“MMIF+PBL”教学法在神经外科专科教学中的应用

专科研究生的培养是医学教育中不可或缺的部分,传统的教学模式学生主动性较差,知识传授无法跟上知识更新的速度。PBL教学法(problem based learning)以学生为主体、问题为导向、小组讨论为主要形式,老师为引导者,学生主动进行知识探索,培养自身"归纳"与"查新"能力。多模态影像融合技术将影像信息进行数字化综合处理,并进行可视化,广泛用于临床实践中。两者相结合打破传统教材章节框架的束缚,以具体患者诊疗过程为线索,将枯燥的课本知识变为生动的小组讨论,将抽象的解剖学知识进行三维可视化,并以规范化的形式进行课程实施,理论联系实际,提高了教学效率,并消除时间与场地的限制,使教学效率最大化。本文比较了传统教育模式与新的教育模式,在培养研究生的"归纳"与"查新"能力方面,新的教学模式效率更高,更适合现代神经外科研究生教育。     

Smoking a virtual cigarette increases craving among smokers

Previous studies have shown the efficacy of virtual reality (VR) environments that reproduce smoking-related stimuli for increasing self-reported craving and psychophysiological reactivity in smokers. However, no study to date has attempted to simulate smoking behavior itself by means of VR technology. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of smoking a virtual cigarette on self-reported craving levels and heart rate (HR) in a sample of smokers. Participants were 45 smokers randomly assigned to three VR conditions built into a virtual pub: smoking a virtual cigarette, throwing virtual darts at a virtual dartboard or just being in the virtual pub. Results showed that smoking a virtual cigarette significantly increased self-reported craving and HR when compared to the other two conditions. These results reveal that simulation of smoking behavior in a VR environment functions as an efficacious proximal cue that can be used for triggering craving under the cue-exposure paradigm.     

Postural control and sensory perception in patients with Parkinson's disease

Conclusions. This study suggests that patients with Parkinson's disease (PD), even in the early stages, have decreased body limits of stability (LOS) and changes in the visual input impair their postural control. Objective. To assess the LOS and the postural responses after changes in visual input in a group of PD patients in stage 1 of the Hoehn and Yahr classification. Subjects and methods. Twenty PD patients in stage 1 and a group of 24 normal subjects as control were assessed in two tests: (1) the LOS and (2) measurement of the body center of pressure area (COP) 10 s before and after sudden change in visual flow velocity. We also investigated labeling of the COP trajectory in these two periods. The stimulation paradigm was a horizontal optokinetic stimulation (60°/s and suddenly stopped) using a virtual reality system. Results. LOS showed significant decrease in PD patients as compared with the control group (p<0.001, Kruskal-Wallis and Wilcoxon ranked test). The COP values increased significantly (p<0.001, Wilcoxon signed rank test) after sudden changes in the visual flow velocity in relation to the control group. After the visual stop the PD patient showed a spatial ‘roaming’ approaching the limits of stability and therefore impairing the postural control.     

Supporting skill acquisition in cochlear implant surgery through virtual reality simulation

Objectives: To evaluate the effectiveness of a virtual reality (VR) temporal bone simulator in training cochlear implant surgery.

Methods: We compared the performance of 12 otolaryngology registrars conducting simulated cochlear implant surgery before (pre-test) and after (post-tests) receiving training on a VR temporal bone surgery simulator with automated performance feedback. The post-test tasks were two temporal bones, one that was a mirror image of the temporal bone used as a pre-test and the other, a novel temporal bone. Participant performances were assessed by an otologist with a validated cochlear implant competency assessment tool. Structural damage was derived from an automatically generated simulator metric and compared between time points.

Results: Wilcoxon signed-rank test showed that there was a significant improvement with a large effect size in the total performance scores between the pre-test (PT) and both the first and second post-tests (PT1, PT2) (PT-PT1: P?=?0.007, r?=?0.78, PT-PT2: P?=?0.005, r?=?0.82).

Conclusion: The results of the study indicate that VR simulation with automated guidance can effectively be used to train surgeons in training complex temporal bone surgeries such as cochlear implantation.     

The Role of Computational Models of the Immune System in Designing Vaccination Strategies

Mathematical and computational models are designed to improve our understanding of biological phenomena, to confirm/reject hypotheses, and to find points of intervention by altering the behavior of the studied systems. Here we describe the role of mathematical/computational models of the immune system. In particular, we analyze some examples of how mathematical modeling can contribute to finding optimal vaccination strategies. Indeed, computational modeling offers an intriguing opportunity from the theoretical point of view, and it will be of interest for clinically oriented investigators who wish to find optimal therapeutic strategies and for pharmaceutical industries that want to produce effective and successful drugs.     

Redefining our protocol of the orthognathic surgery-first approach after 10 years of experience

The objective of this study was to update and redefine some concepts of the surgery-first (SF) approach, regarding its indications and contraindications, virtual planning work-up, surgical tips, and postoperative orthodontic benefits, after 10 years of experience. A retrospective analysis was made of orthognathic surgical procedures following the SF protocol between January 2010 and December 2019 to review inclusion and exclusion criteria, diagnostic workflow, surgical tips, and postoperative outcomes. A total of 148 SF procedures were performed during this period, which corresponded to only 9.2% of the total orthognathic surgeries performed, which means that we have broadened the exclusion criteria instead of reducing them. Surgical tips include interdental corticotomies solely in cases of anterior crowding and leaving the intermaxillary fixation miniscrews in place postoperatively for orthodontic skeletal anchorage. The mean duration of postoperative orthodontic treatment was reduced in comparison to conventional surgery (36.8 vs 87.5 weeks). The overall degree of satisfaction was high not only for the patients, but also for the orthodontists and surgeon. SF is especially indicated for patients who desire an immediate aesthetic result, with short-term orthodontics, or for treatment of sleep-related breathing disorders, if they meet the established criteria.