Search results for " Applications"

Head–Neck Cancer Delineation

2021

Head–Neck Cancer (HNC) has a relevant impact on the oncology patient population and for this reason, the present review is dedicated to this type of neoplastic disease. In particular, a collection of methods aimed at tumor delineation is presented, because this is a fundamental task to perform efficient radiotherapy. Such a segmentation task is often performed on uni-modal data (usually Positron Emission Tomography (PET)) even though multi-modal images are preferred (PET-Computerized Tomography (CT)/PET-Magnetic Resonance (MR)). Datasets can be private or freely provided by online repositories on the web. The adopted techniques can belong to the well-known image processing/computer-vision a…

Cost-effectiveness analysis of robot-assisted vs. open partial nephrectomy

2017

Background The cost-effectiveness of robot-assisted partial nephrectomy (RAPN) vs. the open procedure is not established. Methods We estimated in-hospital complications and the cost of RAPN vs. open partial nephrectomy (OPN) using an economic model. Costs incurred both intraoperatively and in hospital were considered. US data were extracted from existing literature. Results Mean in-hospital costs were $14,824 (95% CI $13,368-$16,898) for RAPN and $15,094 (95% CI $13,491-$17,140) for OPN. Complications after RAPN occurred in 23.3% (95% CI 20.0-25.8%) and after OPN in 36.1% (95% CI 35.6-36.6%) of the patients. In a sensitivity analysis, limited centre experience was associated with relevant i…

A fully automatic 2D segmentation method for uterine fibroid in MRgFUS treatment evaluation

2015

PurposeMagnetic Resonance guided Focused UltraSound (MRgFUS) represents a non-invasive surgical approach that uses thermal ablation to treat uterine fibroids. After the MRgFUS treatment, an operator must manually segment the treated fibroid areas to evaluate the NonPerfused Volume (NPV). This manual approach is operator-dependent, introducing issues of result reproducibility, which could lead to errors in the subsequent follow-up phase. Moreover, manual segmentation is time-consuming, and can have a negative impact on the optimization of both machine-time and operator-time. MethodTo address these issues, in this paper a novel fully automatic method based on the unsupervised Fuzzy C-Means cl…

Off-line control of the postprandial glycemia in type 1 diabetes patients by a fuzzy logic decision support

2012

The target of this paper is to describe the use of fuzzy techniques in the development of a decision support system that allows the optimization of postprandial glycemia in type 1 diabetes patients taking into account the kind of meal taken by patients, the preprandial glycemia and the insulin resistance (the response of the body to insulin dose injection therapy). The decision support system can, in many cases, provide patients with the correct number of rapid insulin units that must be assumed to assure an optimal glycemic profile, keeping the blood glucose level close to the homeostatic condition, several hours after the meal.

Descriptive analysis of mobile phone applications on breastfeeding

2020

A Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Assessment of Small Animals Phobia Using Virtual Reality as a Stimulus

2014

[EN] Background: To date, still images or videos of real animals have been used in functional magnetic resonance imaging protocols to evaluate the brain activations associated with small animals phobia. Objective: The objective of our study was to evaluate the brain activations associated with small animals phobia through the use of virtual environments. This context will have the added benefit of allowing the subject to move and interact with the environment, giving the subject the illusion of being there. Methods: We have analyzed the brain activation in a group of phobic people while they navigated in a virtual environment that included the small animals that were the object of their pho…

Smartphone-based ecological momentary assessment (EMA) in psychiatric patients and student controls: A real-world feasibility study

2020

Abstract Background Smartphone-based ecological momentary assessment (EMA) is a promising methodology for mental health research. The objective of this study is to determine the feasibility of smartphone-based active and passive EMA in psychiatric outpatients and student controls. Methods Two smartphone applications —MEmind and eB2— were developed for behavioral active and passive monitoring. The applications were tested in psychiatric patients with a history of suicidal thoughts and/or behaviors (STB), psychiatric patients without a history of STB, and student controls. Main outcome was feasibility, measured as response to recruitment, retention, and EMA compliance. Secondary outcomes were…

Telemonitoring in chronic pain management using smartphone apps: a randomized controlled trial comparing usual assessment against app-based monitorin…

2020

Background. The usefulness of mHealth in helping to target face-to-face interventions for chronic pain more effectively remains unclear. In the present study, we aim to test whether the Pain Monitor mobile phone application (app) is well accepted by clinicians, and can help improve existent medical treatments for patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain. Regarding this last goal, we compared three treatment conditions, namely usual treatment, usual treatment with an app without alarms and usual treatment with an app with alarms. All treatments lasted one month. The three treatments were compared for all outcomes, i.e., pain severity and interference, fatigue, depressed mood, anxiety and a…

Improving Oral–Systemic Healthcare through the Interoperability of Electronic Medical and Dental Records: An Exploratory Study

2019

Objectives Electronic health records (EHRs) are rarely shared among medical and dental providers. The purpose of this study was to assess current information sharing and the value of improved electronic information sharing among physicians and dentists in Germany and the United States. Materials and Methods A survey was validated and distributed electronically to physicians and dentists at four academic medical centers. Respondents were asked anonymously about EHR use and the medical and dental information most valuable to their practice. Results There were 118 responses, a response rate of 23.2%. The majority (63.9%) of respondents were dentists and the remainder were physicians. Most res…

Automatic detection of lung nodules in CT datasets based on stable 3D mass–spring models

2012

We propose a computer-aided detection (CAD) system which can detect small-sized (from 3 mm) pulmonary nodules in spiral CT scans. A pulmonary nodule is a small lesion in the lungs, round-shaped (parenchymal nodule) or worm-shaped (juxtapleural nodule). Both kinds of lesions have a radio-density greater than lung parenchyma, thus appearing white on the images. Lung nodules might indicate a lung cancer and their early stage detection arguably improves the patient survival rate. CT is considered to be the most accurate imaging modality for nodule detection. However, the large amount of data per examination makes the full analysis difficult, leading to omission of nodules by the radiologist. We…