bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Linking Informaticians and End Users – Using the STARE-HI Evaluation Reporting Framework as a Unifying Design Approach
Authors: Rigby Michael  , Talmon Jan  , Brender Jytte  , Ammenwerth Elske  , De Keizer Nicolette F.  , Nykänen Pirkko
Published: February 2025

There is understandable concern about low uptake and sub-optimal use of health informatics systems, which is often caused by a lack of shared objectives and values by the different stakeholders. Moreover, all parties work to different ethical codes. For future success, all need to work to the same values and objectives, measured by agreed outcomes data, creating robust evidence. The Statement on Reporting of Evaluation Studies in Health Informatics (STARE-HI), by being recently endorsed by IMIA, EFMI and the EQUATOR Network, may therefore provide a generic objectives framework to help achieve common goals.
ITIL Assessment in a Healthcare Environment: The Role of IT Governance at Hospital São Sebastião
Authors: Lapão Luís Velez  , Rebuge Álvaro  , Silva Miguel M.  , Gomes Rui
Published: February 2025

This paper addresses the role of IT Governance in a Hospital Information System (HIS) management. ITIL is introduced as a best practice for supporting HIS development. Since IT Governance is extensive, we focused our study on an ITIL Assessment. The assessment was centred on IT Service Management, and which, according to our findings, is being carried inefficiently in Hospital São Sebastião. Although the literature quotes the many benefits brought by ITIL to the organizations, they all depend on how good the planning and implementing processes are. The implementation process itself is very complex and we focused our study on the assessment step. The ITIL assessment was crucial to identify IT Governance weakness; and it is a way for the organization to become consciousness about IT improvement priorities. The results were used to rethink HIS strategy in order to properly address the next challenges.
Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms and Health Behaviours Related to Obesity – Trawling the Evidence in the Prospect of Personalised Prevention
Authors: Fišter Kristina  , Polašek Ozren  , Vuletić Silvije  , Kern Josipa
Published: February 2025

Efforts aimed at primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular diseases, the major killer of contemporary adult populations, largely rely on modification of risk behaviours related to smoking, physical activity, dietary intake, and alcohol consumption, and also control of obesity and hypertension, the interim risk states between health and disease. We propose that the extent to which the gene x ‘obesogenic’ environment interaction depends on associations between particular single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and behavioural risk factors for overweight or obesity determines opportunities for novel, personalised preventive interventions. We systematically searched for SNPs that might be of interest for this postulate, and we present various SNPs that have been shown to be associated with overweight or obesity and behavioural risk factors for developing these traits, and thus hold promise for future design of personalised preventive interventions.
Control of Dexterous Bio-Prosthetic Hand via Sequential Recognition of EMG Signals Using Fuzzy Relations
Authors: Kurzynski Marek  , Wolczowski Andrzej
Published: February 2025

The paper presents a concept of bio-prosthesis control via recognition of user intent on the basis of myopotentials acquired of his body. We assume that in the control process each prosthesis operation consists of specific sequence of elementary actions. The contextual (sequential) recognition is considered in which the fuzzy relation approach is applied to the construction of a classifying algorithm. Experimental investigations of the proposed algorithm for real data are performed and results are discussed.
Contribution of Record Linkage to Vital Status Determination in Cancer Patients
Authors: Fournel Isabelle  , Schwarzinger Michaël  , Binquet Christine  , Benzenine Eric  , Hill Catherine  , Quantin Catherine
Published: February 2025

To assess the performance of vital status determination by record linkage between a hospital database and the French national mortality database with anonymised data in order to adhere to French legislation. Hospital database of the Institut Gustave Roussy (IGR), the largest cancer centre in France, and the French mortality databases from 1998–2004 were used for this record linkage. A phonetic code adapted to French language was first applied to identifiers. The last name, maiden name, all first names and the date of birth were then each rendered anonymous using irreversible hash coding. Record linkage, using the probabilistic method developed by Jaro, was based on four fields: the last name, first given name, date of birth and code of birth place. Other variables were used for further automatic and manual validation. Linkage results were very satisfactory for the 10,089 patients included: sensitivity was 94.8% and specificity 99.5%. The positive and negative likelihood ratios were respectively 190 and 0.05. The main causes of discordances were erroneous or incomplete information such as unrecorded maiden name in the hospital database. Results were improved by adding manual validation to electronic matching: sensitivity rose to 97.2% and specificity to 99.4%. Record linkage using anonymised data applied to large scale hospital data is possible and has good validity. This method offers new prospects for large prognostic studies based on hospital data provided that the diagnosis date is systematically recorded in the hospital database.
Task Force of the EFMI Journals: Background, Rationale and Purpose
Authors: Masic Izet  , Kern Josipa  , Zvarova Jana  , de Lusignan Simon
Published: February 2025

