A follow‐up study of electromagnetic interference of cellular phones on electronic medical equipment in the emergency department

Objective: Considering the growing use of cellular phones and the fast appearance of new phone models, the electromagnetic interference of currently popular cellular phones on electronic medical equipment was tested. Methods: Three Personal Communication System cellular phones were put at different distances from multiple electronic medical devices, the interference effect was observed and the electromagnetic field strength measured with a spectrum analyser. Results: Only two small pieces of equipment, the CO₂ airway adapter and the haemoglucostix meter were affected and then only when the phone was in very close proximity. Conclusion: Compared to the results of our study in 1997 testing Global System for Mobile Communication phones, the Personal Communication System phones generated less electromagnetic interference. However a much larger scaled study and an accurate international electromagnetic interference standard are recommended before any change in the current restrictive hospital policy on mobile phone usage could be recommended.     

应用移动管理平台提高危急值管理水平

基于移动管理平台,对传统危急值管理进行改进,使手机移动端具备危急值管理功能,实现在手机移动端查看、提醒和监控危急值。平台应用后,临床科室在5 min内、10 min内、20 min内、30 min内危急值平均处置效率分别为31.43%、58.32%、70.05%、80.76%。运用移动管理平台,可提高对危急值处置和监管的及时性,提升危急值闭环管理能力,进一步保障患者安全。     

Smart environment architecture for emotion detection and regulation

This paper introduces an architecture as a proof-of-concept for emotion detection and regulation in smart health environments. The aim of the proposal is to detect the patient’s emotional state by analysing his/her physiological signals, facial expression and behaviour. Then, the system provides the best-tailored actions in the environment to regulate these emotions towards a positive mood when possible. The current state-of-the-art in emotion regulation through music and colour/light is implemented with the final goal of enhancing the quality of life and care of the subject. The paper describes the three main parts of the architecture, namely “Emotion Detection”, “Emotion Regulation” and “Emotion Feedback Control”. “Emotion Detection” works with the data captured from the patient, whereas “Emotion Regulation” offers him/her different musical pieces and colour/light settings. “Emotion Feedback Control” performs as a feedback control loop to assess the effect of emotion regulation over emotion detection. We are currently testing the overall architecture and the intervention in real environments to achieve our final goal.     

Consumer Participation in Identifying Research and Development Priorities for Power Wheelchair Input Devices and Controllers

A focus group comprised of persons who use power wheelchairs and professionals working in the field were asked to participate in a brainstorming session to determine priorities for the development and application of power mobility input devices and control concepts. The group consensus was that durability and reliability are the most important criteria. Essentially, the expectation is that a power wheelchair must work everyday in the way a person needs it and wants it. At the same time, there is a desire to enhance and advance the features of input devices and control systems. Many would say these changes constitute designing “smarter” power wheelchairs, such as systems that can independently detect obstacles and can provide users with more feedback. This paper presents the rationale behind forming this focus group and details of the results of a brainstorming session where ideas were generated and prioritized. The five most important issues as determined by the group are discussed in depth.     

Reliability of two pragmatic tools for assessing text neck

Background

There is a hypothesis that the growing use of mobile phones in an inappropriate posture to text and read (text neck) could be a reason for the increasing prevalence of neck pain in the past decade. Before testing if there is an association between text neck and neck pain, it is necessary to develop reliable pragmatic tools appropriate to epidemiological studies.

A three‐dimensional point process model for the spatial distribution of disease occurrence in relation to an exposure source

We study methods for how to include the spatial distribution of tumours when investigating the relation between brain tumours and the exposure from radio frequency electromagnetic fields caused by mobile phone use. Our suggested point process model is adapted from studies investigating spatial aggregation of a disease around a source of potential hazard in environmental epidemiology, where now the source is the preferred ear of each phone user. In this context, the spatial distribution is a distribution over a sample of patients rather than over multiple disease cases within one geographical area. We show how the distance relation between tumour and phone can be modelled nonparametrically and, with various parametric functions, how covariates can be included in the model and how to test for the effect of distance. To illustrate the models, we apply them to a subset of the data from the Interphone Study, a large multinational case‐control study on the association between brain tumours and mobile phone use. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Smart Plug泪小管塞治疗水液缺乏型干眼症临床初步观察

目的：探讨Smart Plug泪小管塞治疗水液缺乏型干眼症临床疗效。
　　方法：选取2012-05/2013-04期间我院收治的48例水液缺乏型干眼症患者为研究对象,进行Smart Plug泪小管塞治疗,观察术后临床疗效、基础泪液分泌试验( Schirmer Ⅰtest,SⅠt)、泪膜破裂时间( tear break up time,BUT)、角膜荧光素染色( fluoreseein staining,FL)变化。
　　结果：本组48例患者,显效31例(65%),有效14例(29%),无效3例(6%),总有效率为94%。治疗前,患者SⅠt,BUT,FL分别为3.49±1.24mm/5min,3.15±1.07s,2.52±0.11分。治疗后,患者SⅠt,BUT,FL均明显改善,与治疗前比较,差异具有统计学意义( P<0.05)。1例患者术后有异物感,8 h后栓子脱落;1例患者于术后8 mo出现肉芽组织,泪小管塞脱落。其余病例无下泪小管感染或肉芽肿。
　　结论：Smart Plug泪小管塞治疗水液缺乏型干眼症疗效确切,能够有效缓解临床症状,值得临床推广。