bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Enhancing ‘Fit' of Health Information Systems Design Through Practice Support
Authors: Kuziemsky Craig E.
Published: May 2010

The design and implementation of healthcare information systems (HIS) is problematic as many HIS projects do not achieve the desired outcomes. There exist a number of theories to enhance our ability to successfully develop HIS. Examples of such theories include ‘fit’ and the sociotechnical approach. However, there are few empirical studies that illustrate how to understand and operationalize such theories at the empirical level needed for HIS design. This chapter introduces a practice support framework that bridges the gap between the theoretical and empirical aspects of HIS design by identifying specific process and information practice supports that need to be considered to actively produce fit of an HIS within a healthcare setting. The chapter also provides an empirical case study of how practice support was used to develop a computer based tool in the domain area of palliative care severe pain management.
Evaluation Methods to Monitor Success and Failure Factors in Health Information System's Development
Authors: Brender Jytte
Published: May 2010

This chapter discusses the extent to which factors known to influence the success and failure of health information systems may be evaluated. More specifically, this is concerned with evaluation of such factors— for screening, diagnostic or preventive purposes—by means of existing evaluation methods designed for users. The author identifies that it is feasible to identify evaluation methods for most success factors and failure criteria. However, there is a need for situational methods engineering as the methods are not dedicated to answering the precise information needs of the project management. Therefore, demands are being placed on the evaluators’ methodical and methodological skills, when evaluating health information systems. The author concludes the chapter by pointing at research needs and opportunities.
Improving Internet-Based Health Knowledge Through Attention to Literacy
Authors: Arocha Jose F. , Hoffman-Goetz Laurie
Published: May 2010

This chapter presents a discussion and findings of health literacy and its relevance to health informatics. We argue that the Internet represents an increasingly important vehicle for knowledge translation to consumers of health information. However, much of the Internet-based information available to consumers is difficult to understand by those who need it the most. A critical factor to improve the comprehensibility, and therefore the quality, of health information is literacy. We summarize studies of various aspects of health literacy, such as readability and comprehensibility of risk information. We also point out ways in which the study of health literacy, including prose and numeric literacy, should inform researchers, health practitioners, and Web designers of specific ways in which consumer health information can be improved.
Cyberspace's Ethical and Social Challenges in Knowledge Society
Authors: Ranieri Maria
Published: May 2010

During the last years the issue of digital divide has received particular attention from international bodies like the UN, UNESCO, OECD (Bindé, 2005; OECD, 2001; UN, 2006). These organizations acknowledge that our planet is divided into “information haves” and “information have-nots” and that the effort to bridge this global gap is one of the main challenges of society today. Interest in digital divide is also widely present in literature. In these last five years, research and empirical surveys on this subject have notably increased (Baker, 2001; Hargittai, Di Maggio, Neuman, & Robinson, 2001; Ranieri, 2006; Rallet, 2004; Sartori, 2006; van Dijk, 2005). What does digital divide mean? What are the causes of the digital gap? How can education and technological research contribute to facing this challenge? In this chapter, we shall first develop this concept, identifying through literature reviews its dimension and causes. We shall then focus our attention on the possible roles that education and technological research can play in order to overcome the gap, suggesting four main directions to be followed, with the help of concrete examples.
Application Integration within the Enterprise Context
Authors: Henning Ronda R.
Published: May 2010

The application software life cycle considers the functionality of a given collection of components within the context of a consumer’s requirements definition. One set of requirements that are frequently overlooked are the requirements for application integration within the context of the enterprise environment. If an application creates vulnerabilities for other applications, is an administrative nightmare to maintain, or does not consider the security context required for execution; the application may not fulfill the intended requirements. This chapter addresses the question of the consideration of the enterprise information system’s administrative and execution context as a component of the application software development process. The potential impact these considerations have on the acceptance of an application by the application’s user community is presented, with illustrations of some representative problem areas for the reader’s consideration.
Integration Concept for Knowledge Processes, Methods, and Software for SMEs
Authors: Fink Kerstin , Ploder Christian
Published: May 2010

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are a vital and growing part of any national economy. Like most large businesses, SMEs have recognized the importance of knowledge management. This Chapter investigates the use of knowledge processes and knowledge methods for SMEs. The learning objectives of this Chapter are to assess the role of knowledge management and knowledge processes in SMEs. Furthermore, the reader should be able to describe major knowledge management programs in SMEs and assess how they provide value for organizations. Empirical studies conducted by the authors show that for SMEs, only four knowledge processes are important: (1) knowledge identification, (2) knowledge acquisition, (3) knowledge distribution and (4) knowledge preservation. Based on the research result of several empirical studies, an integration concept for knowledge processes, knowledge methods, and knowledge software tools for SMEs is introduced and discussed.
Size Matters! Enterprise System Success in Medium and Large Organizations
Authors: Sedera Darshana
Published: May 2010