The paper presents an analysis of how EFMI disseminates new knowledge and the active medical informatics journals in EFMI member countries was carried out as an outcome of the EFMI Council meeting in London in 2008. The analysis identifies eight active major informatics journals and a several other publications. Most are subscription-based and are published at least quarterly. There is a possibility for the editors to meet regularly and form a community of practice with the aim of further improving their effectiveness in disseminating new knowledge and best practice in medical informatics. It is feasible to share expertise and it may be possible to harmonise several aspects of preparation and submission of manuscripts so that some identified barriers in publishing are reduced.
Planning for National Health Information System Evaluation
Authors: Hyppönen Hannele  , Doupi Persephone  , Hämäläinen Päivi  , Komulainen Jorma  , NykÄnen Pirkko  , Suomi Reima
Published: February 2025

Most EU member states have a documented policy on eHealth. Documented follow-up and evaluation policies to assess reaching of the set aims, as well as evaluating outcomes of implemented systems at a national level are, however, rare. Methodologies for large scale information system assessment and evaluation are poorly established. In the workshop, the Finnish evaluation plans for the National Health Information System (NHIS) are used as a case in the workshop to reflect on core issues and challenges in large-scale evaluation for supporting system development, implementation and positive impacts. The results of the discussions are documented to be used in further refinement of the Finnish evaluation methodology and for enhancing networking of respective parties in different countries. The results will also benefit participants including policy makers, developers and researchers of national eHealth systems in pursuit of national evaluation activities.
Towards Intelligent Internet-Roaming Agents for Mining and Inference from Medical Data
Authors: Robson Barry
Published: February 2025

This paper is effectively subtitled “Considerations of Requirements for Programmable Laws of Probabilistic Higher Order Logical Thought”. Why such a need? Issues such as privacy, security, bandwidth, and computational power demand not a central analyzing agency, but roaming agents to analyze the global explosion of medical data in many hundreds of petabytes distributed across many sites. They will send back only the conclusions, not the source data. But how will they reach those conclusions? This future pressing need will driving workers to consider Best Practice in inference. Right now, there are diverse approaches to inference, and it is not clear how to unify them into a self-consistent system. For example, there is not even universal agreement on how to treat probabilistic higher order logic. Quantum mechanics is held by many to be a universal system, but produces bizarre predictions for the everyday world of human experience. However, by rotation of the imaginary number i =of quantum mechanics to the split complex number h such that hh=+1, quantum mechanics becomes an inference system for higher order probabilistic logic. And the system has interesting emergent properties which may shed light on the nature of thought.
Welcome to the Future of Medicine
Authors: Freitas Jr. Robert A.
Published: February 2025

This chapter describes the negative consequences of medical technology development and commercialization that is too slow, and makes the case for an immediate large scale investment in medical nanorobots to save 52 million lives a year. It also explains the essence of nanotechnology, its life-saving applications, the engineering challenges, and the possibility of 1000-fold improvement over our current human biological abilities. Every decade that we delay development and commercialization of medical nanorobotics, half a billion people perish who could have been saved.
Fight for Chromallocyte
Authors: Bushko Renata G.
Published: February 2025

This paper reports on the most important recent technological event and its significance to the human race: chromallocyte designed by Robert Freitas [1] – a nanorobot that would be capable of replacing chromosomes on a cell by cell basis throughout the body in vivo. The significance of chromallocyte comes from its ability to painlessly reverse the effects of genetic disease and other accumulated damage to our genes thus preventing aging. It could reduce suffering, save lives and enhance human potential. By analogy to the successful effort to put man on the moon, we should aim at chromallocyte landing on the liver by 2039 which would commemorate 70thanniversary of man landing on the Moon. The same strategic planning principle could be applied. We should have a dream with a deadline of 2039.
Therapeutic Robotics for Children with Disabilities: A Case Study
Authors: Drane James  , Safos Charlotte  , Lathan Corinna E.
Published: February 2025

The advancement of technology is having a profound effect on enhancing the lives of children with disabilities. As advances in biomedical technology allow research breakthroughs to continue at a steady pace, more and more is being discovered about the nature of different disorders in children. At the same time, partly due to the continuing rapid rate of advancement (and societal acceptance) of robotics technology, researchers, educators, and therapists are exploring the idea that robots might be used as an effective therapeutic and educational tool.
Image Management and Communication
Authors: Caffery Liam  , Sim Lawrence
Published: February 2025

This chapter gives an educational overview of:
Ultrasound Imaging and Doppler Flow Velocity Measurement
Authors: Niederer Peter F.
Published: February 2025

High frequency ultrasound (2 – 8 MHz typically) has established itself as a major medical imaging method associated with a wide range of clinical applications. Advantages include real-time applicability, lower cost compared with other medical imaging technologies, possibility of measuring blood flow velocities and desk-top instrumentation. Disadvantage is associated with lower image quality than is obtained with x-ray or magnetic resonance methods.
Biofluid Mechanics & the Circulatory System
Authors: Verdonck Pascal  , Dumont Kris
Published: February 2025

