MRI/SPECT-based diagnosis and CT-guided high-intensity focused-ultrasound treatment system in MPTP mouse model of Parkinson's disease.

Single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) of dopamine transporters with (99m)Tc-TRODAT-1 has recently been proposed to offer valuable information for the diagnosis of Parkinson's disease (PD). Furthermore, High-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) is a newly developed technique in which the energy of ultrasound wave is directed to a focused spot for the purpose treatment of PD. This study presents a diagnosis and image-guided system using HIFU to treat the mouse with PD under a designed stereotactic frame. The system comprises two key components: an automatic atlas-based SPECT/MRI image registration module for diagnosis and a stereotactic CT-guided module for HIFU treatment. The SPECT/MR image registration here is important in the non-invasive examination of the dopamine concentration in vivo. From the experimental results, the image registration module proves to have comparable performance to that derived from manual drawing by experts. In addition, the stereotactic CT-guided module achieved a positioning accuracy to within 2mm on the average, which is acceptable for the purpose of HIFU treatment.

Mobile healthcare: the opportunities and challenges.

Mobile healthcare is an important extension of electronic healthcare. It enables the caregivers to have an ubiquitous and uninterrupted access to patients' clinical data and the latest medical knowledge; concurrently, it allows patients with chronic conditions to remain under constant observation without needing to be physically present at the clinic. The critical challenges to a full-scale implementation include establishing interoperability among electronic health records, developing better display technologies and security controls for mobile devices and developing smart algorithms to detect clinically significant events before notifying caregivers. As a consequence of mobile healthcare, new opportunities for physician-patient joint decision-making and personalized healthcare are beginning to take shape. Accompanying them are the challenges of mindset adjustment, the empowerment of patients with medical knowledge in everyday language and ensuring the confidentiality of patient data.

Evaluation of severity of HSV-1 corneal infection by statistical pattern classification technique.

PURPOSE: Slit lamp photography is a daily practice in ophthalmic examinations in clinic settings. Images of the ocular integrity enable the clinicians to evaluate the progress of disease. However, the lack of a consistent objective measuring scheme to evaluate the corneal epithelial defects is a concern. METHODS: Rabbits were ocularly infected with HSV-1. Fluorescein solution was applied to the rabbit eyes to reveal lesions. Images were taken via a Nikon digital camera equipped with cobalt blue excitation filter. A modified Bayes classifier (MBC) based on two carefully chosen features was applied to analyze images of infected rabbit corneas. RESULTS: MBC utilizing a feature set comprising green-to-red ratio and green-to-blue ratio could differentiate infected from normal pixels with an error rate as low as 2.2%. CONCLUSION: The ability of MBC to measure the percentage of corneal surface suffering from infection makes this approach a valuable tool for investigating the dynamics of corneal-related diseases.

The impact of globalisation on teleradiology practice.

Some advocates of globalisation argue that a free market with little regulation is the best approach for achieving cost-effective healthcare. Healthcare, however, is different from other business activities in that it is typically less profit-driven; instead, it often involves the goal of providing equitable care to the underprivileged. Traditionally, the government has subsidised the expenses of delivering affordable healthcare to underserved communities. Because of the many recent advances in telecommunications technology, telemedicine has gained increasing attention. Teleradiology, in particular, is by far the maturest of all telemedicine disciplines and, thus, it may serve as a pivotal indicator of whether telemedicine on a global scale is feasible or not. In this paper, a prediction of the future landscape of globalised teleradiology operations is attempted based on the extrapolation of the historical trends in teleradiology practice as well as the growing pressure on federal and local governments to reduce their regulatory power under the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS).

Static magnetotherapy for the treatment of insomnia.

Magnets have been used for centuries to treat a number of physical disorders. The vast majority of research, however, on static magnet therapy for insomnia has been confined to the auricular type of therapy, with publications limited to Chinese journals. Most of these studies have depended on the subjective self-assessment of participants rather than objective scientific measurements. In this study, the authors report the positive preliminary results of insomnia treatment using pillows with embedded magnets, magnetic insoles and TriPhase bracelets. The analysis is based on objective actigraphic and polysomnographic data. A theory of accelerated transition from wakefulness to sleep is proposed to explain the process of insomnia relief through low-strength static magnetic fields. Analysis by functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) is used to further investigate the theory.