Organizations invest substantial resources in acquiring Enterprise Systems, presumably expecting positive impacts to the organization and its functions. Despite the optimistic motives, some Enterprise System projects have reported nil or detrimental impacts. This chapter explores the proposition that the size of the organization (e.g. medium, large) may contribute to the differences in benefits received. The alleged differences in organizational performance are empirically measured using a prior validated model, using four dimensions employing data gathered from 310 respondents representing 27 organizations.
Implementing Best of Breed ERP Systems
Authors: Bradley Joseph
Published: May 2010

ERP implementation projects normally involve a single vendor providing the packaged software for the entire system. Although most companies follow this practice, a significant number of firms employ an alternate strategy of “best of breed” ERP. This strategy involves selecting software that best matches the current or desired business practices of the company from a variety of vendors. This strategy reduces the need for the firm to customize the software or to significantly reengineer its business practices. Best of Breed offers firms the opportunity to maintain or create competitive advantage based on unique business processes. “Vanilla” ERP implementations may result in competitors all adopting the same business processes leaving no firm with an advantage.
Restructuring the Marketing Information System for eCRM
Authors: Gurau Calin
Published: May 2010

This chapter considers the importance of business modelling for implementing e-CRM systems. The introduction of e-business models requires the adaptation of the Marketing Information System the specific characteristics of the online environment. The representation of various components of the Marketing Information System, and of the flows of information among various organizational departments, represents an essential step for the successful implementation of e-CRM systems. Considering the specific requirements of this restructuring process, chapter presents the advantages of the Eriksson-Penker Business Extensions of the Unifying Modeling Language (UML), and exemplifies their use for modeling the Marketing Information System during the implementation of an interactive e-CRM approach.
Analyzing an ES Implementation in a Health Care Environment
Authors: Boonstra Albert
Published: May 2010

At the present moment, many hospitals are going through a process of change directed at the integrated delivery of health care. Enterprise Systems (ES) are increasingly used to support this process and to manage hospitals on a coherent basis. We also know, however, that ES implementation itself, can be viewed as an organizational change process that affects many stakeholders. For that reason it is relevant to study how ES implementation takes place within hospitals and how it tends to impact the existing organizational arrangements. The purpose of this chapter is therefore to describe and analyze how ES implementation within a hospital affects the interests of stakeholders and which specific problems may arise as a result. This chapter uses the evidence of a case study to reveal some important dimensions of the organizational change issues related to ES implementation within hospitals.
Designing to Deploying Customisable ERP Cost Effectively
Authors: Padmanaban S.
Published: May 2010

ERP systems have become key enablers of businesses today. While many organizations wish to adopt ERP for competitive advantage, they find choosing, using, and realizing expected benefits from, appropriate ERP extremely daunting, given the multitude of factors and options along technologies, vendors, people, and customisation cost and time. It is in this context that the experience presented in this chapter from two Indian projects on designing to deploying ERP systems—for two different organizations engaged in education and construction—becomes very relevant. Reporting on the various processes, practices, techniques, and methods employed through the projects, and the lessons learnt therefrom, the paper argues that time has come for designing and deploying industry-neutral generic ERP systems cost effectively. It proposes that through a combination of appropriate technologies, innovative tools, techniques and strategies, highly adoptive and customisable ERP systems can be designed and deployed at affordable costs and within reasonable timeframes.
Personal Digital Libraries
Authors: Lavariega Juan C. , Gomez Lorena G. , Sordia-Salinas Martha , Garza-Salazar David A.
Published: May 2010

This chapter presents the services and functionality that a personal digital library (PDL) system should provide. The chapter includes a reference architecture for supporting the characteristics and functionality of the personal digital library. In particular, a currently available project called PDLib is used as an example of this type of system. The authors address some of the particular problems that personal libraries impose with respect to the overall administration of personal collections of digital documents and how personal libraries may become a commodity and a way of social interaction. The chapter objective is to increase the research interests on personalized digital libraries and their usability in our daily live.
On the Effectiveness of Social Tagging for Resource Discovery
Authors: Goh Dion Hoe-Lian , Razikin Khasfariyati , Chua Alton Y.K. , Lee Chei Sian , Foo Schubert
Published: May 2010

Social tagging is the process of assigning and sharing among users freely selected terms of resources. This approach enables users to annotate/describe resources, and also allows users to locate new resources through the collective intelligence of other users. Social tagging offers a new avenue for resource discovery as compared to taxonomies and subject directories created by experts. This chapter investigates the effectiveness of tags as resource descriptors and is achieved using text categorization via support vector machines (SVM). Two text categorization experiments were done for this research, and tags and Web pages from del.icio.us were used. The first study concentrated on the use of terms as its features while the second used both terms and its tags as part of its feature set. The experiments yielded a macroaveraged precision, recall, and F-measure scores of 52.66%, 54.86%, and 52.05%, respectively. In terms of microaveraged values, the experiments obtained 64.76% for precision, 54.40% for recall, and 59.14% for F-measure. The results suggest that the tags were not always reliable indicators of the resource contents. At the same time, the results from the terms-only experiment were better compared to the experiment with both terms and tags. Implications of our work and opportunities for future work are also discussed.
Telemedicine Barriers
Authors: Crisóstomo-Acevedo María José , Medina-Garrido José Aurelio
Published: May 2010

