Multibody Computational Biomechanical Model of the Upper Body

Author(s):  
Sarah R. Sullivan ◽  
Noshir A. Langrana ◽  
Sue Ann Sisto

In the United States alone, more than 10,000 spinal cord injuries (SCI) are reported each year. This population depends upon their upper limbs to provide a means of locomotion during completion of their activities of daily living. As a result of greater than normal usage of the upper limbs, proper propulsion mechanics are paramount in preventing injuries. Upper limb pain and pathology is common among manual wheelchair users due to the requirements placed on the arms for wheelchair locomotion. During the wheelchair rehabilitation process following an SCI, an individual is prescribed a wheelchair (WC). The use of a patient-specific computational biomechanical model of WC propulsion may help guide rehabilitation that may improve clinical instruction and patient performance. The overall goal of this study is to develop and refine a computational model that may aide in minimizing shoulder pathology.

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
pp. 204209862095927
Author(s):  
Wei C. Yuet ◽  
Didi Ebert ◽  
Michael Jann

Neurocognitive adverse events have been observed with the widespread use of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA reductase inhibitors or “statins,” which reduce low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels and subsequently cardiovascular risk. The United States Food and Drug Association directed manufacturers of proprotein convertase subtilisin-kexin type 9 (PCSK9) inhibitors to monitor for neurocognitive adverse events due to their potent effects on LDL-C reduction, which is a proposed mechanism for neuronal cell dysfunction. Other proposed mechanisms for PCSK9 inhibitor-associated neurocognitive adverse events include N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor modulation, dysregulation of lipid and glucose metabolism, and patient-specific risk factors for cognitive impairment. The purpose of this narrative review article is to describe the proposed mechanisms, incidence of neurocognitive adverse events from phase II and III trials for PCSK9 inhibitors, neurocognitive assessments utilized in clinical trials, and clinical implications. Given the increasing prevalence of PCSK9 inhibitor use and the neurocognitive adverse events observed with prior lipid-lowering therapies, clinicians should be aware of the risks associated with PCSK9 inhibitors, especially when therapy is indicated for patients at high risk for cardiovascular events. Overall, the incidence of PCSK9 inhibitor-associated neurocognitive appears to be uncommon. However, additional prospective studies evaluating cognitive impairment may be beneficial to determine the long-term safety of these agents.


2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (S1) ◽  
pp. s521-s522
Author(s):  
Debarka Sengupta ◽  
Vaibhav Singh ◽  
Seema Singh ◽  
Dinesh Tewari ◽  
Mudit Kapoor ◽  
...  

Background: The rising trend of antibiotic resistance imposes a heavy burden on healthcare both clinically and economically (US$55 billion), with 23,000 estimated annual deaths in the United States as well as increased length of stay and morbidity. Machine-learning–based methods have, of late, been used for leveraging patient’s clinical history and demographic information to predict antimicrobial resistance. We developed a machine-learning model ensemble that maximizes the accuracy of such a drug-sensitivity versus resistivity classification system compared to the existing best-practice methods. Methods: We first performed a comprehensive analysis of the association between infecting bacterial species and patient factors, including patient demographics, comorbidities, and certain healthcare-specific features. We leveraged the predictable nature of these complex associations to infer patient-specific antibiotic sensitivities. Various base-learners, including k-NN (k-nearest neighbors) and gradient boosting machine (GBM), were used to train an ensemble model for confident prediction of antimicrobial susceptibilities. Base learner selection and model performance evaluation was performed carefully using a variety of standard metrics, namely accuracy, precision, recall, F1 score, and Cohen κ. Results: For validating the performance on MIMIC-III database harboring deidentified clinical data of 53,423 distinct patient admissions between 2001 and 2012, in the intensive care units (ICUs) of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts. From ~11,000 positive cultures, we used 4 major specimen types namely urine, sputum, blood, and pus swab for evaluation of the model performance. Figure 1 shows the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves obtained for bloodstream infection cases upon model building and prediction on 70:30 split of the data. We received area under the curve (AUC) values of 0.88, 0.92, 0.92, and 0.94 for urine, sputum, blood, and pus swab samples, respectively. Figure 2 shows the comparative performance of our proposed method as well as some off-the-shelf classification algorithms. Conclusions: Highly accurate, patient-specific predictive antibiogram (PSPA) data can aid clinicians significantly in antibiotic recommendation in ICU, thereby accelerating patient recovery and curbing antimicrobial resistance.Funding: This study was supported by Circle of Life Healthcare Pvt. Ltd.Disclosures: None


Author(s):  
Yu-Sheng Yang ◽  
Alicia M. Koontz ◽  
Yu-Hsuan Hsiao ◽  
Cheng-Tang Pan ◽  
Jyh-Jong Chang

