INTRODUCTION: The methods for diagnosing compartment syndrome non-invasively remain under debate. Bioimpedance measurements offer a promising avenue in clinical practice, detecting subtle changes in organ impedance due to volume shifts. This study explores bioimpedance measurement as a novel, painless method for diagnosing compartment syndrome, potentially enabling continuous monitoring. OBJECTIVE: This work aims to develop a prototype device for non-invasive diagnosis of compartment syndrome based on bioimpedance changes and assess initial results through in vitro experiments on inanimate biological material. We assume a change in the bioimpedance value after the application of physiological solution. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between 2018 and 2022, a prototype device for diagnosing limb compartment syndrome was collaboratively developed with the Department of Cybernetics and Biomedical Engineering at the Technical University of Ostrava, Czech Republic. This device operates by comparing bioimpedance between two compartments, one of which is pathologically affected (experiencing compartment syndrome). The Bioimpedance Analyzer for Compartment Syndrome (BACS) has been utilized to conduct measurements on inanimate biological material in laboratory settings. Two samples of duck and chicken tissue, as well as piglets, were employed for these experiments. According to the size of sample was compartment syndrome simulated by injecting 20-120 mL saline into one limb (breast) while leaving the other as a control. Invasive intramuscular pressure measurements were conducted post-saline injection using a conventional device (Stryker). Changes in bioimpedance were evaluated following saline application. RESULTS: The non-invasive bioimpedance measurement instrument has been developed. It meets the safety requirements of European standard EN 60601-1. Measurement of accuracy showed minimal deviation for both channels (1.08% for the left channel and 1.84% for the right channel) when measuring on resistors. Ten measurements were conducted using the BACS prototype - two on chicken legs, two on duck breasts, two on duck legs, and four on piglets. Compartment syndrome simulation was achieved for all 10 measurements (IMP variance 31-45 mmHg). Following saline application, a notable decrease in bioimpedance was observed in the compartment simulating compartment syndrome (decrease by 12-78 Ω). CONCLUSION: Non-invasive methods could revolutionize limb compartment syndrome diagnosis, offering advantages such as non-invasiveness and continuous monitoring of compartment swelling.
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) represents a vasoproliferative disease, especially in newborns and infants, which can potentially affect and damage the vision. Despite recent advances in neonatal care and medical guidelines, ROP still remains one of the leading causes of worldwide childhood blindness. The paper presents a unique dataset of 6,004 retinal images of 188 newborns, most of whom are premature infants. The dataset is accompanied by the anonymized patients' information from the ROP screening acquired at the University Hospital Ostrava, Czech Republic. Three digital retinal imaging camera systems are used in the study: Clarity RetCam 3, Natus RetCam Envision, and Phoenix ICON. The study is enriched by the software tool ReLeSeT which is aimed at automatic retinal lesion segmentation and extraction from retinal images. Consequently, this tool enables computing geometric and intensity features of retinal lesions. Also, we publish a set of pre-processing tools for feature boosting of retinal lesions and retinal blood vessels for building classification and segmentation models in ROP analysis.
- MeSH
- lidé MeSH
- novorozenec nedonošený * MeSH
- novorozenec MeSH
- počítačové zpracování obrazu MeSH
- retina * diagnostické zobrazování MeSH
- retinopatie nedonošených * diagnostické zobrazování MeSH
- Check Tag
- lidé MeSH
- novorozenec MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
- dataset MeSH
- Geografické názvy
- Česká republika MeSH
UNLABELLED: Electrogastrography (EGG) is a non-invasive method with high diagnostic potential for the prevention of gastroenterological pathologies in clinical practice. In this study, a review of the measurement systems, procedures, and methods of analysis used in electrogastrography is presented. A critical review of historical and current literature is conducted, focusing on electrode placement, measurement apparatus, measurement procedures, and time-frequency domain methods of filtration and analysis of the non-invasively measured electrical activity of the stomach. As a result, 129 relevant articles with primary aim on experimental diet were reviewed in this study. Scopus, PubMed, and Web of Science databases were used to search for articles in English language, according to the specific query and using the PRISMA method. The research topic of electrogastrography has been continuously growing in popularity since the first measurement by professor Alvarez 100 years ago, and there are many researchers and companies interested in EGG nowadays. Measurement apparatus and procedures are still being developed in both commercial and research settings. There are plenty variable electrode layouts, ranging from minimal numbers of electrodes for ambulatory measurements to very high numbers of electrodes for spatial measurements. Most authors used in their research anatomically approximated layout with two++ active electrodes in bipolar connection and commercial electrogastrograph with sampling rate of 2 or 4 Hz. Test subjects were usually healthy adults and diet was controlled. However, evaluation methods are being developed at a slower pace, and usually the signals are classified only based on dominant frequency. The main review contributions include the overview of spectrum of measurement systems and procedures for electrogastrography developed by many authors, but a firm medical standard has not yet been defined. Therefore, it is not possible to use this method in clinical practice for objective diagnosis. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION: https://www.prisma-statement.org/.