Telemedicine implies that there is an exchange of information, without personal contact, between two physicians or between a physician and a patient. Thanks to telecommunications technologies telemedicine enables the provision of healthcare services or the exchange of healthcare information across geographic, temporal, social, and cultural barriers (Chau & Hu, 2004). Through telemedicine, healthcare centers can offer diverse specialty services to other centers, to other physicians, or directly to the patient, such as for example telecardiology, teledermatology, teleendoscopy, telemedicine, telemonitoring, telenursing, telepathology, teleradiology, or telesurgery (Tachakra, 2003). Telemedicine should not be confused with e-health (or teleHealth). Telemedicine only refers to the provision of medical services (Chau & Hu, 2004). E-health, on the other hand, refers both to medical services and to any other type of service, as long as it has something to do with health and employs information technology (Eysenbach, 2001; Rodger & Pendharkar, 2000). In this respect, e-health would also include healthcare educational activities, research in the health sciences, the handling of electronic files in the healthcare system, and any other use of information technologies in the healthcare system. Telemedicine requires a new type of worker: the healthcare teleworker. But unlike in other types of telework, the human factor is much more important for the success of projects in telemedicine. Nevertheless, physicians remain wary of adopting telemedicine. This work examines the sources of the resistance to incorporate telemedicine. It adopts a focus centering on the difficulties that human factors have in accepting the practice of telemedicine.
The ABC Approach and the Feminization of HIV/AIDS in the Sub-Saharan Africa
Authors: Kvasny Lynette , Chong Jing
Published: May 2010

Women, the dominant subjects of AIDS discourses, are placed at risk by common systems of oppression such as gender, race, class, and social and spatial location. Through the health campaigns which are disseminated and reproduced through television, radio, newspapers, and more recently the internet, women are uniquely constructed by privileged “experts” from the West as consumable subjects. In the case of women in Sub- Sahara Africa, we found that health campaigns which feminize AIDS are rooted in largely hegemonic cultural images which portray women as vulnerable subjects under siege. Through our analysis, we problematize the ABC health campaign and its appropriateness for women in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Analytics
Authors: Payton Fay Cobb
Published: May 2010

Business analytics (BA), often termed business intelligence (BI), applications can carefully provide insight into the (in)significance of these factors in healthcare system’s ability to treat AIDS/HIV, in general. In particular, demographic variables that relate to cultural, socioeconomic status and community dimensions of those most impacted (namely Black Americans in the United States which is the focus of this writing) by the AIDS/HIV epidemic are often disregarded. For the broader community, the questions to address are diverse. What can business analytics inform us about Black Americans infected by AIDS/HIV? What are the broader cultural issues that are not often modeled by analytical tools? How do these findings stand to impact public policy and how the healthcare community can better assist those living with the disease? In this chapter, I take on these questions by first reviewing major issues and trends in AIDS/HIV and IT literatures by focusing on health disparities in one historically underserved group, namely Black Americans. Next, I present public health conceptual framework that augments this discourse by depicting those factors uncovered in traditional information technology/systems works. This paper concludes with recommendations for future research opportunities for examining AIDS/HIV public policy issues.
Application of Wireless Data Grids for Health Informatics
Authors: Mahmood Omer
Published: May 2010

Distance and inaccessibility create special challenges for health practitioners in rural and remote areas. Health professionals in rural and remote areas face problems such as prescription concerns due to lack of information. This occurs due to a gap in knowledge regarding medications, as health practitioners do not have access to medical history of their patients. Frequent migration of patients in rural and remote communities results in the loss of patients’ medical records. In addition, doctors have limited access to therapeutic information, as searching the Internet from most remote communities is expensive and slow. In addition, frequent migration of patients in remote communities results in the loss of patients’ histories. This chapter proposes a refined conceptual health information management model based on the model presented by Mahmood (2006). The discussed model is based on the use of Data Grid technology and Data Recharging techniques employed in conjunction with wireless communication technologies to overcome the problems and challenges faced by health practitioners. The model categorizes the health establishments in remote areas into two categories on the basis of geographical characteristics and data access requirements. The discussed model aims to meet information and communication technology (ICT) requirements of health practitioners operating in each recognized category.
Applying Cross Approximate Entropy to Blood Oxygen Saturation and Heart Rate from Nocturnal Oximetry in Screening for Obstructive Sleep Apnea
Authors: Álvarez Daniel , Hornero Roberto , García María , del Campo Félix , López Miguel
Published: May 2010

