bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
An Adoption Study of a Clinical Reminder System in Ambulatory Care Using A Developmental Trajectory Approach
Authors: Zheng Kai  , Padman Rema  , Johnson Michael P.  , Engberg John  , Diamond Herbert H.
Published: February 2025

In this study, we assess 41 medical residents' acceptance and adoption of a clinical reminder system for chronic disease and preventive care management in the ambulatory care environment using a novel developmental trajectory approach. This group-based, semi-parametric statistical modeling method identifies distinct groups, following distinct usage trajectories, among those who recorded use of the reminder system within an evaluation period of 10 months. We trace system use within these groups over time using computer-generated logs and user satisfaction surveys. Our preliminary analysis of this small sample of users delineates three categories of users. Feedback from these categories of users is being used to re-engineer the application and adapt it better to their workflow and functionality requirements. Despite the small sample size in this particular study, we conclude thdt this methodology has considerable promise to provide new insights into system usability and adoption issues that may benefit clinical decision support systems as well as information systems more generally.
Towards interoperability of heterogeneous health databases: application to a tumor samples bank
Authors: Joubert Michel  , Dufour Jean-Charles  , Falco Laurent  , Aymard Sylvain  , Fieschi Marius
Published: February 2025

Ojectives: to define principles and methods that allow heterogeneous database in the health sector to be interoperable. Material and method: to design a component-based middleware able to provide flexible and efficient means of communication between end-users and databases, and that exploits the standard nomenclatures of the health sector. Results: according to these principles, to implement a prototype of a tumor samples bank in the University hospitals of Marseille, France. Discussion : to discuss the benefits that the approach brings and the progress in prototyping.
Homecare : The need for Cooperative Information Systems
Authors: Beuscart Regis  , Bricon-Souf Nathalie  , Brunetaud Jean-Marc  , Watbled Ludivine  , Alao Omolade  , Bennani Nadia
Published: February 2025

Assuming responsibility of patients at home (Homecare) is organized around a complex co-operation of partners: health care actors, relatives and helpers, all of whom intervene in the patient's home and who spark off the setting up of co-operative information systems. We present our work relating to such systems within the context of home care. Such activity is based on the collaboration of multiple mobile actors, obtaining information in a multimodal fashion, while taking the job profiles and professional grades of the users into account. Information is obtained from heterogeneous systems. The quality of management of the activity of the various health care actors and of the feedback on information handled at the time of the homecare process will determine how easy it may be to set up homecare as well as the quality ofcare. In this paper we outline the main stages of our work: grasping the context of homecare and studying co-operative activity from a fundamental point of view but also as applied to homecare. We describe the system proposed for accessing distributed information and for organizing the supervision of the 2 fundamental processes: (1) the LOGISTICAL process (to manage the organization), (2) and the CARE Process (to follow-up the medical or nursing status of the patient), and then we enhance the contribution of mobile technologies in this context.
Parametric Brain MR Atlases: Standardization for Imaging Informatics
Authors: Sinha Usha  , Ardekani Siamak
Published: February 2025

This paper is focused on the development of normal MR brain atlases of intrinsic MR parameters. These parameters permit quantitative comparisons across imaging studies (as opposed to raw image intensity values) and are important markers of neurological diseases. The development includes fast sequences to generate three parameters (T1: spin-lattice relaxation, T2: spin-spin relaxation, and Diffusion Tensor) covering the whole brain with isotropic and high-resolution images. The analysis of raw data to generate the parametric images is followed by registration algorithms to bring the image studies acquired on normal subjects aligned to a common frame of reference. The registration method includes both linear and non-linear algorithms. Two atlas schemes are discussed: an average atlas and a probabilistic atlas. Initial results on sequence development and registration are presented. The atlases are envisaged as an integral part of an imaging informatics infrastructure that enables image analysis across imaging studies to perform automated image data mining.
An Analysis of Inpatient Nursing Communications Needs
Authors: Taylor David P.  , Coakley Amanda  , Reardon George  , Kuperman Gilad J.
Published: February 2025

The health care environment is communications and information intensive. Nurses especially have communications as part of their routine activities, yet little is known about specific nursing communications needs and technologies that might address these needs. This project analyzed the specific communications needs of nurses at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) in Boston, MA, through focus group meetings, nursing staff interviews, and direct observation ofunit communications. Based on these data, an ideal requirements list for a nursing communication system was created. Data were also gathered and analyzed from units piloting cell phones as nursing communications tools. On non-cell phone units we found that the bulk ofcommunication activity is from the front desk operations associate to the nurse through a sub-optimal overhead paging system that is often unclear or inaudible. The pilot of cellular phones has demonstrated improvements in nursing communications at MGH and there are indications that other emerging technologies will be better able to address the ideal communication needs of nurses.
System-wide Surveillance for Clinical Encounters by Patients Previously Identified with MRSA and VRE
Authors: Evans R. Scott  , Lloyd James F.  , Abouzelof Rouett H.  , Taylor Caroline W.  , Anderson Vickie R.  , Samore Matthew H.
Published: February 2025

