77 FR 62479 - Medical Diagnostic Equipment Accessibility Standards Advisory Committee

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-10-15

...-0003] RIN 3014-AA40 Medical Diagnostic Equipment Accessibility Standards Advisory Committee AGENCY.... SUMMARY: The Medical Diagnostic Equipment Accessibility Standards Advisory Committee (Committee) will hold... Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on Medical Diagnostic Equipment Accessibility Standards. DATES: The Committee...

77 FR 53163 - Medical Diagnostic Equipment Accessibility Standards Advisory Committee

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-08-31

...-0003] RIN 3014-AA40 Medical Diagnostic Equipment Accessibility Standards Advisory Committee AGENCY.... SUMMARY: The Medical Diagnostic Equipment Accessibility Standards Advisory Committee (Committee) will hold... previously published Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on Medical Diagnostic Equipment Accessibility...

78 FR 10582 - Medical Diagnostic Equipment Accessibility Standards Advisory Committee

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-02-14

...-0003] RIN 3014-AA40 Medical Diagnostic Equipment Accessibility Standards Advisory Committee AGENCY.... SUMMARY: The Medical Diagnostic Equipment Accessibility Standards Advisory Committee will hold its fourth...) on Medical Diagnostic Equipment Accessibility Standards. DATES: The Committee will meet on February...

78 FR 32612 - Medical Diagnostic Equipment Accessibility Standards Advisory Committee

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-05-31

...-0003] RIN 3014-AA40 Medical Diagnostic Equipment Accessibility Standards Advisory Committee AGENCY.... SUMMARY: The Medical Diagnostic Equipment Accessibility Standards Advisory Committee will hold its seventh...) on Medical Diagnostic Equipment Accessibility Standards. DATES: The Committee will meet on June 17...

78 FR 1166 - Medical Diagnostic Equipment Accessibility Standards Advisory Committee

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-01-08

...-0003] RIN 3014-AA40 Medical Diagnostic Equipment Accessibility Standards Advisory Committee AGENCY.... SUMMARY: The Medical Diagnostic Equipment Accessibility Standards Advisory Committee will hold its third...) on Medical Diagnostic Equipment Accessibility Standards. DATES: The Committee will meet on January 22...

78 FR 23872 - Medical Diagnostic Equipment Accessibility Standards Advisory Committee

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-04-23

...-0003] RIN 3014-AA40 Medical Diagnostic Equipment Accessibility Standards Advisory Committee AGENCY.... SUMMARY: The Medical Diagnostic Equipment Accessibility Standards Advisory Committee will hold its sixth...) on Medical Diagnostic Equipment Accessibility Standards. DATES: The Committee will meet on May 7...

78 FR 16448 - Medical Diagnostic Equipment Accessibility Standards Advisory Committee

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-03-15

...-0003] RIN 3014-AA40 Medical Diagnostic Equipment Accessibility Standards Advisory Committee AGENCY.... SUMMARY: The Medical Diagnostic Equipment Accessibility Standards Advisory Committee will hold its fifth...) on Medical Diagnostic Equipment Accessibility Standards. DATES: The Committee will meet on March 26...

Reliability of Chinese medicine diagnostic variables in the examination of patients with osteoarthritis of the knee.

PubMed

Hua, Bin; Abbas, Estelle; Hayes, Alan; Ryan, Peter; Nelson, Lisa; O'Brien, Kylie

2012-11-01

Chinese medicine (CM) has its own diagnostic indicators that are used as evidence of change in a patient's condition. The majority of studies investigating efficacy of Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) have utilized biomedical diagnostic endpoints. For CM clinical diagnostic variables to be incorporated into clinical trial designs, there would need to be evidence that these diagnostic variables are reliable. Previous studies have indicated that the reliability of CM syndrome diagnosis is variable. Little information is known about where the variability stems from--the basic data collection level or the synthesis of diagnostic data, or both. No previous studies have investigated systematically the reliability of all four diagnostic methods used in the CM diagnostic process (Inquiry, Inspection, Auscultation/Olfaction, and Palpation). The objective of this study was to assess the inter-rater reliability of data collected using the four diagnostic methods of CM in Australian patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA), in order to investigate if CM variables could be used with confidence as diagnostic endpoints in a clinical trial investigating the efficacy of a CHM in treating OA. An inter-rater reliability study was conducted as a substudy of a clinical trial investigating the treatment of knee OA with Chinese herbal medicine. Two (2) experienced CM practitioners conducted a CM examination separately, within 2 hours of each other, in 40 participants. A CM assessment form was utilized to record the diagnostic data. Cohen's κ coefficient was used as a measure of the level of agreement between 2 practitioners. There was a relatively good level of agreement for Inquiry and Auscultation variables, and, in general, a low level of agreement for (visual) Inspection and Palpation variables. There was variation in the level of agreement between 2 practitioners on clinical information collected using the Four Diagnostic Methods of a CM examination. Some aspects of CM diagnosis appear

[Exploration and analysis of the thought of medical education in the Shanghai New Chinese Medical College].

PubMed

Li, Ming; Shang, Li; Bing, Shoulan

2014-11-01

Shanghai New Chinese Medical College set up by Zhu Nanshan and his sons, Zhu Xiaonan and Zhu Hegao, was a medical college of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) with the most innovative spirit in modern time. Its affiliated research institute held the principle of "realizing the scientific truth of TCM, training TCM advanced talents", marking the beginning of the pioneering of "scientific TCM". The educational plan, clinical research and academic organization based on "carrying forward the quintessence of Chinese culture, absorbing and digesting the new knowledge" showed a certain influence at home and abroad. The College advocated the combination of communicating with famous physicians and the study of theory, cultivation of students' organization and academic society, launching of journals, and organizing students' research associations was aiming at the satisfaction of the social needs and teaching orientation. Its running experience provided useful reference for modern TCM medical education.

Chinese Confucian culture and the medical ethical tradition.

PubMed Central

Guo, Z

1995-01-01

The Confucian culture, rich in its contents and great in its significance, exerted on the thinking, culture and political life of ancient China immense influences, unparalleled by any other school of thought or culture. Confucian theories on morality and ethics, with 'goodness' as the core and 'rites' as the norm, served as the 'key notes' of the traditional medical ethics of China. The viewpoints of Confucianism on benevolence and material interests, on good and evil, on kindheartedness, and on character cultivation were all inherited by the medical workers and thus became prominent in Chinese traditional medical ethics. Hence, it is clear that the medical profession and Confucianism have long shared common goals in terms of ethics. Influenced by the excellent Confucian thinking and culture, a rather highly-developed system of Chinese traditional medical ethics emerged with a well-defined basic content, and the system has been followed and amended by medical professionals of all generations throughout Chinese history. This system, just to mention briefly, contains concepts such as the need: to attach great importance to the value of life; to do one's best to rescue the dying and to heal the wounded; to show concern to those who suffer from diseases; to practise medicine with honesty; to study medical skills painstakingly; to oppose a careless style of work; to comfort oneself in a dignified manner; to respect local customs and to be polite; to treat patients, noble or humble, equally, and to respect the academic achievements of others, etc. Of course, at the same time, Confucian culture has its own historical and class limitations, which exerted negative influences on traditional medical ethics. Now, if we are to keep up with the development of modern medicine, a serious topic must be addressed. That is how to retain the essence of our traditional medical ethics so as to maintain historic continuity and yet, at the same time, add on the new contents of medical

Chinese Confucian culture and the medical ethical tradition.

PubMed

Guo, Z

1995-08-01

The Confucian culture, rich in its contents and great in its significance, exerted on the thinking, culture and political life of ancient China immense influences, unparalleled by any other school of thought or culture. Confucian theories on morality and ethics, with 'goodness' as the core and 'rites' as the norm, served as the 'key notes' of the traditional medical ethics of China. The viewpoints of Confucianism on benevolence and material interests, on good and evil, on kindheartedness, and on character cultivation were all inherited by the medical workers and thus became prominent in Chinese traditional medical ethics. Hence, it is clear that the medical profession and Confucianism have long shared common goals in terms of ethics. Influenced by the excellent Confucian thinking and culture, a rather highly-developed system of Chinese traditional medical ethics emerged with a well-defined basic content, and the system has been followed and amended by medical professionals of all generations throughout Chinese history. This system, just to mention briefly, contains concepts such as the need: to attach great importance to the value of life; to do one's best to rescue the dying and to heal the wounded; to show concern to those who suffer from diseases; to practise medicine with honesty; to study medical skills painstakingly; to oppose a careless style of work; to comfort oneself in a dignified manner; to respect local customs and to be polite; to treat patients, noble or humble, equally, and to respect the academic achievements of others, etc. Of course, at the same time, Confucian culture has its own historical and class limitations, which exerted negative influences on traditional medical ethics. Now, if we are to keep up with the development of modern medicine, a serious topic must be addressed. That is how to retain the essence of our traditional medical ethics so as to maintain historic continuity and yet, at the same time, add on the new contents of medical

Diagnostic value of multiple café-au-lait macules for neurofibromatosis 1 in Chinese children.

PubMed

Yao, Ruen; Wang, Lili; Yu, Yongguo; Wang, Jian; Shen, Yiping

2016-05-01

Neurofibromatosis 1 (NF1) is a common autosomal dominant condition caused by mutations in the NF1 gene. The appearance of multiple café-au-lait macules is an early sign of the condition, which often alert physicians to follow up and further examine the patient for the possibility of NF1. In order to determine the predictive value of multiple café-au-lait macules at early age for NF1 in Chinese patients, we recruited 19 children who shared the common sign of multiple café-au-lait macules from a general pediatric clinic in Shanghai. All the patients were clinically evaluated following the National Institutes of Health criteria for NF1 and molecular tested for sequence variants and copy number changes. Nine children met the clinical diagnostic criteria of NF1, and molecular tests confirmed all nine patients with pathogenic variants including two genomic deletions, two novel frame-shift variants, four novel nonsense and a splicing variants. In addition, four children who did not meet the diagnostic criteria were also found to carry pathogenic NF1 variants. Overall, 68.4% (13/19) of children with café-au-lait macules and various other clinical presentations were molecularly confirmed with NF1. This study demonstrated that the majority of Chinese children with multiple café-au-lait macules who came to seek for medical attention had NF1. Molecular testing is necessary to be used as an adjunct and sometimes as the main tool for confirming and diagnosing children of NF1 at early age. © 2015 Japanese Dermatological Association.

Subject, function, and trend in medical ethics research: a comparative study of Chinese and non-Chinese literature using bibliometrics.

PubMed

Jiang, Lanhui; Shen, Jiantong; Li, Youping; Deng, Shaolin; Wu, Taixiang; Chen, Baoqing; Xie, Zhiyi; Qin, Chaoyi; Yu, Zhiyuan; Qin, Chuan; Huang, Jin; Liu, Xuemei; Li, Yan; Jiang, Jie

2012-05-01

To perform a comparative quantitative and qualitative analysis of Chinese and non-Chinese medical ethics literature using systematic research and literature analysis in order to discern research trends in the area and provide baseline data as a reference for relevant decision making and further study. We retrieved articles using MeSH terms and keywords related to medical ethics in PubMed and CNKI, and then constructed a set of charts by applying word co-occurrence, The Pathfinder Networks algorithms, an included subject chart, a research field relationship chart, and strategy coordination charts. The total of number of papers retrieved from PubMed was six times that retrieved from CNKI. Outside China, medical ethics has been studied in eight fully shaped subject fields, including morals, ethical review, physician-patient relationships, clinical trials, euthanasia, ethics education, clinical ethics, and health policy. In contrast, medical ethics research in China is still confined to five subject fields: morals, physician-patient relations, medical ethics education, ethical review, and medical research. Medical ethics research outside China emphasizes the application of medical ethics to solve emerging problems in clinical and medical research. It is mainly centered on morals, ethical review, and physician-patient relations. By comparison, medical ethics research in China places greater emphasis on morals and medical education. In order to narrow this gap between China and other countries, we should broaden the research scope of medical ethics and add more applied research, such as ethical review and medical education. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Asia Pty Ltd and Chinese Cochrane Center, West China Hospital of Sichuan University.

Corrupt practices in chinese medical care: the root in public policies and a call for Confucian-market approach.

PubMed

Fan, Ruiping

2007-06-01

This paper argues that three salient corrupt practices that mark contemporary Chinese health care, namely the over-prescription of indicated drugs, the prescription of more expensive forms of medication and more expensive diagnostic work-ups than needed, and illegal cash payments to physicians-i.e., red packages-result not from the introduction of the market to China, but from two clusters of circumstances. First, there has been a loss of the Confucian appreciation of the proper role of financial reward for good health care. Second, misguided governmental policies have distorted the behavior of physicians and hospitals. The distorting policies include (1) setting very low salaries for physicians, (2) providing bonuses to physicians and profits to hospitals from the excessive prescription of drugs and the use of more expensive drugs and unnecessary expensive diagnostic procedures, and (3) prohibiting payments by patients to physicians for higher quality care. The latter problem is complicated by policies that do not allow the use of governmental insurance and funds from medical savings accounts in private hospitals as well as other policies that fail to create a level playing field for both private and government hospitals. The corrupt practices currently characterizing Chinese health care will require not only abolishing the distorting governmental policies but also drawing on Confucian moral resources to establish a rightly directed appreciation of the proper place of financial reward in the practice of medicine.

Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy: medical diagnostic criteria.

PubMed

Rosenberg, Donna Andrea

2003-04-01

Medical diagnostic criteria for Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy are presented. The strength of the known facts may vary from case to case, and thus there may be different degrees of diagnostic conviction. Therefore, diagnostic criteria for a definitive diagnosis, and a possible diagnosis of Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy are provided. Because the gathering of evidence in a case may, ultimately, diminish or exclude the diagnosis of Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy, diagnostic criteria for the inconclusive determination and the definitely excluded diagnosis are also enunciated.

Tacit knowledge and visual expertise in medical diagnostic reasoning: implications for medical education.

PubMed

Heiberg Engel, Peter Johan

2008-01-01

Much education--especially at the university level--has been criticized for having primarily dealt with explicit knowledge, i.e. those aspects of mental activities, which are verbal and conscious. Furthermore, research in medical diagnostic reasoning has been criticized for having focused on the specialty of intern medicine, while specialties with other skills, i.e. perceptive skills within pathology and radiology, have been ignored. To show that the concept of tacit knowledge is important in medical education-at all levels and in medical diagnostic reasoning. Describing how tacit knowledge according to Michael Polany, is experienced and expressed in day-to-day life, it is shown that there is a tacit dimension to all knowledge. Reviewing recent literature on medical diagnostic reasoning, it is shown that tacit knowledge is recognized in connection with concepts such as "non-analytical reasoning" and "dual process of reasoning." It is important that educators are trained in how explicit and implicit knowledge is attained and that tacit knowledge is included in educational programmes of all medical specialties.

Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy: Medical Diagnostic Criteria.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rosenberg, Donna Andrea

2003-01-01

Medical diagnostic criteria for Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy (a persistent fabrication by one individual of illness in another) are presented. Since the strength of the known facts may vary from case to case, diagnostic criteria are given for a definitive diagnosis, a possible diagnosis, an inconclusive determination, and the definitely excluded…

Understanding the medical and nonmedical value of diagnostic testing.

PubMed

Lee, David W; Neumann, Peter J; Rizzo, John A

2010-01-01

To develop a framework for defining the potential value of diagnostic testing, and discuss its implications for the health-care delivery system. We reviewed the conceptual and empirical literature related to the valuing of diagnostic tests, and used this information to create a framework for characterizing their value. We then made inferences about the impact of this framework on health insurance coverage, health technology assessment, physician-patient relationships, and public health policy. Three dimensions can effectively classify the potential value created by diagnostic tests: 1) medical value (impact on treatment decisions); 2) planning value (affect on patients' ability to make better life decisions); and 3) psychic value (how test information affects patients' sense of self). This comprehensive framework for valuing diagnostics suggests that existing health technology assessments may systematically under- or overvalue diagnostics, leading to potentially incorrect conclusions about cost-effectiveness. Further, failure to account for all value dimensions may lead to distorted payments under a value-based health-care system. The potential value created by medical diagnostics incorporates medical value as well as value associated with well-being and planning. Consideration of all three dimensions has important implications for technology assessment and value-based payment.

Teaching medical information retrieval and application courses in Chinese universities: a case study.

PubMed

Clark, Adam W; Li, Hong-Mei

2010-12-01

An important aspect of Chinese academic health science libraries is their involvement in teaching medical information retrieval courses as part of the medical curriculum. Health science librarians in China have a more formal teaching role than is generally found in Western countries, including many full-time teaching positions. This article provides a case study of Kunming Medical University Library, where courses are provided as credit units at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. The teaching practices of Chinese health science libraries are compared with teaching experiences reported in Western countries. It is noted that Chinese government's educational policy is similar to that of the United States in promoting the role of the library in teaching subjects as part of the medical curriculum. In China, this has lead to the development of teaching departments within health science libraries and the appointment of full and part-time teacher librarians. © 2010 The authors. Health Information and Libraries Journal © 2010 Health Libraries Group.

Recognition and treatment of depression: a comparison of Australian and Chinese medical students.

PubMed

Rong, Ye; Luscombe, Georgina M; Davenport, Tracey A; Huang, Yueqin; Glozier, Nick; Hickie, Ian B

2009-08-01

Depression is a major public health problem in both China and Australia. To improve services, we need to ensure health professionals have an appropriate understanding of depression and its treatments. This study compares the level of awareness of depression between Chinese and Australian medical students. The International Depression Literacy Survey assessing the public health impact, recognition and treatment of depression was completed by pre-psychiatric training medical students in China (n = 220) and Australia (n = 177). Chinese students were far less likely to consider mental health conditions and depression as major public health problems (P < 0.001). Depression symptom recognition was similar with four of the top five symptoms of depression the same in both groups of students. Chinese students were more likely to consider some psychological symptoms such as "thinking life is not worth living", but less likely to consider somatic features such as "sleep disturbance" as typical for people with depression. Chinese students were more likely to claim that they would seek help from mental health professionals if experiencing depression whilst Australian students were more likely to seek help from a general or family doctor. Chinese medical students recognise depression similarly to Australian students but do not consider it a major public health problem. These results challenge the stereotype that depression is characterised by somatic symptoms in China. Increasing awareness of the public health impact of depression should be incorporated into the medical curriculum in China.

Determinate factors of mental health status in Chinese medical staff

PubMed Central

Zhou, Chenyu; Shi, Lei; Gao, Lei; Liu, Wenhui; Chen, Zhenkang; Tong, Xinfa; Xu, Wen; Peng, Boshi; Zhao, Yan; Fan, Lihua

2018-01-01

Abstract Numerous previous studies have investigated the mental health status of medical staff in China and explored its associated determinate factors; however, scope and methods associated with these have introduced uncertainty regarding the results. The aim of this study was to perform a comprehensive examination of the mental health status of Chinese medical staff and its relative risk factors based on a cross-sectional survey. We conducted a broad area, cross-sectional, questionnaire-based survey of Chinese medical workers. Participants were randomly selected from 27 hospitals in the Heilongjiang province. The questionnaire that was distributed consisted of 5 parts: the demographic characteristics of the participant; questions related to the relative risk factors of psychological health; the posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) Checklist-Civilian Version (PCL-C); the Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS); and the Self-rating Anxiety Scale (SAS). The last 3 components were used to evaluate the mental health status of the target population. Logistic and linear regression were used to analyze the determinate factors of the mental health status of Chinese medical staff. Of the 1679 questionnaires distributed, 1557 medical workers responded (response rate: 92.73%; male: 24.1%; female 75.9%). The results of mental health status self-assessments indicated that 32.3% of participants were considered to have some degree of PTSD (based on the PCL-C). The SDS index was 0.67 and the mean score from SAS was 55.26; a result higher than found in the general population. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that being female, dissatisfaction or average satisfaction with income, and good or very good self-perceived psychological endurance when faced with an emergency were associated with a reduction of PTSD symptoms. A frequency of verbal abuse incidents greater than 4 was associated with an increase in PTSD symptoms. The mental health status of Chinese medical staff

77 FR 67595 - Medical Diagnostic Equipment Accessibility Standards Advisory Committee

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-11-13

...-0003] RIN 3014-AA40 Medical Diagnostic Equipment Accessibility Standards Advisory Committee AGENCY.... SUMMARY: The Medical Diagnostic Equipment Accessibility Standards Advisory Committee (Committee) will hold... Equipment Accessibility Standards. DATES: The Committee will meet on December 3, 2012, from 10:00 a.m. to 5...

Chinese and Indian women's experience with alternative medications for menopause related symptoms: A qualitative analysis.

PubMed

Ohn Mar, Saw; Malhi, Fatehpal Singh; Syed Rahim, Syed Hamid; Soe, Myint Myint

2017-09-15

To explore women's rationalization for using alternative medications, their experience and view on safety of long-term use. Two focus group discussions, involving 5 participants each for Chinese and Indian groups, were conducted separately. Participant's personal information was collected anonymously. The discussion covered 5 areas: determinants for taking medications; reason for choosing alternative medications rather than hormone replacement therapy (HRT); how these medications help them; their view on cost-effectiveness and concerns over long-term use. The discussions were audio-taped, transcribed and analyzed. Chinese participants took supplements for controlling symptoms while Indian participants used herbs as a preventive measure during menopause according to their tradition. Women of both groups mentioned that they did not take HRT because of fear of side effects. Chinese group mentioned that medications remarkably improved their symptoms whereas Indian participants appreciated their herbals more for improvement in general wellbeing than for specific symptoms. All members agreed that using alternative medication was cost-effective. Both Chinese and Indian participants were quite confident in saying that long-term use will not be associated with any side effects. However, Indian group emphasized that proper preparation of herbal compound using different types of leaves, is essential in order to avoid untoward effects. Chinese and Indian women used alternative medicine in prevention and treatment of menopause-related problems even as they were avoiding HRT because of the fear of side effects. They believed that their supplements were effective, safe and cost-beneficial even with long-term use.

Noninvasive Medical Diagnostics & Treatment Using Ultrasonics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bar-Cohen, Y.; Siegel, R.; Grandia, W.

1998-01-01

In parallel to the industrial application of NDE to flaw detection and material property determination, the medical community has succesfully adapted such methods to the noninvasaive diagnostics and treatment of many conditions and disorders of the human body.

Building Large Collections of Chinese and English Medical Terms from Semi-Structured and Encyclopedia Websites

PubMed Central

Xu, Yan; Wang, Yining; Sun, Jian-Tao; Zhang, Jianwen; Tsujii, Junichi; Chang, Eric

2013-01-01

To build large collections of medical terms from semi-structured information sources (e.g. tables, lists, etc.) and encyclopedia sites on the web. The terms are classified into the three semantic categories, Medical Problems, Medications, and Medical Tests, which were used in i2b2 challenge tasks. We developed two systems, one for Chinese and another for English terms. The two systems share the same methodology and use the same software with minimum language dependent parts. We produced large collections of terms by exploiting billions of semi-structured information sources and encyclopedia sites on the Web. The standard performance metric of recall (R) is extended to three different types of Recall to take the surface variability of terms into consideration. They are Surface Recall (), Object Recall (), and Surface Head recall (). We use two test sets for Chinese. For English, we use a collection of terms in the 2010 i2b2 text. Two collections of terms, one for English and the other for Chinese, have been created. The terms in these collections are classified as either of Medical Problems, Medications, or Medical Tests in the i2b2 challenge tasks. The English collection contains 49,249 (Problems), 89,591 (Medications) and 25,107 (Tests) terms, while the Chinese one contains 66,780 (Problems), 101,025 (Medications), and 15,032 (Tests) terms. The proposed method of constructing a large collection of medical terms is both efficient and effective, and, most of all, independent of language. The collections will be made publicly available. PMID:23874426

Building large collections of Chinese and English medical terms from semi-structured and encyclopedia websites.

PubMed

Xu, Yan; Wang, Yining; Sun, Jian-Tao; Zhang, Jianwen; Tsujii, Junichi; Chang, Eric

2013-01-01

To build large collections of medical terms from semi-structured information sources (e.g. tables, lists, etc.) and encyclopedia sites on the web. The terms are classified into the three semantic categories, Medical Problems, Medications, and Medical Tests, which were used in i2b2 challenge tasks. We developed two systems, one for Chinese and another for English terms. The two systems share the same methodology and use the same software with minimum language dependent parts. We produced large collections of terms by exploiting billions of semi-structured information sources and encyclopedia sites on the Web. The standard performance metric of recall (R) is extended to three different types of Recall to take the surface variability of terms into consideration. They are Surface Recall (R(S)), Object Recall (R(O)), and Surface Head recall (R(H)). We use two test sets for Chinese. For English, we use a collection of terms in the 2010 i2b2 text. Two collections of terms, one for English and the other for Chinese, have been created. The terms in these collections are classified as either of Medical Problems, Medications, or Medical Tests in the i2b2 challenge tasks. The English collection contains 49,249 (Problems), 89,591 (Medications) and 25,107 (Tests) terms, while the Chinese one contains 66,780 (Problems), 101,025 (Medications), and 15,032 (Tests) terms. The proposed method of constructing a large collection of medical terms is both efficient and effective, and, most of all, independent of language. The collections will be made publicly available.