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) syndrome is a major sleep-related breathing disorder, affecting 1% to 5% of adult men in western countries (Young, Peppard, & Gottlieb, 2002). This disease is now the most common respiratory referral to many sleep units (Douglas 2002). OSA syndrome is associated with excessive daytime sleepiness, neurocognitive deficits, and psychological problems. A significant number of patients with suspicion of OSA present mild to severe symptoms of depression (Schwartz, Kohler, & Karatinos, 2005). OSA syndrome is also a risk factor for cardiovascular disease morbidity and mortality (Leung and Bradley 2001). People with OSA have higher risk of sudden death due to cardiac causes during sleep than the general population (Gami, Howard, Olson, & Somers, 2005). Furthermore, subjects with OSA present an increased risk of being involved in traffic and work accidents (Barbé, Pericas, Muñoz, Findley, Anto, & Agustí, 1998).
Applying Independent Component Analysis to the Artifact Detection Problem in Magnetoencephalogram Background Recordings
Authors: Escudero Javier , Hornero Roberto , Abásolo Daniel , Poza Jesús , Fernández Alberto
Published: May 2010

The analysis of the electromagnetic brain activity can provide important information to help in the diagnosis of several mental diseases. Both electroencephalogram (EEG) and magnetoencephalogram (MEG) record the neural activity with high temporal resolution (Hämäläinen, Hari, Ilmoniemi, Knuutila, & Lounasmaa, 1993). Nevertheless, MEG offers some advantages over EEG. For example, in contrast to EEG, MEG does not depend on any reference point. Moreover, the magnetic fields are less distorted than the electric ones by the skull and the scalp (Hämäläinen et al., 1993). Despite these advantages, the use of MEG data involves some problems. One of the most important difficulties is that MEG recordings may be severely contaminated by additive external noise due to the intrinsic weakness of the brain magnetic fields. Hence, MEG must be recorded in magnetically shielded rooms with low-noise SQUID (Superconducting QUantum Interference Devices) gradiometers (Hämäläinen et al., 1993).
Blood Pressure Estimation with Considering of Stroke Volume Effect
Authors: Al-Jaafreh Moha’med O. , Al-Jumaily Adel A.
Published: May 2010

The mean arterial pressure (MAP) is a very important cardiovascular parameter for physicians to diagnose various cardiovascular diseases. Many algorithms were used to estimate MAP with different accuracy. These algorithms used different factors, such as blood level, pulses, and external applied pressure, photo-plethysmography (PPG) signal features, heart rate (HR), and other factors. In addition, some natural-based techniques were employed to minimize the difference between estimated and measured blood pressure, as well as to measure blood pressure continuously. This article presents an algorithm to estimate MAP, utilizing the HR, Stroke Volume (SV), and Total Peripheral Resistance (TPR), with considering SV changing influence; this consideration is investigated mathematically, and by the Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) technique.
Classification of Waste in Hospitals
Authors: Hanna Victoria , Sethuraman Kannan
Published: May 2010

Hospitals have to focus their efforts on identifying and eliminating waste of all forms if they are to succeed in today’s competitive landscape. A recent study by the Murphy Leadership Institute (Murphy, 2003) concluded that wasteful work consumes more than 35% of hospital employees’ time. This wasteful work includes activities such as completing multiple forms for the same task, filing inefficient shift-to-shift departmental reports, waiting for medications, and searching for misplaced records. Jimmerson warns that the actual amount of waste in health care lies closer to 60% (Panchek, 2003). In this chapter, we briefly review principles of lean philosophy for improving performance and then present a classification of waste that is relevant to hospital management. This classification is aimed at directing hospital initiatives toward understanding and controlling waste in its health care delivery processes. Through several examples from real-life hospital case studies that we have investigated, we trace much of the waste to various types of variability (both natural and artificial) and offer prescriptions to control variability. We then provide some guidelines for streamlining processes and show how this would benefit various stakeholders. We conclude the chapter with some directions for further research.
A Complex Non-Contact Bio-Instrumental System
Authors: Dobrea Dan-Marius , Sîrbu Adriana
Published: May 2010

One of the major challenges that the human computer interface (HCI) faces nowadays is that of identifying a subject’s state, in a real world environment, characterized mainly by its being: open-recorded, event-elicited, and internal emotional state-driven (Picard, Vyzas, & Healey , 2001). The main requirement for such system regards the noninvasive character of their working principle. Subsequently, in order to improve communication in HCI systems or to asses the human state, the analysis of the body language could be a solution. Thus, a “sensitive computer” could use the body movements and the positions of the body in order to assess the state of a person (e.g., confusion, illness, nervousness, lack of attention, motor fatigue, agitation, etc.).
Computational Intelligence and Sensor Networks for Biomedical Systems
Authors: Lai Daniel T.H. , Pakkanen Jussi , Begg Rezaul , Palaniswami Marimuthu
Published: May 2010

Sensor networks (SN) is an emergent technology which combines small sensors outfitted with wireless transmitters to form a network with more powerful sensing capabilities (Akyildiz, Su, Sankarasubramaniam, & Cayirci, 2002; Chong & Kumar, 2003). The primary application for SN technology is monitoring environmental changes making it ideal for deployment in patient monitoring systems. In contrast to other monitoring technologies such as video, SN offers a potentially cheaper solution consisting of cost effective interconnected sensors which cooperatively sense the surroundings. Individual sensor information is then fused to derive an instantaneous description of the environment. In this article, we review briefly the recent applications of CI and SN technologies in health care, mentioning some of the challenges in deploying these technologies. This is followed by an example of a biomedical system incorporating both technologies in a single paradigm. The state of current systems and their advantages over existing methods are highlighted with examples focusing primarily on intelligent automated diagnostic systems to augment clinician diagnoses and health care monitoring systems for continuous patient observation.
Computational Methods for the Early Detection of Diabetes
Authors: Cornforth David J. , Jelinek Herbert F.
Published: May 2010