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and vancomycin- resistant Enterococci (VRE) have emerged as major infection control problems worldwide. Patients previously infected or colonized with MRSA or VRE need to be identified and often isolated as soon as they visit a health care facility. Infection control personnel usually are not aware when these patients enter their facilities. We developed a system-wide surveillance system to alert infection control personnel when patients with previous MRSA or VRE cultures from LDS Hospital have subsequent clinical encounters at any inpatient or outpatient facility at Intermountain Health Care (IHC). This paper describes this system and includes the results from an initial study on the potential epidemiological benefits provided to help improve patient care. The study found that patients with previous MRSA and VRE had subsequent encounters at 62 different IHC facilities up to 304 miles away from 1 day to over 5 years later. In addition, the new surveillance system was able to alert infection control personnel whenever these patients visited any IHC inpatient or outpatient facility.
Aligning Words in French-English Non-Parallel Medical Texts: Effect of Term Frequency Distributions
Authors: Chiao Yun-Chuang  , Zweigenbaum Pierre
Published: February 2025

In this paper, we present a method for aligning words based on a statistical model of word distribution similarity. The basis underlying our method is that there is a correlation between the patterns of word cooccurrences in texts of different languages. Using automatically downloaded pages from different medical web sites and a combined bilingual lexicon of general and medical terms as language sources, a similarity score is assigned to each proposed translated pair of words, based on the distributional contexts of these two words. We vary several parameters of the method. Experimental results confirm a positive effect of frequency, show that medical words are better handled than less specialized words, and do not evidence a clear influence of context window size. Future directions for improvement include working with very large, part-of-speech tagged corpora.
A Database for Chinese Outpatients with Rheumatic Diseases
Authors: Tian Xinping  , Hersh William  , Logan Judith  , Bennett Robert
Published: February 2025

Although several databases have been developed in rheumatology aimed at profiling the morbidity pattern of rheumatic diseases, or to capture the detailed clinical and outcome information of patients with a specific rheumatic disease, there is no database in China, as yet, for capturing visit-related health information of all outpatients with rheumatic diseases. In this project, a relational database was developed for the rheumatic outpatient clinic of Peking Union Medical College Hospital (PUMCH). The primary goal of this database is to collect and organize visitrelated information of outpatients with rheumatic diseases to meet information needs of clinical research, health care continuity and teaching of rheumatic diseases. The implementation of this database can improve health services, medical records management and clinical research of outpatients with rheumatic disease at PUMCH.
Overcoming Information Overload: an Information System for the Primary Care Physician
Authors: Barnett G. Octo  , Barry Michael J.  , Robb-Nicholson Celeste  , Morgan Mary
Published: February 2025

Primary Care Office InSite (PCOI) is a Web-based intranet application that provides ready access to a collection of information useful in primary care. The PCOI Web site was developed by, and is widely used within, the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and its affiliated community practices. Over 1600 users logged 60,000 separate sessions in the past year. The site contains clinical practice guidelines, patient educational material, drug prescription and cost information and referral information, all designed for use during routine patient care activity. A continuing and dynamic collaboration between the users and developers of the system, just-in-time access and a ‘one-stop portal’ to a variety of resources have resulted in a very high approval rating by the users.
Practical Considerations for Exploiting the World Wide Web to Create Infobuttons
Authors: Cimino James J.  , Li Jianhua  , Allen Mureen  , Currie Leanne M.  , Graham Mark  , Janetzki Viktoria  , Lee Nam-Ju  , Bakken Suzanne  , Patel Vimla L.
Published: February 2025

Background: We are studying ways to provide automated, context-specific links (called “infobuttons”) between clinical information systems (CIS) and other information resources available on the World Wide Web. As part of this work, we observed the information needs that arose when clinicians used a CIS and we classified those needs into generic questions. We then sought general methods for accessing information resources to answer the questions. Methods: For each generic question, we identified a satisfactory resource and then developed a method for retrieving from it the information relevant to the question. We then studied these methods to characterize them into general approaches. Results: We identified six general approaches and describe them in detail. These approaches range in complexity from simple, hard-coded links to intelligent agents and calculators. Conclusion: Web-based information resources can be exploited using a relatively small number of methods, although the specific methods require custom solutions. Standard methods for accessing Webbased resources would simplify the task of linking to CISs.
Clinicians' Assessments of the Usefulness of Online Evidence to Answer Clinical Questions
Authors: Magrabi Farah  , Westbrook Johanna I.  , Coiera Enrico W.  , Gosling A. Sophie
Published: February 2025

