ankle plantar flexion) from normal alignment. A classical feature selection algorithm, Fisher Score, was further introduced to …identify valuable features and reduce the dimension of feature sets. RESULTS: The SVMs achieved a detection accuracy of 96.67% at best within the same subject and 88.89%, respectively, for inter-subject. Combined horizontal and vertical components of GRF features provided the maximum detection accuracies. Propulsion peak force was identified as key variable of gait for misalignment prediction. CONCLUSIONS: As a proof of concept, the results demonstrate potential in applying this approach to detect prosthetic misalignment based on gait patterns, and is a step towards future developments of tools for early prevention of misalignment in clinical. Show more

Keywords: Gait analysis, prosthetic alignment, ground reaction forces, machine learning, lower limb amputee

DOI: 10.3233/THC-181338

Citation: Technology and Health Care, vol. 26, no. 4, pp. 715-721, 2018

Authors: Muthalagu, Raja | Bai, Vijayan Thulasi | Gracias, Doreen | John, Sheila

Article Type: Other

Abstract: Anaemia is predicted as one of the serious communal health issue in the world. The deficiency exists most common among children and women. A substantial issue prevails in providing quality healthcare services to rural communities, which remains a challenge to health service providers throughout the world. Traditionally physician and health workers recognized anaemia from certain clinical findings, such as pallor of the conjunctivae, nail beds, lips, tongue, and oral mucosa. Confirmation of anaemic condition through physical examination of Dorsum of a tongue or lower bulbar conjunctiva is a subjective analysis. Invasive methods have a possibility to spread infection …through the needle. The existing non-invasive techniques need costly equipment and qualified technicians. Growing developments in science and technologies play an important role in medicine. This proposal introduces a new non-invasive diagnostic tool correlating the hemoglobin with conjunctiva pallor colour scores and classification using neural networks. In this study, the eye images were obtained using a mobile camera were processed using the HSI model, which estimates different colour scores of the selected region. These scores were correlated with laboratory haemoglobin value. Feedforward neural network and Elman neural network were used for classifying anaemic and non-anaemic cases. This proposed tool will be useful for the health workers to identify the mass screening of anaemia in rural areas. Show more

Keywords: Anaemia, haemoglobin conjunctiva pallor, neural network, HSI model, screening tool

DOI: 10.3233/THC-181291

Citation: Technology and Health Care, vol. 26, no. 4, pp. 723-727, 2018

Authors: Milosevic, Marina | Jankovic, Dragan | Milenkovic, Aleksandar | Stojanov, Dragan

Article Type: Other

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Breast cancer is the most common malignancy in women. It is often characterized by a lack of early symptoms, which results in late detection of the disease. Detection at advanced stages of the decease implies the treatment is more difficult and uncertain. The appropriate screening programs have been conducted within the organized preventive examinations and have made significant contributions to the early breast cancer detection. OBJECTIVE: It is necessary to improve the screening process in order to reduce the percentage of female population that is not covered by screening programs and increase the number of …early-detected breast cancers. The improvement of the screening program may be reflected in the following: more efficient determination of the list of the women who have to undergo preventive examination, introduction of screening program in thermography as a diagnostic method applied in pre-screening stage, more efficient analysis of mammograms and continuous follow up of patients. METHODS: The identification of target population for breast cancer screening program has been based on the age of women. The improvement of the early breast cancer diagnosis process proposed in this paper is reflected in more efficient determination of the group of women who have to undergo preventive examination based on the factors affecting the occurrence of breast cancer. Inclusion of the pre-screening phase in which thermal imaging could be applied and software support to mammographic detection of tumor are suggested. RESULTS: This paper describes the breast cancer, current screening program and techniques for early-stage breast cancer detection, module of medical information system MEDIS.NET for creating screening list based on the analysis of risk factors affecting the occurrence of breast cancer, mammography and role of thermal imaging in the process of early breast cancer detection. It also presents an overview on important achievements in computer-aided detection and diagnosis of breast cancer in mammography and thermography. CONCLUSIONS: Based on the obtained results, dynamics of preventive examinations for particular groups of women that is different from the standard two-year examinations, can be successfully defined. It can be concluded that the use of a computer system for tumor diagnosis in mammogram based on various methods of image processing can help doctors in decision-making, while the use of thermal imaging in the pre-screening phase would significantly reduce the list of women for screening mammograms. Show more

Keywords: Breast cancer, risk factors, screening program, mammography, thermography

DOI: 10.3233/THC-181277

Citation: Technology and Health Care, vol. 26, no. 4, pp. 729-759, 2018