scholarly journals Reduction of Time on the Ground Related to Real-Time Video Detection of Falls in Memory Care Facilities: Observational Study (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eleonore Bayen ◽  
Shirley Nickels ◽  
Glen Xiong ◽  
Julien Jacquemot ◽  
Raghav Subramaniam ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND Lying on the floor for a long period of time has been described as a critical determinant of prognosis following a fall. In addition to fall-related injuries due to the trauma itself, prolonged immobilization on the floor results in a wide range of comorbidities and may double the risk of death in elderly. Thus, reducing the length of Time On the Ground (TOG) in fallers seems crucial in vulnerable individuals with cognitive disorders who cannot get up independently. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to examine the effect of a new technology called SafelyYou Guardian (SYG) on early post-fall care including reduction of Time Until staff Assistance (TUA) and TOG. METHODS SYG uses continuous video monitoring, artificial intelligence, secure networks, and customized computer applications to detect and notify caregivers about falls in real time while providing immediate access to video footage of falls. The present observational study was conducted in 6 California memory care facilities where SYG was installed in bedrooms of consenting residents and families. Fall events were video recorded over 10 months. During the baseline installation period (November 2017 to December 2017), SYG video captures of falls were not provided on a regular basis to facility staff review. During a second period (January 2018 to April 2018), video captures were delivered to facility staff on a regular weekly basis. During the third period (May 2018 to August 2018), real-time notification (RTN) of any fall was provided to facility staff. Two digital markers (TUA, TOG) were automatically measured and compared between the baseline period (first 2 months) and the RTN period (last 4 months). The total number of falls including those happening outside of the bedroom (such as common areas and bathrooms) was separately reported by facility staff. RESULTS A total of 436 falls were recorded in 66 participants suffering from Alzheimer disease or related dementias (mean age 87 years; minimum 65, maximum 104 years). Over 80% of the falls happened in bedrooms, with two-thirds occurring overnight (8 PM to 8 AM). While only 8.1% (22/272) of falls were scored as moderate or severe, fallers were not able to stand up alone in 97.6% (247/253) of the cases. Reductions of 28.3 (CI 19.6-37.1) minutes in TUA and 29.6 (CI 20.3-38.9) minutes in TOG were observed between the baseline and RTN periods. The proportion of fallers with TOG >1 hour fell from 31% (8/26; baseline) to zero events (RTN period). During the RTN period, 76.6% (108/141) of fallers received human staff assistance in less than 10 minutes, and 55.3% (78/141) of them spent less than 10 minutes on the ground. CONCLUSIONS SYG technology is capable of reducing TOG and TUA while efficiently covering the area (bedroom) and time zone (nighttime) that are at highest risk. After 6 months of SYG monitoring, TOG was reduced by a factor of 3. The drastic reduction of TOG is likely to decrease secondary comorbid complications, improve post-fall prognosis, and reduce health care costs.

10.2196/17551 ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (6) ◽  
pp. e17551
Author(s):  
Eleonore Bayen ◽  
Shirley Nickels ◽  
Glen Xiong ◽  
Julien Jacquemot ◽  
Raghav Subramaniam ◽  
...  

Background Lying on the floor for a long period of time has been described as a critical determinant of prognosis following a fall. In addition to fall-related injuries due to the trauma itself, prolonged immobilization on the floor results in a wide range of comorbidities and may double the risk of death in elderly. Thus, reducing the length of Time On the Ground (TOG) in fallers seems crucial in vulnerable individuals with cognitive disorders who cannot get up independently. Objective This study aimed to examine the effect of a new technology called SafelyYou Guardian (SYG) on early post-fall care including reduction of Time Until staff Assistance (TUA) and TOG. Methods SYG uses continuous video monitoring, artificial intelligence, secure networks, and customized computer applications to detect and notify caregivers about falls in real time while providing immediate access to video footage of falls. The present observational study was conducted in 6 California memory care facilities where SYG was installed in bedrooms of consenting residents and families. Fall events were video recorded over 10 months. During the baseline installation period (November 2017 to December 2017), SYG video captures of falls were not provided on a regular basis to facility staff review. During a second period (January 2018 to April 2018), video captures were delivered to facility staff on a regular weekly basis. During the third period (May 2018 to August 2018), real-time notification (RTN) of any fall was provided to facility staff. Two digital markers (TUA, TOG) were automatically measured and compared between the baseline period (first 2 months) and the RTN period (last 4 months). The total number of falls including those happening outside of the bedroom (such as common areas and bathrooms) was separately reported by facility staff. Results A total of 436 falls were recorded in 66 participants suffering from Alzheimer disease or related dementias (mean age 87 years; minimum 65, maximum 104 years). Over 80% of the falls happened in bedrooms, with two-thirds occurring overnight (8 PM to 8 AM). While only 8.1% (22/272) of falls were scored as moderate or severe, fallers were not able to stand up alone in 97.6% (247/253) of the cases. Reductions of 28.3 (CI 19.6-37.1) minutes in TUA and 29.6 (CI 20.3-38.9) minutes in TOG were observed between the baseline and RTN periods. The proportion of fallers with TOG >1 hour fell from 31% (8/26; baseline) to zero events (RTN period). During the RTN period, 76.6% (108/141) of fallers received human staff assistance in less than 10 minutes, and 55.3% (78/141) of them spent less than 10 minutes on the ground. Conclusions SYG technology is capable of reducing TOG and TUA while efficiently covering the area (bedroom) and time zone (nighttime) that are at highest risk. After 6 months of SYG monitoring, TOG was reduced by a factor of 3. The drastic reduction of TOG is likely to decrease secondary comorbid complications, improve post-fall prognosis, and reduce health care costs.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jarl Åsbjørn Jakobsen ◽  
Carlo Cosimo Quattrocchi ◽  
Frank H. H. Müller ◽  
Olivier Outteryck ◽  
Andrés Alcázar ◽  
...  