The incidence of diabetes is increasing, and is expected to exceed one million people in Australia by the year 2010. Diabetes is currently diagnosed after the onset of symptoms. At this stage, detection of complications is a key intervention point in reducing the associated personal and community burden. These include eye, heart, kidney, and foot disease, which in many instances can be treated with good outcomes, provided the disease process is recognized early. In Australia, both national and state governments acknowledge the disadvantage faced by rural people in availing themselves of all aspects of diabetes management, from screening to regular assessment, education and health care (Colagiuri, Colagiuri, & Ward 1998). Therefore, the challenge that is the focus of this article is the early detection of diabetes complications associated with vision and cardiac function, with the eventual aim of providing a screening service that can be used in a rural or regional environment.
Computer Analysis of Coronary Doppler Flow Velocity
Authors: Magagnin Valentina , Turiel Maurizio , Cerutti Sergio , Delfino Luigi , Caiani Enrico
Published: May 2010

The coronary flow reserve (CFR) represents an important functional parameter to assess epicardial coronary stenosis and to evaluate the integrity of coronary microcirculation (Kern, 2000; Sadamatsu, Tashiro, Maehira, & Yamamoto, 2000). CFR can be measured, during adenosine or dipyridamole infusion, as the ratio of maximal (pharmacologically stimulated) to baseline (resting) diastolic coronary blood flow peak. Even in absence of stenosis in epicardial coronary artery, the CFR may be decreased when coronary microvascular circulation is compromised by arterial hypertension with or without left ventricular hypertrophy, diabetes mellitus, hypercholesterolemia, syndrome X, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, and connective tissue diseases (Dimitrow, 2003; Strauer, Motz, Vogt, & Schwartzkopff, 1997). Several methods have been established for measuring CFR: invasive (intracoronary Doppler flow wire) (Caiati, Montaldo, Zedda, Bina, & Iliceto, 1999b; Lethen, Tries, Brechtken, Kersting, & Lambertz, 2003a; Lethen, Tries, Kersting, & Lambertz, 2003b), semi-invasive and scarcely feasible (transesophageal Doppler echocardiography) (Hirabayashi, Morita, Mizushige, Yamada, Ohmori, & Tanimoto, 1991; Iliceto, Marangelli, Memmola, & Rizzon, 1991; Lethen, Tries, Michel, & Lambertz, 2002; Redberg, Sobol, Chou, Malloy, Kumar, & Botvinick, 1995), or extremely expensive and scarcely available methods (PET, SPECT, MRI) (Caiati, Cioglia, Montaldo, Zedda, Rubini, & Pirisi, 1999a; Daimon, Watanabe, Yamagishi, Muro, Akioka, & Hirata, 2001; Koskenvuo, Saraste, Niemi, Knuuti, Sakuma, & Toikka, 2003; Laubenbacher, Rothley, Sitomer, Beanlands, Sawada, & Sutor, 1993; Picano, Parodi, Lattanzi, Sambuceti, Andrade, & Marzullo, 1994; Saraste, Koskenvuo, Knuuti, Toikka, Laine, & Niemi, 2001; Williams, Mullani, Jansen, & Anderson, 1994), thus their clinical use is limited (Dimitrow, 2003). In addition, PET and intracoronary Doppler flow wire involve radiation exposure, with inherent risk, environmental impact, and biohazard connected with use of ionizing testing (Picano, 2003a). In the last decade, the development of new ultrasound equipments and probes has made possible the noninvasive evaluation of coronary blood velocity by Doppler echocardiography, using a transthoracic approach. In this way, the peak diastolic coronary flow velocity reserve (CFVR) can be estimated as the ratio of the maximal (pharmacologically stimulated) to baseline (resting) diastolic coronary blood flow velocity peak measured from the Doppler tracings. Several studies have shown that peak diastolic CFVR, computed in the distal portion of the left anterior descending (LAD) coronary artery, correlates with CFR obtained by more invasive techniques. This provided a reliable and non invasive tool for the diagnosis of LAD coronary artery disease (Caiati et al., 1999b; Caiati, Montaldo, Zedda, Montisci, Ruscazio, & Lai, 1999c; Hozumi, Yoshida, Akasaka, Asami, Ogata, & Takagi, 1998; Koskenvuo et al., 2003; Saraste et al., 2001).
Cost-Sensitive Classification for Medical Diagnosis
Authors: Schaefer Gerald , Nakashima Tomoharu , Yokota Yasuyuki
Published: May 2010