Maneuvering a wheelchair is an important necessity for the everyday life and social activities of people with a range of physical disabilities. However, in real life, wheelchair users face several common challenges: articulate steering, spatial relationships, and negotiating obstacles. Therefore, our research group has developed a head-mounted display (HMD)-based intuitive virtual reality (VR) stimulator for wheelchair propulsion. The aim of this study was to investigate the feasibility and efficacy of this VR stimulator for wheelchair propulsion performance. Twenty manual wheelchair users (16 men and 4 women) with spinal cord injuries ranging from T8 to L2 participated in this study. The differences in wheelchair propulsion kinematics between immersive and non-immersive VR environments were assessed using a 3D motion analysis system. Subjective data of the HMD-based intuitive VR stimulator were collected with a Presence Questionnaire and individual semi-structured interview at the end of the trial. Results indicated that propulsion performance was very similar in terms of start angle (p = 0.34), end angle (p = 0.46), stroke angle (p = 0.76), and shoulder movement (p = 0.66) between immersive and non-immersive VR environments. In the VR episode featuring an uphill journey, an increase in propulsion speed (p < 0.01) and cadence (p < 0.01) were found, as well as a greater trunk forward inclination (p = 0.01). Qualitative interviews showed that this VR simulator made an attractive, novel impression and therefore demonstrated the potential as a tool for stimulating training motivation. This HMD-based intuitive VR stimulator can be an effective resource to enhance wheelchair maneuverability experiences.


Vaccines ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 444
Author(s):  
Charles Stoecker

In the past two decades, most states in the United States have added authorization for pharmacists to administer some vaccinations. Expansions of this authority have also come with prescription requirements or other regulatory burdens. The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of these expansions on influenza immunization rates in adults age 65 and over. A panel data, differences-in-differences regression framework to control for state-level unobserved confounders and shocks at the national level was used on a combination of a dataset of state-level statute and regulatory changes and influenza immunization data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. Giving pharmacists permission to vaccinate had a positive impact on adult influenza immunization rates of 1.4 percentage points for adults age 65 and over. This effect was diminished by the presence of laws requiring pharmacists to obtain patient-specific prescriptions. There was no evidence that allowing pharmacists to administer vaccinations led patients to have fewer annual check-ups with physicians or not have a usual source of health care. Expanding pharmacists’ scope of practice laws to include administering the influenza vaccine had a positive impact on influenza shot uptake. This may have implications for relaxing restrictions on other forms of care that could be provided by pharmacists.


2020 ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Jun Murata ◽  
Shin Murata ◽  
Shigeki Yamagata ◽  
Michie Ohyama ◽  
Haruki Kogo ◽  
...  

2018 ◽  
Vol 47 (1-3) ◽  
pp. 240-245 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura M. Rosales ◽  
Hanjie Zhang ◽  
Marilou Mateo ◽  
Brenda Chan ◽  
Israel Campos ◽  
...  

Background: The time between the creation of an arteriovenous fistula (AVF) and its successful use is significantly longer in hemodialysis (HD) patients in the United States compared to those in other countries, and there is an urgent need to reduce the residence time of central-venous catheters (CVC). Methods: Successful AVF creation and maturation results in typical hemodynamic changes, such as an increase in cardiac output and upper body blood flow (UBBF). In patients with CVC as vascular access, we measured once per minute intradialytic central-venous oxygen saturation (ScvO2) and hemoglobin levels simultaneously using the Crit-Line Monitor. Under conditions of stable upper body oxygen consumption and arterial oxygen saturation, ScvO2 and hemoglobin concentration allows the calculation of estimated UBBF (eUBBF). In a quality improvement project, we used ScvO2 and eUBBF to track the hemodynamic changes accompanying AVF maturation. Results: Out of 11 patients (9 incident to HD, 1 female, age 61 ± 13 years), AVF maturation was successful in 9. In 1 patient, the AVF did not mature. One patient died from sudden cardiac death with a maturing AVF. In the 9 patients with successful AVF maturation, ScvO2 increased from 60.9 ± 2.7% prior to AVF creation to 73.4 ± 3.6% a week after AVF creation (19.6 ± 6.3% increase). eUBBF increased from 1.3 ± 0.3 to 2.2 ± 0.6 L/min (62.7 ± 37.5% increase); no material ScvO2 or eUBBF changes occurred in the other 2 patients. Conclusion: Our results indicate the potential utility of ScvO2 and eUBBF to track the hemodynamic response to AVF maturation. To what extent these insights translate into shortening of the time between AVF creation and successful cannulation warrants further investigations.


2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (Supplement_6) ◽  
pp. vi245-vi245
Author(s):  
Rupesh Kotecha ◽  
Muni Rubens ◽  
Sergio Gonzalez-Arias ◽  
Vitaly Siomin ◽  
Matthew Hall ◽  
...  

