Smart boards: a reemerging technology.

Smart boards, also known as interactive whiteboards (IWBs), are large, interactive, touch-sensitive displays that are mainly used for presentation or educational purposes. While some may not consider this an emerging technology today, changes in the design and capabilities challenge that line of thinking. This column will explain what a smart board is, provide a brief history about it, and describe where it is currently used and why it might be a technology to consider having in a library today.

Effect of monitor display on detection of approximal caries lesions in digital radiographs.

OBJECTIVES: The aim was to compare the accuracy of five flat panel monitors for detection of approximal caries lesions. METHODS: Five flat panel monitors, Mermaid Ventura (15 inch, colour flat panel, 1024 x 768, 32 bit, analogue), Olórin VistaLine (19 inch, colour, 1280 x 1024, 32 bit, digital), Samsung SyncMaster 203B (20 inch, colour, 1024 x 768, 32 bit, analogue), Totoku ME251i (21 inch, greyscale, 1400 x 1024, 32 bit, digital) and Eizo FlexScan MX190 (19 inch, colour, 1280 x 1024, 32 bit, digital), were assessed. 160 approximal surfaces of human teeth were examined with a storage phosphor plate system (Digora FMX, Soredex) and assessed by seven observers for the presence of caries lesions. Microscopy of the teeth served as validation for the presence/absence of a lesion. RESULTS: The sensitivities varied between observers (range 7-25%) but the variation between the monitors was not large. The Samsung monitor obtained a significantly higher sensitivity than the Mermaid and Olórin monitors (P<0.02) and a lower specificity than the Eizo and Totoku monitors (P<0.05). There were no significant differences between any other monitors. The percentage of correct scores was highest for the Eizo monitor and significantly higher than for the Mermaid and Olórin monitors (P<0.03). CONCLUSIONS: There was no clear relationship between the diagnostic accuracy and the resolution or price of the monitor. The Eizo monitor was associated with the overall highest percentage of correct scores. The standard analogue flat panel monitor, Samsung, had higher sensitivity and lower specificity than some of the other monitors, but did not differ in overall accuracy for detection of carious lesions.

Evaluation of low-cost computer monitors for the detection of cervical spine injuries in the emergency room: an observer confidence-based study.

BACKGROUND: To compare the diagnostic value of low-cost computer monitors and a Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS) workstation for the evaluation of cervical spine fractures in the emergency room. METHODS: Two groups of readers blinded to the diagnoses (2 radiologists and 3 orthopaedic surgeons) independently assessed-digital radiographs of the cervical spine (anterior-posterior, oblique and trans-oral-dens views). The radiographs of 57 patients who arrived consecutively to the emergency room in 2004 with clinical suspicion of a cervical spine injury were evaluated. The diagnostic values of these radiographs were scored on a 3-point scale (1 = diagnosis not possible/bad image quality, 2 = diagnosis uncertain, 3 = clear diagnosis of fracture or no fracture) on a PACS workstation and on two different liquid crystal display (LCD) personal computer monitors. The images were randomised to avoid memory effects. We used logistic mixed-effects models to determine the possible effects of monitor type on the evaluation of x ray images. To determine the overall effects of monitor type, this variable was used as a fixed effect, and the image number and reader group (radiologist or orthopaedic surgeon) were used as random effects on display quality. Group-specific effects were examined, with the reader group and additional fixed effects as terms. A significance level of 0.05 was established for assessing the contribution of each fixed effect to the model. RESULTS: Overall, the diagnostic score did not differ significantly between standard personal computer monitors and the PACS workstation (both p values were 0.78). CONCLUSION: Low-cost LCD personal computer monitors may be useful in establishing a diagnosis of cervical spine fractures in the emergency room.

Recent advances in operant conditioning technology: a versatile and affordable computerized touchscreen system.

We report the construction of a new operant chamber that incorporates modern computer, touchscreen, and display technologies. An LCD display was housed in the front wall of a lightweight Plexiglas chamber. An Apple eMac computer was used to present visual stimuli on the monitor and to control other chamber events. Responses to the stimuli were recorded using a transparent resistive-type touchscreen that overlaid the monitor. The resulting system is simple and inexpensive to construct but powerful and flexible enough to explore a broad range of issues in animal learning and behavior.

The Cave-let: a low-cost projective immersive display.

This paper describes the design and implementation of a low-cost projective immersive display (PID), called the Cave-let. A PID immerses the user in a computer-generated three-dimensional environment that responds to the user's movements. Current devices of this nature are very expensive, so that fewer than 100 units have been installed around the world. A low-cost PID will enable a wide range of applications in areas such as telehealth, visualization, education and collaborative systems. To produce a low-cost PID, we identified the components of the design that represented the major costs. These were then redesigned with the aim of reducing cost as much as possible while preserving most of the functionality. The resulting device is suitable for a wide range of applications and is an order of magnitude less expensive than similar devices.

Interactive image-guided surgery system with high-performance computing capabilities on low-cost workstations: a prototype.

We present a new frameless stereotatic system prototype that has been initially validated in functional neurosurgery operations and that makes use of an optical position tracker for image-guided neurosurgery. Several devices for tracking different surgical instruments have been designed and manufactured. These devices include an array of infrared light-emitting diodes that are tracked by three charge-coupled device cameras. The system presents several new approaches for surgery planning. For high-quality 3D images of the patient's anatomy, we have developed a parallel version of a volume-rendering algorithm, thus enabling real-time 3D anatomy manipulation on low-cost PC workstations. In order to test the accuracy of the system, the localization of the target by means of a stereotatic frame has been compared with frameless techniques, obtaining a difference of about 1 +/- 1 mm.

[Substantiation of the choice of technical means in reduction of implementation costs of the project "Full automation of a central municipal hospital"]. / Obosnovanie vybora tekhnicheskikh sredstv dlia snizheniia sebestoimosti realizatsii proekta "Polnaia avtomatizatsiia tsentral'noi gorodskoi bol'nitsy".

A way of reducing the cost price of hospital automation is proposed. It is not necessary for it to update the whole equipment, but only a small part--the workstations used by programmers for their work, which support the stability of hospital automation; the working places of operators should be kept without modifications, but to allot them properties to inherit a potency and modernity of the purchased equipment; for this purpose they should be equipped with virtual machines copying properties of workstations being arrange in accordance with the pyramidal structure. A UNIX which represents a multi-user, multitask operational operative system providing an access on several pseudoterminals is simultaneously installed on the PENTIUM 100/133 workstation. A graphic terminal of the AMR "UnTerminal" firm (USA) is proposed for use as working places. Their advantage is that they have a special adapter connected directly to the bus of PC extension. Each user is allotted a video adapter, a keyboard controller, sequential and parallel interfaces for connection of the printer and manipulator. Each working place supports multitasking and it can be equipped with a printer, a "mouse" or modem. The image is transmitted on work places with a very high velocity-77 mehabits/sec that supports not only a text mode, but also VGA or SVGA graphics. Certainly, graphic terminals are more expensive than text terminals, but their capacities are similar to those of the main computer, here, the workstation. They may be located from the main computer at a distance of up to 75 meters or more and do not require adjustment during their installation.

Identifying the savings potential of bedside terminals.

Savings estimates from using bedside terminal systems must be unit and shift-specific to properly determine which functional areas offer savings potential, the potential savings on different shifts, and which nursing units have the greatest savings potential.