A fluid is a medium which deforms, or undergoes motion, continuously under the action of a shearing stress and includes liquids and gases. Applying biofluid mechanics to the cardiovascular system requires knowledge of anatomy and geometry, pressure data and blood flow, volume and velocity measurements. A good example is the assessment of the haemodynamics of biological and mechanical heart valves.
Integrated health systems
Authors: Shortell Stephen M.  , McCurdy Rodney K.
Published: February 2025

Before meaningful gains in improving the value of health care in the US can be achieved, the fragmented nature in which health care is financed and delivered must be addressed. One type of healthcare organization, the Integrated Delivery System (IDS), is poised to play a pivotal role in reform efforts. What are these systems? What is the current evidence regarding their performance? What are the current barriers to their establishment and how can these barriers be removed? This chapter addresses these important questions. Although there are many types of IDS' in the US healthcare landscape, the chapter begins by identifying the necessary healthcare components that encompass an IDS and discusses the levels of integration that are important to improving health care quality and value. Next, it explores the recent evidence regarding IDS performance which, while generally positive, is less than what it could be if there were greater focus on clinical integration. To highlight, the chapter discusses the efficacy of system engineering initiatives in two examples of large, fully integrated systems: Kaiser-Permanente and the Veterans Health Administration. The evidence here is strong that the impact of system engineering methods is enhanced through the integration of processes, goals and outcomes. Reforms necessary to encourage the development of IDS' include: 1) the development of payment mechanisms designed to increase greater inter-dependency of hospitals and physicians; 2) the modification or removal of several regulatory barriers to greater clinical integration; and 3) the establishment of a more robust data collection and reporting system to increase transparency and accountability. The chapter concludes with a framework for considering these reforms across strategic, structural, cultural, and technical dimensions.
Reliability Monitoring and Modeling Based on Weibull Distribution
Authors: Zhu Qiushi  , Ghobbar Adel
Published: February 2025

Nowadays, Component reliability is a big issue confronted by MRO organizations. However, very few MRO organizations have a proper priority on the reliability analysis with respect to cost-effectiveness. A reliability-monitoring model is created in the paper, which helps to analyze component reliability in a cost-effective way. The objective of the thesis is to develop a reliability analysis model based upon the cost-effectiveness in the repair and operation process, which enable MRO organizations to have a clear overall view on the reliability information on PN (Part Number) level. The reliability analysis will be based on Weibull distribution rather than the conventional exponential distribution. The flexibility and robustness of Weibull distribution can provide reliability information with a dynamic failure rate, which can bring a profound impact in MRO industries and lead to a new era of reliability-centered maintenance
The Passenger Process at Schiphol and the Promise of Biometrics
Authors: van de Rijt Angela  , Santema Sicco C.
Published: February 2025

In this paper literature study and consults of experts have been combined to answer the following research question: “Could a biometric passenger process at Schiphol Airport smoothen the passenger-flow without compromising the safety of air transport?” The research indicates that the use of biometrics in the passenger process could significantly smoothen the passenger-flow at Schiphol Airport, by strongly reducing the waiting lines. Safety won't be compromised but improved by the introduction of biometrics in the passenger process, since the automatical biometrical readings are much more accurate than readings done by security personnel. Furthermore, recent developments have made it possible to use biometrics on large scale without privacy issues, namely by storing biometric-identifiers instead of the actual biometric.
Analysis of Visual Perception Aspects of the Virtual Reality Experience with Transcranial Doppler Monitoring
Authors: Rey Beatriz  , Alcañiz Mariano  , Naranjo Valery  , Parkhutik Vera  , Tembl Jose
Published: February 2025

Transcranial Doppler is a tool to measure blood flow velocity (BFV) in the main arteries of the brain that has been used in previous studies to analyze brain activity during virtual reality (VR) experiences. Increments in BFV were found during the exposure to virtual environments in comparison with baseline periods. However, due to the complexity of VR experiences, there are several factors that can be having an influence in these variations, so it is necessary to separately analyze those different aspects. In this work, we summarize our results related to visual perception. A method based on spectral analysis was used to analyze the magnitude and temporal evolution of the maximum BFV signal. Results showed that, in the presence of visual stimuli, BFV quickly rises to a maximum that is achieved after a few seconds. The contribution of the visual stimuli factor to the observed BFV variations during a VR experience can be estimated from the results of the developed work.
Multi-Modal Memory Restructuring for Patients Suffering from Combat-Related PTSD: a Pilot Study
Authors: van den Steen Matthew  , Brinkman Willem-Paul  , Vermetten Eric  , Neerincx Mark
Published: February 2025

The paper discusses the design and evaluation of a multimedia software application, which can be used in the treatment of combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The application allows patients and therapist to visualize the patients' past experience using maps, personal photos, stories and self-created 3D virtual worlds. The tool aims to allow patients to restructure and relearn about their past experience involving the problematic stressors. Findings of a first experiment with non-patients (N=18) suggests that the tool can facilitate more detailed storytelling. Participants stated that using the application was appealing and enjoyable. Insights were also acquired with a case study of a veteran suffering from combat-related PTSD. This case study showed how a patient uses and interacts with the system in a therapeutic setting.
Influence of Tracking Feedback in User Motor Response in Rehabilitation Therapy
Authors: Albiol Sergio  , Gil-Gómez José-Antonio  , Alcañiz Mariano
Published: February 2025