Abstract OBJECTIVE Up to 30% of cancer patients will develop brain metastasis during the course of their systemic disease with a significant proportion undergoing resection of at least one lesion. The objective of the present study was to characterize the rates, predictors, and costs of 30-day readmissions following craniotomy for brain metastases using a nationally representative database. METHODS This study was a retrospective analysis of data from the Nationwide Readmissions Database (NRD) from 2010–2014. We included patients who underwent craniotomy for brain metastasis, identified using ICD-9-CM diagnosis (198.3) and procedure (01.59) codes. The primary outcome of the study was unplanned 30-day all-cause readmission rates. Secondary outcomes included predictors and costs of readmissions. RESULTS During the study period, there were 44,846 index hospitalizations for patients who underwent resection of brain metastasis. Among this cohort, 17.8% (n=7,965) had unplanned readmissions within the first 30 days after discharge from the index hospitalization. The readmission rate did not change significantly during the study period (P=0.286). The odds of unplanned readmission were significantly greater in patients with thromboembolic complications (aOR, 1.53; 95% CI: 1.18–2.01), patients with Elixhauser comorbidities >3 (aOR, 1.35; 95% CI: 1.22–1.50), male patients (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 1.29; 95% CI: 1.17–1.42), patients with an initial length of stay ≥5 days (aOR, 1.02; 95% CI: 1.01–1.03). The median per-patient cost for 30-day unplanned readmission was $11,109 and this accounted for a total cost of $132.1 million during the study period. CONCLUSIONS Unplanned readmissions after resection for brain metastases involve substantial healthcare expenditures. Though there have been many interventions for improving surgical quality, post-operative care, and cost metrics, unplanned readmission rates have not changed. Key patient-specific variables and high rates of comorbidities should be considered to focus our efforts on patient selection for resection, and for strengthening existing interventions for high-risk patients.


Author(s):  
Anna Tupetz ◽  
Ashley J. Phillips ◽  
Patrick E. Kelly ◽  
Loren K. Barcenas ◽  
Eric J. Lavonas ◽  
...  

To categorize the Patient-specific Functional Scale (PSFS) activities in snakebite envenoming (SBE) using the International Classification of Function (ICF) model in order to describe the impact of SBE on patients’ activities and daily lives and to develop a theoretical SBE model of functioning, we performed a post-hoc analysis of two multi-center, prospective studies, conducted at 14 clinical sites in the United States with consecutive SBE patients presenting to the emergency department. Qualitative content analysis and natural language processing were used to categorize activities reported in the PSFS using the ICF model. Our sample included 93 patients. The mean age was 43.0 (SD 17.9) years, most had lower extremity injuries (59%). A total of 99 unique activities representing eight domains came within the Activity and Participation component of the ICF model, with the majority in the Mobility and General Tasks and Demands domains. The main concerns of SBE patients are the ability to perform daily activities and to engage within their social environment. Applying the ICF model to SBE can facilitate the creation of a patient-centered treatment approach, moving beyond body-structural impairments towards a function-based treatment approach and facilitate early integration of rehabilitation services.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hironori Ohinata ◽  
Maho Aoyama ◽  
Mitsunori Miyashita

Abstract Background: Understanding the factors of complexity of patients in palliative care is very important for healthcare providers in addressing the care needs of their patients. However, the healthcare providers’ perception of the factors of complexity in palliative care lacks a common understanding. This study aimed to determine the scope of research activities and specific factors of complexity in the context of palliative care.Methods: A scoping literature review was performed, following the methods described by the Joanna Briggs Institute. We conducted an electronic literature search in MEDLINE (Ovid), PsycINFO, Web of Science Core Collection, and CINAHL, examining literature from May 1972 to 2020.Results: We identified 32 peer-reviewed articles published in English before 2020. The target literature mainly originated in Europe and the United States. The research methods included quantitative studies (n=13), qualitative studies (n=12), case studies (n=3), and reviews (n=4). We reviewed 32 studies and summarized the factors of complexity into three levels: the patient’s level, the healthcare setting level, and the socio-cultural landscape level. We identified factors affecting patient-specific complexity, including sex, race, age, living situation, family burden, resources, treatment, decision-making, communication, prognosis, disease, and comorbidity/complexity. Other factors identified as contributing to patient complexity were the interaction of physical, psychological, social, and spiritual categories, as well as the healthcare providers’ confidence and skills, and the socio-cultural components.Conclusions: This scoping review shows specific factors of complexity and future challenges in the context of palliative care. Future research should include the factors of complexity identified in this review and conduct longitudinal studies on the interactions among them. In addition, it is necessary to examine specific complexity factors in patients from various social and ethnic backgrounds.


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