Family physicians' experience of using an online evidence retrieval system in routine clinical work was measured. Participants’ assessments regarding the usefulness of the online evidence to answer their clinical questions were determined using three feedback channels: voluntary online feedback during the trial; randomized prompted feedback during a specific online evidence search; and responses in a post-trial survey. Using an analysis of the web logs, search outcome was related to patterns of searching in terms of number of searches and documents viewed. The majority of clinicians' searches were related to patient care and information retrieved was rated as useful in answering these questions. On average clinicians conducted two searches and viewed one document per clinical question. Search sessions which resulted in ‘completely answering’ a clinical question involved significantly fewer searches than less successful searches. The three feedback channels provided different information but consistent overall results. The findings indicate that clinicians' assessments of online evidence use are linked to search patterns and online feedback is useful for measuring the effectiveness of systems.
NCI Thesaurus: Using Science-Based Terminology to Integrate Cancer Research Results
Authors: Coronado Sherri de  , Haber Margaret W.  , Sioutos Nicholas  , Tuttle Mark S.  , Wright Lawrence W.
Published: February 2025

Cancer researchers need to be able to organize and report their results in a way that others can find, build upon, and relate to the specific clinical conditions of individual patients. NCI Thesaurus This a description logic terminology based on current science that helps individuals and software applications connect and organize the results of cancer research, e.g., by disease and underlying biology. Currently containing some 34, 000 concepts – covering chemicals, drugs and other therapies, diseases, genes and gene products, anatomy, organisms, animal models, techniques, biologic processes, and administrative categories – NCI Thesaurus serves applications and the Web from a terminology server As a scalable, formal terminology, the deployed Thesaurus, and associated applications and interfaces, are a model for some of the standards required for the NHII (National Health Information Infrastructure) and the Semantic Web.
Achieving “Source Transparency” in the UMLS® Metathesaurus®
Authors: Hole William T.  , Carlsen Brian A.  , Tuttle Mark S.  , Srinivasan Suresh  , Lipow Stephanie S.  , Olson Nels E.  , Sherertz David D.  , Humphreys Betsy L.
Published: February 2025

The UMLS Metathesaurus is a syntactically uniform, conceptbased, semantically enhanced representation of many of the world’s authoritative biomedical vocabularies. Released several times a year, the Metathesaurus is becoming a common, longitudinally maintained source of the current versions of these vocabularies. As vocabularies become standards for reimbursement, reporting, interoperation, and use by applications, the vocabulary obtained from the Metathesaurus must be consistent with that obtainable from each vocabulary’s authority. Effective with the first 2004 release, the Metathesaurus represents new and updated sources “transparently” – both users and applications are able to “see” each vocabulary in the Metathesaurus without any of the small losses of information introduced by abstractions used in previous versions. Thus, the Metathesaurus can continue to provide its many semantic and lexical value-added features while guaranteeing that original sources will be “visible” in intact form. Vocabulary users and application developers will benefit from the enhancements and economies of scale offered by the Metathesaurus, while preserving distinctions between content provided by external authorities and content added as part of the Metathesaurus development and maintenance process.
Using Symbolic Knowledge in the UMLS to Disambiguate Words in Small Datasets with a Naïve Bayes Classifier.
Authors: Leroy Gondy  , Rindflesch Thomas C.
Published: February 2025

Current approaches to word sense disambiguation use and combine various machine-learning techniques. Most refer to characteristics of the ambiguous word and surrounding words and are based on hundreds of examples. Unfortunately, developing large training sets is time-consuming. We investigate the use of symbolic knowledge to augment machine-learning techniques for small datasets. UMLS semantic types assigned to concepts found in the sentence and relationships between these semantic types form the knowledge base. A naïve Bayes classifier was trained for 15 words with 100 examples for each. The most frequent sense of a word served as the baseline. The effect of increasingly accurate symbolic knowledge was evaluated in eight experimental conditions. Performance was measured by accuracy based on 10-fold cross-validation. The best condition used only the semantic types of the words in the sentence. Accuracy was then on average 10% higher than the baseline; however, it varied from 8% deterioration to 29% improvement. In a follow-up evaluation, we noted a trend that the best disambiguation was found for words that were the least troublesome to the human evaluators.
Mapping Japanese Medical Terms to UMLS Metathesaurus
Authors: Onogi Yuzo  , Ohe Kazuhiko  , Tanaka Masaaki  , Nozoe Atsutake  , Sasaki Tetsuro  , Sato Megumi  , Kikuchi Yuko  , Shinohara Tsuneki  , Suzuki Hiromichi  , Kaihara Shigekoto  , Seyama Yousuke
Published: February 2025