In this experimental study, we present the results of user motor responses with and without the use of Tracking Feedback to complete correct movements in Virtual Rehabilitation Therapy. To carry out this study, we used a VRT system for standing balance rehabilitation. We applied it under two different conditions to twenty patients (with and without tracking feedback). We then analyzed their motor responses. By means of this analysis, we have confirmed the importance of Tracking Feedback in the achievement of rehabilitation goals. We also tested the possibility of eliminating the tracking components from the system to lower cost to make the integration of Virtual Rehabilitation systems available to more patients. Our results indicate that is currently not feasible.
Effect of the mood produced by virtual reality exposure on body image disturbances
Authors: Ferrer-García Marta  , Gutiérrez-Maldonado José
Published: February 2025

Previous research suggests that negative mood increases body image disturbances. The aim of this study was to examine whether the mood produced by virtual reality exposure had any influence on such disturbances. As expected, dysphoric mood increased body image disturbances in patients with eating disorders.
User-Specific Perspectives on Ontologies
Authors: Brochhausen Mathias  , Slaughter Laura  , Stenzhorn Holger  , Graf Norbert
Published: February 2025

Ontologies are more and more used in clinical informatics in different settings and supporting different functionalities. Most experts see the role of ontologies as operating in a black box and being invisible for the end-user. With respect to some of the systems that have recently been developed this is only partly possible. Therefore, we provide a methodology to create an end-user perspective on a clinical ontology. This will foster participation of the clinical expert in both ontology exploitation and ontology maintenance. This methodology does not only provide the basis for a better integration of the experts into the ontology-based system, but it can be used to support patient empowerment by helping the patient to understand the content that is stored and partake in its management.
A Neuro-Fuzzy Decision Support System for the Diagnosis of Heart Failure
Authors: Akinyokun Charles O.  , Obot Okure U.  , Uzoka Faith-Michael E.  , Andy John J.
Published: February 2025

A neuro-fuzzy decision support system is proposed for the diagnosis of heart failure. The system comprises; knowledge base (database, neural networks and fuzzy logic) of both the quantitative and qualitative knowledge of the diagnosis of heart failure, neuro-fuzzy inference engine and decision support engine. The neural networks employ a multi-layers perception back propagation learning process while the fuzzy logic uses the root sum square inference procedure. The neuro-fuzzy inference engine uses a weighted average of the premise and consequent parameters with the fuzzy rules serving as the nodes and the fuzzy sets representing the weights of the nodes. The decision support engine carries out the cognitive and emotional filtering of the objective and subjective feelings of the medical practitioner. An experimental study of the decision support system was carried out using cases of some patients from three hospitals in Nigeria with the assistance of their medical personnel who collected patients' data over a period of six months. The results of the study show that the neuro-fuzzy system provides a highly reliable diagnosis, while the emotional and cognitive filters further refine the diagnosis results by taking care of the contextual elements of medical diagnosis.
IT for Learning Diabetes
Authors: Glasemann Marie  , Kanstrup Anne Marie
Published: February 2025

This paper calls for IT supporting learning of diabetes self-management. Challenges of self-management and traditional IT tools for self-management are outlined – problems with data discipline, motivation of self-management, and learning as only an add-on to existing technologies. There is a call for IT focused on supporting learning in educational settings in an engaging manner. Two central self-management skills are identified: counting of carbohydrates and the understanding of the dynamics of diabetes factors. Three prototypes designed to support the learning of these skills are presented. Results from the prototype explorations emphasize the need for considering social aspects in learning with IT.
Standardization – the iron cage of nurses' work?
Authors: Meum Torbjørg  , Wangensteen Gro  , Igesund Harald  , Ellingsen Gunnar  , Monteiro Eric
Published: February 2025

This paper explores how nursing classification has been adopted and used in a local clinical practice. The study is inspired by the socio-technical approach to information system and illustrates some of the enabling and constraining properties of standardization. Findings from the study show how international standards have been embedded into local practice. At the same time, the use of locally developed standards has increased and many of these are similar to the international classification. This indicates that we need to move beyond the dichotomous perspective on nurses' use of classification and strive for more flexible solutions.
An Integrated Procedure For Spine And Full Skeleton Multi-Sensor Biomechanical Analysis & Averaging In Posture Gait And Cyclic Movement Tasks
Authors: D'Amico Moreno  , D'Amico Gabriele  , Paniccia Michele  , Roncoletta Piero  , Vallasciani Massimo
Published: February 2025