In this article, we present a cost-sensitive approach to medical diagnosis based on fuzzy rule-based classification (Schaefer, Nakashima, Yokota, & Ishibuchi, 2007). While fuzzy rule-based systems have been mainly employed for control problems (Lee, 1990) more recently they have also been applied to pattern classification problems (Ishibuchi & Nakashima, 1999; Nozaki, Ishibuchi, & Tanaka, 1996). We modify a fuzzy rule-based classifier to incorporate the concept of weight which can be considered as the cost of an input pattern being misclassified. The pattern classification problem is thus reformulated as a cost minimisation problem. Based on experimental results on the Wisconsin breast cancer dataset, we demonstrate the efficacy of our approach. We also show that the application of a learning algorithm can further improve the classification performance of our classifier.
Critical Issues in Assessing Sustainability and Feasibility of E-health
Authors: Wickramasinghe Nilmini , Misra Santosh K.
Published: May 2010

The cost of health care is increasing exponentially worldwide. The adoption and diffusion of e-health and the application of Internet and Communication Technology (ICT) in health care is growing at a rapid rate in an attempt to find cost-effective methods of providing quality health care. Both European and US governments are making e-health a priority on their agendas. However, few, if any, discuss the critical issues of the sustainability and feasibility of e-health models. We attempt to fill this critical void by presenting a macro framework that identifies the key components of a generic e-health system and identifying factors playing a role in the assessment of e-health sustainability.
Current Issues and Future Trends of Clinical Decision Support Systems (CDSS)
Authors: El-Gayar Omar F. , Deokar Amit , Wills Matthew
Published: May 2010

The cost of healthcare is increasing exponentially worldwide. The adoption and diffusion of e-health and the application of Internet and Communication Technology (ICT) in healthcare is growing at a rapid rate in an attempt to find cost effective methods of providing quality healthcare. Both European and US governments are making e-health a priority on their agendas. However, few, if any, discuss the critical issues of the sustainability and feasibility of e-health models. We attempt to fill this critical void by presenting a macro framework that identifies the key components of a generic e-health system and identifying factors playing a role in the assessment of e-health sustainability.
A Decision Based Support System Based on GIS Technology
Authors: Albino Vito , Digregorio Giuseppe , Sechi Guido
Published: May 2010

The continuous increase of the national expense for the healthcare services, the necessity to adjust the performance of the service of the National Healthcare System to the change of the demand of health coming from the population, and the necessity to evolve towards a logic of integration along a “continuum of care,” push for the reorganization of healthcare services inside the local healthcare district.
Detection of Gait Patterns in Challenging Environments
Authors: Lynch Kate , Lai Daniel T.H. , Begg Rezaul
Published: May 2010

One in three individuals over the age of 65 years (elderly) will fall at least once a year (James, 1993). This probability increases to one in two adults over 80 years (DHA, 2005). Consequently, gait modifications associated with ageing have been linked with increased falls’ probability (Berg, Alessio, Mills, & Tong, 1997; Lord, Sherrington, & Menz, 2001). Despite an increasing research interest in recent times into the aetiology of falls, particularly in the elderly (>65 years), falls continue to be a major public health concern in Australia and worldwide. Fall-related injuries are the leading cause of accidental death in the elderly population, and account for the largest cause of hospitalisation for this population (Lord et al., 2001), with many elderly individuals experiencing physical, social, or functional ramifications following a fall. Consequently, the economic cost of falls to the public health system is escalating, with the total cost of fall injuries reported to be higher than road traffic injuries (DOH, 2004). The majority of falls associated costs include physician consultation, hospital stays, nursing homecare, rehabilitation, medical equipment, home modification and care, community based services, and prescription drugs and administration (DOH, 2004; Lord et al., 2001). Healthcare and related costs associated with falls are expected to double over the next 50 years (Close & Lord, 2006).
Developing Medical Systems that Save Lives and Significantly Reduce Hospital Healthcare Costs
Authors: Mockler Robert J. , Dologite Dorothy G.
Published: May 2010

This paper originated with strategic management work done at Jamaica Hospital in Queens, NY and the Jewish Home and Hospital for the Aged in Manhattan, NY. As background for the project, the initial phase involved industry-wide studies of healthcare institutions throughout this country and abroad. During these studies, which involved both field research and a review of the research literature, many samples of which are given throughout this paper, it became apparent that advances in hospital Information Technology (IT) are having a dramatic impact on improving patient healthcare services.
Development of Walking Pattern Evaluation System for Hypogravity Simulation
Authors: Leães R. , Cambraia R. , Bacim F. , Dalmarco G. , Calder A. , De Azevedo D. F.G. , Pinho M. , Russomano T.
Published: May 2010

There are three primary techniques for simulating partial gravity: water immersion (neutral buoyancy), parabolic flight, and body suspension device (BSD) models. Underwater Immersion. During tests, a neutrally buoyant subject is ballasted to simulate the desired partial gravity loading. For example, one-sixth of the subject’s body mass is added in ballast if a lunar simulation is desired. Water immersion offers the subject freedom from time constraints and freedom of movement, but the hydrodynamic drag is disadvantageous for movement studies.
Diagnostics, Therapeutics, and Health Informatics in Osteoporosis
Authors: Gueldner Sarah H. , Madhavan Guruprasad , Newman Eric D. , Pierce Carolyn S.
Published: May 2010