This paper introduces and reports the results for a project to map Japanese medical terms to the UMLS Metathesaurus. The “Thesaurus for Medical and Health related Terms version 5” published in 2003 by the Japan Medical Abstracts Society and UMLS version 2002AC provided by NLM were used in this study. The goal was to judge the validity of the correlation between the Japanese and English terms that belong to the same MeSH concept. Fifteen medicine, nursing, and library science professionals, excluding JAMAS, used a custom designed Web interface to perform this task About 10% of the concepts were judged as invalid, and the reasoning behind these failures were analyzed. Experience from this project can be used to estimate the manpower required to revise the Japanese thesaurus after future revisions to UMLS or MeSH.
ICPC Multilingual Collaboratory: a Web-and Unicode-Based System for Distributed Editing/Translating/Viewing of the Multilingual International Classification of Primary Care
Authors: Rodgers R.P. Channing  , Sherwin Ziying  , Lamberts Henk  , Okkes Inge M.
Published: February 2025

The International Classification of Primary Care (ICPC) is a clinical classification containing 726 clinical concepts, available in over 20 languages, augmented by links to ICD-10 concepts. It is employed in clinical information systems in several European countries, Israel, Japan, and Australia. In translating ICPC, it has been challenging to manage the flow of multilingual information, maintain its quality, and optimize its portability, particularly in light of the numerous character encodings used to represent its content. The ICPC Multilingual Collaboratory (IMC) is a World Wide Web-based environment, created to allow the viewing, maintenance, and translation of ICPC content by a dispersed international editorial staff. Based upon opensource software, it represents ICPC content using the Unicode standard for character encoding. The system implements three interfaces to ICPC data: 1) a password protected editorial interface which instantiates a hierarchical authority model and communication channels for review and control of content, including a means of uploading new candidate translations; 2) an openly accessible read-only interface, with email access to the editors (providing another level of content review); and, 3) a management interface for the system administrator. The completed system powerfully demonstrates the ability of the World Wide Web, open-source software, and Unicode to expedite and simplify international multilingual collaboration, even in a world in which Unicode support is incomplete on existing computing platforms.
Comparison of methods for evaluation of a medical terminological system
Authors: Arts Daniëlle  , Keizer Nicolette de  , Jonge Evert de  , Cornet Ronald
Published: February 2025

The importance of terminological systems (TS) to support standardized and structured documentation of medical data is commonly recognized. The usability of TS in real practice strongly depends on the completeness and the correctness of the content of the TS. We here present four different methods that can be applied to evaluate a TS’ content. All four methods were applied in a case study. We make a comparison of 1) the results of two methods that focus on the completeness of the content and that differ in the application of the TS that they focus on and 2) the results of an automated and a manual evaluation of the correctness of the content. Finally we summarize the results of all four methods and analyze whether they overlap or complement each other.
Translating the International Classification for Nursing Practice (ICNP®) – an experience from two countries
Authors: Ehnfors Margareta  , Coenen Amy  , Marin Heimar F.  , Prenkert Malin
Published: February 2025

The International Classification for Nursing Practice (ICNP®) has been published in the alpha, beta 1, and beta 2 versions that, together with forthcoming versions, are going to be translated into many languages. It is important that the translation process facilitates a valid and reliable translation. Experiences from two countries are given as well as recommendations for future work. There is a need for an ongoing development of the ICNP®including feedback from numerous countries to ICN.
Context in Care – Requirements for Mobile Context-Aware Patient Charts
Authors: Dahl Yngve  , Sørby Inger Dybdahl  , Nytrø Øystein
Published: February 2025

The hospital ward is a highly dynamic work environment, in which healthcare personnel rapidly switch from one task to another. The process is partly planned, and partly driven by events and interrupts.
Failure Analysis of MetaMap Transfer (MMTx)
Authors: Divita Guy  , Tse Tony  , Roth Laura
Published: February 2025

A pilot study was conducted to evaluate the performance of the MetaMap Transfer (MMTx), a tool that extracts termsfromfree text and suggests'matches to concepts in the Unified Medical Language System' (UMLS’). Five participants, including a content domain expert and a UMLS Expert, manually extracted and mapped terms to UMLS concepts for two disease summary documents from NLM's consumer health site, Genetic Home Reference. The resulting adjudicated annotations were used as a gold standard. Differences' in automated term extraction and mapping between MMTx and MetaMap were noted. Afailure analysis was conducted to categorize the types of terms not correctly mapped by MMTx. The most frequent type of failure (30%) resulted from missing inferential or world knowledge. Characteristics of each category are discussed. We distinguish between classes of failures that may be easily rectified, such as alternative retrieval strategies to extract exact matches, and ones that require additional research, such as coordinating conjunctions, co-reference resolution, and word sense disambiguation.
Methods for Multi-Category Cancer Diagnosis from Gene Expression Data: A Comprehensive Evaluation to Inform Decision Support System Development
Authors: Statnikov Alexander  , Aliferis Constantin F.  , Tsamardinos Ioannis
Published: February 2025