Perspectives of Chinese healthcare providers on medical abortion.

PubMed

Gan, Kang; Zhang, Yuhan; Jiang, Xiaomei; Meng, Yucui; Hou, Liyan; Cheng, Yimin

2011-07-01

To evaluate Chinese healthcare providers' knowledge regarding medical abortion, to understand provider preferences for abortion methods, and to investigate the role of remuneration on providers' decision making. Between November 2009 and May 2010, 658 abortion service providers from family-planning service centers and hospitals in Shenzhen and Henan, China, were surveyed via self-administered questionnaires. The knowledge score (out of a maximum of 32) regarding medical abortion was 16-20 for 60.9% of the providers; 20.4% of the providers preferred medical abortion to surgical abortion, whereas 35.0% preferred surgical abortion. Overall, 72.2% of providers stated that they did not receive any commission for providing medical abortion or surgical abortion. Most healthcare providers believed that surgical abortion was preferable to medical abortion. Efforts should be made to overcome the perceived disadvantages of medical abortion. Copyright © 2011 International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Virtual classroom helps medical education for both Chinese and foreign students.

PubMed

Shi, C; Wang, L; Li, X; Chai, S; Niu, W; Kong, Y; Zhou, W; Yin, W

2015-11-01

The rapid development of computer and internet technology has a strong influence over one's quality of education within different fields of study. To determine the potential benefits of introducing internet into medical school classes, a pilot study was conducted in three different Chinese medical schools. Seven hundred and eight medical school undergraduates, 385 dental school students and 366 foreign students were randomly recruited to complete a self-administered questionnaire. The contents included personal information, current usage of computer and internet, and attitudes towards the computerised teaching methods. Two forum groups were created using instant message software and were randomly assigned to two classes, allowing students to freely ask or discuss questions with the help of their teachers in these two virtual classrooms. All 1539 questionnaires were accepted and analysed. Although there were some differences between Chinese and foreign undergraduates, both group of students were highly proficient in internet usage and navigation. Overwhelmingly, 88.37% of the students owned a computer and frequently logged onto the internet. Most of them believed that the internet is a helpful adjunct to their studies and held positive attitudes towards computerised teaching. Compared to the classes that were not assigned internet forums, the two experimental classes performed significantly better on the examination. Our results suggest that computerised teaching methods have significant potential to assist in learning for both Chinese and foreign medical undergraduates. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Medical pluralism of the Chinese in London: an exploratory study.

PubMed

Rochelle, Tina L; Marks, David F

2010-11-01

This study was designed to examine the extent of medical pluralism among the Chinese in London. Members of the London Chinese community were recruited through Chinese organizations in London and participated in six focus groups. A total of 48 Chinese men and women aged 24-74 years were asked to talk about their health behaviour and health utilization patterns. Transcripts of the focus group discussions underwent thematic analysis to explore and describe the utilization of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and Western medicine (WM) of informants and factors that impacted on utilization. Findings focus on participants' evaluation of TCM and WM as two systems of health provision, how informants used these two health systems, and the reasons associated with use of these two systems. Utilization of TCM and WM varied. Concurrent use of TCM and WM was common. The National Health Service was generally perceived as difficult to use, with concerns over the language barrier, and communicating with and being able to trust health providers. The UK TCM trade was perceived as being aimed at the non-Chinese market and there were issues of trust related to the regulation of UK TCM. Although none of these issues are unique to the Chinese in the UK, previous experience with different approaches to health care, particularly TCM, may make the experience of such barriers more extreme.

Unsupervised Medical Entity Recognition and Linking in Chinese Online Medical Text

PubMed Central

Gan, Liang; Cheng, Mian; Wu, Quanyuan

2018-01-01

Online medical text is full of references to medical entities (MEs), which are valuable in many applications, including medical knowledge-based (KB) construction, decision support systems, and the treatment of diseases. However, the diverse and ambiguous nature of the surface forms gives rise to a great difficulty for ME identification. Many existing solutions have focused on supervised approaches, which are often task-dependent. In other words, applying them to different kinds of corpora or identifying new entity categories requires major effort in data annotation and feature definition. In this paper, we propose unMERL, an unsupervised framework for recognizing and linking medical entities mentioned in Chinese online medical text. For ME recognition, unMERL first exploits a knowledge-driven approach to extract candidate entities from free text. Then, the categories of the candidate entities are determined using a distributed semantic-based approach. For ME linking, we propose a collaborative inference approach which takes full advantage of heterogenous entity knowledge and unstructured information in KB. Experimental results on real corpora demonstrate significant benefits compared to recent approaches with respect to both ME recognition and linking. PMID:29849994

Exploring the Case for a Global Alliance for Medical Diagnostics Initiative

PubMed Central

Mugambi, Melissa L.; Palamountain, Kara M.; Gallarda, Jim; Drain, Paul K.

2017-01-01

In recent years, the private and public sectors have increased investments in medical diagnostics for low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Despite these investments, numerous barriers prevent the adoption of existing diagnostics and discourage the development and introduction of new diagnostics in LMICs. In the late 1990s, the global vaccine community had similar challenges, as vaccine coverage rates stagnated and the introduction of new vaccines was viewed as a distraction to delivering existing vaccines. To address these challenges, the international community came together and formed the Global Alliance for Vaccines Initiative (GAVI). Sixteen years after the formation of GAVI, we see evidence of a healthier global vaccine landscape. We discuss how GAVI’s four guiding principles (product, health systems strengthening, financing and market shaping) might apply to the advancement of medical diagnostics in LMICs. We present arguments for the international community and existing organizations to establish a Global Alliance for Medical Diagnostics Initiative (GAMDI). PMID:28134750

An overview of the roles and responsibilities of Chinese medical colleges in body donation programs.

PubMed

Zhang, Luqing; Xiao, Ming; Gu, Mufeng; Zhang, Yongjie; Jin, Jianliang; Ding, Jiong

2014-01-01

The use of human tissue is critical for gross anatomy education in the health professions. Chinese medical colleges have faced a shortage of anatomical specimens over the past decade. While body donation plays an important role in overcoming this gap, this practice has only recently been introduced in China, and the donation rate is relatively low and fraught with a number of difficulties. In the past, traditional Chinese culture focused on preserving the human body intact, which often limited body donation. In recent years, the public has become more open toward body donation. At Nanjing Medical University, only 20 bodies were donated in 2001. After the university became involved in an organized body donation program, this number increased to 70 donated bodies per year (2007 to 2012). This article describes and reviews Chinese medical colleges as a special case study among body donation programs, particularly in terms of the multiple responsibilities and roles that such institutions must assume in the course of adopting these programs. Medical colleges in China must serve as advocates, coordinators, builders, managers, educators, and beneficiaries in undertaking body donation programs. It is important for medical colleges to recognize these pluripotent roles and educate the public in order to promote body donation programs. This case study may also effectively guide and encourage Chinese medical colleges in refining their own body donation programs in the future. © 2013 American Association of Anatomists.

Attitudes toward live and postmortem kidney donation: a survey of Chinese medical students.

PubMed

Ge, Fangmin; Kaczmarczyk, Gabriele; Biller-Andorno, Nikola

2014-12-01

As the gap between supply and demand for donor organs is increasing, we sought to clarify the knowledge and attitudes regarding living-organ donation among Chinese medical students and analyze their incentives and influencing factors. Data were collected from Chinese medical students using a standardized questionnaire. Of 320 surveyed participants, 261 participants (81.6%) said they would consider donating their live kidney organ, and 262 participants (81.9%) were willing to donate posthumously. Although 177 participants (55.7%) confirmed current regulations on posthumous organ donation, only 85 participants (26.7%) could correctly identify the regulations on live organ donation in China. Gender differences were not significantly associated with willingness to donate a kidney, whereas religion and socioeconomic status of the respondents were significantly associated with willingness to donate a live or posthumous kidney. Among well-informed, young, healthy, and economically well-off Chinese male and female medical students, most were willing to be live kidney donors. Religion and socioeconomic status may affect the decision-making process for organ disposition.

Self-medication practices with antibiotics among Chinese university students.

PubMed

Zhu, X; Pan, H; Yang, Z; Cui, B; Zhang, D; Ba-Thein, W

2016-01-01

Self-medication with antibiotics (SMA) is a serious global health problem. We sought to investigate SMA behaviors and risk factors among Chinese university students, and further explore the association between SMA practices and adverse drug events (ADEs). Cross-sectional study. An online survey was conducted at Jiangsu University (JSU) in eastern China in July 2011 using a pretested questionnaire. Out of 2608 website visitors, 1086 participated in the survey (response rate: 41.6%), 426 respondents were excluded for not being a JSU student or repeat participation, 660 (2.2% of JSU students) were included in analysis, and 316 students (47.9%) had a lifetime history of SMA. Among self-treated students, 43.5% believed that antibiotic was suitable for viral infections, 65.9% had more than one SMA episode in the previous year, 73.5% self-medicated with at least two different antibiotics, 57.1% and 64.4% changed antibiotic dosage and antibiotics during the course, respectively. Female gender, older age, and prior knowledge of antibiotics (PKA) were identified as independent risk factors of SMA. There was no difference between students with and without PKA regarding SMA frequency, use of polyantibiotics, and switching antibiotic dosage or antibiotics. ADEs happened to 13.3% of self-medicated students. Frequent change of dosage and simultaneous use of the same antibiotic with different names were independent risk practices associated with an ADE. Our findings substantiate high SMA prevalence among Chinese university students. Older age and PKA are independent SMA risk factors common to Chinese university students and female gender is exclusive SMA risk factor for JSU students. Poor SMA practices are associated with ADEs. Strict regulations on antibiotic sales and public education reinforced by further health care reform are recommended. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Study on the relation between tissues pathologies and traditional chinese medicine syndromes in knee osteoarthritis: Medical image diagnostics by preoperative X-ray and surgical arthroscopy.

PubMed

Tian, Xiangdong; Zhu, Guangyu; Wang, Jian; Wang, Qingfu; Guan, Lei; Tan, Yetong; Xue, Zhipeng; Qin, Lina; Zhang, Jing

2016-04-07

This study aims to investigate whether integration of traditional Chinese medicine and modern medicine has advantage in achieving the improved diagnosis and treatment of knee osteoarthritis. 90 patients with knee osteoarthritis were selected from The Department of Minimal Invasive Joint of The Third Affiliated Hospital of Beijing University of Chinese Medicine from June 2013 to June 2015. They were divided into 3 groups with 30 cases per group in accordance to the syndrome differentiation of traditional Chinese medicine. The patients underwent arthroscopic surgery, and we categorized the patients having the same characterization in each group, and those having distinct difference into the three groups. Based on the arthroscopic analysis, we performed analysis of statistical data in order to analyze the relation between knee osteoarthritis under arthroscope and traditional Chinese medicine syndromes. There are three syndromes according to traditional Chinese medicine that can be categorized into various different groups. The synovial proliferation can be seen mostly in the syndrome of stagnation of blood stasis. The slight damage of knee joint cartilage can be seen in the syndrome of yang deficiency and cold stagnation, the severe one in the syndrome of kidney-marrow deficiency. We found that there are different pathological expressions with the various degree of the tissues damage at the knee and we categorized the knee according to their syndrome. For knee osteoarthritis, different syndromes of traditional Chinese medicine presents different tissues pathological changes at the knee joint under arthroscopy, which will provide objective basis for the diagnosis of this medical condition.

Medical diagnostics with mobile devices: Comparison of intrinsic and extrinsic sensing.

PubMed

Kwon, L; Long, K D; Wan, Y; Yu, H; Cunningham, B T

2016-01-01

We review the recent development of mobile detection instruments used for medical diagnostics, and consider the relative advantages of approaches that utilize the internal sensing capabilities of commercially available mobile communication devices (such as smartphones and tablet computers) compared to those that utilize a custom external sensor module. In this review, we focus specifically upon mobile medical diagnostic platforms that are being developed to serve the need in global health, personalized medicine, and point-of-care diagnostics. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Mapping the different methods adopted for diagnostic imaging instruction at medical schools in Brazil.

PubMed

Chojniak, Rubens; Carneiro, Dominique Piacenti; Moterani, Gustavo Simonetto Peres; Duarte, Ivone da Silva; Bitencourt, Almir Galvão Vieira; Muglia, Valdair Francisco; D'Ippolito, Giuseppe

2017-01-01

To map the different methods for diagnostic imaging instruction at medical schools in Brazil. In this cross-sectional study, a questionnaire was sent to each of the coordinators of 178 Brazilian medical schools. The following characteristics were assessed: teaching model; total course hours; infrastructure; numbers of students and professionals involved; themes addressed; diagnostic imaging modalities covered; and education policies related to diagnostic imaging. Of the 178 questionnaires sent, 45 (25.3%) were completed and returned. Of those 45 responses, 17 (37.8%) were from public medical schools, whereas 28 (62.2%) were from private medical schools. Among the 45 medical schools evaluated, the method of diagnostic imaging instruction was modular at 21 (46.7%), classic (independent discipline) at 13 (28.9%), hybrid (classical and modular) at 9 (20.0%), and none of the preceding at 3 (6.7%). Diagnostic imaging is part of the formal curriculum at 36 (80.0%) of the schools, an elective course at 3 (6.7%), and included within another modality at 6 (13.3%). Professors involved in diagnostic imaging teaching are radiologists at 43 (95.5%) of the institutions. The survey showed that medical courses in Brazil tend to offer diagnostic imaging instruction in courses that include other content and at different time points during the course. Radiologists are extensively involved in undergraduate medical education, regardless of the teaching methodology employed at the institution.

Medical physics: some recollections in diagnostic X-ray imaging and therapeutic radiology.

PubMed

Gray, J E; Orton, C G

2000-12-01

Medical physics has changed dramatically since 1895. There was a period of slow evolutionary change during the first 70 years after Roentgen's discovery of x rays. With the advent of the computer, however, both diagnostic and therapeutic radiology have undergone rapid growth and changes. Technologic advances such as computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging in diagnostic imaging and three-dimensional treatment planning systems, stereotactic radiosurgery, and intensity modulated radiation therapy in radiation oncology have resulted in substantial changes in medical physics. These advances have improved diagnostic imaging and radiation therapy while expanding the need for better educated and experienced medical physics staff.

Boosting medical diagnostics by pooling independent judgments

PubMed Central

Kurvers, Ralf H. J. M.; Herzog, Stefan M.; Hertwig, Ralph; Krause, Jens; Carney, Patricia A.; Bogart, Andy; Argenziano, Giuseppe; Zalaudek, Iris; Wolf, Max

2016-01-01

Collective intelligence refers to the ability of groups to outperform individual decision makers when solving complex cognitive problems. Despite its potential to revolutionize decision making in a wide range of domains, including medical, economic, and political decision making, at present, little is known about the conditions underlying collective intelligence in real-world contexts. We here focus on two key areas of medical diagnostics, breast and skin cancer detection. Using a simulation study that draws on large real-world datasets, involving more than 140 doctors making more than 20,000 diagnoses, we investigate when combining the independent judgments of multiple doctors outperforms the best doctor in a group. We find that similarity in diagnostic accuracy is a key condition for collective intelligence: Aggregating the independent judgments of doctors outperforms the best doctor in a group whenever the diagnostic accuracy of doctors is relatively similar, but not when doctors’ diagnostic accuracy differs too much. This intriguingly simple result is highly robust and holds across different group sizes, performance levels of the best doctor, and collective intelligence rules. The enabling role of similarity, in turn, is explained by its systematic effects on the number of correct and incorrect decisions of the best doctor that are overruled by the collective. By identifying a key factor underlying collective intelligence in two important real-world contexts, our findings pave the way for innovative and more effective approaches to complex real-world decision making, and to the scientific analyses of those approaches. PMID:27432950

Mapping the different methods adopted for diagnostic imaging instruction at medical schools in Brazil

PubMed Central

Chojniak, Rubens; Carneiro, Dominique Piacenti; Moterani, Gustavo Simonetto Peres; Duarte, Ivone da Silva; Bitencourt, Almir Galvão Vieira; Muglia, Valdair Francisco; D'Ippolito, Giuseppe

2017-01-01

Objective To map the different methods for diagnostic imaging instruction at medical schools in Brazil. Materials and Methods In this cross-sectional study, a questionnaire was sent to each of the coordinators of 178 Brazilian medical schools. The following characteristics were assessed: teaching model; total course hours; infrastructure; numbers of students and professionals involved; themes addressed; diagnostic imaging modalities covered; and education policies related to diagnostic imaging. Results Of the 178 questionnaires sent, 45 (25.3%) were completed and returned. Of those 45 responses, 17 (37.8%) were from public medical schools, whereas 28 (62.2%) were from private medical schools. Among the 45 medical schools evaluated, the method of diagnostic imaging instruction was modular at 21 (46.7%), classic (independent discipline) at 13 (28.9%), hybrid (classical and modular) at 9 (20.0%), and none of the preceding at 3 (6.7%). Diagnostic imaging is part of the formal curriculum at 36 (80.0%) of the schools, an elective course at 3 (6.7%), and included within another modality at 6 (13.3%). Professors involved in diagnostic imaging teaching are radiologists at 43 (95.5%) of the institutions. Conclusion The survey showed that medical courses in Brazil tend to offer diagnostic imaging instruction in courses that include other content and at different time points during the course. Radiologists are extensively involved in undergraduate medical education, regardless of the teaching methodology employed at the institution. PMID:28298730

Workplace violence and its effect on burnout and turnover attempt among Chinese medical staff.

PubMed

Chen, Shiying; Lin, Shaowei; Ruan, Qishuang; Li, Huangyuan; Wu, Siying

2016-11-01

The present study was to evaluate workplace violence and examine its effect on job burnout and turnover attempt among medical staff in China. A total of 2,020 medical employees were selected from Fujian province by using stratified cluster sampling method. The Chinese version of the Workplace Violence Scale and the Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey were used to measure the workplace violence and job burnout, respectively. Other potential influencing factors for job burnout and turnover attempt were collected using a structured questionnaire. The incidence of workplace violence among medical staff was 48.0%. Workplace violence had a positive correlation with emotional exhaustion and cynicism and a negative correlation with professional efficacy. Workplace violence, marital status, employment type, working time (≥ 10 h/day), performance recognition, and life satisfaction were significant predictors for turnover attempt among Chinese medical staff.

Reimbursement for injury-induced medical expenses in Chinese social medical insurance schemes: A systematic analysis of legislative documents

PubMed Central

Gao, Yuyan; Li, Li; Schwebel, David C.; Ning, Peishan; Cheng, Peixia

2018-01-01

Social medical insurance schemes are crucial for realizing universal health coverage and health equity. The aim of this study was to investigate whether and how reimbursement for injury-induced medical expenses is addressed in Chinese legislative documents relevant to social medical insurance. We retrieved legislative documents from the China National Knowledge Infrastructure and the Lawyee databases. Four types of social medical insurance schemes were included: urban employee basic medical insurance, urban resident basic medical insurance, new rural cooperative medical system, and urban and rural resident medical insurance. Text analyses were conducted on all identified legislative documents. As a result, one national law and 1,037 local legislative documents were identified. 1,012 of the 1,038 documents provided for reimbursement. Of the 1,012 documents, 828 (82%) provided reimbursement only for injuries without a legally responsible person/party or not caused by self-harm, alcohol use, drug use, or other law violations, and 162 (16%) did not include any details concerning implementation. Furthermore, 760 (92%) of the 828 did not provide an exception clause applying to injuries when a responsible person/party could not be contacted or for situations when the injured person cannot obtain reimbursement from the responsible person/party. Thus, most Chinese legislative documents related to social medical insurance do not provide reimbursement for medical expenses from injuries having a legally responsible person/party or those caused by illegal behaviors. We argue that all injury-induced medical expenses should be covered by legislative documents related to social medical insurance in China, no matter what the cause of the injury. Further research is needed to explore the acceptability and feasibility of such policy changes. PMID:29543913

PBL and Critical Thinking Disposition in Chinese Medical Students--A Randomized Cross-Sectional Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Du, XiangYun; Emmersen, Jeppe; Toft, Egon; Sun, Baozhi

2013-01-01

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship of problem-based learning (PBL) and the development of critical thinking disposition (CT) and academic achievement in Chinese medical students using a cross-sectional randomized design. Medical students from China Medical University (CMU) were randomized to PBL or non-PBL teaching at the…

77 FR 39656 - Medical Diagnostic Equipment Accessibility Standards Advisory Committee

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-07-05

...-0003] RIN 3014-AA40 Medical Diagnostic Equipment Accessibility Standards Advisory Committee AGENCY... Diagnostic Equipment Accessibility Standards. DATES: The first meeting of the committee will be held at a... Equipment Accessibility Standards. See 77 FR 14706 (March 13, 2012). Section 510 of the Rehabilitation Act...

Determinate factors of mental health status in Chinese medical staff: A cross-sectional study.

PubMed

Zhou, Chenyu; Shi, Lei; Gao, Lei; Liu, Wenhui; Chen, Zhenkang; Tong, Xinfa; Xu, Wen; Peng, Boshi; Zhao, Yan; Fan, Lihua

2018-03-01

Numerous previous studies have investigated the mental health status of medical staff in China and explored its associated determinate factors; however, scope and methods associated with these have introduced uncertainty regarding the results. The aim of this study was to perform a comprehensive examination of the mental health status of Chinese medical staff and its relative risk factors based on a cross-sectional survey.We conducted a broad area, cross-sectional, questionnaire-based survey of Chinese medical workers. Participants were randomly selected from 27 hospitals in the Heilongjiang province. The questionnaire that was distributed consisted of 5 parts: the demographic characteristics of the participant; questions related to the relative risk factors of psychological health; the posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) Checklist-Civilian Version (PCL-C); the Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS); and the Self-rating Anxiety Scale (SAS). The last 3 components were used to evaluate the mental health status of the target population. Logistic and linear regression were used to analyze the determinate factors of the mental health status of Chinese medical staff.Of the 1679 questionnaires distributed, 1557 medical workers responded (response rate: 92.73%; male: 24.1%; female 75.9%). The results of mental health status self-assessments indicated that 32.3% of participants were considered to have some degree of PTSD (based on the PCL-C). The SDS index was 0.67 and the mean score from SAS was 55.26; a result higher than found in the general population. Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that being female, dissatisfaction or average satisfaction with income, and good or very good self-perceived psychological endurance when faced with an emergency were associated with a reduction of PTSD symptoms. A frequency of verbal abuse incidents greater than 4 was associated with an increase in PTSD symptoms.The mental health status of Chinese medical staff is poor

Email for communicating results of diagnostic medical investigations to patients.

PubMed

Meyer, Barbara; Atherton, Helen; Sawmynaden, Prescilla; Car, Josip

2012-08-15

As medical care becomes more complex and the ability to test for conditions grows, pressure on healthcare providers to convey increasing volumes of test results to patients is driving investigation of alternative technological solutions for their delivery. This review addresses the use of email for communicating results of diagnostic medical investigations to patients. To assess the effects of using email for communicating results of diagnostic medical investigations to patients, compared to SMS/ text messaging, telephone communication or usual care, on outcomes, including harms, for health professionals, patients and caregivers, and health services. We searched: the Cochrane Consumers and Communication Review Group Specialised Register, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL, The Cochrane Library, Issue 1 2010), MEDLINE (OvidSP) (1950 to January 2010), EMBASE (OvidSP) (1980 to January 2010), PsycINFO (OvidSP) (1967 to January 2010), CINAHL (EbscoHOST) (1982 to February 2010), and ERIC (CSA) (1965 to January 2010). We searched grey literature: theses/dissertation repositories, trials registers and Google Scholar (searched July 2010). We used additional search methods: examining reference lists and contacting authors. Randomised controlled trials, quasi-randomised trials, controlled before and after studies and interrupted time series studies of interventions using email for communicating results of any diagnostic medical investigations to patients, and taking the form of 1) unsecured email 2) secure email or 3) web messaging. All healthcare professionals, patients and caregivers in all settings were considered. Two review authors independently assessed the titles and abstracts of retrieved citations. No studies were identified for inclusion. Consequently, no data collection or analysis was possible. No studies met the inclusion criteria, therefore there are no results to report on the use of email for communicating results of diagnostic medical

A web-based knowledge management system integrating Western and Traditional Chinese Medicine for relational medical diagnosis.