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
- systematický přehled MeSH
Data o zdravotní péči ve správě státem řízených organizací jsou pro společnost cenným nehmotným aktivem. Jejich využití by mělo být pro jejich správce a stát prioritou. Zcela paternalistický přístup správců a státu je nežádoucí, jakkoliv má za cíl ochranu práva na soukromí osob registrovaných v databázích. V souladu s evropskou politikou a celosvětovým trendem by však tato opatření neměla převážit společenský benefit, který z analýzy těchto údajů vyplývá, existují-li technické možnosti práva osob na soukromí dostatečně chránit. Česká společnost vede k tématu intenzivní diskusi, která se však podle autorů jen nedostatečně opírá o fakta a postrádá jasně artikulovaná stanoviska odborné veřejnosti. Cílem tohoto článku je tyto mezery zacelit. Techniky anonymizace údajů představují řešení, jak chránit práva jednotlivců na soukromí a zároveň zachovat vědeckou hodnotu údajů. Riziko ztotožnění jednotlivců v anonymizovaných souborech údajů je škálovatelné a lze ho minimalizovat v závislosti na typu a obsahu údajů a jejich použití konkrétním žadatelem. Nalezení optimální formy a rozsahu deidentifikovaných údajů vyžaduje kompetence a znalosti jak na straně žadatele, tak na straně správce. Je v zájmu žadatele, správce i chráněných osob v databázích, aby obě strany projevily ochotu a měly schopnost a odborné znalosti komunikovat v průběhu žádosti a jejího zpracování.
Healthcare data held by state-run organisations is a valuable intangible asset for society. Its use should be a priority for its administrators and the state. A completely paternalistic approach by administrators and the state is undesirable, however much it aims to protect the privacy rights of persons registered in databases. In line with European policies and the global trend, these measures should not outweigh the social benefit that arises from the analysis of these data if the technical possibilities exist to sufficiently protect the privacy rights of individuals. Czech society is having an intense discussion on the topic, but according to the authors, it is insufficiently based on facts and lacks clearly articulated opinions of the expert public. The aim of this article is to fill these gaps. Data anonymization techniques provide a solution to protect individuals' privacy rights while preserving the scientific value of the data. The risk of identifying individuals in anonymised data sets is scalable and can be minimised depending on the type and content of the data and its use by the specific applicant. Finding the optimal form and scope of deidentified data requires competence and knowledge on the part of both the applicant and the administrator. It is in the interest of the applicant, the administrator, as well as the protected persons in the databases that both parties show willingness and have the ability and expertise to communicate during the application and its processing.