Cancer diagnosis is a major clinical applications area of gene expression microarray technology. We are seeking to develop a system for cancer diagnostic model creation based on microarray data. We performed a comprehensive evaluation of several major classification algorithms, gene selection methods, and cross-validation designs using 11 datasets spanning 74 diagnostic categories (41 cancer types and 12 normal tissue types). The Multi-Category Support Vector Machine techniques by Crammer and Singer, Weston and Watkins, and one-versus-rest were found to be the best methods and they outperform other learning algorithms such as K-Nearest Neighbors and Neural Networks often to a remarkable degree. Gene selection techniques are shown to significantly improve classification performance. These results guided the development of a software system that fully automates cancer diagnostic model construction with quality on par with or, better than previously published results derived by expert human analysts.
Registration and Regulation of Health Informatics Professionals in the UK National Health Service
Authors: Millen Di  , Lawton Paul  , Hayes Glyn  , Taylor Chris
Published: February 2025

Whilst good health informatics can contribute directly to the delivery of effective patient care, bad informatics can kill. The UK is establishing a regulatory body to register health informatics specialists who can demonstrate that they meet agreed standards of professional practice: the UK Council for Health Informatics Professions (UKCHIP). UKCHIP will also manage the introduction of a Code of Conduct (based on the IMIA Code) and processes for continuous professional development, appeals, and removal from the Register. The challenge has been to design a process that provides a suitable structure for all informatics staff, including records, coding, audit, library and knowledge management, ICT, systems, information management and clinical management specialists. The contention is that this inclusive model of regulation has international applicability.
Developing an Interaction-Centered Evaluation Tool for Distance Education
Authors: Perrine John A.  , Logan Judith R.
Published: February 2025

Web-based distance instruction is growing in popularity. As more courses and programs go online, instructional methods and technologies are changing to meet new demands. These courses and instructional methods need be evaluated to determine their quality and to aid in their development. An instrument that measures the quality of student interaction within courses could play a useful role in this evaluation. The objective of this project was to produce an interaction-centered evaluation tool for distance education. We developed items for the evaluation tool based on a review of the literature and interviews with distance education faculty. We then conducted a measurement study to determine the instrument's validity and reliability. Fifty-five students in seven medical informatics courses participated in this study. Questionnaire items were included or rejected based on their fit with underlying theoretical constructs.
Computer-Based and Live Interviews on Problem Drinking: Users' Attitudes
Authors: Farzanfar Ramesh  , Migneault Jeffrey  , Rubin Amy  , Friedman Robert  , Marks Lisa
Published: February 2025

Some studies of computerized interviews particularly those that deal with personally sensitive topics demonstrate that people have a preference for automated interviews versus live interviews. To explore this phenomenon, we administered four openended questions after participants were screened for problem drinking by both an automated and a human telephone interviewer. Both interviews administered AUDIT(Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test) for assessing problem drinking. Individuals were recruited into the study who responded to ads in daily papers. Sixty-two percent of the participants preferred the human interviewer and only 3% among these expressed a concern about confidentiality of the interview. Among the 22% who preferred the automated interview, 32% indicated confidentiality as a reason for their preference.
Approaches Towards a Regional, Shared Electronic Patient Record for Health Care Facilities of Different Health Care Organizations – IT-Strategy and First Results
Authors: Schabetsberger Thomas  , Gross Erich  , Haux Reinhold  , Lechleltner Georg  , Pellizzarl Thomas  , Schindelwig Klaus  , Stark Christian  , Vogl Raimund  , Wilhelmy Immanuel
Published: February 2025

Today, information processing in healthcarefacilities is usually primarily directed towards the information needs of the respective institution. This stands in apparent contradiction to the fact that patients may not be solely treated in one general practice or hospital. More information processing towards patient-centered, shared care would better support high quality as well as efficient health care.
Recognizing Geospatial Patterns with Biologically-inspired Relational Reasoning
Authors: Kogut Paul  , Gordon June  , Morgenthaler David  , Hummel John  , Monroe Edward  , Goertzel Ben  , Trewhitt Ethan  , Whitaker Elizabeth
Published: February 2025

Relational reasoning is a complex high-level cognitive function that should be part of a realistic computational equivalent of the human mind. People use relational reasoning often in everyday life in many different contexts (e.g., social understanding, political science, law, business). This paper discusses the application of relational reasoning to the recognition of geospatial patterns (e.g., clusters of buildings that constitute a facility). The relational reasoning model is based on cognitive science evidence and emerging neuroscience theory. Experiments show that the relational reasoning model can recognize geospatial patterns that have a significant degree of variation.
Development of a robot that cognizes and learns unknown events
Authors: Kushiro Kyohei  , Takeno Junichi
Published: February 2025

The present paper proposes a system to identify and learn about unknown events using the Module of Nerves for Advanced Dynamics (MoNAD) system. This system identifies unknown events using the difference in MoNAD convergence velocities between known and unknown events. The system was mounted on a robot and color identification tests were conducted to evaluate the feasibility of the system. In experiments, the robot autonomously identified unknown events, and automatically captured them as new information by itself. The present paper introduces how the robot proactively identifies unknown events, and captures them as new information. The system presents a solution to the problem of “Why do humans always learn new events and adapt to them?”
MoNAD structure and the self-awareness
Authors: Takeno Junichi
Published: February 2025