Osteoporosis, usually silent until a fracture occurs, is among the most common health problems facing elders worldwide. By definition, osteoporosis is a “systemic” skeletal disease characterized by a low bone mass and a micro architectural deterioration of bone tissue, with a consequent increase in bone fragility and susceptibility to fracture (“The Burden of Musculoskeletal Conditions,” 2003). The incidence of osteoporotic hip fracture increases exponentially with age, and the increase in older persons globally could dramatically increase the number of hip fractures, posing a devastating increase in disability and cost for elders worldwide. Therefore, it is imperative that diagnostic and treatment measures be developed and instituted worldwide to support preventative measures for osteoporosis and consequential fractures. Toward that purpose, the World Health Organization (WHO) has declared 2002–2011as the Decade of the Bone and Joint, uniting nations throughout the world in the commitment of energy and resources to accelerate progress in bone health and prevention of fractures. Keeping in mind this global context, this discussion includes information about the prevalence and impact of osteoporosis, its signature pathology (including bone remodeling), factors which place individuals at risk for developing osteoporosis, and the role of diagnostics, therapeutics, and informatics in the realm of osteoporosis. Encouraging information is also provided about recent innovative technological developments that may enhance our ability to detect and treat osteoporosis earlier, in time to reduce and better manage its unwelcome sequelae.
Diet Monitoring Software
Authors: Cottingham Marion
Published: May 2010

Obesity has been a known problem for over 60 years. As early as 1943, Metropolitan Life Insurance Company declared “Overweight is so common that it constitutes a national health problem of the first order.” In 1952, the American Heart association identified obesity as a cardiac risk factor (AHA, 1952). In 1974, obesity was identified as “the most important nutritional disease in the affluent countries of the world” (LANCET editorial, 1974). Over a few decades, the obesity epidemic has continually been creeping up in all developed countries around the world; this has accelerated rapidly in the last decade, and it appears to have reached a crisis level with unprecedented numbers, particularly in America, joining the overweight or obese categories (Anderson, Konz, Frederich, & Wood, 2001; Mokdad, Serdula, Dietz, Bowman, Marks, Koplan, 1999).
Distributed Medical Image and Volume Registration
Authors: Tait Roger , Schaefer Gerald
Published: May 2010

The ability to visualise hidden structures in detail using 3-D volume data has become a valuable resource in medical imaging applications (Maintz & Viergever, 1998). Importantly, the alignment of volumes enables the combination of different structural and functional information for diagnosis and planning purposes (Pluim, Maintz, & Viergever, 2003). Transform optimisation, resampling, and similarity calculation form the basic stages of a registration process (Zitova & Flusser, 2003): During transform optimisation, translation and rotation parameters which geometrically map points in the reference (fixed) image/volume to points in the sensed (moving) image/volume are estimated. Once estimated, pixel/voxel intensities which are mapped into nondiscrete coordinates are interpolated during the resampling stage. After resampling, a metric is used for similarity calculation in which the degree of likeness between corresponding volumes is evaluated (Tait & Schaefer, 2008). Optimisation of the similarity measure is the goal of the registration process and is achieved by seeking the best transform. All possible transform parameters therefore define the search space. Due to the iterative nature of registration algorithms, similarity calculation represents a considerable performance bottleneck which limits the speed of time critical clinical applications.
Echocardiographic Image Sequence Compression Based On Spatial Active Appearance Model
Authors: Szilágyi Sándor Miklós , Szilágyi László , Benyó Zoltán
Published: May 2010

Echocardiography is a popular medical imaging modality due to its noninvasive and versatile behavior. There are no known side effects, and the measuring equipment is small and inexpensive relative to other options, such as MRI or CT. Reducing storage requirements and making data access user friendly are two important motivations for applying compression to ultrasound images, with the retention of diagnostic information being critical (Chiu, Vaisey, & Atkins, 2001).
Electrical Impedance Spectroscopy as a Powerful Analytical Tool for Monitoring Microbiological Growth on Medical Implants
Authors: Oliver Louise M. , McAdams E. T. , Dunlop P. S.M. , Byrne J. A. , Blair I. S. , Boyle M. , McGuigan K. G.
Published: May 2010

Hospital-acquired infections (HAI) are defined as infections that are neither present nor incubating when a patient enters the hospital (Bourn, 2000). Their effects vary from discomfort to prolonged or permanent disability and they may contribute directly or substantially to a patient’s death. HAI’s are estimated to cost the National Health Service (NHS) in England £1 billion annually (Bourn, 2000) with as many as 5,000 patients dying as a result of acquiring such an infection (Anon, 2001). Not all hospital-acquired infections are preventable but Infection Control Teams believe that they could be reduced by at least 15%, with yearly savings of £150 million (Anon, 2001). Central intravascular catheters have been found to be a common source of infection. Catheters can become infected via a number of different routes with the infection proliferating in multiple areas along the catheter surface. It has been reported that over 40% of the identified micro-organisms causing hospital-acquired infection were Staphylococci, an organism that is typically found on the natural skin flora (Bourn, 2000).
Emerging Technologies for Aging in Place
Authors: Becker Shirley Ann , Webbe Frank
Published: May 2010