Abstract Background The EU gadolinium-based contrast agents (GBCA) market has changed in recent years due to the European Medicines Agency decision to suspend the marketing authorisation of linear GBCA and the marketing authorisation of new generic macrocyclic GBCA. The study aims to understand the patterns of (GBCA) use, and to study the effectiveness and safety of GBCA in routine practice across Europe. Methods Prospective, cross-sectional, multicentre, observational study in patients undergoing contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance. Reported usage patterns included indication, referral and examination details. Assessment of effectiveness included changes in radiological diagnosis, diagnostic confidence and image quality. Safety data were collected by spontaneous patient adverse event (AE) reporting. Results 2118 patients were included from 8 centres across 5 European countries between December 2018 and November 2019. Clariscan, Dotarem (gadoteric acid), Gadovist (gadobutrol) and ProHance (gadoteridol) were utilised in 1513 (71.4%), 356 (16.8%), 237 (11.2%) and 12 (0.6%) patients, respectively. Most were performed in CNS-related indications (46.2%). Mean GBCA doses were 0.10 mmol/kg body weight, except for Gadovist (mean 0.12 mmol/kg). GBCA use increased confidence in diagnosis in 96.2% of examinations and resulted in a change in radiological diagnosis in 73.9% of patients. Image quality was considered excellent or good in 96.1% of patients and across all GBCA. Four patients reported AEs (0.19%), with only 1 (0.05%) considered serious. Conclusions This European study confirmed that GBCAs are used appropriately in Europe for a wide range of indications. The study demonstrated a significant increase in diagnostic confidence after GBCA use and confirmed the good safety profile of GBCAs, with comparable results for all agents used.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 800
Author(s):  
Francesca Servadei ◽  
Silvestro Mauriello ◽  
Manuel Scimeca ◽  
Bartolo Caggiano ◽  
Marco Ciotti ◽  
...  

The aim of this study was to investigate the persistence of SARS-CoV-2 in post-mortem swabs of subjects who died from SARS-CoV-2 infection. The presence of the virus was evaluated post-mortem from airways of 27 SARS-CoV-2 positive patients at three different time points (T1 2 h; T2 12 h; T3 24 h) by real-time PCR. Detection of antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 was performed by Maglumi 2019-nCoV IgM/IgG chemiluminescence assay. SARS-CoV-2 viral RNA was still detectable in 70.3% of cases within 2 h after death and in 66,6% of cases up to 24 h after death. Our data showed an increase of the viral load in 78,6% of positive individuals 24 h post-mortem (T3) in comparison to that evaluated 2 h after death (T1). Noteworthy, we detected a positive T3 post-mortem swab (24 h after death) from 4 subjects who were negative at T1 (2 h after death). The results of our study may have an important value in the management of deceased subjects not only with a suspected or confirmed diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2, but also for unspecified causes and in the absence of clinical documentation or medical assistance.


Author(s):  
Behrad Pourmohammadi ◽  
Ahad Heydari ◽  
Farin Fatemi ◽  
Ali Modarresi

Abstract Objectives: Iran is exposed to a wide range of natural and man-made hazards. Health-care facilities can play a significant role in providing life-saving measures in the minutes and hours immediately following the impact or exposure. The aim of this study was to determine the preparedness of health-care facilities in disasters and emergencies. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in Damghan, Semnan Province, in 2019. The samples consisted of all the 11 health-care facilities located in Damghan County. A developed checklist was used to collect the data, including 272 questions in 4 sections: understanding threatening hazards, functional, structural, and nonstructural vulnerability of health-care facilities. The data were analyzed using SPSS 21. Results: The results revealed that the health-care facilities were exposed to 22 different natural and man-made hazards throughout the county. The total level of preparedness of the health-care centers under assessment was 45.8%. The average functional, structural, and nonstructural vulnerability was assessed at 49.3%, 31.6%, and 56.4%, respectively. Conclusions: Conducting mitigation measures is necessary for promoting the functional and structural preparedness. Disaster educational programs and exercises are recommended among the health staff in health-care facilities.