PubMed

Herrera-Hernandez, Maria C; Lai-Yuen, Susana K; Piegl, Les A; Zhang, Xiao

2016-10-26

This article presents the design of a web-based knowledge management system as a training and research tool for the exploration of key relationships between Western and Traditional Chinese Medicine, in order to facilitate relational medical diagnosis integrating these mainstream healing modalities. The main goal of this system is to facilitate decision-making processes, while developing skills and creating new medical knowledge. Traditional Chinese Medicine can be considered as an ancient relational knowledge-based approach, focusing on balancing interrelated human functions to reach a healthy state. Western Medicine focuses on specialties and body systems and has achieved advanced methods to evaluate the impact of a health disorder on the body functions. Identifying key relationships between Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine opens new approaches for health care practices and can increase the understanding of human medical conditions. Our knowledge management system was designed from initial datasets of symptoms, known diagnosis and treatments, collected from both medicines. The datasets were subjected to process-oriented analysis, hierarchical knowledge representation and relational database interconnection. Web technology was implemented to develop a user-friendly interface, for easy navigation, training and research. Our system was prototyped with a case study on chronic prostatitis. This trial presented the system's capability for users to learn the correlation approach, connecting knowledge in Western and Traditional Chinese Medicine by querying the database, mapping validated medical information, accessing complementary information from official sites, and creating new knowledge as part of the learning process. By addressing the challenging tasks of data acquisition and modeling, organization, storage and transfer, the proposed web-based knowledge management system is presented as a tool for users in medical training and research to explore, learn and

System theory in medical diagnostic devices: an overview.

PubMed

Baura, Gail D

2006-01-01

Medical diagnostics refers to testing conducted either in vitro or in vivo to provide critical health care information for risk assessment, early diagnosis, treatment, or disease management. Typical in vivo diagnostic tests include the computed tomography scan, magnetic resonance imaging, and blood pressure screening. Typical in vitro diagnostic tests include cholesterol, Papanicolaou smear, and conventional glucose monitoring tests. Historically, devices associated with both types of diagnostics have used heuristic curve fitting during signal analysis. However, since the early 1990s, a few enterprising engineers and physicians have used system theory to improve their core processing for feature detection and system identification. Current applications include automated Pap smear screening for detection of cervical cancer and diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease. Future applications, such as disease prediction before symptom onset and drug treatment customization, have been catalyzed by the Human Genome Project.

NCI and the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences Sign Statement of Intent

Cancer.gov

Today the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the Cancer Institute/Hospital of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (CICAMS) signed a statement of intent to share an interest in fostering collaborative biomedical research in oncology and a common goal

The premature ejaculation diagnostic tool (PEDT): linguistic validity of the Chinese version.

PubMed

Huang, Yan-Ping; Chen, Bin; Ping, Ping; Wang, Hong-Xiang; Hu, Kai; Zhang, Tao; Yang, Hao; Jin, Yan; Yang, Qi; Huang, Yi-Ran

2014-09-01

The premature ejaculation diagnostic tool (PEDT) was developed to standardize the diagnosis of PE and has been applied in many countries. However, a linguistic validation of the Chinese version of PEDT does not exist. This study aims to undertake the Chinese validation of the PEDT and to evaluate its association with self-estimated intravaginal ejaculatory latency time (IELT) and clinical expert diagnosis of PE. A Chinese version of PEDT was confirmed by andrologist and bilingual linguist. Participants were recruited among seven different communities of Shanghai from 2011 to 2012, and their information regarding self-reported PE, self-estimated IELT, expert diagnosis of PE, and PEDT scores were collected. Validity of the PEDT and its association with clinical expert diagnosis of PE and self-estimated IELT were analyzed. A total of 143 patients without PE (mean age 55.11 ± 7.65 years) and 100 men with PE (mean age 53.07 ± 8.08 years) were enrolled for validation. Of the patients in PE group, the number of men reporting self-estimated IELTs of ≤1, 1-2, and >2 minutes were 34 (34.0%), 22 (22.0%), and 44 (44.0%), respectively. The Cronbach's alpha score (α = 0.77) showed adequate internal consistency, and the test-retest correlation coefficients of each item (r ≥ 0.70, P < 0.001) indicated excellent stability over time. The frequency of agreement showed that there was excellent concordance between PEDT diagnosis and clinician diagnosis when the PEDT scores ≥11. An adequate correlation was found between total PEDT score and self-estimated IELT (ρ = -0.396, P < 0.001), and sensitivity and specificity analyses suggested a score of ≤8 indicated no time-defined PE (self-estimated IELT ≤1 minute). The Chinese version of PEDT is valid in screening the presence of PE among Chinese men. The PEDT showed an adequate negative correlation with self-estimated IELT and an excellent concordance with clinician diagnosis of PE. © 2014

Curriculum reform at Chinese medical schools: what have we learned?

PubMed

Huang, Lei; Cheng, Liming; Cai, Qiaoling; Kosik, Russell Olive; Huang, Yun; Zhao, Xudong; Xu, Guo-Tong; Su, Tung-Ping; Chiu, Allen Wen-Hsiang; Fan, Angela Pei-Chen

2014-12-01

Curriculum reform at Chinese medical schools has attracted a lot of attention recently. Several leading medical schools in China have undergone exploratory reforms and in so doing, have accumulated significant experience and have made considerable progress. An analysis of the reforms conducted by 38 Chinese medical colleges that were targeted by the government for upgrade was performed. Drawing from both domestic and international literature, we designed a questionnaire to determine what types of curricular reforms have occurred at these institutions and how they were implemented. Major questions touched upon the purpose of the reforms, curricular patterns, improvements in teaching methods post-reform, changes made to evaluation systems post-reform, intra-university reform assessment, and what difficulties the schools faced when instituting the reforms. Besides the questionnaire, relevant administrators from each medical school were also interviewed to obtain more qualitative data. Out of the 38 included universities, twenty-five have undergone major curricular reforms. Among them, 60.0% adopted an organ system-based curriculum model, 32.0% adopted a problem-based curriculum model, and 8.0% adopted a hybrid curriculum model. About 60.0% of the schools' reforms involved both the "pre-clinical" and the "clinical" curricula, 32.0% of the schools' reforms were limited to the "pre-clinical" curricula, and 8.0% of the schools' reforms only involved the "clinical" curricula. Following curricular reform, 60.0% of medical schools experienced an overall reduction in teaching hours, 76.0% reported an increase in their students' clinical skills, and 60.0% reported an increase in their students' research skills. Medical curricular reform is still in its infancy in China. The republic's leading medical schools have engaged in various approaches to bring innovative teaching methods to their respective institutions. However, due to limited resources and the shackle of traditional

A cloud-based framework for large-scale traditional Chinese medical record retrieval.

PubMed

Liu, Lijun; Liu, Li; Fu, Xiaodong; Huang, Qingsong; Zhang, Xianwen; Zhang, Yin

2018-01-01

Electronic medical records are increasingly common in medical practice. The secondary use of medical records has become increasingly important. It relies on the ability to retrieve the complete information about desired patient populations. How to effectively and accurately retrieve relevant medical records from large- scale medical big data is becoming a big challenge. Therefore, we propose an efficient and robust framework based on cloud for large-scale Traditional Chinese Medical Records (TCMRs) retrieval. We propose a parallel index building method and build a distributed search cluster, the former is used to improve the performance of index building, and the latter is used to provide high concurrent online TCMRs retrieval. Then, a real-time multi-indexing model is proposed to ensure the latest relevant TCMRs are indexed and retrieved in real-time, and a semantics-based query expansion method and a multi- factor ranking model are proposed to improve retrieval quality. Third, we implement a template-based visualization method for displaying medical reports. The proposed parallel indexing method and distributed search cluster can improve the performance of index building and provide high concurrent online TCMRs retrieval. The multi-indexing model can ensure the latest relevant TCMRs are indexed and retrieved in real-time. The semantics expansion method and the multi-factor ranking model can enhance retrieval quality. The template-based visualization method can enhance the availability and universality, where the medical reports are displayed via friendly web interface. In conclusion, compared with the current medical record retrieval systems, our system provides some advantages that are useful in improving the secondary use of large-scale traditional Chinese medical records in cloud environment. The proposed system is more easily integrated with existing clinical systems and be used in various scenarios. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Optoelectronic tweezers for medical diagnostics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kremer, Clemens; Neale, Steven; Menachery, Anoop; Barrett, Mike; Cooper, Jonathan M.

2012-01-01

Optoelectronic tweezers (OET) allows the spatial patterning of electric fields through selected illumination of a photoconductive surface. This enables the manipulation of micro particles and cells by creating non-uniform electrical fields that then produce dielectrophoretic (DEP) forces. The DEP responses of cells differ and can produce negative or positive (repelled or attracted to areas of high electric field) forces. Therefore OET can be used to manipulate individual cells and separate different cell types from each other. Thus OET has many applications for medical diagnostics, demonstrated here with work towards diagnosing Human African Trypanosomiasis, also known as sleeping sickness.

Medication regularity of pulmonary fibrosis treatment by contemporary traditional Chinese medicine experts based on data mining.

PubMed

Zhang, Suxian; Wu, Hao; Liu, Jie; Gu, Huihui; Li, Xiujuan; Zhang, Tiansong

2018-03-01

Treatment of pulmonary fibrosis by traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has accumulated important experience. Our interest is in exploring the medication regularity of contemporary Chinese medical specialists treating pulmonary fibrosis. Through literature search, medical records from TCM experts who treat pulmonary fibrosis, which were published in Chinese and English medical journals, were selected for this study. As the object of study, a database was established after analysing the records. After data cleaning, the rules of medicine in the treatment of pulmonary fibrosis in medical records of TCM were explored by using data mining technologies such as frequency analysis, association rule analysis, and link analysis. A total of 124 medical records from 60 doctors were selected in this study; 263 types of medicinals were used a total of 5,455 times; the herbs that were used more than 30 times can be grouped into 53 species and were used a total of 3,681 times. Using main medicinals cluster analysis, medicinals were divided into qi-tonifying, yin-tonifying, blood-activating, phlegm-resolving, cough-suppressing, panting-calming, and ten other major medicinal categories. According to the set conditions, a total of 62 drug compatibility rules have been obtained, involving mainly qi-tonifying, yin-tonifying, blood-activating, phlegm-resolving, qi-descending, and panting-calming medicinals, as well as other medicinals used in combination. The results of data mining are consistent with clinical practice and it is feasible to explore the medical rules applicable to the treatment of pulmonary fibrosis in medical records of TCM by data mining.

A hybrid body technique: does the pulse diagnostic cun guan chi method have Chinese-Tibetan origins?

PubMed

Hsu, Elisabeth

2008-01-01

This article investigates the medieval origins of the main pulse diagnostic method in contemporary Chinese medicine, sometimes known as san bu (three sectors) method, which requires physicians to examine the mai (vessels, vessel movements or pulse) on the wrist at the three locations cun guan chi (inch, gate, foot). The article provides evidence to suggest that this body technique grew out of an earlier Chinese one, the cun chi (inch-foot) method, which appears to have aimed at investigating the qualities of yin and yang in order to determine the condition of a patient by means of exploring fairly large areas of the patient's body surface with the palms. The article furthermore posits that the cun chi method was decisively transformed in medieval times, presumably due to the impact of early Tibetan pulse diagnostic practices: it became framed in a numerology of three and started advocating the use of the fingertips for sensing the pulse beats. The article, which draws on detailed textual analyses of medieval manuscripts, on visual evidence and also on psychophysical research, furthermore highlights how misunderstandings can constructively contribute to cultural communication.

[Clinical features of a Chinese pedigree with Waardenburg syndrome type 2].

PubMed

Yang, Shu-zhi; Yuan, Hui-jun; Bai, Lin-na; Cao, Ju-yang; Xu, Ye; Shen, Wei-dong; Ji, Fei; Yang, Wei-yan

2005-10-12

To investigate detailed clinical features of a Chinese pedigree with Waardenburg syndrome type 2. Members of this pedigree were interviewed to identify personal or family medical histories of hearing loss, the use of aminoglycosides, and other clinical abnormalities by filling questionnaire. The audiological and other clinical evaluations of the proband and other members of this family were conducted, including pure-tone audiometry, immittance and auditory brain-stem response and ophthalmological, dermatologic, hair, temporal bone CT examinations. This family is categorized as Waardenburg syndrome type 2 according to its clinical features. It's an autosomal dominant disorder with incomplete penetrance. The clinical features varied greatly among family members and characterized by sensorineural hearing loss, heterochromia irides, freckle on the face and premature gray hair. Hearing loss can be unilateral or bilateral, congenital or late onset in this family. This Chinese family has some unique clinical features comparing with the international diagnostic criteria for Waardenburg syndrome. This study may provide some evidences to amend the diagnostic criteria for Waardenburg syndrome in Chinese population.

Mutual benefit for foreign medical students and Chinese postgraduates: A mixed team-based learning method overcomes communication problems in hematology clerkship.

PubMed

Chen, Xianling; Chen, Buyuan; Li, Xiaofan; Song, Qingxiao; Chen, Yuanzhong

2017-03-04

Hematology is difficult for students to learn. A beneficial education method for hematology clerkship training is required to help students develop clinical skills. Foreign medical students often encounter communication issues in China. To address this issue, Chinese post-graduates from our institute are willing to assist with educating foreign students. Therefore, we propose a mixed team-based learning method (MTBL) which might overcome communication problems in hematology clerkship. Twenty-two foreign medical Students attended a 2-week hematology clerkship in Fujian Medical University Union Hospital. Twenty-one foreign African medical students were assigned randomly into two groups. Fourteen foreign African medical students were assigned to MTBL group. Each MTBL team included two foreign African medical students and one Chinese post-graduate. Seven foreign African medical students were assigned to lecture-based learning method (LBL) group, which had a foreign medical classmate from Hong Kong or Chinese intern volunteers to serve as translators. The practice test scores of MTBL were significantly higher than LBL group (p < 0.05). The MTBL group had increased motivation to prepare before class, an engaged classroom atmosphere, and an improvement in their understanding of difficult topics. Interestingly, the Chinese post-graduates also benefited from this setting, as they found that this interaction improved their communication in the English language. The mixed team-based learning method overcomes communication problems in hematology clerkship. Foreign medical students and Chinese post-graduates alike can benefit from MTBL. © 2016 by The International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 45(2):93-96, 2017. © 2016 The International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

Sherlock Holmes' methods of deductive reasoning applied to medical diagnostics.

PubMed

Miller, L

1985-03-01

Having patterned the character of Sherlock Holmes after one of his professors, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, himself a physician, incorporated many of the didactic qualities of the 19th century medical diagnostician into the character of Holmes. In this paper I explore Holmes's techniques of deductive reasoning and their basis in 19th and 20th century medical diagnostics.

Validation of the Chinese version of the Modified Caregivers Strain Index among Hong Kong caregivers: an initiative of medical social workers.

PubMed

Chan, Wallace Chi Ho; Chan, Christopher L F; Suen, Margaret

2013-11-01

Family caregivers may often experience caregiving stress and burden. To systematically assess this issue, medical social workers may need to use a brief and valid measurement in their practice. In the Hong Kong Chinese context, one additional challenge is to examine whether a measurement developed in the West is valid for Hong Kong Chinese caregivers. Thus, medical social workers in Hong Kong initiated this research study to validate the Chinese version of the Modified Caregiver Strain Index (C-M-CSI). A total of 223 Chinese caregivers of patients with various chronic illnesses were recruited for this validation study. C-M-CSI demonstrated good reliability (Cronbach's alpha coefficient = .91), concurrent validity with the Chinese version of the Caregiver Burden Inventory, and discriminant validity with the Chinese version of the Meaning in Life Questionnaire. Factor analysis yielded a single factor as the original M-CSI, which explained 49 percent of variance. Construct validity was shown by differentiating spousal and nonspousal caregivers, as well as caregivers of patients with and without behavioral problems. C-M-CSI is recommended as a brief and valid measurement that can be used by medical social workers in assessing the caregiving strain of Chinese caregivers of patients in Hong Kong.

Cardiac medication prescribing and adherence after acute myocardial infarction in Chinese and South Asian Canadian patients.

PubMed

Lai, Emily J; Grubisic, Maja; Palepu, Anita; Quan, Hude; King, Kathryn M; Khan, Nadia A

2011-09-18

Failure to adhere to cardiac medications after acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is associated with increased mortality. Language barriers and preference for traditional medications may predispose certain ethnic groups at high risk for non-adherence. We compared prescribing and adherence to ACE-inhibitors (ACEI), beta-blockers (BB), and statins following AMI among elderly Chinese, South Asian, and Non-Asian patients. Retrospective-cohort study of elderly AMI survivors (1995-2002) using administrative data from British Columbia. AMI cases and ethnicity were identified using validated ICD-9/10 coding and surname algorithms, respectively. Medication adherence was assessed using the 'proportion of days covered' (PDC) metric with a PDC ≥ 0.80 indicating optimal adherence. The independent effect of ethnicity on adherence was assessed using multivariable modeling, adjusting for socio-demographic and clinical characteristics. There were 9926 elderly AMI survivors (258 Chinese, 511 South Asian patients). More Chinese patients were prescribed BBs (79.7% vs. 73.1%, p = 0.04) and more South Asian patients were prescribed statins (73.5% vs. 65.2%, p = 0.001). Both Chinese (Odds Ratio [OR] 0.53; 95%CI, 0.39-0.73; p < 0.0001) and South Asian (OR 0.78; 95%CI, 0.61-0.99; p = 0.04) patients were less adherent to ACEI compared to Non-Asian patients. South Asian patients were more adherent to BBs (OR 1.3; 95%CI, 1.04-1.62; p = 0.02). There was no difference in prescribing of ACEI, nor adherence to statins among the ethnicities. Despite a higher likelihood of being prescribed evidence-based therapies following AMI, Chinese and South Asian patients were less likely to adhere to ACEI compared to their Non-Asian counterparts.

Influencing factors of alexithymia in Chinese medical students: a cross-sectional study.

PubMed

Zhu, Yaxin; Luo, Ting; Liu, Jie; Qu, Bo

2017-04-04

A much higher prevalence of alexithymia has been reported in medical students compared with the general population, and alexithymia is a risk factor that increases vulnerability to mental disorders. Our aim was to evaluate the level of alexithymia in Chinese medical students and to explore its influencing factors. A cross-sectional study of 1,950 medical students at Shenyang Medical College was conducted in May 2014 to evaluate alexithymia in medical students using the Chinese version of the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20). The reliability of the questionnaire was assessed by Cronbach's α coefficient and mean inter-item correlations. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to evaluate construct validity. The relationships between alexithymia and influencing factors were examined using Student's t-test, analysis of variance, and multiple linear regression analysis. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 21.0. Of the 1,950 medical students, 1,886 (96.7%) completed questionnaires. Overall, Cronbach's α coefficient of the TAS-20 questionnaire was 0.868. The results of CFA showed that the original three-factor structure produced an acceptable fit to the data. By univariate analysis, gender, grade (academic year of study), smoking behavior, alcohol use, physical activity, history of living with parents during childhood, and childhood trauma were influencing factors of TAS-20 scores (p < 0.05). Multiple linear regression analysis showed that gender, physical activity, grade, living with parents, and childhood trauma also had statistically significant association with total TAS-20 score (p < 0.05). Gender, physical activity, grade, history of living with parents during childhood, and childhood trauma were all factors determining the level of alexithymia. To prevent alexithymia, it will be advisable to promote adequate physical activity and pay greater attention to male medical students and those who are in the final year of training.

An Interview with Medical Diagnostics Scientist Bernhard Weigl

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sullivan, Megan

2010-01-01

Medical diagnostics help us evaluate a range of disorders, such as cancer and infectious diseases. In the United States and other developed countries, doctors have access to advanced equipment and laboratories that provide reliable diagnoses. As a result, when we are sick, we feel confident that we will get the treatment we need. Unfortunately,…

Sherlock Holmes's Methods of Deductive Reasoning Applied to Medical Diagnostics

PubMed Central

Miller, Larry

1985-01-01

Having patterned the character of Sherlock Holmes after one of his professors, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, himself a physician, incorporated many of the didactic qualities of the 19th century medical diagnostician into the character of Holmes. In this paper I explore Holmes's techniques of deductive reasoning and their basis in 19th and 20th century medical diagnostics. PMID:3887762

Patterns of tobacco-use behavior among Chinese smokers with medical conditions.

PubMed

Wong, Candice C; Tong, Elisa K; Tsoh, Janice Y; Chen, Meng-Jinn; Hom, Fred B

2009-12-01

Understanding the characteristics of Chinese American smokers with medical conditions and factors associated with their tobacco-use behaviors will guide effective cessation programs. In 2008, the authors described socio-demographic profiles of Chinese smokers with medical conditions treated during the period 2002-2006, documented their tobacco-use behaviors (i.e., average daily cigarette use, nicotine dependence, and number of past-year quit attempts), and drew comparisons between subjects recruited from hospitals (IP) and ambulatory settings (OP). Compared to OP, IP were significantly older, less educated, less acculturated, and more likely to be retired. Of the two groups, IP had poorer disease profiles, smoked less (4.4 vs. 11.9 cigarettes per day), and had lower nicotine-addiction scores (5.5 vs. 6.7). There was no difference between groups in past-year quit attempts. After adjustments, the data revealed that being employed and OP was associated with higher average daily cigarette use; IP were less nicotine dependent than OP; and for both groups, years of smoking was negatively associated with past-year quit attempts. Our study suggests that, more than acculturation level, health status influences the Chinese smoker's level of cigarette use and nicotine addiction. Given the severity of their disease profiles, IP should be aggressively targeted for intervention, as they are more likely to be light smokers and to be less nicotine dependent than OP. Future tobacco treatment studies should pay attention to health status among smokers in health-care settings in order to provide a more accurate assessment of treatment needs and of barriers to successful smoking cessation.

Principles for new optical techniques in medical diagnostics for mHealth applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Balsam, Joshua Michael

Medical diagnostics is a critical element of effective medical treatment. However, many modern and emerging diagnostic technologies are not affordable or compatible with the needs and conditions found in low-income and middle-income countries and regions. Resource-poor areas require low-cost, robust, easy-to-use, and portable diagnostics devices compatible with telemedicine (i.e. mHealth) that can be adapted to meet diverse medical needs. Many suitable devices will need to be based on optical technologies, which are used for many types of biological analyses. This dissertation describes the fabrication and detection principles for several low-cost optical technologies for mHealth applications including: (1) a webcam based multi-wavelength fluorescence plate reader, (2) a lens-free optical detector used for the detection of Botulinum A neurotoxin activity, (3) a low cost micro-array reader that allows the performance of typical fluorescence based assays demonstrated for the detection of the toxin staphylococcal enterotoxin (SEB), and (4) a wide-field flow cytometer for high throughput detection of fluorescently labeled rare cells. This dissertation discusses how these technologies can be harnessed using readily available consumer electronics components such as webcams, cell phones, CCD cameras, LEDs, and laser diodes. There are challenges in developing devices with sufficient sensitivity and specificity, and approaches are presented to overcoming these challenges to create optical detectors that can serve as low cost medical diagnostics in resource-poor settings for mHealth.

Medical image computing for computer-supported diagnostics and therapy. Advances and perspectives.

PubMed

Handels, H; Ehrhardt, J

2009-01-01

Medical image computing has become one of the most challenging fields in medical informatics. In image-based diagnostics of the future software assistance will become more and more important, and image analysis systems integrating advanced image computing methods are needed to extract quantitative image parameters to characterize the state and changes of image structures of interest (e.g. tumors, organs, vessels, bones etc.) in a reproducible and objective way. Furthermore, in the field of software-assisted and navigated surgery medical image computing methods play a key role and have opened up new perspectives for patient treatment. However, further developments are needed to increase the grade of automation, accuracy, reproducibility and robustness. Moreover, the systems developed have to be integrated into the clinical workflow. For the development of advanced image computing systems methods of different scientific fields have to be adapted and used in combination. The principal methodologies in medical image computing are the following: image segmentation, image registration, image analysis for quantification and computer assisted image interpretation, modeling and simulation as well as visualization and virtual reality. Especially, model-based image computing techniques open up new perspectives for prediction of organ changes and risk analysis of patients and will gain importance in diagnostic and therapy of the future. From a methodical point of view the authors identify the following future trends and perspectives in medical image computing: development of optimized application-specific systems and integration into the clinical workflow, enhanced computational models for image analysis and virtual reality training systems, integration of different image computing methods, further integration of multimodal image data and biosignals and advanced methods for 4D medical image computing. The development of image analysis systems for diagnostic support or

Traditional Chinese Medical Journals currently published in mainland China.

