Conference proceedings : ... Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society. IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society. Annual Conference
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Pain assessment in patients who are unable to verbally communicate with medical staff is a challenging problem in patient critical care. The fundamental limitations in sedation and pain assessment in the intensive care unit (ICU) stem from subjective assessment criteria, rather than quantifiable, measurable data for ICU sedation and analgesia. ⋯ Recent advancements in pattern recognition techniques using a relevance vector machine algorithm can assist medical staff in assessing sedation and pain by constantly monitoring the patient and providing the clinician with quantifiable data for ICU sedation. In this paper, we show that the pain intensity assessment given by a computer classifier has a strong correlation with the pain intensity assessed by expert and non-expert human examiners.
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Conf Proc IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc · Jan 2009
Scaling exponents of EEG are related to the temporal process of the therapeutic hypothermia following ischemic brain injury.
Several markers based on quantitative electroencephalogram (qEEG) analysis have been associated with the neuroprotective effects of therapeutic hypothermia on hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) after cardiac arrest (CA). Nevertheless, the makers by far have not been linked to the temporal process of the ischemic neuronal death. ⋯ While the short-term scaling exponent in theta band (i.e. gamma(1)(theta)) and the long-term scaling exponent in alpha band (i.e. gamma(2)(alpha)) were correlated with the delayed neuronal death after CA. Our preliminary results showed that the long-range correlations in theta and alpha bands could be related the detail temporal process of therapeutic hypothermia.
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Conf Proc IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc · Jan 2009
Comparative StudyStatic forces variation and pressure distribution in laryngoscopy performed by straight and curved blades.
A theoretical analysis of the forces acting on the laryngoscope during the lifting of the epiglottis is carried out by applying the basic principles of statics. The static model of a laryngoscope equipped with a straight and a curved blade and the forces variation, as a function of the introduction angle and of tissue reaction application point, are described. The pharyngeal tissues and epiglottis pressure distribution on the blade is obtained, with a 1mm(2) resolution, by measurements performed in-vitro on a simulation mannequin, using straight and curved blades. ⋯ Average intensity of the tissue reaction has been found in the order of 32+/-11 N. Pressure distribution is maximally concentrated on the tip of curved blades (0.5 MPa on 5mm axial length), whereas it is more dispersed on straight blades (0.2 MPa on 10mm axial length). The inclination of the handle also influences the effort of the operator: for both blades, from 0 rad to 1.57 rad, the lifting force shows a total variation of about 13% of the top value, the transversal forces vary less than 6% of the top value.
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Conf Proc IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc · Jan 2009
Screening of patients with Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome using C4.5 algorithm based on non linear analysis of respiratory signals during sleep.
To classify patients with possible diagnosis of Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome (OSAS) into groups according to the severity of the disease using a decision tree producing algorithm based on nonlinear analysis of 3 respiratory signals instead of the use of full polysomnography. ⋯ It is possible to have reliable predictions of the severity of OSAS using linear and nonlinear indices from only two respiratory signals during sleep instead of performing full polysomnography. The proposed algorithm could be used for screening patients suspected to suffer from OSAS.
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Nerve localization using peripheral nerve stimulation (PNS) is affected by tissue properties, the anatomy surrounding the nerve, and characteristics of the stimulus waveform. A better understanding of the factors influencing PNS should lead to improved nerve localization techniques for use in regional anesthesia. A finite element approach is described here that includes capacitive effects and accounts for frequency-dependent tissue properties in a computationally efficient manner. The modeling approach can be applied to other bioelectric problems where capacitive effects may be important.