Spine and posture disorders cover large interest in rehabilitation. Quantitative functional evaluation represents the main goal in Movement/Gait analysis. However very few studies outline the behaviour of spine during Posture and Movement/Gait analysis. To overcome such limits, several years ago our group started, a project to transfer into a complete fully 3D reliable and detailed representation, different segmental biomechanical models presented in literature. As result a complete 3D parametric biomechanical skeleton model has been developed to be used in quantitative analysis. Posture and Movement/Gait analysis are performed by 3D Opto-electronic stereophotogrammetric measurements of body landmarks labelled by passive markers. Depending on different analysis purposes, the model can work at different stages of complexity. Examples on the application of such model into biomechanical and clinical fields have been presented in literature. Our group is continuously working to add new features to such model, which is now able to fully integrate data deriving from force platforms, SEMG, foot pressure maps. By means of data fusion and optimisation procedures all these inputs are used in the model to assess lower limbs internal joint forces, torques and muscular efforts. The possibility to compute the average of cyclic or repetitive tasks has been included as well. Recently we added the possibility to assess internal joint forces and torques at each spine vertebral level and to correlate these latter with all the other model's features. The aim of this study is to present the methodological aspects of such new features and their potential applicability in clinical and biomechanical fields.
Development and Initial Validation of a Disease Specific Outcome Measure for Early Onset Scoliosis
Authors: Vitale Michael G.  , Corona Jacqueline  , Matsumoto Hiroko  , Avendano Javier  , Pinder Dynell  , Miller Daniel J.  , Roye David P.
Published: February 2025

Introduction: Treatment of children with early onset scoliosis (EOS) seeks to improve natural history and health related quality of life (QOL). QOL measurement presents a significant challenge given the young age, comorbidities, and heterogeneity of this population. Objective: To develop a disease specific measure reflecting issues of importance to EOS patients and caretakers. Materials and Methods: Review of the literature and relevant measures informed development of semi-structured qualitative interviews. Interviews of caregivers of EOS patients were interpreted through the framework technique. A master-list of 75-items was created and responses were scaled on a 5-point Likert-scale. Psychometric analysis was performed to group items into domains, to maintain score distribution, to create a responsive instrument, and to identify question redundancy. Results: Content validation revealed 8-items with low content validity indices. Item distribution analysis demonstrated 19-items with skewed distribution. Item reliability demonstrated redundant items within domains (r≥0.5). Construct validity demonstrated unique domains measuring intended issues of interest. The resulting Early Onset Scoliosis Questionnaire (EOSQ) includes 33-items in 13-domains: General Health, Pain, Physical Function, Pulmonary Function, Daily Living, Fatigue, Emotion, Surgical Concerns, Satisfaction, Transfer, Financial Burden, Parental Burden, and Treatment Outcomes. Conclusion: The EOSQ reflects QOL and caregiver burden in the EOS population. The EOSQ will expand options for outcome assessment in this unique population.
Elucidating the Roles for Chd7 and Chd2 in Zebrafish Spine Development
Authors: Jacobs Nicole  , Albertson R. Craig
Published: February 2025

Introduction: Humans are afflicted with spinal deformities that can impact their health and daily lives. Currently, the etiologies of most spinal deformities are unknown. Chromodomain helicase DNA binding protein 7 (chd7) and chd2 were recently implicated in spinal deformities in humans and mice, but little is known about the roles these genes play during spine development.
Heritability of Scoliosis in the Swedish Twin Registry
Authors: Grauers Anna  , Rahman Iffat  , Gerdhem Paul
Published: February 2025

Introduction: Data on heritability in twin studies of scoliosis have not been previously reported.
Molecular Profiling of Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis: Toward a Comprehensive Understanding of AIS Aetiology
Authors: Moreau Alain  , Yuan Qing  , Karam Nancy  , Suvaman Lakshmi  , Taheri Maryam  , Azeddine Bouziane  , Wang DaShen  , Bouhanik Sadallah  , Wong Guoruey  , Turgeon Isabelle  , St-Jacques Benoit
Published: February 2025

Introduction: Previously, we have demonstrated a differential dysfunction of Gicoupled receptors in osteoblasts isolated from AIS patients, leading to their stratification into three functional subgroups. Herein we examined their molecular profiles to identify the genetic causes of AIS.
Is There Any Difference in Cortical Thickness in Patients with Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis and Normal Controls?
Authors: Chu W.C.W.  , Shi L.  , Wang D.  , Heng P.A.  , Cheng J.C.Y.
Published: February 2025

Introduction: Previous statistical morphometric analysis of the brain MRI in Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis (AIS) patients and normal controls suggested there were statistically significant regional differences in the white matter.
Influence of Bracing and Elastic Belt on Sagittal Profile in Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis
Authors: Jiang Jun  , Qiu Yong  , Qian Bang-ping  , Mao Sai-hu  , Zhao Qing-hua  , Feng Zhu
Published: February 2025

Introduction: Bracing is the most commonly used non-operative treatment for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS). However, it may lead to thoracic kyphosis (TK) reduction. The elastic belt (EB) has been used as brace in some AIS patients. The effect of EB on sagittal profile has not been reported.
Immediate Correction in Brace Treatment: How much is Needed to Obtain a Long-term Effectiveness?
Authors: Clin Julien  , Aubin Carl-Éric  , Labelle Hubert  , Parent Stefan
Published: February 2025