The analysis and segmentation of articular cartilage magnetic resonance (MR) images belongs to one of the most commonly routine tasks in diagnostics of the musculoskeletal system of the knee area. Conventional regional segmentation methods, which are based either on the histogram partitioning (e.g., Otsu method) or clustering methods (e.g., K-means), have been frequently used for the task of regional segmentation. Such methods are well known as fast and well working in the environment, where cartilage image features are reliably recognizable. The well-known fact is that the performance of these methods is prone to the image noise and artefacts. In this context, regional segmentation strategies, driven by either genetic algorithms or selected evolutionary computing strategies, have the potential to overcome these traditional methods such as Otsu thresholding or K-means in the context of their performance. These optimization strategies consecutively generate a pyramid of a possible set of histogram thresholds, of which the quality is evaluated by using the fitness function based on Kapur's entropy maximization to find the most optimal combination of thresholds for articular cartilage segmentation. On the other hand, such optimization strategies are often computationally demanding, which is a limitation of using such methods for a stack of MR images. In this study, we publish a comprehensive analysis of the optimization methods based on fuzzy soft segmentation, driven by artificial bee colony (ABC), particle swarm optimization (PSO), Darwinian particle swarm optimization (DPSO), and a genetic algorithm for an optimal thresholding selection against the routine segmentations Otsu and K-means for analysis and the features extraction of articular cartilage from MR images. This study objectively analyzes the performance of the segmentation strategies upon variable noise with dynamic intensities to report a segmentation's robustness in various image conditions for a various number of segmentation classes (4, 7, and 10), cartilage features (area, perimeter, and skeleton) extraction preciseness against the routine segmentation strategies, and lastly the computing time, which represents an important factor of segmentation performance. We use the same settings on individual optimization strategies: 100 iterations and 50 population. This study suggests that the combination of fuzzy thresholding with an ABC algorithm gives the best performance in the comparison with other methods as from the view of the segmentation influence of additive dynamic noise influence, also for cartilage features extraction. On the other hand, using genetic algorithms for cartilage segmentation in some cases does not give a good performance. In most cases, the analyzed optimization strategies significantly overcome the routine segmentation methods except for the computing time, which is normally lower for the routine algorithms. We also publish statistical tests of significance, showing differences in the performance of individual optimization strategies against Otsu and K-means method. Lastly, as a part of this study, we publish a software environment, integrating all the methods from this study.
This work analyses the results of research regarding the predisposition of genetic hematological risks associated with secondary polyglobulia. The subjects of the study were selected based on shared laboratory markers and basic clinical symptoms. JAK2 (Janus Kinase 2) mutation negativity represented the common genetic marker of the subjects in the sample of interest. A negative JAK2 mutation hypothetically excluded the presence of an autonomous myeloproliferative disease at the time of detection. The parameters studied in this work focused mainly on thrombotic, immunological, metabolic, and cardiovascular risks. The final goal of the work was to discover the most significant key markers for the diagnosis of high-risk patients and to exclude the less important or only complementary markers, which often represent a superfluous economic burden for healthcare institutions. These research results are applicable as a clinical guideline for the effective diagnosis of selected parameters that demonstrated high sensitivity and specificity. According to the results obtained in the present research, groups with a high incidence of mutations were evaluated as being at higher risk for polycythemia vera disease. It was not possible to clearly determine which of the patients examined had a higher risk of developing the disease as different combinations of mutations could manifest different symptoms of the disease. In general, the entire study group was at risk for manifestations of polycythemia vera disease without a clear diagnosis. The group with less than 20% incidence appeared to be clinically insignificant for polycythemia vera testing and thus there is a potential for saving money in mutation testing. On the other hand, the JAK V617F (somatic mutation of JAK2) parameter from this group should be investigated as it is a clear exclusion or confirmation of polycythemia vera as the primary disease.
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
The subject of the work was the experimental verification of the negative influence of gravity sets in a pressure volumetric infusion pump with an impact on the accuracy of infusion solution dosing. The quality criterion for gravity sets was the accuracy of the flow versus the reference set by the volumetric infusion pump. The solution consisted of 14-hour measurements with two types of gravity sets, Intrafix® Primeline sets were used as universal sets and Standardline IS 103 gravity sets. The insulin pump flow rate was set at 300 ml/h and 50 ml/h, and the actual flow rate of the infusion solution was recorded every hour using a graduated cylinder. Used gravity sets were also processed by mechanical tests, unused sets were subjected to these tests and the obtained data were compared with each other. Experiments carried out showed that at the set flow rate of 300 ml/h, the flow error with the universal set was -3% and at a set flow rate of 50 ml/h the error was +2.3%. Flow accuracy using gravity sets was worse, a flow error of -7.2% was detected for a flow rate of 50 ml/h and a flow error of -7.7% was measured for 300 ml/h. The volumetric pump used declares a tolerated inaccuracy of ± 3% when used with standard infusion sets. Based on the data, it can be concluded that the replacement of set types has an influence on the dosage of infusion solutions.
