MARC ES: a computer program for estimating medical information storage requirements.

During combat, documentation of medical treatment information is critical for maintaining continuity of patient care. However, knowledge of prior status and treatment of patients is limited to the information noted on a paper field medical card. The Multi-technology Automated Reader Card (MARC), a smart card, has been identified as a potential storage mechanism for casualty medical information. Focusing on data capture and storage technology, this effort developed a Windows program, MARC ES, to estimate storage requirements for the MARC. The program calculates storage requirements for a variety of scenarios using medical documentation requirements, casualty rates, and casualty flows and provides the user with a tool to estimate the space required to store medical data at each echelon of care for selected operational theaters. The program can also be used to identify the point at which data must be uploaded from the MARC if size constraints are imposed. Furthermore, this model can be readily extended to other systems that store or transmit medical information.

Medical Practice Support System. A medical practitioner's multimedia workstation.

The United States Navy has developed a computer based Medical Practice Support System (MEPSS) intended for use by medical practitioners working in isolated situations. The system, now being tested in operational settings, emphasizes inexpensive, easily obtained off-the-shelf hardware and specially developed, readily implemented software to provide users with: 1) medical record keeping, 2) an electronic medical library, 3) interactive video instruction programs suitable for continuing medical education, 4) computer based medical diagnosis and treatment assistance, and 5) electronic communications with other facilities. This demonstration emphasizes a user based developmental approach, integration of diverse systems under a single user interface, and portable hardware. The resulting system makes medical information needed by practitioners instantly available at the time of a patient encounter, whenever and wherever that encounter may occur. Making clinically valuable information immediately available, MEPSS demonstrates how practitioners can use computers to help their own efforts to improve patient care quality and efficiency.

Early neural network development history: the age of Camelot.

What the authors refer to as the first of four ages in the development of neural networks is discussed. It begins about a century ago with the American psychologist William James, and ends in 1969 with the publication of the book by M. Minsky and S. Papert on perceptrons. The history of this period is reviewed, focusing on people rather than just on theory or technology. The contributions of a number of individuals are discussed and related to how neural network tools are being implemented today. The selection of individuals discussed is somewhat arbitrary and not exhaustive, as the intent is to provide a broad sampling of people who contributed to current neural network technology. Besides James, the authors cover the work of W.C. McCulloch and W. Pitts (1943), D. Hebb (1949), and B. Widrow and M. Hoff (1960).