Background: Immediate in-brace correction has often been deemed as fundamental to long-term brace effectiveness but the biomechanical rational is unclear and unproven.
Predicting Timing and Magnitude of the Peak Growth Velocity: a Descriptive Model of Individual Growth
Authors: Busscher I.  , Wapstra F.H.  , Bulstra S.K.  , Veldhuizen A.G.
Published: February 2025

Introduction: Knowing the timing and magnitude of the pubertal growth spurt in the individual patient with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis is essential for the prognosis of curve progression and treatment options. The average range of age for the growth spurt to occur in the general population is too wide to make accurate predictions in the individual patient, and no other methods were found to be reliable.
Correlations between Back Surface Rotation and Vertebrae and Ribs Axial Rotations in Patients with Scoliosis
Authors: Seoud Lama  , Cheriet Farida  , Labelle Hubert  , Dansereau Jean
Published: February 2025

Introduction : Among the external manifestations of scoliosis, the rib hump constitutes one of the most disturbing aspects of the deformity for the patients. It may be associated to the axial rotations of the vertebrae, the ribs and the back surface. Only Stokes et al. studied the relations between those three variables, using spine and ribs 3D reconstructions obtained from non-standard radiographs and the reconstruction of the trunk's back.
Vertebral Shape Analysis using Multi-scale Shape Parameters and Statistical Regression
Authors: Zewail Rami  , Elsafi Ahmed  , Durdle Nelson
Published: February 2025

Morphological shape analysis refers to the ability to understand how anatomical structures tend to vary due to various reasons such as: development of certain pathology, aging, and surgery. The medical imaging research community is constantly concerned with enhancing the ability to distinguish between anatomy of healthy individuals and those with pathology. This paper focuses on analysis of human vertebral structures.
Restoration of the Natural Thoracolumbar Lordosis in Conservative and Operative Treatment of Spinal Deformities
Authors: Van Loon P.J.M.  , Roukens M.  , Thunnissen F.B.
Published: February 2025

Introduction: The etiology and different treatment options in postural problems and spinal deformities are under ongoing discussion. A concise theorized system on the pathway of events in this field is lacking.
Grid-wide neuroimaging data federation in the context of the NeuroLOG project
Authors: Michel Franck  , Gaignard Alban  , Ahmad Farooq  , Barillot Christian  , Batrancourt Bénédicte  , Dojat Michel  , Gibaud Bernard  , Girard Pascal  , Godard David  , Kassel Gilles  , Lingrand Diane  , Malandain Grégoire  , Montagnat Johan  , Pélégrini-Issac Mélanie  , Pennec Xavier  , Rojas Balderrama Javier  , Wali Bacem
Published: February 2025

Grid technologies are appealing to deal with the challenges raised by computational neurosciences and support multi-centric brain studies. However, core grids middleware hardly cope with the complex neuroimaging data representation and multi-layer data federation needs. Moreover, legacy neuroscience environments need to be preserved and cannot be simply superseded by grid services. This paper describes the NeuroLOG platform design and implementation, shedding light on its Data Management Layer. It addresses the integration of brain image files, associated relational metadata and neuroscience semantic data in a heterogeneous distributed environment, integrating legacy data managers through a mediation layer.
Privacy Aware Access Controls for Medical Data Disclosure on European Healthgrids
Authors: Rahmouni Hanene Boussi  , Solomonides Tony  , Mont Marco Casassa  , Shiu Simon
Published: February 2025

To be processed within a healthgrid environment, medical data goes through a complete lifecycle and several stages until it is finally used for the primary reason it has been collected for. This stage is not always the final occurrence of when the data would have been manipulated. The data could rather continue to be needed for secondary purposes of legitimate or non legitimate nature. Although other privacy issues are related to the processing of patient data while it is residing on a healthgrid environment, the control of data disclosure is our primary interest. When sharing medical data between different Healthcare and biomedical research organizations in Europe, it is important that the different parties involved in the sharing handle the data in the same way indicated by the legislation of the member state where the data was originally collected as the requirements might differ from one state to another. Privacy requirements, such as patient consent, may be subject to conflicting conditions between different national frameworks as well as between different legal and ethical frameworks within a single member state. These circumstances have made the compliance management process in European healthgrid very challenging. In this paper we are presenting an approach to tackle these issues by relying on several technologies contained in the semantic web stack. Our work suggests a direct mapping from high level legislation on privacy and data protection to operational level privacy aware controls. Additionally we suggest an architecture for the enforcement of these controls on access control models adopted by healthgrids security infrastructures.
CHOIS: Enabling grid technologies for obesity surveillance and control
Authors: Datta Arun K.  , Jackson Victoria  , Nandkumar Radha  , Sproat Jill  , Zhu Weimo  , Krahling Heidi
Published: February 2025