PubMed

Fan, Wei-Yu; Tong, Yuan-Yuan; Pan, Yan-Li; Shang, Wen-Ling; Shen, Jia-Yi; Li, Wei; Li, Li-Jun

2008-06-01

Traditional Chinese Medical (TCM) journals have been playing an important role in scholarly communication in China. However, the information in those periodicals was not enough for international readers. This study aims to provide an overview of TCM journals in China. TCM journals currently published in mainland China were identified from Chinese databases and journal subscription catalogs. Data on publication start year, publishing region, language, whether core journals, whether indexed in famous international databases, with/without accessible URL were investigated, and subjects of journals were categorized. One hundred and forty-nine (149) TCM journals are currently published in mainland China; 88.59% of them are academic journals. The subjects of those journals are various, ranging from the general TCM, integrative medicine, herbal medicines, to veterinary TCM. The publishing areas are distributed in 27 regions, with Beijing having the most TCM journals published. One hundred and forty-two (142) of those periodicals are in Chinese, while 4 are also in English, and 3 in other languages. Only 8 TCM journals were recognized as core journals, and 5 were identified as both core journals and journals with high impacted articles by all evaluation systems in China. A few of the TCM journals from mainland China are indexed in PubMed/MEDLINE (10), EMBASE (5), Biological Abstracts (2), or AMED (1). Online full-text Chinese databases CJFD, COJ, and CSTPD cover most of TCM the journals published in the country. One hundred (100) TCM journals have accessible URLs, but only 3 are open access with free full texts. Publication of TCM journals in China has been active in academic communication in the past 20 years. However, only a few of them received recognized high evaluation. English information from them is not sufficient. Open access is not extensively acceptable. The accessibility of those journals to international readers needs to be improved.

National variation of ADHD diagnostic prevalence and medication use: health care providers and education policies.

PubMed

Fulton, Brent D; Scheffler, Richard M; Hinshaw, Stephen P; Levine, Peter; Stone, Susan; Brown, Timothy T; Modrek, Sepideh

2009-08-01

Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) diagnostic prevalence and medication use vary across U.S. census regions, but little is known about state-level variation. The purpose of this study was to estimate this variation across states and examine whether a state's health care provider characteristics and education policies are associated with this variation. Logistic regression models were estimated with 69,505 children aged four to 17 from the state-stratified and nationally representative 2003 National Survey of Children's Health, conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Diagnostic prevalence was higher in the South (odds ratio [OR]=1.42, p<.001) than in the West; among children with ADHD diagnoses, medication use was higher in the South (OR=1.60, p<.01) and the Midwest (OR=1.53, p<.01) versus the West. On these measures, several states differed from the U.S. averages, including some states that, on the basis of the regional patterns found above, would not be expected to differ: Michigan had a high diagnostic prevalence; Vermont, South Dakota, and Nebraska had low diagnostic prevalences; and Connecticut, New Jersey, and Kentucky had low medication rates. Both diagnosis and medication status were associated with the number, age, and type of physicians within a state, particularly pediatricians. However, state education policies were not significantly associated with either diagnostic prevalence or medication rates. To better understand the association between a state's health care provider characteristics and both diagnostic prevalence and medication use, it may be fruitful to examine the content of provider continuing education programs, including the recommendations of major health professional organization guidelines to treat ADHD.

Emergency physician perceptions of medically unnecessary advanced diagnostic imaging.

PubMed

Kanzaria, Hemal K; Hoffman, Jerome R; Probst, Marc A; Caloyeras, John P; Berry, Sandra H; Brook, Robert H

2015-04-01

The objective was to determine emergency physician (EP) perceptions regarding 1) the extent to which they order medically unnecessary advanced diagnostic imaging, 2) factors that contribute to this behavior, and 3) proposed solutions for curbing this practice. As part of a larger study to engage physicians in the delivery of high-value health care, two multispecialty focus groups were conducted to explore the topic of decision-making around resource utilization, after which qualitative analysis was used to generate survey questions. The survey was extensively pilot-tested and refined for emergency medicine (EM) to focus on advanced diagnostic imaging (i.e., computed tomography [CT] or magnetic resonance imaging [MRI]). The survey was then administered to a national, purposive sample of EPs and EM trainees. Simple descriptive statistics to summarize physician responses are presented. In this study, 478 EPs were approached, of whom 435 (91%) completed the survey; 68% of respondents were board-certified, and roughly half worked in academic emergency departments (EDs). Over 85% of respondents believe too many diagnostic tests are ordered in their own EDs, and 97% said at least some (mean = 22%) of the advanced imaging studies they personally order are medically unnecessary. The main perceived contributors were fear of missing a low-probability diagnosis and fear of litigation. Solutions most commonly felt to be "extremely" or "very" helpful for reducing unnecessary imaging included malpractice reform (79%), increased patient involvement through education (70%) and shared decision-making (56%), feedback to physicians on test-ordering metrics (55%), and improved education of physicians on diagnostic testing (50%). Overordering of advanced imaging may be a systemic problem, as many EPs believe a substantial proportion of such studies, including some they personally order, are medically unnecessary. Respondents cited multiple complex factors with several potential high

Traditional Chinese Medications for Knee Osteoarthritis Pain: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.

PubMed

Chen, Bo; Zhan, Hongsheng; Marszalek, Jolanta; Chung, Mei; Lin, Xun; Zhang, Min; Pang, Jian; Wang, Chenchen

2016-01-01

Traditional Chinese medication (TCM) has analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects in patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA). We conducted the first systematic review of the best quantitative and qualitative evidence currently available in order to evaluate the effectiveness of TCM in relieving pain in knee OA. A comprehensive literature search was conducted using three English and four Chinese biomedical databases from their inception through March 1, 2015. We included randomized controlled trials of TCM for knee OA with intervention durations of at least two weeks. The effects of TCM on pain and other clinical symptoms were measured with the visual analog scale (VAS) and Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC). The total effectiveness rate, which was used to assess overall pain, physical performance and wellness, was also measured. Two researchers independently extracted data on study design, population characteristics, duration, intervention, outcomes, risk of bias, and primary results. We performed a random-effects meta-analysis when appropriate. We also explored factors that could explain the heterogeneity by conducting subgroup and meta-regression analyses. Twenty-three studies, totaling 2362 subjects, met the eligibility criteria. Treatments were formulated with an average of 8 Chinese herbs and were prescribed based on the traditional Chinese diagnostic method of syndrome differentiation. The mean treatment duration was seven weeks, with oral administration occurring one to three times a day. Compared with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and intra-articular hyaluronate injections, 18 of the studies showed significantly improved VAS pain scores (Mean Difference [MD] [Formula: see text] 0.56; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.18 to 0.94; [Formula: see text]), six of the studies showed significantly improved WOMAC pain subscale scores (MD [Formula: see text] 2.23; 95% CI, 0.56 to 3.91; [Formula: see text]), and 16 of the trials

Traditional Chinese Medications for Knee Osteoarthritis Pain: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

PubMed Central

Chen, Bo; Zhan, Hongsheng; Marszalek, Jolanta; Chung, Mei; Lin, Xun; Zhang, Min; Pang, Jian; Wang, Chenchen

2017-01-01

Traditional Chinese medication (TCM) has analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects in patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA). We conducted the first systematic review of the best quantitative and qualitative evidence currently available in order to evaluate the effectiveness of TCM in relieving pain in knee OA. A comprehensive literature search was conducted using three English and four Chinese biomedical databases from their inception through March 1, 2015. We included randomized controlled trials of TCM for knee OA with intervention durations of at least two weeks. The effects of TCM on pain and other clinical symptoms were measured with the visual analog scale (VAS) and Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC). The total effectiveness rate, which was used to assess overall pain, physical performance and wellness, was also measured. Two researchers independently extracted data on study design, population characteristics, duration, intervention, outcomes, risk of bias, and primary results. We performed a random-effects meta-analysis when appropriate. We also explored factors that could explain the heterogeneity by conducting subgroup and meta-regression analyses. Twenty-three studies, totaling 2362 subjects, met the eligibility criteria. Treatments were formulated with an average of 8 Chinese herbs and were prescribed based on the traditional Chinese diagnostic method of syndrome differentiation. The mean treatment duration was seven weeks, with oral administration occurring one to three times a day. Compared with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and intra-articular hyaluronate injections, 18 of the studies showed significantly improved VAS pain scores (Mean Difference [MD] = 0.56; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.18 to 0.94; p = 0.004), six of the studies showed significantly improved WOMAC pain subscale scores (MD = 2.23; 95% CI, 0.56 to 3.91; p = 0.009), and 16 of the trials showed significantly improved total effectiveness rates

A key player in biomedical sciences and clinical service in China, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (CAMS) and Peking Union Medical College (PUMC).

PubMed

Zhan, Qimin; Liu, Depei

2007-08-01

The Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (CAMS) and Peking Union Medical College (PUMC) is the largest medical institution in China and has a leading high-level multidisciplinary medical research and medial service. Under the CAMS and PUMC infrastructure, there are 17 biomedical institutes and 6 large hospitals, which cover most fields of the human disease-related research. CAMS and PUMC has always attached great emphasis on the control and cure of severe diseases, as well as a series of innovative drug researches, and has made significant progress in those fields. The long-term goals for CAMS and PUMC in the future development are: reaching the international advanced level in the areas of severe disease prediction, prevention, control, diagnosis, and research on drug innovation; establishing theoretical and technological system for explanation of the mechanism of severe diseases, which possesses Chinese style and represents the frontier level in the world, and at the same time, providing scientific support for the prevention and treatment of severe disease and making contribution to the establishment and development of a harmonious society in China.

An Effective Teaching Method to Enhance History-Taking Skills for Chinese Medical Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Huang, Simin; Xu, Peng; Feng, Lie; Lu, Chunting; Yang, Jing

2018-01-01

History taking is an extremely important skill for medical students to master. In China, medical students usually have opportunities to practise this skill on real patients after they have learned diagnostics and basic relevant theoretical knowledge. Today, however, several factors, such as increased enrolment of medical students and the need to…

Medical diagnostics for indoor mold exposure.

PubMed

Hurraß, Julia; Heinzow, Birger; Aurbach, Ute; Bergmann, Karl-Christian; Bufe, Albrecht; Buzina, Walter; Cornely, Oliver A; Engelhart, Steffen; Fischer, Guido; Gabrio, Thomas; Heinz, Werner; Herr, Caroline E W; Kleine-Tebbe, Jörg; Klimek, Ludger; Köberle, Martin; Lichtnecker, Herbert; Lob-Corzilius, Thomas; Merget, Rolf; Mülleneisen, Norbert; Nowak, Dennis; Rabe, Uta; Raulf, Monika; Seidl, Hans Peter; Steiß, Jens-Oliver; Szewszyk, Regine; Thomas, Peter; Valtanen, Kerttu; Wiesmüller, Gerhard A

2017-04-01

In April 2016, the German Society of Hygiene, Environmental Medicine and Preventative Medicine (Gesellschaft für Hygiene, Umweltmedizin und Präventivmedizin (GHUP)) together with other scientific medical societies, German and Austrian medical societies, physician unions and experts has provided an AWMF (Association of the Scientific Medical Societies) guideline 'Medical diagnostics for indoor mold exposure'. This guideline shall help physicians to advise and treat patients exposed indoors to mold. Indoor mold growth is a potential health risk, even without a quantitative and/or causal association between the occurrence of individual mold species and health effects. Apart from the allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA) and the mycoses caused by mold, there is only sufficient evidence for the following associations between moisture/mold damages and different health effects: Allergic respiratory diseases, asthma (manifestation, progression, exacerbation), allergic rhinitis, exogenous allergic alveolitis and respiratory tract infections/bronchitis. In comparison to other environmental allergens, the sensitizing potential of molds is estimated to be low. Recent studies show a prevalence of sensitization of 3-10% in the total population of Europe. The evidence for associations to mucous membrane irritation and atopic eczema (manifestation, progression, exacerbation) is classified as limited or suspected. Inadequate or insufficient evidence for an association is given for COPD, acute idiopathic pulmonary hemorrhage in children, rheumatism/arthritis, sarcoidosis, and cancer. The risk of infections from indoor molds is low for healthy individuals. Only molds that are capable to form toxins can cause intoxications. The environmental and growth conditions and especially the substrate determine whether toxin formation occurs, but indoor air concentrations are always very low. In the case of indoor moisture/mold damages, everyone can be affected by odor effects and

Therapeutic use of traditional Chinese herbal medications for chronic kidney diseases

PubMed Central

Zhong, Yifei; Deng, Yueyi; Chen, Yiping; Chuang, Peter Y; He, John Cijiang

2013-01-01

Traditional Chinese herbal medications (TCHM) are frequently used in conjunction with western pharmacotherapy for treatment of chronic kidney diseases (CKD) in China and many other Asian countries. The practice of traditional Chinese medicine is guided by cumulative empiric experience. Recent in vitro and animal studies have confirmed the biological activity and therapeutic effects of several TCHM in CKD. However, the level of evidence supporting TCHM is limited to small, non-randomized trials. Due to variations in the prescription pattern of TCHM and the need for frequent dosage adjustment, which are inherent to the practice of traditional Chinese medicine, it has been challenging to design and implement large randomized clinical trials of TCHM. Several TCHM are associated with significant adverse effects, including nephrotoxicity. However, reporting of adverse effects associated with TCHM has been inadequate. To fully realize the therapeutic use of TCHM in CKD we need molecular studies to identify active ingredients of TCHM and their mechanism of action, rigorous pharmacologic studies to determine the safety and meet regulatory standards required for clinical therapeutic agents, and well-designed clinical trials to provide evidence-based support of their safety and efficacy. PMID:23868014

The Restorative Role of Apology in Resolving Medical Disputes: Lessons From Chinese Legal Culture.

PubMed

Lin, Nuannuan

2015-12-01

This article is the first exploration of the Chinese notion of apology from a comparative legal perspective. By reviewing the significance of apology in the context of Chinese culture, the article presents a three-dimensional structure of apology that, in contrast to the understanding the research community now has, defines acknowledgement of fault, admission of responsibility, and offer of reparation as three essential elements of an apology. It is the combination of these three elements that enables apology to serve as a form of reparation. The article further places the three-dimensional apology in the context of the Chinese concept of "the relations of humanity," arguing that an apology accompanying admission of fault and responsibility may help to restore the harmony of relations and, by so doing, resolve medical disputes positively.

Approach to Health Supporting System Using Traditional Chinese Medicine

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Watsuji, Tadashi; Shinohara, Shoji; Arita, Seizaburo

The primary prevention of disease related to the lifestyle is an essential theme in medical research. Preventing before it arises is the important concept in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Since TCM, which emphasizes individual physical condition in medical treatment, has recently attracted considerable attention globally, objective diagnostic methods in TCM have been investigated in this work. Firstly, the fuzzy theory was applied to develop a tongue diagnosis supporting system based on the tongue diagnosis in TCM. Secondly, the usefulness of TCM health questionnaire was examined to identify individual physical condition. Our results suggest that the TCM health questionnaire is useful in the construction of a health supporting system based on TCM.

[The diagnostic value of medical thoracoscopy for unexplained pleural effusion].

PubMed

Jiang, Shu-juan; Mu, Xiao-yan; Zhang, Song; Su, Li-li; Ma, Wei-xia

2013-05-01

To explore the endoscopic features of patients with unexplained pleural effusion, and to evaluate the diagnostic value of medical thoracoscopy. A retrospective analysis of 2380 patients with unexplained pleural effusion (1320 males and 1060 females; age 15-94 years) in Shandong Provincial Hospital from 1992 to 2011 were performed .The diagnosis was confirmed by medical thoracoscopy. The endoscopic findings of malignant pleural effusion mostly showed nodules of varying sizes. The nodules could be grape-like, cauliflower-like, fused into masses, or diffused small nodules . The appearance of cancerous nodules was more diversified compared to tuberculous nodules. Tuberculous pleurisy was manifested as diffuse pleural congestion and miliary changes, multiple small gray-white nodules, fibrin deposition and adhesion in the pleural cavity, pleural thickening and loculation . The pathological diagnosis was as follows: pleural metastases in 899 (37.8%), primary pleural mesothelioma in 439 (18.4%), tuberculous pleurisy in 514 (21.6%), non-specific inflammation in 226 (9.5%), empyema in 190 (8.0%), hepatic pleural effusion in 36 (1.5%) and pleural effusion of unknown causes in 76 (3.2%) cases. The diagnostic positive rate of medical thoracoscopy was 96.8%. No serious complications were observed. Medical thoracoscopy is a relatively safe procedure and has an important application value in the diagnosis of unexplained pleural effusion.

History of diagnostics in dermatovenerology on Medical Faculty in Prague.

PubMed

Kruzicová, Z

2009-01-01

The article deals with the history of diagnostics in dermatovenerology on Medical Faculty in Prague from 1875 to 1910. Medical Reports of General Hospital in Prague from those years were used as the source of data. Three dermatologic and venereal diagnoses from years 1875, 1881, 1885, 1890, 1895, 1899, 1906 and 1910 were used for a statistic comparison. The article also contains short description of institutional background of dermatovenerology in Prague during this period.

Peri-abortion contraceptive choices of migrant Chinese women: a retrospective review of medical records.

PubMed

Rose, Sally B; Wei, Zhang; Cooper, Annette J; Lawton, Beverley A

2012-01-01

Migrant Asian women reportedly have low levels of contraceptive use and high rates of abortion in New Zealand. Chinese make up the largest proportion of migrant Asian in New Zealand. This study aimed to describe the contraceptive choices of Chinese women seeking abortion; to examine method choice in relation to demographic characteristics (including length of stay) and to determine whether Chinese women were over-represented among abortion clinic attendees. Retrospective review of medical records at a public hospital abortion clinic involving 305 Chinese women. Previously collected data for European (n = 277) and Maori women (n = 128) were used for comparative analyses. Regression analyses explored correlates of contraceptive method choice. Population census data were used to calculate rates of clinic attendance across ethnic groups. Chinese women were not over-represented among clinic attendees, and had similar rates of contraceptive non-use pre-abortion as women in comparison groups. Use of the oral contraceptive pill by Chinese was lower pre-abortion than for other ethnic groups, but choice of this method post-abortion was similar for Chinese (46.9%, 95% CI 41-52.7) and European women (43.7%, 95% CI 37.8-49.7). Post-abortion choice of an intrauterine device did not differ significantly between Chinese (28.9%, 95% CI 23.8-34.3) and Maori women (37%, 95% CI 28.4-45.7), but was higher than uptake of this method by European women (21.7%, 95% CI 17-27.0). Age, parity and previous abortion were significant predictors of post-abortion method choice by Chinese women (p<0.05). Following contraceptive counseling at the clinic, Chinese women chose more effective contraceptive methods for use post-abortion than they had used previously. As the population of migrant Chinese in New Zealand continues to increase, strategies are urgently needed to provide new arrivals with appropriate information and advice about contraception and where to access it, so women can be

Diagnostic Reasoning across the Medical Education Continuum.

PubMed

Smith, C Scott; Hill, William; Francovich, Chris; Morris, Magdalena; Robbins, Bruce; Robins, Lynne; Turner, Andrew

2014-07-15

We aimed to study linguistic and non-linguistic elements of diagnostic reasoning across the continuum of medical education. We performed semi-structured interviews of premedical students, first year medical students, third year medical students, second year internal medicine residents, and experienced faculty (ten each) as they diagnosed three common causes of dyspnea. A second observer recorded emotional tone. All interviews were digitally recorded and blinded transcripts were created. Propositional analysis and concept mapping were performed. Grounded theory was used to identify salient categories and transcripts were scored with these categories. Transcripts were then unblinded. Systematic differences in propositional structure, number of concept connections, distribution of grounded theory categories, episodic and semantic memories, and emotional tone were identified. Summary concept maps were created and grounded theory concepts were explored for each learning level. We identified three major findings: (1) The "apprentice effect" in novices (high stress and low narrative competence); (2) logistic concept growth in intermediates; and (3) a cognitive state transition (between analytical and intuitive approaches) in experts. These findings warrant further study and comparison.

Diagnostic delay in psychogenic seizures and the association with anti-seizure medication trials.

PubMed

Kerr, Wesley T; Janio, Emily A; Le, Justine M; Hori, Jessica M; Patel, Akash B; Gallardo, Norma L; Bauirjan, Janar; Chau, Andrea M; D'Ambrosio, Shannon R; Cho, Andrew Y; Engel, Jerome; Cohen, Mark S; Stern, John M

2016-08-01

The average delay from first seizure to diagnosis of psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES) is over 7 years. The reason for this delay is not well understood. We hypothesized that a perceived decrease in seizure frequency after starting an anti-seizure medication (ASM) may contribute to longer delays, but the frequency of such a response has not been well established. Time from onset to diagnosis, medication history and associated seizure frequency was acquired from the medical records of 297 consecutive patients with PNES diagnosed using video-electroencephalographic monitoring. Exponential regression was used to model the effect of medication trials and response on diagnostic delay. Mean diagnostic delay was 8.4 years (min 1 day, max 52 years). The robust average diagnostic delay was 2.8 years (95% CI: 2.2-3.5 years) based on an exponential model as 10 to the mean of log10 delay. Each ASM trial increased the robust average delay exponentially by at least one third of a year (Wald t=3.6, p=0.004). Response to ASM trials did not significantly change diagnostic delay (Wald t=-0.9, p=0.38). Although a response to ASMs was observed commonly in these patients with PNES, the presence of a response was not associated with longer time until definitive diagnosis. Instead, the number of ASMs tried was associated with a longer delay until diagnosis, suggesting that ASM trials were continued despite lack of response. These data support the guideline that patients with seizures should be referred to epilepsy care centers after failure of two medication trials. Copyright © 2016 British Epilepsy Association. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Burnout in medical students: a systematic review of experiences in Chinese medical schools.

PubMed

Chunming, Wang Michael; Harrison, Reema; MacIntyre, Raina; Travaglia, Joanna; Balasooriya, Chinthaka

2017-11-16

To identify the: extent to which medical students in China experience burnout; factors contributing to this; potential solutions to reduce and prevent burnout in this group; and the extent to which the experiences of Chinese students reflect the international literature. Systematic review and narrative synthesis. Key words, synonyms and subject headings were used to search five electronic databases in addition to manual searching of relevant journals. Titles and abstracts of publications between 1st January 1989-31st July 2016 were screened by two reviewers and checked by a third. Full text articles were screened against the eligibility criteria. Data on design, methods and key findings were extracted and synthesised. Thirty-three studies were eligible and included in the review. Greater levels of burnout were generally identified in males, more senior medical students, and those who already experienced poorer psychological functioning. Few studies explored social or contextual factors influencing burnout, but those that did suggest that factors such as the degree of social support or the living environment surrounding a student may be a determinant of burnout. Greater understanding of the social and contextual determinants of burnout amongst medical students in China is essential towards identifying solutions to reduce and prevent burnout in this group.

Evaluation of medical staff and patient satisfaction of Chinese hospitals and measures for improvement.

PubMed

Li, Min; Huang, Chengyu; Lu, Xiangchan; Chen, Siyuan; Zhao, Pan; Lu, Hongzhou

2015-06-01

Our goal is to establish criteria for evaluating satisfaction of medical staff and patients of Chinese hospitals and propose measures for improvement. A survey was conducted among medical staff and patients of infectious disease hospitals in three locations, i.e., Shanghai, Chongqing, and Nanning. The analyses included item analysis, factor analysis, reliability analysis, Pearson correlation and one-way analysis of variance. For the patient group, Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) = 0.973, Cronbach's α = 0.962 and the Pearson correlation coefficients among the five dimensions of satisfaction ranged from 0.583 to 0.795. For the medical staff group, KMO = 0.972, Cronbach's α = 0.970, and the Pearson correlation coefficients among the five dimensions of satisfaction ranged from 0.603 to 0.854. The means on the five dimensions of satisfaction for the patient group were 0.74 to 1.34, 0.81 to 1.17, 0.78 to 1.07, 0.89 to 1.34, and 0.71 to 1.10. The means on the five dimensions of satisfaction for the medical staff group were 0.17 to 1.03, ‒ 0.16 to 0.60, ‒ 0.18 to 0.74, 0.23 to 0.72, and ‒ 0.39 to 0.37. The clinicians were less satisfied with the hospitals than the patients. Medical staff and patients in Shanghai were relatively more satisfied. Improving the evaluation criteria and survey methods with respect to medical staff and patient satisfaction with Chinese hospitals may increase clinician and patient satisfaction and improve the health care environment in China.

[Comments on "A practical dictionary of Chinese medicine" by Wiseman].