The authors have been studying a conscious module called Module of Nerves for Advanced Dynamics (MoNAD), which is the core of a conscious robot. The functions of a MoNAD satisfy the qualification requirements for human consciousness. A MoNAD is not a simple first-order reaction system but a redundant second-order system. Each MoNAD has two recursive neural networks that cross each other. One of the two recursive neural networks of the MoNADs processes information on the real world while the other performs high-level abstraction. Neurons present at the intersection of the two neural networks connect the real and the abstract (i.e., represented) world by synchronizing them. Playing the role of mirror neurons, these neurons provide a clue to solving the problem of symbol grounding. A MoNAD is a representation-driven machine. A MoNAD can also describe the function of self-awareness. Each MoNAD has two sets of input and output terminals to function as a bi-directional information network. A sophisticated system can be constructed by incorporating multiple MoNADs in the network. We call such an advanced system a ‘conscious system’ as a high order cybernetics.
Towards a Generic Framework for Evaluation and Comparison of Soft Tissue Modeling
Authors: Deram Aurélien  , Payan Yohan  , Promayon Emmanuel
Published: February 2025

Numerous models have been developed to describe the mechanical behavior of soft tissue in virtual reality medical environments. Very high credibility must be established before clinicians trust these simulations for diagnostic or treatment. Validating models to obtain the right compromise between accuracy and computational efficiency for the targeted medical application is a long, costly and time-consuming task. We have developed a freely available open-source framework for helping scientists in the difficult problem of evaluating and comparing biomechanical models in a more systematic and automatic manner.
Haptic Simulator for Liver Diagnostics through Palpation
Authors: Hamza-Lup Felix G.  , Bogdan Crenguta M.  , Seitan Adrian
Published: February 2025

Mechanical properties of biological tissue for both histological and pathological considerations are often required in disease diagnostics. Such properties can be simulated and explored with haptic technology. Development of cost effective haptic-based simulators and their introduction in the minimally invasive surgery learning cycle is still in its infancy. Receiving pre-training in a core set of surgical skills can reduce skill acquisition time and risks. We present the development of a visuo-haptic simulator module designed to train internal organs disease diagnostics through palpation. The module is part of a set of tools designed to train and improve basic surgical skills for minimally invasive surgery.
Visual Tracking of Laparoscopic Instruments in a Hough Space
Authors: Loukas Constantinos  , Georgiou Evangelos
Published: February 2025

This paper describes an approach to tracking laparoscopic instruments based solely on visual information. The two edges of the linear instrument are identified as maxima within a scalable search window in the Hough space. For each new frame the window is moved according to the velocity of the instrument computed in the previous frame. The computational cost of the Hough transform is further reduced by considering only edge features inside a mask determined by the Hough search window. The technique has been successfully applied in sequences of a simulation task and a surgical procedure.
Shader Lamps Virtual Patients: the Physical Manifestation of Virtual Patients
Authors: Rivera-Gutierrez Diego  , Welch Greg  , Lincoln Peter  , Whitton Mary  , Cendan Juan  , Chesnutt David A.  , Fuchs Henry  , Lok Benjamin
Published: February 2025

We introduce the notion of Shader Lamps Virtual Patients (SLVP) – the combination of projector-based Shader Lamps Avatars and interactive virtual humans. This paradigm uses Shader Lamps Avatars technology to give a 3D physical presence to conversational virtual humans, improving their social interactivity and enabling them to share the physical space with the user. The paradigm scales naturally to multiple viewers, allowing for scenarios where an instructor and multiple students are involved in the training. We have developed a physical-virtual patient for medical students to conduct ophthalmic exams, in an interactive training experience. In this experience, the trainee practices multiple skills simultaneously, including using a surrogate optical instrument in front of a physical head, conversing with the patient about his fears, observing realistic head motion, and practicing patient safety. Here we present a prototype system and results from a preliminary formative evaluation of the system.
Using a Smart Wheelchair as a Gaming Device for Floor-Projected Games: A Mixed-Reality Environment for Training Powered-Wheelchair Driving Skills
Authors: Secoli R.  , Zondervan D.  , Reinkensmeyer D.
Published: February 2025

For children with a severe disability, such as can arise from cerebral palsy, becoming independent in mobility is a critical goal. Currently, however, driver's training for powered wheelchair use is labor intensive, requiring hand-over-hand assistance from a skilled therapist to keep the trainee safe.
MRI Skin Segmentation for the Virtual Deformation of the Breast under Mammographic Compression
Authors: Solves Llorens J.A.  , Monserrat C.  , Rupérez M.J.  , Naranjo V.  , Alajami M.  , Feliu E.  , García M.  , Lloret M.
Published: February 2025