CHOIS, the Child Health and Obesity Informatics SystemThis has been developed with the financial support and sponsorships of Illinois Department of Human Services (DHS), The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA), and the National University Community Research Institute (NUCRI). Part of this development was presented at PRAGMA 18 [5].
Optimization of Mean-Shift scale parameters on the EGEE grid
Authors: Li Ting  , Camarasu-Pop Sorina  , Glatard Tristan  , Grenier Thomas  , Benoit-Cattin Hugues
Published: February 2025

This paper studies the optimization of Mean-Shift (MS) image filtering scale parameters. A parameter sweep experiment representing 164 days of CPU is performed on the EGEE grid. The mathematical foundations of Mean-Shift and the grid environment used for the deployment are described in details. The experiments and results are then discussed highlighting the efficiency of gradient ascent algorithm for MS parameters optimization and a number of grid observations related to data transfers, reliability, task scheduling, CPU time and usability.
Use of NLM Medical Subject Headings with the MeSH2010 Thesaurus in the PORTAL-DOORS System
Authors: Taswell Carl
Published: February 2025

The NLM MeSH Thesaurus has been incorporated for use in the PORTAL-DOORS System (PDS) for resource metadata management on the semantic web. All 25588 descriptor records from the NLM 2010 MeSH Thesaurus have been exposed as web accessible resources by the PDS MeSH2010 Thesaurus implemented as a PDS PORTAL Registry operating as a RESTful web service. Examples of records from the PDS MeSH2010 PORTAL are demonstrated along with their use by records in other PDS PORTAL Registries that reference the concepts from the MeSH2010 Thesaurus. Use of this important biomedical terminology will greatly enhance the quality of metadata content of other PDS records thus improving cross-domain searches between different problem oriented domains and amongst different clinical specialty fields.
Temporal Clustering for Blood Glucose Analysis in the ICU: Identification of Groups of Patients with Different Risk Profile
Authors: Sacchi Lucia  , D'Ancona Giuseppe  , Bertuzzi Federico  , Bellazzi Riccardo
Published: February 2025

Blood Glucose (BG) analysis and control in critically ill patients became an important research challenge in the last few years. Despite the big improvements that have been achieved both in research and in clinical practice, there are still many aspects that need to be elucidated. A first step towards a better comprehension of the phenomena underlying BG dynamics is represented by the study of retrospectively collected data. In this paper we propose an analysis of blood glucose time series through a combined temporal clustering and standard statistical analysis approach. The ultimate goal of the analysis is the identification of groups of patients showing different BG dynamics and evaluate their risk profiles, which is a very important issue in the Intensive Care Units. The method is applied to a set of patients treated at the Mediterranean Institute for Transplantation and Advanced Specialized Therapies in Palermo, Italy. We show that it is possible to identify two groups based on the initial blood glucose trends, and that the two groups significantly differ in terms of their future BG behaviour.
Mapping stakeholders for system evaluation - the case of the Electronic Prescription Service in England
Authors: Lichtner V.  , Petrakaki D.  , Hibberd R.  , Venters W.  , Cornford A.  , Barber N.
Published: February 2025

This paper discusses the process of identifying stakeholders for the evaluation of health information systems through a map. Defining the multiplicity of stakeholders associated with a new system as well as the nature of their relationships is an important aspect of evaluating any intervention. We report a study of the Electronic Prescription Service (EPS) in primary care in England. We describe the complexity associated with the process of identifying stakeholders and illustrating their dynamic relationships. Reflecting upon our experience of map-making and map-using, we discuss the role of a stakeholder map to generate and communicate knowledge. The EPS stakeholder map – in its variety of possible alternative representations – reveals the complexity of the electronic prescribing scenario and the challenge of its evaluation. Recognising the drawbacks of a static two dimensional representation, we argue that a dynamic use of a stakeholder map and a reflective map-making practice is useful and important for the evaluation of IT programmes in healthcare.
Integration of Healthcare Information: from Enterprise PACS to Patient Centered Multimedia Health Record
Authors: Soriano Enrique  , Plazzotta Fernando  , Campos Fernando  , Kaminker Diego  , Cancio Alfredo  , Aguilera Díaz Jerónimo  , Luna Daniel  , Seehaus Alberto  , Carcía Mónaco Ricardo  , de Quirós Fernán González Bernaldo
Published: February 2025

Every single piece of healthcare information should be fully integrated and transparent within the electronic health record. The Italian Hospital of Buenos Aires initiated the project Multimedia Health Record with the goal to achieve this integration while maintaining a holistic view of current structure of the systems of the Hospital, where the axis remains are the patient and longitudinal history, commencing with section Computed Tomography. Was implemented DICOM standard for communication and image storage and bought a PACS. It was necessary adapt our generic reporting system for live up to the commercial RIS. The Computerized Tomography (CT) Scanners of our hospital were easily integrated into the DICOM network and all the CT Scans generated by our radiology service were stored in the PACS, reported using the Structured Reporting System (we installed diagnostic terminals equipped with 3 monitors) and displayed in the EHR at any point of HIBA's healthcare network.
The Clinical Research Data Repository of the US National Institutes of Health
Authors: Cimino James J.  , Ayres Elaine J.
Published: February 2025