Similar to other nations, the United States faces a critical challenge in dealing with an aging population that has unprecedented life expectancies. Emerging technologies offer the hope of allowing older adults to remain in their homes longer by empowering individuals to manage daily activities while dealing with chronic health conditions and age-related diseases. These technologies increasingly target a home environment whereby on a regular basis an individual can obtain assistance in performing daily living activities, stay connected to family and friends, manage medication, and be monitored for health-related changes. As important as these assistive technologies are for individuals and families, their potential for positively impacting the United States economy by changing the model of healthcare delivery is equally huge.
European General Practitioners' Usage of E-Health Services
Authors: Ortega Egea Jose Manuel
Published: May 2010

Technology plays an increasingly critical role in current markets. Diverse technological innovations are significantly changing how services are provided in different industries (Bitner & Brown, 2000). In this regard, new digital and Internet-related technologies are dramatically modifying how companies, employees, and customers interact in service encounters (Alba, Lynch, Weitz, Janiszewski., Lutz, Sawyer, & Wood, 1997; Hoffman & Novak, 1996). In the health care sector, Internet technologies have the potential to improve the provision of health and patient care services like no other communications medium in the past (Shepherd & Fell, 1997). The health care sector, where interpersonal encounters between health staff and patients determine to a great extent service quality and patient satisfaction, will require diverse modifications, in order to fully benefit from the improvements promised by Internet technologies.
Fast and Robust Fuzzy C-Means Algorithms for Automated Brain MR Image Segmentation
Authors: Szilágyi László , Szilágyi Sándor Miklós , Benyó Zoltán
Published: May 2010

By definition, image segmentation represents the partitioning of an image into nonoverlapping, consistent regions, which appear to be homogeneous with respect to some criteria concerning gray level intensity and/or texture. The fuzzy c-means (FCM) algorithm is one of the most widely used method for data clustering, and probably also for brain image segmentation (Bezdek & Pal., 1991). However, in this latter case, standard FCM is not efficient by itself, as it is unable to deal with that relevant property of images that neighbor pixels are strongly correlated. Ignoring this specificity leads to strong noise sensitivity and several other imaging artifacts.
Feature Selection in Pathology Detection using Hybrid Multidimensional Analysis
Authors: Delgado-Trejos Edilson , Castellanos Germán , Sánchez Luis G. , Suárez Julio F.
Published: May 2010

Dimensionality reduction procedures perform well on sets of correlated features while variable selection methods perform poorly. These methods fail to pick relevant variables because the score they assign to correlated features is too similar, and none of the variables is strongly preferred over another. Hence, feature selection and dimensionality reduction algorithms have complementary advantages and disadvantages. Dimensionality reduction algorithms thrive on the correlation between variables but fail to select informative features from a set of more complex features. Variable selection algorithms fail when all the features are correlated, but succeed with informative variables (Wolf & Bileschi, 2005). In this work, we propose a feature selection algorithm with heuristic search that uses Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) as the cost function. This technique is put to the test by classifying hypernasal from normal voices of CLP (cleft lip and/or palate) patients. The classification performance, computational time, and reduction ratio are also considered by comparing with an alternate feature selection method based on the unfolding of multivariate analysis into univariate and bivariate analysis. The methodology is effective because it has in mind the statistical and geometrical relevance present in the features, which does not summarize the analysis of the separability among classes, but searches a quality level in signal representation.
An f-MRI Study of an Adaptable EMG Prosthetic Hand with Biofeedback
Authors: Arieta Alejandro Hernandez , Kato Ryu , Yokoi Hiroshi , Arai Tamio , Yu Wenwei , Pfeifer Rolf
Published: May 2010

The mutual adaptation between man-machine opens new possibilities in the development of better userfriendly interfaces that not only adapt to the user’s characteristics, but also permits the adaptation of the user to the machine. There are several examples of the use of feedback to improve the man-machine interface. One example is the use of sound to acquire cues in the interaction with the machine (Rauterberg, 1999). These studies show the improvement in the interaction when we increase the number of communication channels between the man and the machine. The problem with sound cues is that need the conscious effort to be recognized. Hunter, Katz, and Davis (2003) show another example of the importance of increasing the communication channels in the interaction between man and machine. In this study, they show how the multiple sensory stimuli contribute to the conscious awareness of the body, and how it can be used to change the abnormal body awareness that occurs after limb amputation. This effect is also known as cortical reorganization, where the brain after losing the stimuli from the amputated limb, due to the cross-modality, received input signals from the adjacent neurons, resulting in what is called “phantom limb.”