PubMed

Lan, Feng-li

2006-02-01

At least 24 Chinese-English dictionaries of Chinese Medicine have been published in China during the recent 24 years (1984-2003). This thesis comments on "A Practical Dictionary of Chinese Medicine" by Wiseman, agreeing on its establishing principles, sources and formation methods of the English system of Chinese medical terminology, and pointing out the defect. The author holds that study on the origin and development of TCM terms, standardization of Chinese medical terms in different layers, i.e. Chinese medical in classic, in commonly used modern TCM terms, and integrative medical texts, are prerequisites to the standardization of English translation of Chinese medical terms.

21 CFR 1000.50 - Recommendation for the use of specific area gonad shielding on patients during medical diagnostic...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... shielding on patients during medical diagnostic x-ray procedures. 1000.50 Section 1000.50 Food and Drugs... shielding on patients during medical diagnostic x-ray procedures. Specific area gonad shielding covers an... that may cause genetic mutations during many medical x-ray procedures in which the gonads lie within or...

21 CFR 1000.50 - Recommendation for the use of specific area gonad shielding on patients during medical diagnostic...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... shielding on patients during medical diagnostic x-ray procedures. 1000.50 Section 1000.50 Food and Drugs... shielding on patients during medical diagnostic x-ray procedures. Specific area gonad shielding covers an... that may cause genetic mutations during many medical x-ray procedures in which the gonads lie within or...

21 CFR 1000.50 - Recommendation for the use of specific area gonad shielding on patients during medical diagnostic...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... shielding on patients during medical diagnostic x-ray procedures. 1000.50 Section 1000.50 Food and Drugs... shielding on patients during medical diagnostic x-ray procedures. Specific area gonad shielding covers an... that may cause genetic mutations during many medical x-ray procedures in which the gonads lie within or...

21 CFR 1000.50 - Recommendation for the use of specific area gonad shielding on patients during medical diagnostic...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... shielding on patients during medical diagnostic x-ray procedures. 1000.50 Section 1000.50 Food and Drugs... shielding on patients during medical diagnostic x-ray procedures. Specific area gonad shielding covers an... that may cause genetic mutations during many medical x-ray procedures in which the gonads lie within or...

21 CFR 1000.50 - Recommendation for the use of specific area gonad shielding on patients during medical diagnostic...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... shielding on patients during medical diagnostic x-ray procedures. 1000.50 Section 1000.50 Food and Drugs... shielding on patients during medical diagnostic x-ray procedures. Specific area gonad shielding covers an... that may cause genetic mutations during many medical x-ray procedures in which the gonads lie within or...

[Influences of Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism on Chinese Medical Formulas in Jin-Tang Dynasties].

PubMed

Wu, Xiao-xiang

2006-04-01

In the Jin-Tang Dynasties, when Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism contended, conflicted and well blent, forming a state of mingled thoughts of the three sects. It exerted profound influences on Chinese Medical Formulas and promoted the academic fashion of compiling books about medical formulas characterized by collecting various formulas especially the simple and proved recipes. This plays a role in the formation of the formulas used in the Jin-Tang Dynasties, featuring simplicity, convenience, cheapness, and effectiveness, different from those of other periods.

Negotiating biomedical and traditional Chinese medicine treatments among elderly Chinese Singaporean women.

PubMed

Chang, Leanne; Basnyat, Iccha

2015-02-01

In this article we examine how elderly Chinese Singaporean women navigated between biomedicine and traditional Chinese medicine in their practices of maintaining well-being. We interviewed 36 elderly women to understand their negotiation of medical choices in the interplay of structure, culture, and personal agency. Our findings show that participants made situational decisions under structural and cultural influences, such as family members' changing expectations and interpretations of medical practices, institutional preferences for biomedicine, and the patients' negotiating position between biomedicine and traditional Chinese medicine. Participants demonstrated their capacity to enact agency through their examination of the effects and side effects of each medical system and through their integrative use of different medical treatments, depending on the purpose. Through our findings, we unveil contextual meanings of health among elderly women and the unique coexistence of traditional and modern medical practices within the context of Singapore. © The Author(s) 2014.

Development of a Chinese medicine assessment measure: an interdisciplinary approach using the delphi method.

PubMed

Schnyer, Rosa N; Conboy, Lisa A; Jacobson, Eric; McKnight, Patrick; Goddard, Thomas; Moscatelli, Francesca; Legedza, Anna T R; Kerr, Catherine; Kaptchuk, Ted J; Wayne, Peter M

2005-12-01

The diagnostic framework and clinical reasoning process in Chinese medicine emphasizes the contextual and qualitative nature of a patient's illness. Chinese medicine assessment data may help interpret clinical outcomes. As part of a study aimed at assessing the validity and improving the inter-rater reliability of the Chinese diagnostic process, a structured assessment instrument was developed for use in clinical trials of acupuncture and other Chinese medical therapies. To foster collaboration and maximize resources and information, an interdisciplinary advisory team was assembled. Under the guidance of two group process facilitators, and in order to establish whether the assessment instrument was consistent with accepted Chinese medicine diagnostic categories (face validity) and included the full range of each concept's meaning (content validity), a panel of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) expert clinicians was convened and their responses were organized using the Delphi process, an iterative, anonymous, idea-generating and consensus-building process. An aggregate rating measure was obtained by taking the mean of mean ratings for each question across all 10 experts. Over three rounds, the overall rating increased from 7.4 (SD = 1.3) in Round 1 to 9.1 (SD = 0.5) in Round 3. The level of agreement among clinicians was measured by a decrease in SD. The final instrument TEAMSI-TCM (Traditional East Asian Medicine Structured Interview, TCM version) uses the pattern differentiation model characteristic of TCM. This modular, dynamic version was specifically designed to assess women, with a focus on gynecologic conditions; with modifications it can be adapted for use with other populations and conditions. TEAMSI-TCM is a prescriptive instrument that guides clinicians to use the proper indicators, combine them in a systematic manner, and generate conclusions. In conjunction with treatment manualization and training it may serve to increase inter-rater reliability and

MO-F-204-00: Preparing for the ABR Diagnostic and Nuclear Medical Physics Exams

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

NONE

Adequate, efficient preparation for the ABR Diagnostic and Nuclear Medical Physics exams is key to successfully obtain ABR certification. Each part of the ABR exam presents its own challenges: Part I: Determine the scope of basic medical physics study material, efficiently review this material, and solve related written questions/problems. Part II: Understand imaging principles, modalities, and systems, including image acquisition, processing, and display. Understand the relationship between imaging techniques, image quality, patient dose and safety, and solve related written questions/problems. Part III: Gain crucial, practical, clinical medical physics experience. Effectively communicate and explain the practice, performance, and significance of allmore » aspects of clinical medical physics. All parts of the ABR exam require specific skill sets and preparation: mastery of basic physics and imaging principles; written problem solving often involving rapid calculation; responding clearly and succinctly to oral questions about the practice, methods, and significance of clinical medical physics. This symposium focuses on the preparation necessary for each part of the ABR exam. Although there is some overlap, the nuclear exam covers a different body of knowledge than the diagnostic exam. A separate speaker will address those unique aspects of the nuclear exam, and how preparing for a second specialty differs from the first. Medical physicists who recently completed each ABR exam portion will share their experiences, insights, and preparation methods to help attendees best prepare for the challenges of each part of the ABR exam. In accordance with ABR exam security policy, no recalls or exam questions will be discussed. Learning Objectives: How to prepare for Part 1 of the ABR exam by determining the scope of basic medical physics study material and related problem solving/calculations How to prepare for Part 2 of the ABR exam by understanding diagnostic and

Associations between empathy and big five personality traits among Chinese undergraduate medical students.

PubMed

Song, Yang; Shi, Meng

2017-01-01

Empathy promotes positive physician-patient communication and is associated with improved patient satisfaction, treatment adherence and clinical outcomes. It has been suggested that personality traits should be taken into consideration in programs designed to enhance empathy in medical education due to the association found between personality and empathy among medical students. However, the associations between empathy and big five personality traits in medical education are still underrepresented in the existing literature and relevant studies have not been conducted among medical students in China, where tensions in the physician-patient relationship have been reported as outstanding problems in the context of China's current medical reform. Thus, the main objective of this study was to examine the associations between empathy and big five personality traits among Chinese medical students. A cross-sectional study was conducted in a medical university in Northeast China in June 2016. Self-reported questionnaires including the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) and Big Five Inventory (BFI) and demographic characteristics were distributed. A total of 530 clinical medical students became our final subjects. Hierarchical regression analysis was performed to explore the effects of big five personality traits on empathy. Results of this study showed that big five personality traits accounted for 19.4%, 18.1%, 30.2% of the variance in three dimensions of empathy, namely, perspective taking, empathic concern and personal distress, respectively. Specifically, agreeableness had a strong positive association with empathic concern (β = 0.477, P<0.01), and a moderate association with perspective taking (β = 0.349, P<0.01). Neuroticism was strongly associated with personal distress (β = 0.526, P<0.01) and modestly associated with perspective taking (β = 0.149, P<0.01). Openness to experience had modest associations with perspective taking (β = 0.150, P<0.01) and

Associations between empathy and big five personality traits among Chinese undergraduate medical students

PubMed Central

Song, Yang; Shi, Meng

2017-01-01

Background Empathy promotes positive physician-patient communication and is associated with improved patient satisfaction, treatment adherence and clinical outcomes. It has been suggested that personality traits should be taken into consideration in programs designed to enhance empathy in medical education due to the association found between personality and empathy among medical students. However, the associations between empathy and big five personality traits in medical education are still underrepresented in the existing literature and relevant studies have not been conducted among medical students in China, where tensions in the physician-patient relationship have been reported as outstanding problems in the context of China’s current medical reform. Thus, the main objective of this study was to examine the associations between empathy and big five personality traits among Chinese medical students. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted in a medical university in Northeast China in June 2016. Self-reported questionnaires including the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) and Big Five Inventory (BFI) and demographic characteristics were distributed. A total of 530 clinical medical students became our final subjects. Hierarchical regression analysis was performed to explore the effects of big five personality traits on empathy. Results Results of this study showed that big five personality traits accounted for 19.4%, 18.1%, 30.2% of the variance in three dimensions of empathy, namely, perspective taking, empathic concern and personal distress, respectively. Specifically, agreeableness had a strong positive association with empathic concern (β = 0.477, P<0.01), and a moderate association with perspective taking (β = 0.349, P<0.01). Neuroticism was strongly associated with personal distress (β = 0.526, P<0.01) and modestly associated with perspective taking (β = 0.149, P<0.01). Openness to experience had modest associations with perspective taking (�

Prevalence of medication adherence and its associated factors among community-dwelling Chinese older adults in Hong Kong.

PubMed

Leung, Doris Y P; Bai, Xue; Leung, Angela Y M; Liu, Ben C P; Chi, Iris

2015-06-01

The aim of present study was to describe the prevalence of medication adherence, and to examine its risk factors among Chinese community-dwelling older adults with chronic diseases. Secondary analysis was carried out on the data collected from 3167 Hong Kong adults aged ≥60 years who lived in their private home, had at least one type of chronic disease and had completed a screening instrument for long-term care services for the first time in 2006. The outcome variable was the self- or caregiver-reported medication adherence. Among the respondents, 90.8% reported having good medication adherence in the past 7 days. More dependence on activities of daily living (P < 0.001), stroke (P = 0.003) or diabetes (P = 0.036), had medication review by physicians (P < 0.001) and received more informal care support (P = 0.005) were positively associated with medication adherence, whereas more cognitive impaired (P = 0.008), more negative mood (P = 0.071) and perceived poor health (P < 0.001) were negatively associated with medication adherence. The prevalence of self-reported medication adherence was high in Hong Kong Chinese community-dwelling older adults. A number of modifiable factors associated with medication adherence were identified, which provides specific targets for interventions. © 2014 Japan Geriatrics Society.

Ancient Chinese medical ethics and the four principles of biomedical ethics.

PubMed Central

Tsai, D F

1999-01-01

The four principles approach to biomedical ethics (4PBE) has, since the 1970s, been increasingly developed as a universal bioethics method. Despite its wide acceptance and popularity, the 4PBE has received many challenges to its cross-cultural plausibility. This paper first specifies the principles and characteristics of ancient Chinese medical ethics (ACME), then makes a comparison between ACME and the 4PBE with a view to testing out the 4PBE's cross-cultural plausibility when applied to one particular but very extensive and prominent cultural context. The result shows that the concepts of respect for autonomy, non-maleficence, beneficence and justice are clearly identifiable in ACME. Yet, being influenced by certain socio-cultural factors, those applying the 4PBE in Chinese society may tend to adopt a "beneficence-oriented", rather than an "autonomy-oriented" approach, which, in general, is dissimilar to the practice of contemporary Western bioethics, where "autonomy often triumphs". PMID:10461594

42 CFR 410.32 - Diagnostic x-ray tests, diagnostic laboratory tests, and other diagnostic tests: Conditions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... Procedural Terminology published by the American Medical Association. (vii) Diagnostic tests performed by a... & MEDICAID SERVICES, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES MEDICARE PROGRAM SUPPLEMENTARY MEDICAL INSURANCE (SMI) BENEFITS Medical and Other Health Services § 410.32 Diagnostic x-ray tests, diagnostic laboratory...

42 CFR 410.32 - Diagnostic x-ray tests, diagnostic laboratory tests, and other diagnostic tests: Conditions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... Procedural Terminology published by the American Medical Association. (vii) Diagnostic tests performed by a... & MEDICAID SERVICES, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES MEDICARE PROGRAM SUPPLEMENTARY MEDICAL INSURANCE (SMI) BENEFITS Medical and Other Health Services § 410.32 Diagnostic x-ray tests, diagnostic laboratory...

[Forensic-medical diagnostics of doping cases in sports].

PubMed

Khodasevich, L S; Kuzin, S G; Khodasevich, A L

2013-01-01

The present review of the literature is focused on the problem of forensic-medical diagnostics of doping cases in sports, with special reference to the main classes of pharmaceutical products forbidden for use by the International Olympic Committee. The main causes of death among the athletes as a result of using doping substances are considered. Much attention is given to adverse reactions induced by long-time intake of anabolic steroids many of which can be identified at autopsy.

Medical expenses of urban Chinese patients with stomach cancer during 2002-2011: a hospital-based multicenter retrospective study.

PubMed

Sun, Xiao-Jie; Shi, Ju-Fang; Guo, Lan-Wei; Huang, Hui-Yao; Yao, Neng-Liang; Gong, Ji-Yong; Sun, Ya-Wen; Liu, Guo-Xiang; Mao, A-Yan; Liao, Xian-Zhen; Bai, Ya-Na; Ren, Jian-Song; Zhu, Xin-Yu; Zhou, Jin-Yi; Mai, Ling; Song, Bing-Bing; Liu, Yu-Qin; Zhu, Lin; Du, Ling-Bin; Zhou, Qi; Xing, Xiao-Jing; Lou, Pei-An; Sun, Xiao-Hua; Qi, Xiao; Wang, Yuanzheng; Cao, Rong; Ren, Ying; Lan, Li; Zhang, Kai; He, Jie; Wang, Jia-Lin; Dai, Min

2018-04-17

In China, stomach cancer is the third most common cancer and the third leading cause of cancer death. Few studies have examined Chinese stomach cancer patients' medical expenses and their associated trends. The Cancer Screening Program in Urban China (CanSPUC) is a Major Public Health Project funded by the central government. Through this project, we have extracted patients' medical expenses from hospital billing data to examine the costs of the first course treatments (which refers to 2 months before and 10 months after the date of cancer diagnosis) in Chinese patients with stomach cancer and the associated trends. The expense data of 14,692 urban Chinese patients with stomach cancer were collected from 40 hospitals in 13 provinces. We estimated the inflation-adjusted medical expenses per patient during 2002-2011. We described the time trends of medical expenses at the country-level, and those trends by subgroup, and analyzed the compositions of medical expenses. We constructed the Generalized Linear Mixed (GLM) regression model with Poisson distribution to examine the factors that were associated with medical expenses per patient. The average medical expenses of the first course treatments were about 43,249 CNY (6851 USD) in 2011, more than twice of that in 2002. The expenses increased by an average annual rate of 7.4%. Longer stay during hospitalization and an increased number of episodes of care are the two main contributors to the expense increase. The upward trend of medical expenses was observed in almost all patient subgroups. Drug expenses accounted for over half of the medical expenses. The average medical expenses of the first course (2 months before and 10 months after the date of cancer diagnosis) treatments per stomach cancer patient in urban China in 2011 were doubled during the previous 10 years, and about twice as high as the per capita disposable income of urban households in the same year. Such high expenses indicate that it makes economic

Synergistic advances in diagnostic and therapeutic medical ultrasound

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lizzi, Frederic L.

2003-04-01

Significant advances are more fully exploiting ultrasound's potential for noninvasive diagnosis and treatment. Therapeutic systems employ intense focused beams to thermally kill cancer cells in, e.g., prostate; to stop bleeding; and to treat specific diseases (e.g., glaucoma). Diagnostic ultrasound techniques can quantitatively image an increasingly broad spectrum of physical tissue attributes. An exciting aspect of this progress is the emerging synergy between these modalities. Advanced diagnostic techniques may contribute at several stages in therapy. For example, treatment planning for small ocular tumors uses 50-MHz, 3-D ultrasonic images with 0.05-mm resolution. Thermal simulations employ these images to evaluate desired and undesired effects using exposure stategies with specially designed treatment beams. Therapy beam positioning can use diagnostic elastography to sense tissue motion induced by radiation pressure from high-intensity treatment beams. Therapy monitoring can sense lesion formation using elastography motion sensing (to detect the increased stiffness in lesions); harmonic imaging (to sense altered nonlinear properties); and spectrum analysis images (depicting changes in the sizes, concentration, and configuration of sub-resolution structures.) Experience from these applications will greatly expand the knowledge of acoustic phenomena in living tissues and should lead to further advances in medical ultrasound.

A Statistical Evaluation of the Diagnostic Performance of MEDAS-The Medical Emergency Decision Assistance System

PubMed Central

Georgakis, D. Christine; Trace, David A.; Naeymi-Rad, Frank; Evens, Martha

1990-01-01

Medical expert systems require comprehensive evaluation of their diagnostic accuracy. The usefulness of these systems is limited without established evaluation methods. We propose a new methodology for evaluating the diagnostic accuracy and the predictive capacity of a medical expert system. We have adapted to the medical domain measures that have been used in the social sciences to examine the performance of human experts in the decision making process. Thus, in addition to the standard summary measures, we use measures of agreement and disagreement, and Goodman and Kruskal's λ and τ measures of predictive association. This methodology is illustrated by a detailed retrospective evaluation of the diagnostic accuracy of the MEDAS system. In a study using 270 patients admitted to the North Chicago Veterans Administration Hospital, diagnoses produced by MEDAS are compared with the discharge diagnoses of the attending physicians. The results of the analysis confirm the high diagnostic accuracy and predictive capacity of the MEDAS system. Overall, the agreement of the MEDAS system with the “gold standard” diagnosis of the attending physician has reached a 90% level.

Evaluation of geriatrics education at a Chinese University: a survey of attitudes and knowledge among undergraduate medical students.

PubMed

Shi, Sandra; Lio, Jonathan; Dong, Hongmei; Jiang, Ivy; Cooper, Brian; Sherer, Renslow

2018-05-08

Despite widespread reforms in medical education across China, nationally there has been no mandate or movement toward systemically incorporating geriatrics into curricula. To what degree medical students are trained and have exposure to geriatric topics remains unclear. We surveyed 190 medical students during their final year of medical school at a Chinese medical university, graduating from reformed and also traditional curricula. The survey was comprised of a subjective assessment of attitudes and reported knowledge, as well as an objective assessment of knowledge via a multiple choice test. Student attitudes were favorable toward geriatrics, with 91% supporting the addition of specialized clinical experiences to the curriculum. Students generally reported low exposure to geriatrics, with no statistically significant differences between reform and traditional curricula. There was a statistically significant difference in performance on the multiple choice test between curricula but at a degree unlikely to be practically significant. Students had very favorable attitudes toward geriatrics as a field and specialty; however scored poorly on competency exams, with the lowest performance around diagnosis and treatment of specific geriatric conditions. Our results suggest that there is a need and desire for increased geriatric-oriented learning at Chinese medical schools.

Job-related burnout and the relationship to quality of life among Chinese medical college staff.

PubMed

Yao, Shang-Man; Yu, Hong-Mei; Ai, Yong-Mei; Song, Ping-Ping; Meng, Su-Yan; Li, Wei

2015-01-01

Although staffs in medical colleges have traditionally been characterized as a stressed group of people, there are no specific studies assessing burnout and the relationship to quality of life (QOL). The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to evaluate job-related burnout and the relationship to QOL among medical college staff in mainland China. Some 360 medical college staffs from 15 schools and departments were enrolled in the study. The Chinese Teachers' Burnout Inventory (TBI) and the World Health Organization Quality of Life--brief Chinese version were used. Data on sociodemographic, work-related, and health-related factors were also collected. Multiple stepwise regression analysis was used to identify significant factors related to the 3 domain scores of the TBI. Structural equation modeling was performed to test the correlation between job-related burnout and QOL. The most significant and common predictors of burnout prevention were a love of the teaching profession and work acknowledgment from a direct supervisor. Job-related burnout had a direct negative effect on QOL. Corresponding health policies and suggestions could be developed to prevent job-related burnout and improve QOL.

Design of point-of-care (POC) microfluidic medical diagnostic devices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leary, James F.

2018-02-01

Design of inexpensive and portable hand-held microfluidic flow/image cytometry devices for initial medical diagnostics at the point of initial patient contact by emergency medical personnel in the field requires careful design in terms of power/weight requirements to allow for realistic portability as a hand-held, point-of-care medical diagnostics device. True portability also requires small micro-pumps for high-throughput capability. Weight/power requirements dictate use of super-bright LEDs and very small silicon photodiodes or nanophotonic sensors that can be powered by batteries. Signal-to-noise characteristics can be greatly improved by appropriately pulsing the LED excitation sources and sampling and subtracting noise in between excitation pulses. The requirements for basic computing, imaging, GPS and basic telecommunications can be simultaneously met by use of smartphone technologies, which become part of the overall device. Software for a user-interface system, limited real-time computing, real-time imaging, and offline data analysis can be accomplished through multi-platform software development systems that are well-suited to a variety of currently available cellphone technologies which already contain all of these capabilities. Microfluidic cytometry requires judicious use of small sample volumes and appropriate statistical sampling by microfluidic cytometry or imaging for adequate statistical significance to permit real-time (typically < 15 minutes) medical decisions for patients at the physician's office or real-time decision making in the field. One or two drops of blood obtained by pin-prick should be able to provide statistically meaningful results for use in making real-time medical decisions without the need for blood fractionation, which is not realistic in the field.

[Material base on Chinese medical theory of 'Fei and Dachang being interior-exteriorly correlated'].

PubMed

Li, Jie; Cheng, Xin; Jia, Yu-Hua

2011-02-01

By reviewing pertinent literatures, we found that there existed some defects in studying material base on Chinese medical theory of "Fei and Dachang being interior-exteriorly related", such as the low efficacy of research methods; the neglect of intestinal and respiratory microhabitat and Chinese medical functional condition; and the unconformity of research design with evidence-based medicinal requirements. Thereby, the authors offered that the researches method of initiating merely from sole material or line linkage path should be rejected. The new research strategy should be established based on the feature of the lung and large intestine network connective structure, cutting-in from correlative changes in the two terminals (respiratory system and intestinal tissue), and the intermedial key knot of connection (blood serum), screen out in high throughput the relevant materials adopting microecological, proteomic and metabonomic techniques, and catch hold of the knots of network as much as possible. Based on these to perfect the researches on coordinating mechanism of the network, and to establish a new strategy for future researching.

Cultivating Medical Intentionality: The Phenomenology of Diagnostic Virtuosity in East Asian Medicine.

PubMed

Kim, Taewoo

2017-03-01

This study examines the perceptual basis of diagnostic virtuosity in East Asian medicine, combining Merleau-Ponty's phenomenology and an ethnographic investigation of Korean medicine in South Korea. A novice, being exposed to numerous clinical transactions during apprenticeship, organizes perceptual experience that occurs between him or herself and patients. In the process, the fledgling practitioner's body begins to set up a medically-tinged "intentionality" interconnecting his or her consciousness and medically significant qualities in patients. Diagnostic virtuosity is gained when the practitioner embodies a cultivated medical intentionality. In the process of becoming a practitioner imbued with virtuosity, this study focuses on the East Asian notion of "Image" that maximizes the body's perceptual capacity, and minimizes possible reductions by linguistic re-presentation. "Image" enables the practitioner to somatically conceptualize the core notions of East Asian medicine, such as Yin-Yang, and to use them as an embodied litmus as the practitioner's cultivated body instinctively conjures up medical notions at clinical encounters. In line with anthropological critiques of reductionist frameworks that congeal human existential and perceptual vitality within a "scientific" explanatory model, this article attempts to provide an example of various knowing and caring practices, institutionalized external to the culture of science.