The US National Institutes of Health (NIH) includes 27 institutes and centers, many of which conduct clinical research. Previously, data collected in research trials has existed in multiple, disparate databases. This paper describes the design, implementation and experience to date with the Biomedical Translational Research Information System (BTRIS), being developed at NIH to consolidate clinical research data. BTRIS is intended to simplify data access and analysis of data from active clinical trials and to facilitate reuse of existing data to answer new questions. Unique aspects of the system includes a Research Entities Dictionary that unifies all controlled terminologies used by source systems and a hybrid data model that unifies parts of the source data models and include other data in entity-attribute value tables. BTRIS currently includes over 300 million rows of data, from three institutes, ranging from 1976 to present. Users are able to retrieve data on their own research subjects in identified form as well as deidentified data on all subjects.
A Conceptual Framework for Analyzing How Canadian Physicians are Using Electronic Medical Records in Clinical Care
Authors: Paterson Grace  , Shaw Nicola  , Grant Andrew  , Leonard Kevin  , Delisle Elisabeth  , Mitchell Shelby  , McCarrey Maryan  , Pascal Bill  , Kraetschmer Nancy
Published: February 2025

Our electronic medical record (EMR) case study research pursued a set of questions to provide Canadian physicians with practical information on best practices and lessons learned regarding implementation and use of EMRs in ambulatory clinical care. The study's conceptual framework included an EMR System and Use Assessment Survey, interview guide, transcription codes, observation guide and case study report template. The common message that emerged was that no clinic would return to paper-based charts after experiencing the benefits of EMR. In seeking to corroborate our findings with success factors in an EMR implementation meta-framework, we further investigated the role of information incentives as a key factor in sustainable EMR implementations. The sections of our conceptual framework that best enabled us to capture information incentives were the 12 survey questions about information quality, EMR adoption questions in the interview guide and a subset of 26 items from our transcription coding scheme that were linked to physicians quotations about knowing more about the patient when using the EMR than when using paper.
Towards Automating the Initial Screening Phase of a Systematic Review
Authors: Bekhuis Tanja  , Demner-Fushman Dina
Published: February 2025

Systematic review authors synthesize research to guide clinicians in their practice of evidence-based medicine. Teammates independently identify provisionally eligible studies by reading the same set of hundreds and sometimes thousands of citations during an initial screening phase. We investigated whether supervised machine learning methods can potentially reduce their workload. We also extended earlier research by including observational studies of a rare condition. To build training and test sets, we used annotated citations from a search conducted for an in-progress Cochrane systematic review. We extracted features from titles, abstracts, and metadata, then trained, optimized, and tested several classifiers with respect to mean performance based on 10-fold cross-validations. In the training condition, the evolutionary support vector machine (EvoSVM) with an Epanechnikov or radial kernel is the best classifier: mean recall=100%; mean precision=48% and 41%, respectively. In the test condition, EvoSVM performance degrades: mean recall=77%, mean precision ranges from 26% to 37%. Because near-perfect recall is essential in this context, we conclude that supervised machine learning methods may be useful for reducing workload under certain conditions.
Determinants of Clinical Information System Post-Adoption Success
Authors: Palm Jean-Marc  , Grant Andrew  , Moutquin Jean-Marie  , Degoulet Patrice
Published: February 2025

The diffusion of information technology (IT) in healthcare systems to support clinical processes makes the evaluation of physician and nurse post-adoption an important challenge for clinical information systems (CIS). This paper examines the relationships between the determinants of success of a CIS based on an expectation-confirmation paradigm in a cross-sectional survey performed at the Sherbrooke University Hospital (CHUS). 32.2% (161) of physicians and 27.1% (352) of nurses responded to the survey questionnaires. Results suggested that physician and nurse satisfaction is determined differently according to post-adoption expectations: compatibility, confirmation of expectations, usefulness, ease of use, and support. The best predictor of physician satisfaction was perceived usefulness (r=.25, p=.0003) whereas for nurses it was ease of use (r=.18, p=.0003). Confirmation of expectations was strongly associated with each post-adoption expectation and positions its importance in CIS design and redesign. This study draws attention to the differences between physician and nurse perceptions of information technology and emphasizes post-adoption evaluation to measure CIS success. Physicians and nurses post-adoption expectations were key factors to warn again potential discontinuance.
Implementation, monitoring and utilization of an integrated Hospital Information System – lessons from a case study
Authors: Cruz-Correia Ricardo João
Published: February 2025

In most hospitals several heterogeneous Information Systems (IS) store parts of a still scattered patient record. Virtual Patient Records (VPR) are systems that aggregate known data elements about the patient from different IS in real-time. This papers aims to present the main lessons learned from the implementation and the usage during 6 years of a VPR system. Ten major lessons were divided in recommendations for software developers, information managers and institutional policy makers. Implementing and using a VPR is a difficult journey but can generate great value for the institution if most of these recommendations are taken in consideration.