Application of computer stabilometric technologies with biofeedback in patients with lumbosacral pain

Introduction. Low back pain is one of the most common sufferings of modern humans. In developed countries, such manifestations are a serious medical and economic problem. Lumbosacral pain in many cases is caused by the occurrence of somatic dysfunction of the bones of the pelvis and sacrum. The main methods of treatment are prescribing drug therapy and non-drug treatment. Today, osteopathic techniques are highly effective for the diagnosis and correction of somatic dysfunctions of the pelvic region. Such treatment in patients with pain in the lower back helps to reduce pain and restore the functional state of patients. Equally important are computer technologies with biofeedback (BFB) with the possibility of effective correction of proprioceptive innervation and muscle-tonic syndromes. The stabilometric platform allows you to register the parameters of the static-dynamic function of support and balance maintenance. The resulting changes in the position of the sacrum and pelvic bones create a distortion of proprioceptive somatosensory afferentation, postural tonic reflexes of the axial skeleton and limbs are blocked, the sequence of activation of the motor units of the locomotor apparatus is disrupted, the mechanisms for maintaining support and walking change. The aim — to study the effectiveness of using a stabiloplatform with biofeedback in the diagnostic mode of coordinating and static-dynamic disorders in patients with somatic dysfunctions of the pelvic and sacral bones in a training mode in combination with osteopathic correction for pain in the lumbosacral region. Materials and methods. In a prospective controlled study in patients with lumbosacral pain with somatic dysfunctions of the pelvic bones, the results of treatment were analyzed in 66 patients aged 23–56 years. Diagnosis of dysfunctions of the iliac bones was carried out according to the generally accepted rules of osteopathic examination — osteopathic examination and determination of the position of bone landmarks. The observed patients were divided into groups and subgroups depending on the type of dysfunction. The main group consisted of patients with clinical and osteopathic signs of somatic dysfunctions of the pubic bone and ilium. The patients were followed up for 14 days. The observation and treatment program included: osteopathic correction of diagnosed somatic dysfunction and stabilometric examination (3 control points) with a training regimen (3 sessions). Stabilometric testing was carried out at the stage of diagnosis and selection of patients for inclusion in the study. Re-examination was carried out 14 days after the moment of treatment. The clinical effect was compared with the results of stabilometric tests. In addition, the intensity of the pain syndrome and the severity of muscle-tonic reactions were analyzed. According to the results of the test regime, the stability in the «eyes open» and «eyes closed» modes was assessed. Results. A decrease in the intensity of pain is achieved, normalization of the balance in axial parameters with an improvement in the function of coordination of movements is noted. The Romberg coefficient decreases most significantly in somatic dysfunctions of the iliac bones in the position of anterior rotation without a significant difference in lateralization: on the right, a decrease from 570 ± 12% to 295 ± 23% and on the left from 550 ± 22 to 260 ± 25% (p <0.05). Conclusion. In the event of somatic dysfunctions of the pelvic bones with lumbosacralgia, the combined use of osteopathic correction and physiotherapy exercises on a stabiloplatform in a training mode with biofeedback has a significant effect. The training regimen promotes pain regression in acute and chronic pain. The best results have been achieved in patients with dysfunction in the anterior rotation of the ilium. Stabilometric testing in the diagnostic mode allows you to obtain objective data on the nature of imbalance and imbalance. The training regime ensures the achievement of a therapeutic result in 3 sessions and can be used in inpatient and outpatient conditions of medical institutions.

Decreasing Histology Turnaround Time Through Stepwise Innovation and Capacity Building in Rwanda

Purpose Minimal turnaround time for pathology results is crucial for highest-quality patient care in all settings, especially in low- and middle-income countries, where rural populations may have limited access to health care. Methods We retrospectively determined the turnaround times (TATs) for anatomic pathology specimens, comparing three different modes of operation that occurred throughout the development and implementation of our pathology laboratory at the Butaro Cancer Center of Excellence in Rwanda. Before opening this laboratory, TAT was measured in months because of inconsistent laboratory operations and a paucity of in-country pathologists. Results We analyzed 2,514 individual patient samples across the three modes of study. Diagnostic mode 1 (samples sent out of the country for analysis) had the highest median TAT, with an overall time of 30 days (interquartile range [IQR], 22 to 43 days). For diagnostic mode 2 (static image telepathology), the median TAT was 14 days (IQR, 7 to 27 days), and for diagnostic mode 3 (onsite expert diagnosis), it was 5 days (IQR, 2 to 9 days). Conclusion Our results demonstrate that telepathology is a significant improvement over external expert review and can greatly assist sites in improving their TATs until pathologists are on site.

THREE-DIMENSIONAL SIMULATION OF TIDAL CURRENT IN LAMPUNG BAY: DIAGNOSTIC NUMERICAL EXPERIMENTS

Princeton Ocean Model (POM) was used to calculate the tidal current in Lampung Bay using diagnostic mode. The model was forced by tidal elevation, which was given along the open boundary using a global ocean tide model-ORITIDE. The computed tidal elevation at St. 1 and St 2 are in a good agreement with the observed data, but the computed tidal current at St 1 at depth 2 m is not good and moderate approximation is showed at depth 10 m. Probably, it was influenced by non-linier effect of coastal geometry and bottom friction because of the position of current meter, mooring closed to the coastline. Generally, the calculated tidal currents in all layers show that the water flows into the bay during flood tide and goes out from the bay during ebb tide. The tidal current becomes strong when passing through the narrow passage of Pahawang Strait. The simulation of residual tidal current with particular emphasis on predominant contituent of M2 shows a strong inflow from the western part of the bay mouth, up to the central part of the bay, then the strong residual current deflects to the southeast and flows out from the eastern part of the bay mouth. This flow pattern is apparent in the upper and lower layer. The other part flows to the bay head and froms an antic lockwise circulation in the small basin region of the bay head. The anticlockwise circulations are showed in the upper layer and disappear in the layer near the bottom. Keywords: POM, diagnostic mode, tidal current, residual current, Lampung Ba.

Research on Fault Diagnosis of Ship Stern Bearing Based on Vibration Analysis

The application of vibration analysis in fault diagnosis of rotary machine becomes more and more popular. Aiming at an abnormal high frequency vibration of a stern bearing, this paper proposed a method of fault diagnosis based on the analysis of vibration characteristics and the spectral analysis. From the gathered vibration data of a stern shaft bench through Pulse Vibration Analysis Platform, using the speed spectrum array to determine the characteristics of vibration source, with the analysis of vibration characteristics of the bench, it concluded that the abnormal high frequency vibration source of the stern bearing is a weak rigidity part of bench─ tacho-torque meter. The vibration data of again test after strengthening the part illustrated the validity of this diagnostic mode.