Safety Issues in Computerized Medical Equipment

Computers now are being used increasingly in safety-critical systems like nuclear power plants and aircraft and, as a consequence, have occasionally been involved in deadly mishaps. As microcomputer technology continues to proliferate, computers are also now increasingly being used in medical equipment such as ventilators and pacemakers, sometimes with safety-critical results. This chapter discusses some of the special concerns that arise when computer technology is introduced into medical equipment, using two case studies as examples: the Therac-25 radiation therapy unit and Abbott’s patient controlled analgesia machine. Also discussed are some of the regulations that have been proposed by the (American) Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to help tackle the special problems that can arise when developing software-based medical equipment.

Genomic Databanks for Biomedical Informatics

In the area of medical informatics, the recent ICT (information and communication technology) tools and systems supporting knowledge on sciences involved in the study of genes, chromosomes, and protein’s expression level in various organisms, that is genomics and proteomics, are becoming necessary to develop new prospects for the comprehension of mechanisms lying at the base of biological processes which cause a disease. This can allow more effective diagnostic and treatment methods and also personalized pharmacological therapies. At this purpose, the mutual intervention of different sciences, such as biology, medicine, engineering, informatics and mathematics, becomes an indispensable step: The development of a science embracing all these fields is identified in bioinformatics, which was conceived for the analysis, storage and processing of huge amount of biological data. The achievement of all the aforementioned operations involves the creation of the so-called genomic or proteomic databanks, which represent a major source of information on nucleotide sequences, as well as biological, clinical, physiological and bibliographical annotations related to singular sequences. There are different types of databanks based on their peculiar characteristics and features (such as primary and derivative or specialized databanks), and several ways to access data stored in these databanks; there are also specific bioinformatics databank-based tools developed to perform searching operations and to extract significant information, in order to summarize and compare gene annotations related to the causes of a disease and finally to identify a list of the most significant genes as cause of disease.

Imaging the Human Brain with Magnetoencephalography

Magnetoencephalography is a relatively new medical imaging modality for the monitoring and imaging of human brain function. Extracranial magnetic fields produced by the working human brain are measured by extremely sensitive superconducting sensors, called SQUIDs, enclosed in a liquid helium-filled dewar. Mathematical modeling allows the formation of images or maps of cortical neuronal currents that reveal neural electrical activity, identify cortical communication networks, and facilitate the treatment of neuronal disorders, such as epilepsy.

Medical Image Compression Using Integer Wavelet Transformations

In this chapter, we have focused on compression of medical images using integer wavelet transforms. Lifting transforms such as S, TS, S+P(B), S+P(C), 5/3, 2+@, 2, 9/7-M and 9/7-F transforms are used to evaluate the performances of lossless and lossy compression. Four medical images, namely, MRI, CT, ultrasound, and angiograms are used as test data sets. It is found from the experiments that, among the different transforms, the 9/7-M wavelet transform is identified as the optimal method for lossless and lossy compression of medical images.

Electronic Submission of New Drugs in Europe

All over the world, drugs and drug applications have to be submitted to and approved by an admission office before they may be sold on the market. All procedures are extensive, time-consuming, and costly. To simplify the process, it could be organised electronically. In an economic perspective, there are many benefits by using the electronic form for the pharmaceutical industry: managing knowledge, cost advantages, and time savings. All, pharmaceutical industry and institutions have undertaken lots of efforts to enforce the electronic solutions. They focus on international standards in order to harmonise structures and processes. It would be necessary to reduce paper and copies, especially if the electronic solution takes place. This method will simplify the way to deal with data and documents and reduce process time and costs.

Security in Health Information Systems

The development of Internet technology and Web-based applications made health information more accessible than ever before from many locations by multiple health providers and health plans. In this chapter, security in health information systems is put into perspective. The further penetration of information technology into healthcare is discussed, and it is concluded that information systems have already become a vital component, not only for the logistics of the healthcare institution but also for the rendering of care and cure.

Imaging the Human Brain with Functional CT Imaging

Recent advances in multi-detector computed tomography (CT) have revitalized its role in the clinical routine. In the field of cerebral perfusion, CT provides a rapid, low-cost functional imaging, which by the utilization of a suitable tracer kinetic analysis can provide valuable information in many clinical applications, like acute stroke, cerebrovascular reserve capacity, vasospasm after subarachnoidal hemorrhage, cerebral trauma, tumor imaging, and brain death diagnosis. The limitations of the existing commercially available post processing software are discussed and a new distributed-parameter tracer kinetic model for generating more accurate perfusion parametric maps is introduced.

Region of Interest Coding in Medical Images

To provide efficient compression of medical images, identifying and extracting the region of interest from the entire image and coding the specific region to accuracy is important. This chapter introduces the basics of region of interest coding, an overview of the coding methods available and their main features for the benefit of learners and researchers. The special focus is on JPEG-2000-based algorithms.

Collaborative Environments for the Health Monitoring of Chronically Ill Children

A revolution is taking place in the healthcare field with information technology (IT) playing an increasingly important role in its delivery. Healthcare providers are exploring IT opportunities in reducing the overall costs of healthcare delivery while improving the quality of its provision to citizens. Healthcare services have accumulated great benefits from the application of information technologies, telecommunications and management tools. Internet, wireless, and handheld technologies have the capability to affect healthcare by improving quality, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness of work. Healthcare information systems include a wide range of applications ranging from diagnostic tools to health management applications and from inpatient to outpatient monitoring services. Home-care systems address patients and their families and provide the means to manage their health status related to a specific health problem. Home-care systems include a wide variety of offered services such as: (a) directory services (hospital location, doctor specialties), (b) computer patient records (CPR) along with interfaces for interoperability, (c) certified medical information provision, (d) interfacing to specialized medical monitoring devices, and (e) synchronous and asynchronous collaboration services. All these services are offered, most of the time, through secure and seamless networks.

The Data-Information-Knowledge Model

The generation and transformation of data into information and knowledge is a basic formula in health informatics. This process is often represented in a model that portrays each component hierarchically with data at the bottom followed by an intermediary layer of information and topped by the knowledge layer. This model is a simple way to conceptualize important components of the informatics process, but it also has major limitations. The capture of data does not lead seamlessly to information or knowledge. The process is much more complex involving a multi-faceted web of interactions and issues.