[English translation of the title of ancient Chinese medical books and documents].

PubMed

Zeng, Fang; Shao, Xin; Zhang, Pei-Hai

2008-11-01

The title of a book is, generally, the high concentration of the writer's intention and the theme of content. Translate the title of an ancient Chinese medical book or document accurately and plainly is meaningful for exhibiting the style of the book, also for promoting the international communication of TCM. The principle should be followed is to choose the translating terms accurately to reveal the theme of content and express the cultural connotation of the book perfectly.

The cosmobiological balance of the emotional and spiritual worlds: phenomenological structuralism in traditional Chinese medical thought.

PubMed

Davis, S

1996-03-01

This paper points to a convergence of formal and rhetorical features in ancient Chinese cosmobiological theory, within which is developed a view of the inner life of human emotions. Inasmuch as there is an extensive classical tradition considering the emotions in conjunction with music, one can justify a structural analysis of medical texts treating disorder in emotional life, since emotions, musical interpretation and structural analysis all deal with systems interrelated in a transformational space largely independent of objective reference and propositional coordination. Following a section of ethnolinguistic sketches to provide grounds in some phenomenological worlds recognized by Chinese people, there is a textual analysis of a classical medical source for the treatment of emotional distress. Through close examination of the compositional schema of this text, it can be demonstrated that the standard categories of correlative cosmology are arrayed within a more comprehensive structural order.

Two thousand years of medical advice on breastfeeding: comparison of Chinese and western texts.

PubMed

Gartner, L M; Stone, C

1994-12-01

This discussion introduces only a few aspects of the historical writings on breastfeeding in the two cultures. Chinese writings seem to be closer in orientation to modern worldwide medical advice, approaching breastfeeding from a more natural and supportive perspective. Ancient and not-so-ancient western medical advice on breastfeeding often implies the inadequacy of the mother to breastfeed her own infant, especially in the early weeks of life. One can only speculate as to what the historical basis for this may be. European medicine emphasizes the testing of milk for its adequacy. Again, the scientific basis for this is not evident. Modern clinical science finds that the milk of virtually all mothers, even those suffering from significant malnutrition, is adequate for the growth and development of the infant. This focus on the "testing" of milk may represent an early example of the reliance on laboratory diagnosis that has so heavily dominated western medicine in recent years. Finally, western medicine seems more managerial with regard to breastfeeding than Chinese medicine, and has perhaps "medicalized" breastfeeding, a compliant often voiced even now in late 20th century America. Nonetheless, both literatures demonstrate that throughout the history of recorded medicine, physicians have been concerned with promoting optimal breastfeeding and have understood the importance of human milk for the survival, growth, and development of the infant.

Traditional Chinese medical therapy for erectile dysfunction

PubMed Central

Li, Hao; Jiang, Hongyang

2017-01-01

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), including acupuncture and Chinese herbs, is used as an alternative therapy to increase the curative effect for erectile dysfunction (ED). A large number of studies have been conducted to investigate the effect and mechanism of TCM for treating ED. The therapeutic effect of acupuncture on ED is still controversial at present. However, some Chinese herbs exhibited satisfying outcomes and they might improve erectile function by activating nitric oxide synthase (NOS)-cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) pathway, increasing cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) expression, elevating testosterone level, reducing intracellular Ca2+ concentration, down-regulating transforming growth factor β1 (TGFβ1)/Smad2 signaling pathway, or ameliorating the oxidative stress. PMID:28540226

Validation of the Compassion Fatigue Short Scale among Chinese medical workers and firefighters: a cross-sectional study

PubMed Central

Sun, Binghai; Hu, Mengna; Yu, Shitian; Jiang, Yiru; Lou, Baona

2016-01-01

Objectives To examine the psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the C-Compassion Fatigue (CF)-Short Scale among 4 independent samples of Chinese emergency workers (medical workers and firefighters). Design Cross-sectional. Setting 6 hospitals in Zhejiang Province and 12 fire stations in Shanghai. Participants Emergency workers (medical and firefighters) were consecutively recruited and divided into 4 groups: the MW1 group (medical workers, n=167), the FF1 group (firefighters, n=157), the MW2 group (medical workers, n=265) and the FF2 group (firefighters, n=231). Interventions All patients completed the C-CF-Short Scale to identify factors associated with compassion fatigue. The MW1 and FF1 groups were used for the exploratory analyses. The MW2 and FF2 groups were used for the confirmatory factor analyses. Primary and secondary outcome measures Factor loading, correlations with previously validated questionnaires (the Ego-Resiliency Scale, the Social Support Questionnaire and the Job Pressure Scale) and Cronbach's α coefficient were tested for each factor. Results The C-CF-Short Scale demonstrated excellent construct validity and good internal consistency. Specifically, the results of exploratory factor analyses in the MW1 and FF1 groups showed that secondary trauma and job burnout were associated with compassion fatigue in these emergency workers. The confirmatory factor analyses in the MW2 and FF2 groups indicated that all the fit indices of the 2-factor model were satisfactory. Finally, the Cronbach's α coefficient of each factor was excellent. Conclusions The findings suggest that the C-CF-Short Scale has good psychometric properties and can be applied to study Chinese emergency workers. PMID:27363817

Relativity Screens for Misvalued Medical Services: Impact on Noninvasive Diagnostic Radiology.

PubMed

Rosenkrantz, Andrew B; Silva, Ezequiel; Hawkins, C Matthew

2017-11-01

In 2006, the AMA/Specialty Society Relative Value Scale Update Committee (RUC) introduced ongoing relativity screens to identify potentially misvalued medical services for payment adjustments. We assess the impact of these screens upon the valuation of noninvasive diagnostic radiology services. Data regarding relativity screens and relative value unit (RVU) changes were obtained from the 2016 AMA Relativity Assessment Status Report. All global codes in the 2016 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule with associated work RVUs were classified as noninvasive diagnostic radiology services versus remaining services. The frequency of having ever undergone a screen was compared between the two groups. Screened radiology codes were further evaluated regarding the RVU impact of subsequent revaluation. Of noninvasive diagnostic radiology codes, 46.0% (201 of 437) were screened versus 22.2% (1,460 of 6,575) of remaining codes (P < .001). Most common screens for which radiology codes were identified as potentially misvalued were (1) high expenditures (27.5%) and (2) high utilization (25.6%). The modality and body region most likely to be identified in a screen were CT (82.1%) and breast (90.9%), respectively. Among screened radiology codes, work RVUs, practice expense RVUs, and nonfacility total RVUs decreased in 20.3%, 65.9%, and 75.3%, respectively. All screened CT, MRI, brain, and spine codes exhibited decreased total RVUs. Policymakers' ongoing search for potentially misvalued medical services has disproportionately impacted noninvasive diagnostic radiology services, risking the introduction of unintended or artificial shifts in physician practice. Copyright © 2017 American College of Radiology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Relation of perceptions of educational environment with mindfulness among Chinese medical students: a longitudinal study.

PubMed

Xu, Xin; Wu, Daxing; Zhao, Xiaohua; Chen, Junxiang; Xia, Jie; Li, Mulei; Nie, Xueqing; Zhong, Xue

2016-01-01

Perceived educational environment influences academic outcomes, such as academic achievement, students' behaviors, well-being, socio-emotional adjustment and explicit self-esteem. Mindfulness is a set of skills that are beneficial to physical and mental health. Recently, it has been increasingly discussed about its usefulness in education, but little research has explored whether mindfulness can predict perceptions of educational environment. The aim of this study was to explore Chinese medical students' perceptions of learning environment and their relationship with mindfulness. Medical students at the Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University (N=431) completed the Chinese version of Dundee Ready Educational Environment Measure (DREEM-C) and the Kentucky Inventory of Mindfulness Skills (KIMS-C). One year later, a subgroup of the cohort (N=231) completed the DREEM-C again. Independent-samples t-test, variance analysis, correlation analysis, and hierarchical multiple regression (HMR) were conducted. DREEM-C total and subscales scores were net positive, but with room for improvement. Perceptions differed in relation to gender, academic year, and age. KIMS-C scores correlated with DREEM-C scores. The predictive effect persisted 1 year later. Medical students had net-positive perceptions about their learning environment. Higher mindfulness scores were associated with greater satisfaction with the environment and this association showed persistence.

Relation of perceptions of educational environment with mindfulness among Chinese medical students: a longitudinal study.

PubMed

Xu, Xin; Wu, Daxing; Zhao, Xiaohua; Chen, Junxiang; Xia, Jie; Li, Mulei; Nie, Xueqing; Zhong, Xue

2016-01-01

Background Perceived educational environment influences academic outcomes, such as academic achievement, students' behaviors, well-being, socio-emotional adjustment and explicit self-esteem. Mindfulness is a set of skills that are beneficial to physical and mental health. Recently, it has been increasingly discussed about its usefulness in education, but little research has explored whether mindfulness can predict perceptions of educational environment. The aim of this study was to explore Chinese medical students' perceptions of learning environment and their relationship with mindfulness. Methods Medical students at the Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University (N=431) completed the Chinese version of Dundee Ready Educational Environment Measure (DREEM-C) and the Kentucky Inventory of Mindfulness Skills (KIMS-C). One year later, a subgroup of the cohort (N=231) completed the DREEM-C again. Independent-samples t-test, variance analysis, correlation analysis, and hierarchical multiple regression (HMR) were conducted. Results DREEM-C total and subscales scores were net positive, but with room for improvement. Perceptions differed in relation to gender, academic year, and age. KIMS-C scores correlated with DREEM-C scores. The predictive effect persisted 1 year later. Conclusions Medical students had net-positive perceptions about their learning environment. Higher mindfulness scores were associated with greater satisfaction with the environment and this association showed persistence.

Factors associated with patient, and diagnostic delays in Chinese TB patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

PubMed

Li, Ying; Ehiri, John; Tang, Shenglan; Li, Daikun; Bian, Yongqiao; Lin, Hui; Marshall, Caitlin; Cao, Jia

2013-07-02

Delay in seeking care is a major impediment to effective management of tuberculosis (TB) in China. To elucidate factors that underpin patient and diagnostic delays in TB management, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of factors that are associated with delays in TB care-seeking and diagnosis in the country. This review was prepared following standard procedures of the Cochrane Collaboration and the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses statement and checklist. Relevant studies published up to November 2012 were identified from three major international and Chinese literature databases: Medline/PubMed, EMBASE and CNKI (China National Knowledge Infrastructure). We included 29 studies involving 38,947 patients from 17 provinces in China. Qualitative analysis showed that key individual level determinants of delays included socio-demographic and economic factors, mostly poverty, rural residence, lack of health insurance, lower educational attainment, stigma and poor knowledge of TB. Health facility determinants included limited availability of resources to perform prompt diagnosis, lack of qualified health workers and geographical barriers.Quantitative meta-analysis indicated that living in rural areas was a risk factor for patient delays (pooled odds ratio (OR) (95% confidence interval (CI)): 1.79 (1.62, 1.98)) and diagnostic delays (pooled OR (95% CI): 1.40 (1.23, 1.59)). Female patients had higher risk of patient delay (pooled OR (95% CI): 1.94 (1.13, 3.33)). Low educational attainment (primary school and below) was also a risk factor for patient delay (pooled OR (95% CI): 2.14 (1.03, 4.47)). The practice of seeking care first from Traditional Chinese Medicine (TMC) providers was also identified as a risk factor for diagnostic delay (pooled OR (95% CI): 5.75 (3.03, 10.94)). Patient and diagnostic delays in TB care are mediated by individual and health facility factors. Population-based interventions that seek to reduce TB

SU-E-P-01: An Informative Review On the Role of Diagnostic Medical Physicist in the Academic and Private Medical Centers

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Weir, V; Zhang, J

Purpose: The role of physicist in the academic and private hospital environment continues to evolve and expand. This becomes more obvious with the newly revised requirements of the Joint Commission (JC) on imaging modalities and the continued updated requirements of ACR accreditation for medical physics (i.e., starting in June 2014, a physicists test will be needed before US accreditation). We provide an informative review on the role of diagnostic medical physicist and hope that our experience will expedite junior physicists in understanding their role in medical centers, and be ready to more opportunities. Methods: Based on our experience, diagnostic medicalmore » physicists in both academic and private medical centers perform several clinical functions. These include providing clinical service and physics support, ensuring that all ionizing radiation devices are tested and operated in compliance with the State and Federal laws, regulations and guidelines. We also discuss the training and education required to ensure that the radiation exposure to patients and staff is as low as reasonably achievable. We review the overlapping roles of medical and health physicist in some institutions. Results: A detailed scheme on the new requirements (effective 7/1/2014) of the JC is provided. In 2015, new standards for fluoroscopy, cone beam CT and the qualifications of staff will be phased in. A summary of new ACR requirements for different modalities is presented. Medical physicist have other duties such as sitting on CT and fluoroscopy committees for protocols design, training of non-radiologists to meet the new fluoroscopy rules, as well as helping with special therapies such as Yittrium 90 cases. Conclusion: Medical physicists in both academic and private hospitals are positioned to be more involved and prominent. Diagnostic physicists need to be more proactive to involve themselves in the day to day activities of the radiology department.« less

[Comparative study on Chinese medical syndrome typing and treatment combined different surgical methods for treating clomiphene-resistant polycystic ovary syndrome].

PubMed

Zeng, Lei; Zeng, Cheng; Tao, Li-Li

2012-11-01

To observe the therapeutic efficacy of Chinese medical syndrome typing and treatment combined cold needle puncture drainage operation or unipolar electrocoagulation drilling technique under laparoscope for treating clomiphene-resistant polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Forty infertility patients with clomiphene-resistant PCOS were assigned to two groups using stratified random sampling method according to age, infertility time, and body mass index, 20 in each group. Patients in Group A were treated with Chinese medical syndrome typing and treatment combined cold needle puncture drainage operation, while those in Group B were treated with Chinese medical syndrome typing and treatment combined unipolar electrocoagulation drilling technique. After operation Chinese herbal treatment was administered to all patients according to syndrome typing. The serum levels of luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), androgen (T), estradiol (E2), and prolactin (PRL) were determined before and after operation. The ovulation was monitored. The pregnancy rate and the pregnancy outcomes were recorded after operation. There was no statistical difference in the 3-month spontaneous ovulation rate or the 1-year pregnancy rate (P > 0.05). The levels of LH, T, and PRL were significantly lower after operation than before operation in the two groups (P < 0.05). The menstruation and ovulation were obviously improved after operation. The total ovulation rate was 95% (19/20) in Group A. Successful pregnancy occurred in 15 cases of Group A. Ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) occurred in 1 case of Group A. The total ovulation rate was 90% (18/20) in Group B. Successful pregnancy occurred in 13 cases of Group B. Hypovaria occurred in 1 case of Group B. Luteinized unruptured follicle (LUFS) occurred in 2 cases of Group A and 1 case of Group B. Chinese medical syndrome typing and treatment combined cold needle puncture drainage operation or unipolar electrocoagulation

Diagnostic accuracy of different body weight and height-based definitions of childhood obesity in identifying overfat among Chinese children and adolescents: a cross-sectional study.

PubMed

Wang, Lin; Hui, Stanley Sai-chuen

2015-08-20

Various body weight and height-based references are used to define obese children and adolescents. However, no study investigating the diagnostic accuracies of the definitions of obesity and overweight in Hong Kong Chinese children and adolescents has been conducted. The current study aims to investigate the diagnostic accuracy of BMI-based definitions and 1993 HK reference in screening excess body fat among Hong Kong Chinese children and adolescents. A total of 2,134 participants (1,135 boys and 999 girls) were recruited from local schools. The foot-to-foot BIA scale was applied to assess %BF using standard methods. The criterion of childhood obesity (i.e., overfat) was defined as over 25 %BF for boys and over 30 %BF for girls. Childhood obesity was also determined from four BMI-based references and the 1993 HK reference. The diagnostic accuracy of these existing definitions for childhood obesity in screening excess body fat was evaluated using diagnostic indices. Overall, %BF was significantly correlated with anthropometry measurements in both genders (in boys, r = 0.747 for BMI 0.766 for PWH; in girls, r = 0.930 for BMI 0.851 for PWH). The prevalence rates of overweight and obesity determined by BMI-based references were similar with the prevalence rates of obesity in the 1993 HK reference in both genders. All definitions for childhood obesity showed low sensitivity (in boys, 0.325-0.761; in girls, 0.128-0.588) in detecting overfat. Specificities were high for cut-offs among all definitions for childhood obesity (in boys, 0.862-0.980; in girls, 0.973-0.998). In conclusion, prevalence rates of childhood obesity or overweight varied widely according to the diagnostic references applied. The diagnostic performance for weight and height-based references for obesity is poorer than expected for both genders among Hong Kong Chinese children and adolescents. In order to improve the diagnosis accuracy of childhood obesity, either cut-off values of body weight and

Medical Individualism or Medical Familism? A Critical Analysis of China's New Guidelines for Informed Consent: The Basic Norms of the Documentation of the Medical Record.

PubMed

Bian, Lin

2015-08-01

Modern Western medical individualism has had a significant impact on health care in China. This essay demonstrates the ways in which such Western-style individualism has been explicitly endorsed in China's 2010 directive: The Basic Norms of the Documentation of the Medical Record. The Norms require that the patient himself, rather than a member of his family, sign each informed consent form. This change in clinical practice indicates a shift toward medical individualism in Chinese healthcare legislation. Such individualism, however, is incompatible with the character of Chinese familism that is deeply rooted in the Chinese ethical tradition. It also contradicts family-based patterns of health care in China. Moreover, the requirement for individual informed consent is incompatible with numerous medical regulations promulgated in the past two decades. This essay argues that while Chinese medical legislation should learn from relevant Western ideas, it should not simply copy such practices by importing medical individualism into Chinese health care. Chinese healthcare policy is properly based on Chinese medical familist resources. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press, on behalf of the Journal of Medicine and Philosophy Inc. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Diagnostic Accuracy of Chinese Medicine Diagnosis Scale of Phlegm and Blood Stasis Syndrome in Coronary Heart Disease: A Study Protocol.

PubMed

Liu, Xiao-Qi; Peng, Dan-Hong; Wang, Yan-Ping; Xie, Rong; Chen, Xin-Lin; Yu, Chun-Quan; Li, Xian-Tao

2018-05-03

Phlegm and blood stasis syndrome (PBSS) is one of the main syndromes in coronary heart disease (CHD). Syndromes of Chinese medicine (CM) are lack of quantitative and easyimplementation diagnosis standards. To quantify and standardize the diagnosis of PBSS, scales are usually applied. To evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of CM diagnosis scale of PBSS in CHD. Six hundred patients with stable angina pectoris of CHD, 300 in case group and 300 in control group, will be recruited from 5 hospitals across China. Diagnosis from 2 experts will be considered as the "gold standard". The study design consists of 2 phases: pilot test is used to evaluate the reliability and validity, and diagnostic test is used to assess the diagnostic accuracy of the scale, including sensitivity, specififi city, likelihood ratio and area under the receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve. This study will evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of CM diagnosis scale of PBSS in CHD. The consensus of 2 experts may not be ideal as a "gold standard", and itself still requires further study. (No. ChiCTR-OOC-15006599).

The mediating role of resilience in the relationship between big five personality and anxiety among Chinese medical students: a cross-sectional study.

PubMed

Shi, Meng; Liu, Li; Wang, Zi Yue; Wang, Lie

2015-01-01

The psychological distress of medical students is a major concern of public health worldwide. However, few studies have been conducted to evaluate anxiety symptoms of medical students in China. The purpose of this study was to investigate the anxiety symptoms among Chinese medical students, to examine the relationships between big five personality traits and anxiety symptoms among medical students, and to explore the mediating role of resilience in these relationships. This multicenter cross-sectional study was conducted in June 2014. Self-reported questionnaires consisting of the Zung Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), Big Five Inventory (BFI), Wagnild and Young Resilience Scale (RS-14) and demographic section were distributed to the subjects. A stratified random cluster sampling method was used to select 2925 medical students (effective response rate: 83.57%) at four medical colleges and universities in Liaoning province, China. Asymptotic and resampling strategies were used to explore the mediating role of resilience. The prevalence of anxiety symptoms was 47.3% (SAS index score≥50) among Chinese medical students. After adjusting for the demographic factors, the traits of agreeableness, conscientiousness and openness were all negatively associated with anxiety whereas neuroticism was positively associated with it. Resilience functioned as a mediator in the relationships between agreeableness/conscientiousness/openness and anxiety symptoms. Among Chinese medical students, the prevalence of anxiety symptoms was high and resilience mediated the relationships between big five personality traits and anxiety symptoms. Identifying at-risk individuals and undertaking appropriate intervention strategies that focus on both personality traits and resilience might be more effective to prevent and reduce anxiety symptoms.

Capillary waveguide optrodes: an approach to optical sensing in medical diagnostics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lippitsch, Max E.; Draxler, Sonja; Kieslinger, Dietmar; Lehmann, Hartmut; Weigl, Bernhard H.

1996-07-01

Glass capillaries with a chemically sensitive coating on the inner surface are used as optical sensors for medical diagnostics. A capillary simultaneously serves as a sample compartment, a sensor element, and an inhomogeneous optical waveguide. Various detection schemes based on absorption, fluorescence intensity, or fluorescence lifetime are described. In absorption-based capillary waveguide optrodes the absorption in the sensor layer is analyte dependent; hence light transmission along the inhomogeneous waveguiding structure formed by the capillary wall and the sensing layer is a function of the analyte concentration. Similarly, in fluorescence-based capillary optrodes the fluorescence intensity or the fluorescence lifetime of an indicator dye fixed in the sensing layer is analyte dependent; thus the specific property of fluorescent light excited in the sensing layer and thereafter guided along the inhomogeneous waveguiding structure is a function of the analyte concentration. Both schemes are experimentally demonstrated, one with carbon dioxide as the analyte and the other one with oxygen. The device combines optical sensors with the standard glass capillaries usually applied to gather blood drops from fingertips, to yield a versatile diagnostic instrument, integrating the sample compartment, the optical sensor, and the light-collecting optics into a single piece. This ensures enhanced sensor performance as well as improved handling compared with other sensors. waveguide, blood gases, medical diagnostics.

The psychologizing of Chinese healing practices in the United States.

PubMed

Barnes, L L

1998-12-01

This paper explores ways in which Chinese healing practices have undergone acculturation in the United States since the early 1970s. Reacting to what is perceived as biomedicine's focus on the physiological, those who describe themselves as favoring a holistic orientation often use the language of "energy blockage" to explain illness, whether thought of as "physical," "emotional," or "spiritual." Acupuncture in particular has been appropriated as one modality with which to "unblock" such conditions, leading to its being used by some practitioners in conjunction with more psychotherapeutic approaches which include valuing the verbalizing of feelings. Some non-Chinese practitioners in the United States, returning to older Chinese texts to develop "an American acupuncture," are reinserting diagnoses eliminated from Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) by the People's Republic of China as "superstition." The assumption has been that many such diagnostic categories refer to psychological or spiritual conditions, and therefore may be useful in those American contexts which favor this orientation. Among these categories are those drawn from traditions of demonology in Chinese medicine. What was once a religious category in China turns psychological in the American setting. At the same time, many who use these terms have, since the late 1960s, increasingly conflated the psychological and the religious, the latter being reframed as "spiritual." Thus, this indigenization of Chinese practices is a complex synthesis which can be described as simultaneously medical, psychotherapeutic, and religious.

An Overview of the Roles and Responsibilities of Chinese Medical Colleges in Body Donation Programs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zhang, Luqing; Xiao, Ming; Gu, Mufeng; Zhang, Yongjie; Jin, Jianliang; Ding, Jiong

2014-01-01

The use of human tissue is critical for gross anatomy education in the health professions. Chinese medical colleges have faced a shortage of anatomical specimens over the past decade. While body donation plays an important role in overcoming this gap, this practice has only recently been introduced in China, and the donation rate is relatively low…

Health Technology Assessment for Molecular Diagnostics: Practices, Challenges, and Recommendations from the Medical Devices and Diagnostics Special Interest Group.