- MeSH
- bezpečnost pacientů MeSH
- infuzní pumpy * škodlivé účinky MeSH
- lidé MeSH
- Check Tag
- lidé MeSH
- Publikační typ
- práce podpořená grantem MeSH
Wavelet transformation is one of the most frequent procedures for data denoising, smoothing, decomposition, features extraction, and further related tasks. In order to perform such tasks, we need to select appropriate wavelet settings, including particular wavelet, decomposition level and other parameters, which form the wavelet transformation outputs. Selection of such parameters is a challenging area due to absence of versatile recommendation tools for suitable wavelet settings. In this paper, we propose a versatile recommendation system for prediction of suitable wavelet selection for data smoothing. The proposed system is aimed to generate spatial response matrix for selected wavelets and the decomposition levels. Such response enables the mapping of selected evaluation parameters, determining the efficacy of wavelet settings. The proposed system also enables tracking the dynamical noise influence in the context of Wavelet efficacy by using volumetric response. We provide testing on computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance (MR) image data and EMG signals mostly of musculoskeletal system to objectivise system usability for clinical data processing. The experimental testing is done by using evaluation parameters such is MSE (Mean Squared Error), ED (Euclidean distance) and Corr (Correlation index). We also provide the statistical analysis of the results based on Mann-Whitney test, which points out on statistically significant differences for individual Wavelets for the data corrupted with Salt and Pepper and Gaussian noise.
In this paper, a new approach for the periodical testing and the functionality evaluation of a fetal heart rate monitor device based on ultrasound principle is proposed. The design and realization of the device are presented, together with the description of its features and functioning tests. In the designed device, a relay element, driven by an electric signal that allows switching at two specific frequencies, is used to simulate the fetus and the mother's heartbeat. The simulator was designed to be compliant with the standard requirements for accurate assessment and measurement of medical devices. The accuracy of the simulated signals was evaluated, and it resulted to be stable and reliable. The generated frequencies show an error of about 0.5% with respect to the nominal one while the accuracy of the test equipment was within ±3% of the test signal set frequency. This value complies with the technical standard for the accuracy of fetal heart rate monitor devices. Moreover, the performed tests and measurements show the correct functionality of the developed simulator. The proposed equipment and testing respect the technical requirements for medical devices. The features of the proposed device make it simple and quick in testing a fetal heart rate monitor, thus providing an efficient way to evaluate and test the correlation capabilities of commercial apparatuses.
- MeSH
- lidé MeSH
- monitorování fyziologických funkcí MeSH
- plod * MeSH
- srdeční frekvence plodu * MeSH
- srdeční frekvence MeSH
- těhotenství MeSH
- ultrasonografie MeSH
- Check Tag
- lidé MeSH
- těhotenství MeSH
- ženské pohlaví MeSH
- Publikační typ
- časopisecké články MeSH
Terapeutická adherence je nezbytnou podmínkou dlouhodobě úspěšné léčby řady závažných onemocnění, přesto zůstává u poloviny pacientů nízká. Mezi hlavní příčiny patří na jedné straně nedostatečné aktivní zapojení pacientů do léčby, ale na druhé straně také malá motivace poskytovatelů otázky adherence řešit. Předpokladem pro zlepšování adherence je možnost jejího adekvátního hodnocení, k čemuž bohužel nadále postrádáme univerzální a spolehlivé nástroje. Subjektivní metody staví na osobním odhadu adherence ze strany pacienta či poskytovatele péče, objektivní jsou založeny na průkazných informacích. V posledních letech dochází k častějšímu využití postupů založených na telemedicíně. Ty umožňují jednak sledovat terapeutickou adherenci pacientů, ale také intervenovat ve prospěch jejího zvyšování. Obsahem článku je krátké připomenutí principů posuzování a měření adherence a dále shrnutí nových technologic-kých nástrojů využívaných při její podpoře. Obojí je v době opakujících se plošných karanténních opatření a často pouze distančně poskytované péče aktuální více než dříve.
Therapeutic adherence is a necessary condition for the long-term successful treatment of many serious diseases, yet it remains low in half of the patients. The main reasons include insufficiently active patients' involvement in treatment on the one hand, but also the low motivation of providers to address adherence issues on the other hand. The possibility of its adequate evaluation is a precondition for improving adherence, unfortunately, we still lack universal and reliable tools. Subjective methods are based on personal assessment of adherence by the patient or caregiver, objective ones are based on conclusive information. In recent years, there has been a more frequent use of telemedicine-based practices. They enable to monitor patients' therapeutic adherence, but also to intervene in favour of its increase. The article contens a brief reminder of the principles of assessment and measurement of adherence and a summary of new technological tools used in its support. Both are relevant more than before at this time of recurrent global quarantine measures and related remote care.