Breast Magnetic Resonance Image skin has similar intensity levels than dense tissue, and may produce segmentation errors if not managed correctly. In this work a novel skin segmentation method is presented and validated by experts, aimed to obtain as many pixels belonging to the real skin as possible. Segmented skin will be used to build a breast biomechanical model to register X-Ray Images with Magnetic Resonance Images in the future, using a virtually deformed Magnetic Resonance Image.
Volume Visual Attention Maps (VVAM) in Ray-Casting Rendering
Authors: Beristain Andoni  , Congote John  , Ruiz Oscar
Published: February 2025

This paper presents an extension visual attention maps for volume data visualization, where eye fixation points become rays in the 3D space, and the visual attention map becomes a volume. This Volume Visual Attention Map (VVAM) is used to interactively enhance a ray-casting based direct volume rendering (DVR) visualization. The practical application of this idea into the biomedical image visualization field is explored for interactive visualization.
A Voice-Based Automated System for PTSD Screening and Monitoring
Authors: Xu Roger  , Mei Gang  , Zhang Guangfan  , Gao Pan  , Judkins Timothy  , Cannizzaro Michael  , Li Jiang
Published: February 2025

Comprehensive evaluation of PTSD includes diagnostic interviews, self-report testing, and physiological reactivity measures. It is often difficult and costly to diagnose PTSD due to patient access and the variability in symptoms presented. Additionally, potential patients are often reluctant to seek help due to the stigma associated with the disorder. A voice-based automated system that is able to remotely screen individuals at high risk for PTSD and monitor their symptoms during treatment has the potential to make great strides in alleviating the barriers to cost effective PTSD assessment and progress monitoring. In this paper we present a voice-based automated Tele-PTSD Monitor (TPM) system currently in development, designed to remotely screen, and provide assistance to clinicians in diagnosing PTSD. The TPM system can be accessed via a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) or the Internet. The acquired voice data is then sent to a secure server to invoke the PTSD Scoring Engine (PTSD-SE) where a PTSD mental health score is computed. If the score exceeds a predefined threshold, the system will notify clinicians (via email or short message service) for confirmation and/or an appropriate follow-up assessment and intervention. The TPM system requires only voice input and performs computer-based automated PTSD scoring, resulting in low cost and easy field-deployment. The concept of the TPM system was supported using a limited dataset with an average detection accuracy of up to 95.88%.
Evaluation of Tensiometric Assessment as a Measure of Skill Degradation
Authors: Cheung Jeffrey J.H.  , Rojas David  , Weber Bryce  , Kapralos Bill  , Carnahan Heather  , Dubrowski Adam
Published: February 2025

This pilot study explored the use of tensiometry as a measure of retention of knot tying skills. Medical students learned a one-handed square knot tying technique. Their final performances were video recorded and these videos were uploaded on to a website. Students were divided into two groups: an observational learning group that had access to videos before a retention test, and a control group that did not. After a two-week retention period, all students came back and performed one more trial to test the amount of retention of the skill. Tensiometry was used to measure strengths of the knots before and after the retention period. The scores showed no significant difference between the groups (p>0.308) or tests (p>0.737). We interpret the results to suggest that tensiometry is not sensitive enough to detect degradation in the performance of fundamental clinical skills as they are forgotten after being taught.
Computational Biomedicine: A Challenge for the Twenty-First Century
Authors: Coveney Peter V.  , Shublaq Nour W.
Published: February 2025

With the relentless increase of computer power and the widespread availability of digital patient-specific medical data, we are now entering an era when it is becoming possible to develop predictive models of human disease and pathology, which can be used to support and enhance clinical decision-making. The approach amounts to a grand challenge to computational science insofar as we need to be able to provide seamless yet secure access to large scale heterogeneous personal healthcare data in a facile way, typically integrated into complex workflows—some parts of which may need to be run on high performance computers—in a facile way that is integrated into clinical decision support software. In this paper, we review the state of the art in terms of case studies drawn from neurovascular pathologies and HIV/AIDS. These studies are representative of a large number of projects currently being performed within the Virtual Physiological Human initiative. They make demands of information technology at many scales, from the desktop to national and international infrastructures for data storage and processing, linked by high performance networks.
Online Education in a Large Scale Rehabilitation Institution
Authors: Mazzoleni M. Cristina  , Rognoni Carla  , Pagani Marco  , Imbriani Marcello
Published: February 2025

Large scale multiple venue institutions face problems when delivering educations to their healthcare staff. The present study is aimed at evaluating the feasibility of relying on e-learning for at least part of the training of the Salvatore Maugeri Foundation healthcare staff. The paper reports the results of the delivery of elearning courses to the personnel during a span of time of 7 months in order to assess the attitude to online courses attendance, the proportion between administered online education and administered traditional education, the economic sustainability of the online education delivery process. 37% of the total healthcare staff have attended online courses and 46% of nurses have proved to be the very active. The ratio between total number of credits and total number of courses for online and traditional education are respectively 18268/5 and 20354/96. These results point out that eLearning is not at all a niche tool used (or usable) by a limited number of people. Economic sustainability, assessed via personnel work hour saving, has been demonstrated. When distance learning is appropriate, online education is an effective, sustainable, well accepted mean to support and promote healthcare staff's education in a large scale institution.
Pathogens and Gene Product Normalization in the Biomedical Literature
Authors: Vishnyakova Dina  , Pasche Emilie  , Teodoro Douglas  , Lovis Christian  , Ruch Patrick
Published: February 2025

