Studies in health technology and informatics
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Stud Health Technol Inform · Jan 2002
The Double Rib Contour Sign (DRCS) in lateral spinal radiographs: aetiologic implications for scoliosis.
All lateral spinal radiographs in idiopathic scoliosis show a DRC sign of the thoracic cage, a radiographic expression of the rib hump. The outline of the convex overlies the contour of the concave ribs. The aim of this study is to assess this DRC sign in children with and without Late Onset Idiopathic Scoliosis (LOIS) with 10 degrees -20 degrees Cobb angle, and to examine whether in scoliosis the deformity of the thorax or that of the spine develops first. ⋯ The DRCS primarily appears because of the rib deformation and secondarily because of the vertebral rotation, as it could be present in straight spines with no vertebral rotation. In all our school-screening referrals, (having ATI > or = 7 degrees), the thorax deformity, in terms of the DRC sign, has already been developed. 70% of these children were scoliotic. The others had a curvature of less than 9 degrees of Cobb angle (10%) or they were children with straight spines (20%) who were followed because of their existing rib hump. The non-scoliotics were 1,5-2 years younger than the ones who had already developed scoliosis, and they had both approximately a "rib index" of 1,5. The DRC sign is present in all referrals. In contrary, there is no scoliotic spine without it, as the DRC sign is always present in scoliotic lateral spinal radiographs with no exception. This observation supports our hypothesis that in idiopathic scoliosis, the deformity of the thorax develops first and then the deformity of the spine follows.
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Stud Health Technol Inform · Jan 2002
Study of the rib cage deformity in children with 10 degrees-20 degrees of Cobb angle late onset idiopathic scoliosis, using rib-vertebra angles--aetiologic implications.
The aim of the study is to compare the rib-vertebra angles (RVAs) between children with 10 degrees - 20 degrees of Cobb angle late onset idiopathic scoliosis (LOIS) and non-scoliotic children. ⋯ It has been reported that RVAs is an expression of the resultant muscle forces, which act on each rib. It was also suggested that RVA asymmetries by weakening the spinal rotation-defending system are aetiological for idiopathic scoliosis, (Burwell et al 1992). This study shows that scoliotic children with small curves have underdeveloped thoracic cage compared to nonscoliotic counterparts. The differences are more apparent in the scoliotic children with thoracic curves. It is suggested that the differences of the RVAs between right and left side in this group are an expression of asymmetric muscle forces acting on the thoracic cage. It is concluded that asymmetric muscle forces participate in the pathogenesis of idiopathic scoliosis on the thoracic cage, which deforms early.
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Successful applications of haptic displays are limited to tool-based interfaces that simulate haptic effects on surgical and other medical instruments. However, no satisfactory haptic display exist so far, that enable the simulation of high fidelity palpation of human tissue or body segments. Existing approaches developed for medical training fail due to unrealistic haptic effects, time-consuming donning and doffing, and inconvenient use (e.g., mechatronic tactile and kinesthetic displays) or due to restricted function and adjustability (e.g., passive mannequins). ⋯ The new haptic display has been verified with a setup developed for the training of functional joint evaluation after knee injuries. Compared to classical approaches, this display is convenient to use, provides realistic tactile properties and can be partly adjusted to different system properties (e.g. pathological joint properties). This kind of new interface can be applied to many different medical applications, where the clinician directly touches human limbs or tissue, such as in obstetrics, reanimation, organ palpation, etc.
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Stud Health Technol Inform · Jan 2002
Performance evaluation of artificial intelligence classifiers for the medical domain.
The application of artificial intelligence systems is still not widespread in the medical field, however there is an increasing necessity for these to handle the surfeit of information available. One drawback to their implementation is the lack of criteria or guidelines for the evaluation of these systems. ⋯ This paper shows evidence that the most prevalent form of intelligent system, neural networks, is generally not being evaluated rigorously regarding classification precision. A taxonomy of the types of evaluation tests that can be carried out, to gauge inherent performance of the outputs of intelligent systems has been assembled, and the results of this presented in a clear and concise form, which should be applicable to all intelligent classifiers for medicine.
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Stud Health Technol Inform · Jan 2002
The incidence of idiopathic scoliosis in Greece--analyais of domestic school screening programs.
The aim of the study is the documentation of the national incidence of idiopathic scoliosis (IS) based on the School Screening programs performed at the various geographical departments of the country, and the estimation of the probable number of children who will need to be conservatively or surgically treated. ⋯ From data of 1998 national census, the population of children aged 8 to 14 years old was approximately 751000. With the above -mentioned datum and with a national mean scoliosis incidence of 2.9%, (Cobb angle > or = 10 degrees), 21781 children will be found with scoliosis. 980 will need conservative treatment using a brace while 41 children will need surgical treatment.