PubMed

Garfield, Susan; Polisena, Julie; S Spinner, Daryl; Postulka, Anne; Y Lu, Christine; Tiwana, Simrandeep K; Faulkner, Eric; Poulios, Nick; Zah, Vladimir; Longacre, Michael

2016-01-01

Health technology assessments (HTAs) are increasingly used to inform coverage, access, and utilization of medical technologies including molecular diagnostics (MDx). Although MDx are used to screen patients and inform disease management and treatment decisions, there is no uniform approach to their evaluation by HTA organizations. The International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research Devices and Diagnostics Special Interest Group reviewed diagnostic-specific HTA programs and identified elements representing common and best practices. MDx-specific HTA programs in Europe, Australia, and North America were characterized by methodology, evaluation framework, and impact. Published MDx HTAs were reviewed, and five representative case studies of test evaluations were developed: United Kingdom (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence's Diagnostics Assessment Programme, epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase mutation), United States (Palmetto's Molecular Diagnostic Services Program, OncotypeDx prostate cancer test), Germany (Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Healthcare, human papillomavirus testing), Australia (Medical Services Advisory Committee, anaplastic lymphoma kinase testing for non-small cell lung cancer), and Canada (Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health, Rapid Response: Non-invasive Prenatal Testing). Overall, the few HTA programs that have MDx-specific methods do not provide clear parameters of acceptability related to clinical and analytic performance, clinical utility, and economic impact. The case studies highlight similarities and differences in evaluation approaches across HTAs in the performance metrics used (analytic and clinical validity, clinical utility), evidence requirements, and how value is measured. Not all HTAs are directly linked to reimbursement outcomes. To improve MDx HTAs, organizations should provide greater transparency, better communication and collaboration between industry and HTA

42 CFR 410.32 - Diagnostic x-ray tests, diagnostic laboratory tests, and other diagnostic tests: Conditions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... in the 80000 series of the Current Procedural Terminology published by the American Medical... & MEDICAID SERVICES, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES MEDICARE PROGRAM SUPPLEMENTARY MEDICAL INSURANCE (SMI) BENEFITS Medical and Other Health Services § 410.32 Diagnostic x-ray tests, diagnostic laboratory...

42 CFR 410.32 - Diagnostic x-ray tests, diagnostic laboratory tests, and other diagnostic tests: Conditions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... Procedural Terminology published by the American Medical Association. (3) Levels of supervision. Except where... & MEDICAID SERVICES, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES MEDICARE PROGRAM SUPPLEMENTARY MEDICAL INSURANCE (SMI) BENEFITS Medical and Other Health Services § 410.32 Diagnostic x-ray tests, diagnostic laboratory...

An investigation Into Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospitals in China: Development Trend and Medical Service Innovation.

PubMed

Wang, Liang; Suo, Sizhuo; Li, Jian; Hu, Yuanjia; Li, Peng; Wang, Yitao; Hu, Hao

2016-06-07

This paper aims to investigate the development trend of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) hospitals in China and explore their medical service innovations, with special reference to the changing co-existence with western medicine (WM) at TCM hospitals. Quantitative data at macro level was collected from official databases of China Health Statistical Yearbook and Extracts of Traditional Chinese Medicine Statistics. Qualitative data at micro level was gathered through interviews and second-hand material collection at two of the top-level TCM hospitals. In both outpatient and inpatient sectors of TCM hospitals, drug fees accounted for the biggest part of hospital revenue. Application of WM medical exanimation increased in both outpatient and inpatient services. Even though the demand for WM drugs was much higher in inpatient care, TCM drugs was the winner in the outpatient. Also qualitative evidence showed that TCM dominated the outpatient hospital service with WM incorporated in the assisting role. However, it was in the inpatient medical care that WM prevailed over TCM which was mostly applied to the rehabilitation of patients. By drawing on WM while keeping it active in supporting and strengthening the TCM operation in the TCM hospital, the current system accommodates the overriding objective which is for TCM to evolve into a fully informed and more viable medical field. © 2017 The Author(s); Published by Kerman University of Medical Sciences. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

[Briefs of Japanese acupuncture-moxibustion works of Chinese translation version in modern times].

PubMed

Liu, Kechen; Zhang, Shujian

2017-05-12

The authors collected 25 Japanese acupuncture-moxibustion works of Chinese translation version in modern times (1912-1960) and investigated them from 3 aspects, named the study on the mechanisms of acupuncture and moxibustion, the explanation of basic theory and clinical treatment with acupuncture and moxibustion. Generally speaking, Japanese acupuncture-moxibustion works of Chinese translation version explained the mechanisms of acupuncture and moxibustion in terms of the theory of western medicine rather than traditional one. It proposed the study on the phenomenon of meridian and collateral, which absorbed the anatomic knowledge of western medicine in the discussion on meridians, collaterals and acupoints; introduced diagnostic methods and techniques of acupuncture and moxibustion and adopted the classification of western medicine system and the diseases in western medicine to discuss the treatment with acupuncture and moxibustion. All of these reflect the academic characteristics of acupuncture and moxibustion in Japan at those times and the position of Chinese scholars, by which the Japanese medical works were introduced for the academic innovation.

[The Offer of Medical-Diagnostic Self-Tests on German Language Websites: Results of a Systematic Internet Search].

PubMed

Kuecuekbalaban, P; Schmidt, S; Muehlan, H

2018-03-01

The aim of the current study was to provide an overview of medical-diagnostic self-tests which can be purchased without a medical prescription on German language websites. From September 2014 to March 2015, a systematic internet research was conducted with the following search terms: self-test, self-diagnosis, home test, home diagnosis, quick test, rapid test. 513 different self-tests for the diagnostics of 52 diverse diseases or health risks were identified, including chronic diseases (e. g. diabetes, chronic disease of the kidneys, liver, and lungs), sexually transmitted diseases (e. g. HIV, chlamydia, gonorrhea), infectious diseases (e. g. tuberculosis, malaria, Helicobacter pylori), allergies (e. g. house dust, cats, histamine) and cancer as well as tests for the diagnostics of 12 different psychotropic substances. These were sold by 90 companies in Germany and by other foreign companies. The number of medical-diagnostic self-tests which can be bought without a medical prescription on the Internet has increased enormously in the last 10 years. Further studies are needed for the identification of the determinants of the use of self-tests as well as the impact of the application on the experience and behavior of the user. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

[Influence of journals indexed by Science Citation Index (SCI) on Chinese medical journals based on the data of published articles by Chinese authors from 2000 - 2009].

PubMed

Fu, Xiao-Xia; Li, Gui-Cun

2011-04-01

This study was designed to investigate the influence of journals indexed by Science Citation Index (SCI) on Chinese medical journals. Articles on medicine written by Chinese and the journals that published these articles from 2000 to 2009 were searched using Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-E) database, and the status and variation tendency of the impact factors (IF) of these journals were analyzed. Data of articles on medicine included Chinese Scientific and Technical Paper and Citations Data (CSTPCD) from 2000 to 2008 were searched (the data of 2009 have not been released). The included articles and the time-dependent changing profile were studied. These outcomes were evaluated as the fixed base relative or link relative when compared with the data of 2000 or those of last year, respectively. Geometric mean was used when mean increase was calculated and IF distribution was described with median. Totally 3774 articles from China were published by journals indexed by SCI-E in 2000, and the number of articles published by Chinese authors increased every year. In 2008, 16 714 articles were indexed by SCI-E, 442.87% higher than those of 2000. The increment was 161.54% higher than that of articles published in the journals indexed by CSTPCD (281.33%) during the same period. From 2000 to 2009, the geometric mean of increase in the number of published articles from China in journals indexed by SCI-E was 20.87% but it was 18.21% in CSTPCD. From 2000 to 2009, the median of IF of SCI-E indexed journals that published Chinese medical articles was 1.866, 2.073, 2.390, 2.702, 2.409, 2.496, 2.380, 2.218, 2.280 and 2.331, respectively, and they did not increase or even decreased. The number of the articles indexed by SCI-E increased year by year, much faster than that of CSTPCD. However, it does not necessarily mean the increase in impact.

Chinese medicine in Malaysia and Singapore: the business of healing.

PubMed

Ooi, G L

1993-01-01

Traditional Chinese medicine as it persists in several East and Southeast Asian countries, has undergone major changes. Such changes have reinforced the trading aspects of traditional Chinese medical practice with relatively little advantage for the medical care component. This paper examines the nature of changes in contemporary ethnic Chinese medical practice in Malaysia and Singapore with the aim of understanding their implications for the persistence of this medical tradition.

A preface on advances in diagnostics for infectious and parasitic diseases: detecting parasites of medical and veterinary importance.

PubMed

Stothard, J Russell; Adams, Emily

2014-12-01

There are many reasons why detection of parasites of medical and veterinary importance is vital and where novel diagnostic and surveillance tools are required. From a medical perspective alone, these originate from a desire for better clinical management and rational use of medications. Diagnosis can be at the individual-level, at close to patient settings in testing a clinical suspicion or at the community-level, perhaps in front of a computer screen, in classification of endemic areas and devising appropriate control interventions. Thus diagnostics for parasitic diseases has a broad remit as parasites are not only tied with their definitive hosts but also in some cases with their vectors/intermediate hosts. Application of current diagnostic tools and decision algorithms in sustaining control programmes, or in elimination settings, can be problematic and even ill-fitting. For example in resource-limited settings, are current diagnostic tools sufficiently robust for operational use at scale or are they confounded by on-the-ground realities; are the diagnostic algorithms underlying public health interventions always understood and well-received within communities which are targeted for control? Within this Special Issue (SI) covering a variety of diseases and diagnostic settings some answers are forthcoming. An important theme, however, throughout the SI is to acknowledge that cross-talk and continuous feedback between development and application of diagnostic tests is crucial if they are to be used effectively and appropriately.

[Analysis on regularity of prescriptions in "a guide to clinical practice with medical record" for diarrhoea based on traditional Chinese medicine inheritance support system].

PubMed

He, Lan-Juan; Zhu, Xiang-Dong

2016-06-01

To analyze the regularities of prescriptions in "a guide to clinical practice with medical record" (Ye Tianshi) for diarrhoea based on traditional Chinese medicine inheritance support system(V2.5), and provide a reference for further research and development of new traditional Chinese medicines in treating diarrhoea. Traditional Chinese medicine inheritance support system was used to build a prescription database of Chinese medicines for diarrhoea. The software integration data mining method was used to analyze the prescriptions according to "four natures", "five flavors" and "meridians" in the database and achieve frequency statistics, syndrome distribution, prescription regularity and new prescription analysis. An analysis on 94 prescriptions for diarrhoea was used to determine the frequencies of medicines in prescriptions, commonly used medicine pairs and combinations, and achieve 13 new prescriptions. This study indicated that the prescriptions for diarrhoea in "a guide to clinical practice with medical record" are mostly of eliminating dampness and tonifying deficienccy, with neutral drug property, sweet, bitter or hot in flavor, and reflecting the treatment principle of "activating spleen-energy and resolving dampness". Copyright© by the Chinese Pharmaceutical Association.

Diagnostic Machine Learning Models for Acute Abdominal Pain: Towards an e-Learning Tool for Medical Students.

PubMed

Khumrin, Piyapong; Ryan, Anna; Judd, Terry; Verspoor, Karin

2017-01-01

Computer-aided learning systems (e-learning systems) can help medical students gain more experience with diagnostic reasoning and decision making. Within this context, providing feedback that matches students' needs (i.e. personalised feedback) is both critical and challenging. In this paper, we describe the development of a machine learning model to support medical students' diagnostic decisions. Machine learning models were trained on 208 clinical cases presenting with abdominal pain, to predict five diagnoses. We assessed which of these models are likely to be most effective for use in an e-learning tool that allows students to interact with a virtual patient. The broader goal is to utilise these models to generate personalised feedback based on the specific patient information requested by students and their active diagnostic hypotheses.

The Mediating Role of Resilience in the Relationship between Big Five Personality and Anxiety among Chinese Medical Students: A Cross-Sectional Study

PubMed Central

Shi, Meng; Liu, Li; Wang, Zi Yue; Wang, Lie

2015-01-01

Backgrounds The psychological distress of medical students is a major concern of public health worldwide. However, few studies have been conducted to evaluate anxiety symptoms of medical students in China. The purpose of this study was to investigate the anxiety symptoms among Chinese medical students, to examine the relationships between big five personality traits and anxiety symptoms among medical students, and to explore the mediating role of resilience in these relationships. Methods This multicenter cross-sectional study was conducted in June 2014. Self-reported questionnaires consisting of the Zung Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), Big Five Inventory (BFI), Wagnild and Young Resilience Scale (RS-14) and demographic section were distributed to the subjects. A stratified random cluster sampling method was used to select 2925 medical students (effective response rate: 83.57%) at four medical colleges and universities in Liaoning province, China. Asymptotic and resampling strategies were used to explore the mediating role of resilience. Results The prevalence of anxiety symptoms was 47.3% (SAS index score≥50) among Chinese medical students. After adjusting for the demographic factors, the traits of agreeableness, conscientiousness and openness were all negatively associated with anxiety whereas neuroticism was positively associated with it. Resilience functioned as a mediator in the relationships between agreeableness/conscientiousness/openness and anxiety symptoms. Conclusions Among Chinese medical students, the prevalence of anxiety symptoms was high and resilience mediated the relationships between big five personality traits and anxiety symptoms. Identifying at-risk individuals and undertaking appropriate intervention strategies that focus on both personality traits and resilience might be more effective to prevent and reduce anxiety symptoms. PMID:25794003

Influence of Chinese cultural health beliefs among Malaysian Chinese in a suburban population: a survey.

PubMed

Chew, K S; Tan, T W; Ooi, Y T

2011-04-01

In a multiethnic nation, it is not uncommon for doctors to encounter patients of different cultural backgrounds. Often, patients' cultural beliefs influence their perception of health and illnesses, and their treatment option. Many Chinese cultural beliefs are influenced by the Taoist concept of yin-yang balance. We interviewed 50 Malaysian Chinese from the general public of a suburban population in order to unravel the impact of Chinese cultural health beliefs on their decision-making, and this was compared with the opinions of 50 Chinese medical students from second to final year. Convenience sampling was then applied. From the survey, 78 percent of the general public believed that 'too much heat' or 'too much coldness' in the body could cause diseases. Compared to the medical students, a significantly higher number of the respondents held such beliefs, including the beliefs that abdominal colic is due to excessive 'wind' in the abdomen, consuming certain food can dispel wind from the body, and the importance of observing taboos during the confinement period after delivery. The majority of respondents from both groups believed that it is acceptable to combine both traditional Chinese medicine and modern medicine. There is a discrepancy in the extent to which these beliefs influence the perception of health and illnesses among the general public and among medical students. Healthcare providers need to be aware of such beliefs and practices regarding traditional Chinese medicine among their Chinese patients.

Source Book of Educational Materials for Diagnostic Medical Ultrasound. Radiological Health Series.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pijar, Mary Lou, Comp; And Others

This report is a compilation of educational materials that are available in the field of diagnostic medical ultrasound. Materials, which include publications, audiovisual aids, and teaching aids, are listed under the following categories: abdominal imaging; anatomy and physiology; anatomy and embryology; bioeffects; cardiology and vasculature;…

Quality of reporting of trial abstracts needs to be improved: using the CONSORT for abstracts to assess the four leading Chinese medical journals of traditional Chinese medicine.

PubMed

Wang, Ling; Li, Yulin; Li, Jing; Zhang, Mingming; Xu, Lin; Yuan, Wenming; Wang, Gang; Hopewell, Sally

2010-07-08

Due to language limitations, the abstract of journal article may be the only way for people of non-Chinese speaking countries to know about trials in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). However, little is known about the reporting quality of these trial abstracts. Our study is to assess the reporting quality of abstracts of randomized controlled trials (RCT) published in four leading Chinese medical journals of TCM, and to identify any differences in reporting between the Chinese and English version of the same abstract publication. Two reviewers hand-searched the Chinese Journal of Integrated Traditional and Western Medicine, the Chinese Journal of Integrative Medicine, the China Journal of Chinese Materia Medica and the Chinese Acupuncture & Moxibustion for all abstracts of RCTs published between 2006 and 2007. Two reviewers independently assessed the reporting quality of the Chinese and English version of all eligible abstracts based on a modified version of the CONSORT for reporting randomised trials in journal and conference abstracts (CONSORT for abstracts). We identified a total of 345 RCTs of TCM with both a Chinese and English abstract. More than half of Chinese abstracts reported details of the trial participants (68%; 234/345), control group intervention (52%; 179/345), the number of participants randomized (73%; 253/345) and benefits when interpreting the trial results (55%; 190/345). Reporting of methodological quality or key features of trial design and trial results were poor; only 2% (7/345) included details of the trial design, 3% (11/345) defined the primary outcome, 5% (17/345) described the methods of random sequence generation, and only 4% (13/345) reported the number of participants analyzed. No abstracts provided details on allocation concealment and trial registration. The percentage agreement in reporting (between the Chinese and English version of the same abstract) ranged from 84% to 100% across individual checklist item. The reporting

Quality of reporting of trial abstracts needs to be improved: using the CONSORT for abstracts to assess the four leading Chinese medical journals of traditional Chinese medicine

PubMed Central

2010-01-01

Background Due to language limitations, the abstract of journal article may be the only way for people of non-Chinese speaking countries to know about trials in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). However, little is known about the reporting quality of these trial abstracts. Our study is to assess the reporting quality of abstracts of randomized controlled trials (RCT) published in four leading Chinese medical journals of TCM, and to identify any differences in reporting between the Chinese and English version of the same abstract publication. Method Two reviewers hand-searched the Chinese Journal of Integrated Traditional and Western Medicine, the Chinese Journal of Integrative Medicine, the China Journal of Chinese Materia Medica and the Chinese Acupuncture & Moxibustion for all abstracts of RCTs published between 2006 and 2007. Two reviewers independently assessed the reporting quality of the Chinese and English version of all eligible abstracts based on a modified version of the CONSORT for reporting randomised trials in journal and conference abstracts (CONSORT for abstracts). Results We identified a total of 345 RCTs of TCM with both a Chinese and English abstract. More than half of Chinese abstracts reported details of the trial participants (68%; 234/345), control group intervention (52%; 179/345), the number of participants randomized (73%; 253/345) and benefits when interpreting the trial results (55%; 190/345). Reporting of methodological quality or key features of trial design and trial results were poor; only 2% (7/345) included details of the trial design, 3% (11/345) defined the primary outcome, 5% (17/345) described the methods of random sequence generation, and only 4% (13/345) reported the number of participants analyzed. No abstracts provided details on allocation concealment and trial registration. The percentage agreement in reporting (between the Chinese and English version of the same abstract) ranged from 84% to 100% across individual

The future of novel diagnostics in medical mycology.

PubMed

Teles, Fernando; Seixas, Jorge

2015-04-01

Several fungal diseases have become serious threats to human health and life, especially upon the advent of human immunodeficiency virus/AIDS epidemics and of other typical immunosuppressive conditions of modern life. Accordingly, the burden posed by these diseases and, concurrently, by intensive therapeutic regimens against these diseases has increased worldwide. Existing and available rapid tests for point-of-care diagnosis of important fungal diseases could enable the limitations of current laboratory methods for detection and identification of medically important fungi to be surpassed, both in low-income countries and for first-line diagnosis (screening) in richer countries. As with conventional diagnostic methods and devices, former immunodiagnostics have been challenged by molecular biology-based platforms, as a way to enhance the sensitivity and shorten the assay time, thus enabling early and more accurate diagnosis. Most of these tests have been developed in-house, without adequate validation and standardization. Another challenge has been the DNA extraction step, which is especially critical when dealing with fungi. In this paper, we have identified three major research trends in this field: (1) the application of newer biorecognition techniques, often applied in analytical chemistry; (2) the development of new materials with improved physico-chemical properties; and (3) novel bioanalytical platforms, allowing fully automated testing. Keeping up to date with the fast technological advances registered in this field, primarily at the proof-of-concept level, is essential for wise assessment of those that are likely to be more cost effective and, as already observed for bacterial and viral pathogens, may provide leverage to the current tepid developmental status of novel and improved diagnostics for medical mycology. © 2015 The Authors.

Principles and applications of polymerase chain reaction in medical diagnostic fields: a review

PubMed Central

Valones, Marcela Agne Alves; Guimarães, Rafael Lima; Brandão, Lucas André Cavalcanti; de Souza, Paulo Roberto Eleutério; de Albuquerque Tavares Carvalho, Alessandra; Crovela, Sergio

2009-01-01

Recent developments in molecular methods have revolutionized the detection and characterization of microorganisms in a broad range of medical diagnostic fields, including virology, mycology, parasitology, microbiology and dentistry. Among these methods, Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) has generated great benefits and allowed scientific advancements. PCR is an excellent technique for the rapid detection of pathogens, including those difficult to culture. Along with conventional PCR techniques, Real-Time PCR has emerged as a technological innovation and is playing an ever-increasing role in clinical diagnostics and research laboratories. Due to its capacity to generate both qualitative and quantitative results, Real-Time PCR is considered a fast and accurate platform. The aim of the present literature review is to explore the clinical usefulness and potential of both conventional PCR and Real-Time PCR assays in diverse medical fields, addressing its main uses and advances. PMID:24031310

The progress of Chinese burn medicine from the Third Military Medical University-in memory of its pioneer, Professor Li Ao.

PubMed

Li, Haisheng; Zhou, Junyi; Peng, Yizhi; Zhang, Jiaping; Peng, Xi; Luo, Qizhi; Yuan, Zhiqiang; Yan, Hong; Peng, Daizhi; He, Weifeng; Wang, Fengjun; Liang, Guangping; Huang, Yuesheng; Wu, Jun; Luo, Gaoxing

2017-01-01

Professor Li Ao was one of the founders of Chinese burn medicine and one of the most renowned doctors and researchers of burns in China. He established one of the Chinese earliest special departments for burns at Third Military Medical University (TMMU) in 1958. To memorialize Professor Li Ao on his 100th birthday in 2017 and introduce our extensive experience, it is our honor to briefly review the development and achievement of the Chinese burn medicine from TMMU. The epidemiology and outcomes of admitted burn patients since 1958 were reviewed. Furthermore, main achievements of basic and clinical research for the past roughly 60 years were presented. These achievements mainly included the Chinese Rule of Nine, fluid resuscitation protocol, experience in inhalation injury, wound treatment strategies, prevention and treatment of burn infections, nutrition therapy, organ support therapies, and rehabilitation. The progress shaped and enriched modern Chinese burn medicine and promoted the development of world burn medicine.

How 3D immersive visualization is changing medical diagnostics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koning, Anton H. J.

2011-03-01

Originally the only way to look inside the human body without opening it up was by means of two dimensional (2D) images obtained using X-ray equipment. The fact that human anatomy is inherently three dimensional leads to ambiguities in interpretation and problems of occlusion. Three dimensional (3D) imaging modalities such as CT, MRI and 3D ultrasound remove these drawbacks and are now part of routine medical care. While most hospitals 'have gone digital', meaning that the images are no longer printed on film, they are still being viewed on 2D screens. However, this way valuable depth information is lost, and some interactions become unnecessarily complex or even unfeasible. Using a virtual reality (VR) system to present volumetric data means that depth information is presented to the viewer and 3D interaction is made possible. At the Erasmus MC we have developed V-Scope, an immersive volume visualization system for visualizing a variety of (bio-)medical volumetric datasets, ranging from 3D ultrasound, via CT and MRI, to confocal microscopy, OPT and 3D electron-microscopy data. In this talk we will address the advantages of such a system for both medical diagnostics as well as for (bio)medical research.

Reliability and validity of the Chinese versions of self-efficacy and outcome expectations for osteoporosis medication adherence scales in Chinese immigrants.

PubMed

Qi, Bing-Bing; Resnick, Barbara

2014-01-01

To assess the psychometric properties of Chinese versions self-efficacy and outcome expectations on osteoporosis medication adherence (SEOMA-C and OEOMA-C) scales. Back-translated tools were assessed by internal consistency and R2 by structured equation modeling, confirmatory factor analyses, hypothesis testing, and criterion-related validity among 110 (81 females, 29 males) Mandarin-speaking immigrants (mean age = 63.44, SD = 9.63). The Cronbach's alpha for SEOMA-C and OEOMA-C is .904 and .937, respectively. There was fair and good fit of the measurement model to the data. Previous bone mineral density (BMD) testing, calcaneus BMD, self-efficacy for exercise, and osteoporosis medication adherence were positively related to SEOMA-C scores. These scales constitute some preliminary validity and reliability. Further refined and cultural sensitive items could be explored and added.

A comparison of the millon behavioral medical diagnostic and millon behavioral health inventory with medical populations.