We present a new approach for pathogens and gene product normalization in the biomedical literature. The idea of this approach was motivated by needs such as literature curation, in particular applied to the field of infectious diseases thus, variants of bacterial species (S. aureus, Staphyloccocus aureus, ...) and their gene products (protein ArsC, Arsenical pump modifier, Arsenate reductase, ...).
Cloud Computing Technology Applied in Healthcare for Developing Large Scale Flexible Solutions
Authors: Lupşe Oana Sorina  , Vida Mihaela  , Stoicu-Tivadar Lăcrămioara
Published: February 2025

An extremely important area in which there is also vital information needed in different locations is the healthcare domain. In the areas of healthcare there is an important exchange of information since there are many departments where a patient can be sent for investigation. In this regard cloud computing is a technology that could really help supporting flexibility, seamless care and financial cuts.
Tutorial on academic high-performance cloud computing
Authors: Visser Tom
Published: February 2025

This documents shortly describes the background and structure of the academic high-performance cloud computing tutorial at the Healthgrid conference.
Desktop Cloud Visualization: the new technology to remote access 3D interactive applications in the Cloud
Authors: Torterolo Livia  , Ruffino Francesco
Published: February 2025

In the proposed demonstration we will present DCV (Desktop Cloud Visualization): a unique technology that allows users to remote access 2D and 3D interactive applications over a standard network. This allows geographically dispersed doctors work collaboratively and to acquire anatomical or pathological images and visualize them for further investigations.
Legal constraints on genetic data processing in European grids
Authors: Mouw Evert  , van 't Noordende Guido  , van Kampen Antoine H.C.  , Louter Baas  , Santcroos Mark  , Olabarriaga Silvia D.
Published: February 2025

European laws on privacy and data security are not explicit about the storage and processing of genetic data. Especially whole-genome data is identifying and contains a lot of personal information. Is processing of such data allowed in computing grids? To find out, we looked at legal precedents in related fields, current literature, and interviews with legal experts. We found that processing of genetic data is only allowed on distributed systems with specific security measures, both technical and organizational. Informed consent, although important, offers no substitute for such requirements.
STORK – Technical Approach and Privacy
Authors: Leitold Herbert  , Posch Reinhard
Published: February 2025

In this paper we describe the STORK Large Scale Pilot (LSP). STORK has been a project driven by eighteen European Union (EU) and European Economic Area (EEA) Member States (MS). The objective was to develop an interoperability framework to enable cross-border use of national electronic identity (eID) solutions. The framework has been tested in six pilots that involved MS and European Commission production environments. The paper describes the technical STORK solution that supports eID federation both in centralized and in decentralized deployment models. We refer to these as Pan-European Proxy Service (PEPS) for centralized deployment, as middleware (MW) for the decentralized deployment, respectively. The paper puts particular attention to security and privacy aspects.
Design of Suspended Glass Ceiling Structure in High Seismic Hazard Zones
Authors: Takeuchi Toru  , Sugizaki Kenichi  , Yasuda Koichi
Published: February 2025

This paper briefly reports on the structural design of the large (26 m×24 m) sashless glass ceiling that covers the entrance stairs of the underground shopping mall in front of Kawasaki Station, located in Kawasaki City, one of the largest satellite cities in Tokyo. The glass ceiling is totally suspended from an L-shaped gate composed of spatial truss frames. Because these structures were constructed in a heavy seismic zone, they were carefully designed to withstand well during earthquakes whose maximum ground acceleration reaches 350 cm/sec2, yet use a minimum number of effective elements to maintain transparency of the structure. On March 11. 2011, the Great East Japan Earthquake hit this structure; however, none of the components including the glass panels were damaged.
Load-Carrying Behaviour of Metal Inserts Embedded in Laminated Glass
Authors: Puller Kerstin  , Sobek Werner
Published: February 2025

The introduction of a new interlayer material for laminated glass – SentryGlas (SG) – has enabled the development of an innovative glass connection technique in which a metal element is embedded in the interlayer of the laminate and acts as a load-carrying device. At the ILEK tensile tests on the interlayer material were performed to determine the material properties of SG and to develop a numerical material model. Pull-out tests of the proposed metal insert system were carried out to study its load-bearing behaviour under tensile loading. A numerical simulation was performed to model the pull-out tests and to verify the material models developed. This paper focuses on the evaluation of the load transfer behaviour of this connection under short-term tensile loading at various temperatures and the simulated stress distribution within this multi-material system.