1995 ◽  
Vol 389 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. C. Saraswat ◽  
Y. Chen ◽  
L. Degertekin ◽  
B. T. Khuri-Yakub

ABSTRACTA highly flexible Rapid Thermal Multiprocessing (RTM) reactor is described. This flexibility is the result of several new innovations: a lamp system, an acoustic thermometer and a real-time control system. The new lamp has been optimally designed through the use of a “virtual reactor” methodology to obtain the best possible wafer temperature uniformity. It consists of multiple concentric rings composed of light bulbs with horizontal filaments. Each ring is independently and dynamically controlled providing better control over the spatial and temporal optical flux profile resulting in excellent temperature uniformity over a wide range of process conditions. An acoustic thermometer non-invasively allows complete wafer temperature tomography under all process conditions - a critically important measurement never obtained before. For real-time equipment and process control a model based multivariable control system has been developed. Extensive integration of computers and related technology for specification, communication, execution, monitoring, control, and diagnosis demonstrates the programmability of the RTM.


2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 1135-1143 ◽  
Author(s):  
Faisal Khan ◽  
Suresh Narayanan ◽  
Roger Sersted ◽  
Nicholas Schwarz ◽  
Alec Sandy

Multi-speckle X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy (XPCS) is a powerful technique for characterizing the dynamic nature of complex materials over a range of time scales. XPCS has been successfully applied to study a wide range of systems. Recent developments in higher-frame-rate detectors, while aiding in the study of faster dynamical processes, creates large amounts of data that require parallel computational techniques to process in near real-time. Here, an implementation of the multi-tau and two-time autocorrelation algorithms using the Hadoop MapReduce framework for distributed computing is presented. The system scales well with regard to the increase in the data size, and has been serving the users of beamline 8-ID-I at the Advanced Photon Source for near real-time autocorrelations for the past five years.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Usman Ahmed ◽  
Zhiheng Zhang ◽  
Ruben Ortega Alfonzo

Abstract Horizontal well completions are often equipped with Inflow Control Devices (ICDs) to optimize flow rates across the completion for the whole length of the interval and to increase the oil recovery. The ICD technology has become useful method of optimizing production from horizontal wells in a wide range of applications. It has proved to be beneficial in horizontal water injectors and steam assisted gravity drainage wells. Traditionally the challenges related to early gas or water breakthrough were dealt with complex and costly workover/intervention operations. ICD manipulation used to be done with down-hole tractor conveyed using an electric line (e-line) cable or by utilization of a conventional coiled tubing (CT) string. Wellbore profile, high doglegs, tubular ID, drag and buoyancy forces added limitations to the e-line interventions even with the use of tractor. Utilization of conventional CT string supplement the uncertainties during shifting operations by not having the assurance of accurate depth and forces applied downhole. A field in Saudi Arabia is completed with open-hole packer with ICD completion system. The excessive production from the wells resulted in increase of water cut, hence ICD's shifting was required. As operations become more complex due to fact that there was no mean to assure that ICD is shifted as needed, it was imperative to find ways to maximize both assurance and quality performance. In this particular case, several ICD manipulating jobs were conducted in the horizontal wells. A 2-7/8-in intelligent coiled tubing (ICT) system was used to optimize the well intervention performance by providing downhole real-time feedback. The indication for the correct ICD shifting was confirmed by Casing Collar Locator (CCL) and Tension & Compression signatures. This paper will present the ICT system consists of a customized bottom-hole assembly (BHA) that transmits Tension, compression, differential pressure, temperature and casing collar locator data instantaneously to the surface via a nonintrusive tube wire installed inside the coiled tubing. The main advantages of the ICT system in this operation were: monitoring the downhole force on the shifting tool while performing ICD manipulation, differential pressure, and accurately determining depth from the casing collar locator. Based on the known estimated optimum working ranges for ICD shifting and having access to real-time downhole data, the operator could decide that required force was transmitted to BHA. This bring about saving job time while finding sleeves, efficient open and close of ICD via applying required Weight on Bit (WOB) and even providing a mean to identify ICD that had debris accumulation. The experience acquired using this method in the successful operation in Saudi Arabia yielded recommendations for future similar operations.


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