Search results for "Health Informatics"

Image Segmentation Techniques for Healthcare Systems

2019

The present special issue of the Journal of Healthcare Engineering collects articles written by researchers scattered around the world who belong to the academic and industrial environments. The papers of this special issue have been selected by a rigorous peer-reviewing process with the support of at least two reviewers per paper, along with the opinion written in the final decision by a component of the editorial staff. Different methods on biomedical image segmentation dedicated to healthcare systems have been developed regarding, for example, the fields of machine learning, deformable models, fuzzy models, and so on. Such methods have been applied on different biomedical image modalitie…

Efficient contour-based annotation by iterative deep learning for organ segmentation from volumetric medical images

2022

Abstract Purpose Training deep neural networks usually require a large number of human-annotated data. For organ segmentation from volumetric medical images, human annotation is tedious and inefficient. To save human labour and to accelerate the training process, the strategy of annotation by iterative deep learning recently becomes popular in the research community. However, due to the lack of domain knowledge or efficient human-interaction tools, the current AID methods still suffer from long training time and high annotation burden. Methods We develop a contour-based annotation by iterative deep learning (AID) algorithm which uses boundary representation instead of voxel labels to incorp…

Developing and testing a discrete event simulation model to evaluate budget impacts of diabetes prevention programs

2020

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is one of the most rapidly increasing non-communicable diseases worldwide. Lifestyle interventions are effective in preventing T2D but also resource intensive. This study evaluated with discrete event simulation (DES) the relative budget impacts of three hypothetical diabetes prevention programs (DPP), including group-based contact intervention, digital program with human coaching and fully automated program. The data for simulation were derived from research literature and national health and population statistics. The model was constructed using the iGrafx Process for Six Sigma software and simulations were carried out for 10 years. All simulated interventions produc…

Towards data-driven medical imaging using natural language processing in patients with suspected urolithiasis.

2020

Abstract Objective The majority of radiological reports are still written as free text and lack structure. Further evaluation of free-text reports is difficult to achieve without a great deal of manual effort, and is not possible in everyday clinical practice. This study aims to automatically capture clinical information and positive hit rates from narrative radiological reports of suspected urolithiasis using natural language processing (NLP). Methods Narrative reports of low dose computed tomography (CT) of the retroperitoneum from April 2016 to July 2018 (n = 1714) were analyzed using NLP. These free-text reports were automatically structured based on RadLex concepts. Manual feedback was…

2019

Background Health apps for the screening and diagnosis of mental disorders have emerged in recent years on various levels (eg, patients, practitioners, and public health system). However, the diagnostic quality of these apps has not been (sufficiently) tested so far. Objective The objective of this pilot study was to investigate the diagnostic quality of a health app for a broad spectrum of mental disorders and its dependency on expert knowledge. Methods Two psychotherapists, two psychology students, and two laypersons each read 20 case vignettes with a broad spectrum of mental disorders. They used a health app (Ada—Your Health Guide) to get a diagnosis by entering the symptoms. Interrater…

2019

Background: Physical inactivity is a major risk factor for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Exercise-based prevention interventions for improving cardiorespiratory fitness are a recommended complementary treatment for NAFLD. Achievement of minimally effective physical activity to improve cardiorespiratory fitness among patients typically involves high personal and financial expenses in face-to-face settings. We designed an eHealth approach for patients with NAFLD to improve the cardiorespiratory fitness and report the first results of the HELP (Hepatic Inflammation and Physical Performance in Patients With NASH [nonalcoholic steatohepatitis]) study. Objective: We aimed to assess th…

Post-graduate medical education in public health: the case of Italy and a call for action

2017

Summary Public health technical expertise is of crucial importance to inform decision makers’ action in the field of health and its broader determinants. Improving education and training of public health professionals for both practice and research is the starting point to strengthen the role of public health so that current health challenges can be efficiently tackled. At the Association of Schools of Public Health in the European Region (ASPHER) Deans’ & Directors’ 2017 Annual Retreat, we presented the structure and management of public health training system in Italy, and we reported recent data on Italian public health specialists’ educational experience, employment opportunities and jo…

Estimating Heart Rate, Energy Expenditure, and Physical Performance With a Wrist Photoplethysmographic Device During Running

2017

BackgroundWearable sensors enable long-term monitoring of health and wellbeing indicators. An objective evaluation of sensors’ accuracy is important, especially for their use in health care. ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to use a wrist-worn optical heart rate (OHR) device to estimate heart rate (HR), energy expenditure (EE), and maximal oxygen intake capacity (VO2Max) during running and to evaluate the accuracy of the estimated parameters (HR, EE, and VO2Max) against golden reference methods. MethodsA total of 24 healthy volunteers, of whom 11 were female, with a mean age of 36.2 years (SD 8.2 years) participated in a submaximal self-paced outdoor running test and maximal voluntary exe…

Internet- and mobile-based aftercare and relapse prevention in mental disorders: A systematic review and recommendations for future research

2018

Background Mental disorders are characterized by a high likelihood of recurrence. Thus, aftercare and follow-up interventions aim to maintain treatment gains and to prevent relapse. Internet- and mobile-based interventions (IMIs) may represent promising instruments in tertiary prevention. This systematic review summarizes and evaluates the research on the efficacy of IMIs as aftercare or follow-up interventions for adults with mental health issues. Methods A systematic database search (PsycInfo, MEDLINE, CENTRAL) was conducted and studies selected according to predefined eligibility criteria (RCTs, adult population, clinical symptoms/disorder, assessed with validated instruments, clinical-p…

Comparison of frequency domain measures based on spectral decomposition for spontaneous baroreflex sensitivity assessment after Acute Myocardial Infa…

2021

Abstract The objective of this study is to present a new method to assess in the frequency domain the directed interactions between the spontaneous variability of systolic arterial pressure (SAP) and heart period (HP) from their linear model representation, and to apply it for studying the baroreflex control of arterial pressure in healthy physiological states and after acute myocardial infarction (AMI). The method is based on pole decomposition of the model transfer function and on the following evaluation of causal measures of coupling and gain from the poles associated to low frequency (0.04−0.15 Hz) oscillatory components. It is compared with traditional non-causal approaches for the sp…