PubMed

Wise, Edward A; Streiner, David L

2010-12-01

There is a lack of normative data on broadband omnibus types of personality tests with medical populations. In fact, the only two tests normed on medical populations are the Millon Behavioral Medicine Diagnostic (MBMD) and the Millon Behavioral Health Inventory (MBHI). The internal consistency, test-retest reliabilities, and validity studies of these instruments are reviewed and compared in an effort to aid clinicians in discerning their relative psychometric strengths and weaknesses. Due to the lack of validity studies with the MBMD and the fact that reliability limits the ceiling of validity coefficients, the MBMD has yet to meet the challenges it was designed to meet. Implications for practice are addressed. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Analysis of curricular reform practices at Chinese medical schools.

PubMed

Huang, Lei; Cai, Qiaoling; Cheng, Liming; Kosik, Russell; Mandell, Greg; Wang, Shuu-Jiun; Xu, Guo-Tong; Fan, Angela P

2014-01-01

A comprehensive search of the literature published between 2001 and 2010 was performed to gain a greater understanding of curricular reform practices at Chinese medical schools. There were 10,948 studies published between 2001 and 2010 that were retrieved from the database. Following preliminary screening, 76 publications from 49 different medical schools were selected. Thirty-one publications regarding clinical medicine curricular reforms were analyzed further. Of the 76 studies, 53 described curricular reforms that were instituted in theoretical courses, 22 described curricular reforms that were instituted in experimental courses, and 1 described curricular reforms that were instituted in a clinical skills training course. Of the 31 clinical medicine publications, 2 described reforms that were implemented for 3-year program medical students, 12 described reforms that were implemented for 5-year program medical students, 6 described reforms that were implemented for 7-year program medical students, and 2 described reforms that were implemented for 8-year program medical students. Currently, the majority of medical schools in China use the discipline-based curriculum model. Thirteen studies described transition to an organ-system-based curriculum model, 1 study described transition to a problem-based curriculum model, and 3 studies described transition to a clinical presentation-based curriculum model. In 7 studies educators decided to retain the discipline-based curriculum model while integrating 1 or several new courses to remedy the weaker aspects of the traditional curriculum, in 7 studies educators decided to integrate the preclinical courses with the clinical courses by using the systemic-integrating curricular system that dilutes classical disciplines and integrates material based on organ systems, and in 2 studies educators limited reforms to clinical courses only. Eight studies discussed the implementation of a formative evaluation system, 4 studies

Laser optoacoustic tomography for medical diagnostics: principles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oraevsky, Alexander A.; Esenaliev, Rinat O.; Jacques, Steven L.; Tittel, Frank K.

1996-04-01

This paper is to describe principles of laser optoacoustic tomography for medical diagnostics. Two types of imaging modes are presented. The first is the tomography in transmission mode, which utilizes detection of stress transients transmitted from the laser-excited volume toward the depth through thick layers of tissue. The second is the tomography in reflection mode which utilizes detection of stress transients generated in superficial tissue layer and reflected back toward tissue surface. To distinguish the two modes, we have abbreviated them as (1) laser optoacoustic tomography in transmission mode, LOATT, and (2) time-resolved stress detection tomography of light absorption, TRSDTLA, in reflection mode where emphasis is made on high spatial resolution of images. The basis for laser optoacoustic tomography is the time-resolved detection of laser-induced transient stress waves, selectively generated in absorbing tissues of diagnostic interest. Such a technique allows one to visualize absorbed light distribution in turbid biological tissues irradiated by short laser pulses. Laser optoacoustic tomography can be used for detection of tissue pathological changes that result in either increased concentration of various tissue chromophores such as hemoglobin or in development of enhanced microcirculation in diseased tissue. Potential areas of applications are diagnosis of cancer, brain hemorrhages, arterial atherosclerotic plaques, and other diseased tissues. In addition, it can provide feedback information during medical treatments. Both LOATT and TRSDTLA utilize laser excitation of biological tissues and sensitive detection of laser-induced stress waves. Optical selectivity is based upon differences in optical properties of pathologically different tissues. Sensitivity comes from stress generation under irradiation conditions of temporal stress confinement. The use of sensitive wide-band lithium niobate acoustic transducers expands limits of laser optoacoustic

A traditionally administered short course failed to improve medical students' diagnostic performance. A quantitative evaluation of diagnostic thinking.

PubMed

Noguchi, Yoshinori; Matsui, Kunihiko; Imura, Hiroshi; Kiyota, Masatomo; Fukui, Tsuguya

2004-05-01

Quite often medical students or novice residents have difficulty in ruling out diseases even though they are quite unlikely and, due to this difficulty, such students and novice residents unnecessarily repeat laboratory or imaging tests. To explore whether or not a carefully designed short training course teaching Bayesian probabilistic thinking improves the diagnostic ability of medical students. Ninety students at 2 medical schools were presented with clinical scenarios of coronary artery disease corresponding to high, low, and intermediate pretest probabilities. The students' estimates of test characteristics of exercise stress test, and pretest and posttest probability for each scenario were evaluated before and after the short course. The pretest probability estimates by the students, as well as their proficiency in applying Bayes's theorem, were improved in the high pretest probability scenario after the short course. However, estimates of pretest probability in the low pretest probability scenario, and their proficiency in applying Bayes's theorem in the intermediate and low pretest probability scenarios, showed essentially no improvement. A carefully designed, but traditionally administered, short course could not improve the students' abilities in estimating pretest probability in a low pretest probability setting, and subsequently students remained incompetent in ruling out disease. We need to develop educational methods that cultivate a well-balanced clinical sense to enable students to choose a suitable diagnostic strategy as needed in a clinical setting without being one-sided to the "rule-in conscious paradigm."

Diagnostic Imaging in the Medical Support of the Future Missions to the Moon

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sargsyan, Ashot E.; Jones, Jeffrey A.; Hamilton, Douglas R.; Dulchavsky, Scott A.; Duncan, J. Michael

2007-01-01

This viewgraph presentation is a course that reviews the diagnostic imaging techniques available for medical support on the future moon missions. The educational objectives of the course are to: 1) Update the audience on the curreultrasound imaging in space flight; 2) Discuss the unique aspects of conducting ultrasound imaging on ISS, interplanetary transit, ultrasound imaging on ISS, interplanetary transit, and lunar surface operations; and 3) Review preliminary data obtained in simulations of medical imaging in lunar surface operations.

Validation of existing diagnosis of autism in mainland China using standardised diagnostic instruments.

PubMed

Sun, Xiang; Allison, Carrie; Auyeung, Bonnie; Zhang, Zhixiang; Matthews, Fiona E; Baron-Cohen, Simon; Brayne, Carol

2015-11-01

Research to date in mainland China has mainly focused on children with autistic disorder rather than Autism Spectrum Conditions and the diagnosis largely depended on clinical judgment without the use of diagnostic instruments. Whether children who have been diagnosed in China before meet the diagnostic criteria of Autism Spectrum Conditions is not known nor how many such children would meet these criteria. The aim of this study was to evaluate children with a known diagnosis of autism in mainland China using the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule and the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised to verify that children who were given a diagnosis of autism made by Chinese clinicians in China were mostly children with severe autism. Of 50 children with an existing diagnosis of autism made by Chinese clinicians, 47 children met the diagnosis of autism on the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule algorithm and 44 children met the diagnosis of autism on the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised algorithm. Using the Gwet's alternative chance-corrected statistic, the agreement between the Chinese diagnosis and the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule diagnosis was very good (AC1 = 0.94, p < 0.005, 95% confidence interval (0.86, 1.00)), so was the agreement between the Chinese diagnosis and the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (AC1 = 0.91, p < 0.005, 95% confidence interval (0.81, 1.00)). The agreement between the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule and the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised was lower but still very good (AC1 = 0.83, p < 0.005). © The Author(s) 2015.

Validation of existing diagnosis of autism in mainland China using standardised diagnostic instruments

PubMed Central

Sun, Xiang; Allison, Carrie; Auyeung, Bonnie; Zhang, Zhixiang; Matthews, Fiona E; Baron-Cohen, Simon; Brayne, Carol

2016-01-01

Research to date in mainland China has mainly focused on children with autistic disorder rather than Autism Spectrum Conditions and the diagnosis largely depended on clinical judgment without the use of diagnostic instruments. Whether children who have been diagnosed in China before meet the diagnostic criteria of Autism Spectrum Conditions is not known nor how many such children would meet these criteria. The aim of this study was to evaluate children with a known diagnosis of autism in mainland China using the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule and the Autism Diagnostic Interview–Revised to verify that children who were given a diagnosis of autism made by Chinese clinicians in China were mostly children with severe autism. Of 50 children with an existing diagnosis of autism made by Chinese clinicians, 47 children met the diagnosis of autism on the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule algorithm and 44 children met the diagnosis of autism on the Autism Diagnostic Interview–Revised algorithm. Using the Gwet’s alternative chance-corrected statistic, the agreement between the Chinese diagnosis and the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule diagnosis was very good (AC1 = 0.94, p < 0.005, 95% confidence interval (0.86, 1.00)), so was the agreement between the Chinese diagnosis and the Autism Diagnostic Interview–Revised (AC1 = 0.91, p < 0.005, 95% confidence interval (0.81, 1.00)). The agreement between the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule and the Autism Diagnostic Interview–Revised was lower but still very good (AC1 = 0.83, p < 0.005). PMID:25757721

Descriptive epidemiology of deployment-related medical conditions and shipboard training-related injuries in a Chinese Navy population.

PubMed

Qi, R-R; Wang, J-Q; Pan, L-L; Zhou, W; Liu, J-L; Ju, J-T; Cai, Y-L

2016-12-01

To investigate the deployment-related medical conditions and shipboard tactical training-related injuries in a Chinese Navy population. A retrospective study with the Chinese Navy was conducted. The medical records of 1543 Navy crewmembers from 2011 to 2015 were collected. The distribution and incidence rate (IR) of different types of medical conditions were provided and compared between the Aden Gulf deployment and nondeployment periods. The occurrence of military training-related injuries in crewmembers receiving 12-week shipboard tactical training was compared with that of 956 marines and 4371 recruits receiving combat and physical training, respectively. The anatomic locations and types of training-related injury were analyzed. Compared with the nondeployment period, the percentages of the following injuries were significantly higher during deployment: injuries and certain other consequences of external causes (16.97% vs 7.76%), diseases of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue (15.40% vs 10.34%) and mental and behavioral disorders (11.23% vs 3.45%); however, respiratory system diseases had a lower percentage (19.84% vs 28.35%). Far seas deployment significantly increased the IRs of acute upper respiratory infection, skin and eye infection, sprains and low back pain as well as aphthous ulcer, insomnia, and seasickness (P < 0.05, 0.01 or 0.001). Shipboard training induced higher IRs of injuries to the upper extremities, spine and back and head and face than physical training and a higher incidence of head and face injury than combat training (P < 0.05 or 0.001). Physical training had higher IRs of overuse injuries than shipboard and combat training (P < 0.001). The IR of fracture was higher during combat and physical training than shipboard training (P < 0.01 and 0.001). The Chinese Navy has experienced novel health issues in crewmembers in recent years. Corresponding countermeasures should be taken to address deployment-related medical

Photoionization sensors for non-invasive medical diagnostics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mustafaev, Aleksandr; Rastvorova, Iuliia; Khobnya, Kristina; Podenko, Sofia

2016-09-01

The analysis of biomarkers can help to identify the significant number of diseases: lung cancer, tuberculosis, diabetes, high levels of stress, psychosomatic disorders etc. To implement continuous monitoring of the state of human health, compact VUV photoionization detector with current-voltage measurement is designed by Saint-Petersburg Mining University Plasma Research Group. This sensor is based on the patented method of stabilization of electric parameters - CES (Collisional Electron Spectroscopy). During the operation at atmospheric pressure VUV photoionization sensor measures the energy of electrons, produced in the ionization with the resonance photons, whose wavelength situated in the vacuum ultraviolet (VUV). A special software was developed to obtain the second-order derivative of the I-U characteristics, taken by the VUV sensor, to construct the energy spectra of the characteristic electrons. VUV photoionization detector has an unique set of parameters: small size (10*10*1 mm), low cost, wide range of recognizable molecules, as well as accuracy, sufficient for using this instrument for the medical purposes. This device can be used for non-invasive medical diagnostics without compromising the quality of life, for control of environment and human life. Work supported by Foundation for Assistance to Small Innovative Enterprises in Science and Technology.

Ultrasound Metrology in Mexico: a round robin test for medical diagnostics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Amezola Luna, R.; López Sánchez, A. L.; Elías Juárez, A. A.

2011-02-01

This paper presents preliminary statistical results from an on-going imaging medical ultrasound study, of particular relevance for gynecology and obstetrics areas. Its scope is twofold, firstly to compile the medical ultrasound infrastructure available in cities of Queretaro-Mexico, and second to promote the use of traceable measurement standards as a key aspect to assure quality of ultrasound examinations performed by medical specialists. The experimental methodology is based on a round robin test using an ultrasound phantom for medical imaging. The physician, using its own ultrasound machine, couplant and facilities, measures the size and depth of a set of pre-defined reflecting and absorbing targets of the reference phantom, which simulate human illnesses. Measurements performed give the medical specialist an objective feedback regarding some performance characteristics of their ultrasound examination systems, such as measurement system accuracy, dead zone, axial resolution, depth of penetration and anechoic targets detection. By the end of March 2010, 66 entities with medical ultrasound facilities, from both public and private institutions, have performed measurements. A network of medical ultrasound calibration laboratories in Mexico, with traceability to The International System of Units via national measurement standards, may indeed contribute to reduce measurement deviations and thus attain better diagnostics.

[Research on survey analysis and development strategies of traditional Chinese preparations in Guangdong Province hospitals].

PubMed

Wang, Wen-ming; Yan, Zhen; Liu, Han-jiang; Zhang, Lei-hong; Xia, Li; Zhao, Zhen-dong

2013-12-01

To provide reference for the government to formulate policies and medical institution to formulate development plan, the present situation of medical institutions of traditional Chinese preparation and some countermeasures for developing the research of traditional Chinese preparation in Guangdong province were studied. Combined with development situation of traditional Chinese preparation of medical institutions in Guangdong province in recent years, the development countermeasure of traditional Chinese preparation was discussed. In order to promote the development of traditional Chinese preparation of medical institutions, suggestions and countermeasures for the government and related departments were proposed. Government departments should formulate policies to support the development of traditional Chinese preparation, the medical institutions should make scientific development planning, strengthen the construction of hardware and software and develop special traditional Chinese preparation to promote the healthy development of traditional Chinese preparation.

Examining Shifts in Medical Students' Microanalytic Motivation Beliefs and Regulatory Processes during a Diagnostic Reasoning Task

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cleary, Timothy J.; Dong, Ting; Artino, Anthony R., Jr.

2015-01-01

This study examined within-group shifts in the motivation beliefs and regulatory processes of second-year medical students as they engaged in a diagnostic reasoning activity. Using a contextualized assessment methodology called self-regulated learning microanalysis, the authors found that the 71 medical student participants showed statistically…

Medical thoracoscopy: a useful diagnostic tool for undiagnosed pleural effusion.

PubMed

Agarwal, Abhishek; Prasad, Rajendra; Garg, Rajiv; Verma, S K; Singh, Abhijeet; Husain, N

2014-01-01

We aimed to assess the role of medical thoracoscopy in patients with undiagnosed pleural effusion. Patiens presenting with pleural effusion underwent three pleural aspirations. Patients in whom pleural fluid analysis was inconclusive underwent closed pleural biopsy for diagnostic confirmation. Patients in whom closed pleural biopsy was incolcusive underwent medical thoracoscopy using a rigid thoracoscope with a viewing angle of zero degrees was done under local anaesthesia and sedation with the patient lying in lateral decubitus position with the affected side up. Biopsy specimens from parietal pleura were obtained under direct vision and were sent for histopathological examination. Of the 128 patients with pleural effusion who were studied, pleural fluid examination established the diagnosis in 81 (malignancy 33, tuberculosis 33, pyogenic 14 and fungal 1); 47 patients underwent closed pleural biopsy and a diagnosis was made in 28 patients (malignancy 24, tuberculosis 4). The remaining 19 patients underwent medical thoracoscopy and pleural biopsy and the aetiological diagnosis could be confirmed in 13 of the 19 patients (69%) (adenocarcinoma 10, poorly differentiated carcinoma 2 and mesothelioma 1). Medical thoracoscopy is a useful tool for the diagnosis of pleural diseases. The procedure is safe with minimal complications.

The effects of patients initiated aggression on Chinese medical students' career planning.

PubMed

Xie, Zhonghui; Li, Jing; Chen, Yuhua; Cui, Kaijun

2017-12-28

Patient initiated aggression is common among Chinese health-care workers, reaching over 10,000 incidents annually (Jinyang web. http://6d.dxy.cn/article/55497 . 2013), and the tense doctor-patient relationship generates stress among medical students. Because of the paucity of data (few surveys pay attention to the effects of violence perpetrated by patients on medical students), this study aimed to characterize patient initiated aggression against medical students. In this cross-sectional survey conducted at a medical school in West China in 2015, 157 medical students completed a self-administered questionnaire and the Short Form-36, which assesses quality of life. The associations between patient initiated aggression exposure and medical students' career planning or quality of life were assessed using a chi-square test. Of the 157 medical students, 48 (30.6%) reported having suffered patient initiated aggression at least once during the previous year in the form of mental abuse (20.4%), offensive threat (14.6%), physical violence (8.3%), sexual harassment (verbal: 8.3% or physical: 1.6%), and extreme violence (physical violence leading to surgical treatment or hospitalization) (0.6%). Insufficient communication was the primary reason cited (27.2%). Emotional attack (mental abuse and offensive threat) occurrence differed among age groups (χ 2  = 9.786, P = 0.020) and was ubiquitous among those aged >30 years old. Women were more likely than men to suffer physical violence (χ 2  = 6.796, P = 0.009). Patient initiated aggression was not significantly associated with medical students' career planning or quality of life. In this study, patient initiated aggression, albeit common, as in the rest of China, did not appear to be associated with medical students' career planning or quality of life. However, the characteristics described can inform policymaking and the design of programs to minimize patient initiated aggression occurrence.

Psychometric testing of the Chinese version of the medical outcomes study social support survey (MOS-SSS-C).

PubMed

Yu, Doris S F; Lee, Diana T F; Woo, Jean

2004-04-01

The purpose of this study was to assess the psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the Medical Outcomes Study Social Support Survey (MOS-SSS-C) in a sample of 110 patients. Criterion-related and construct validities of the MOS-SSS-C were evaluated by correlations with the Chinese version of the Multidimensional Perceived Social Support Survey (r =.82) and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (r = -.58). Confirmatory factor analysis affirmed the four-factor structure of the MOS-SSS-C in measuring the functional aspects of perceived social support. Cronbach's alphas for the subscales ranged from.93 to.96, whereas the alpha for the overall scale was.98. The 2-week test-retest reliability of the MOS-SSS-C as measured by the intraclass correlation coefficient was.84. The MOS-SSS-C is a psychometrically sound multidimensional measure for the evaluation of functional aspects of perceived social support by Chinese patients with chronic disease. Copyright 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

[Chinese periodicals indexed in MEDLINE in 2006].

PubMed

Pan, Lian-Jun; Xia, Xin-Yi; Shang, Xue-Jun; Huang, Yu-Feng; Wang, Xiu-Lai

2006-08-01

For the first time, the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology published an analysis report of Chinese papers indexed in MEDLINE, which indicates that the Chinese government is paying more and more attention to the role of MEDLINE in the evaluation of scientific research. A total of 4 959 journals are listed in the Lists of Journals Indexed in MEDLINE (2006) published by National Library of Medicine, USA (NLM), of which 95 are published in China (including Hong Kong and Taiwan) and 2 another Chinese periodicals are published abroad. To familiarize MEDLINE to more medical researchers and to help them contribute to the journals indexed in MEDLINE, this article lists the top 10 Chinese medical institution whose published papers were indexed in MEDLINE in 2004 along with the Chinese periodicals indexed in MEDLINE in 2006. And the status of MEDLINE in China is briefly analyzed as well.

Application of light and ultrasound for medical diagnostics and treatment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Esenaliev, Rinat O.

2002-07-01

We develop novel optical and ultrasound techniques for medical noninvasive diagnostics and treatment. In this review, we present our results on the development of: (1) optoacoustic technique for detection of small tumors; (2) optoacoustic monitoring of blood oxygenation; (3) optoacoustic monitoring during thermotherapy; (4) optical coherence tomography for monitoring of blood glucose concentration; and (5) laser- and ultrasound-based anti- cancer drug delivery technique. Motivation, experimental methods, results obtained in vitro and in vivo with the use of these techniques are presented.

Parental refusal of life-saving treatments for adolescents: Chinese familism in medical decision-making re-visited.

PubMed

Hui, Edwin

2008-06-01

This paper reports two cases in Hong Kong involving two native Chinese adolescent cancer patients (APs) who were denied their rights to consent to necessary treatments refused by their parents, resulting in serious harm. We argue that the dynamics of the 'AP-physician-family-relationship' and the dominant role Chinese families play in medical decision-making (MDM) are best understood in terms of the tendency to hierarchy and parental authoritarianism in traditional Confucianism. This ethic has been confirmed and endorsed by various Chinese writers from Mainland China and Hong Kong. Rather than giving an unqualified endorsement to this ethic, based more on cultural sentimentalism than rational moral reasoning, we warn that a strong familism in MDM, which deprives 'weak' family members of rights, represents the less desirable elements of this tradition, against which healthcare professionals working in this cultural milieu need to safeguard. Specifically for APs, we suggest that parental authority and family integrity should be re-interpreted in terms of parental responsibility and the enhancement of children's interests respectively, as done in the West. This implies that when parents refuse to consent to necessary treatment and deny their adolescent children's right to consent, doctors, as the only remaining advocates of the APs' interest, have the duty to inform the state, which can override parental refusal to enable the doctors to fulfill their professional and moral obligations. In so doing the state exercises its 'parens patriae' power to defend the defenseless in society and the integrity of the medical profession.

Chinese health care system and clinical epidemiology

PubMed Central

Sun, Yuelian; Gregersen, Hans; Yuan, Wei

2017-01-01

China has gone through a comprehensive health care insurance reform since 2003 and achieved universal health insurance coverage in 2011. The new health care insurance system provides China with a huge opportunity for the development of health care and medical research when its rich medical resources are fully unfolded. In this study, we review the Chinese health care system and its implication for medical research, especially within clinical epidemiology. First, we briefly review the population register system, the distribution of the urban and rural population in China, and the development of the Chinese health care system after 1949. In the following sections, we describe the current Chinese health care delivery system and the current health insurance system. We then focus on the construction of the Chinese health information system as well as several existing registers and research projects on health data. Finally, we discuss the opportunities and challenges of the health care system in regard to clinical epidemiology research. China now has three main insurance schemes. The Urban Employee Basic Medical Insurance (UEBMI) covers urban employees and retired employees. The Urban Residence Basic Medical Insurance (URBMI) covers urban residents, including children, students, elderly people without previous employment, and unemployed people. The New Rural Cooperative Medical Scheme (NRCMS) covers rural residents. The Chinese Government has made efforts to build up health information data, including electronic medical records. The establishment of universal health care insurance with linkage to medical records will provide potentially huge research opportunities in the future. However, constructing a complete register system at a nationwide level is challenging. In the future, China will demand increased capacity of researchers and data managers, in particular within clinical epidemiology, to explore the rich resources. PMID:28356772

Relationships between attitudes toward sexuality, sexual behaviors, and contraceptive practices among Chinese medical and nursing undergraduates.

PubMed

Zeng, Yingchun; Luo, Taizhen; Zhou, Ying

2015-09-01

In this study, we investigated attitudes toward sexuality, the prevalence of sexual behaviors and contraceptive use among Chinese medical and nursing undergraduates, and relationships between attitudes toward sexuality and sexual and contraceptive practices among these participants. This was a descriptive, cross-sectional study carried out by using a Personal Attitude toward Sexuality Scale and Sexual and Contraceptive Questionnaire. The participants were recruited in the researcher's lectures. A total of 158 participants joined this study. Overall, Chinese medical and nursing undergraduates in this study held relatively conservative attitudes toward sexuality. The prevalence of sexually-active students was relatively low, and the percentage of contraceptive use among those sexually-active students was also low. Participants' attitudes toward sexuality had statistically-significant effects on their sexual and contraceptive practices. Nearly half of the sexually-active participants reported never using any contraceptive method during sexual intercourse. This finding has important public health implications, as young people represent the group with the largest rate of new infections of HIV/AIDS in China. A more comprehensive sexual education program that extends to college undergraduates and promotes the social acceptability of using contraception, specifically condoms, is needed. © 2014 Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.

DXplain: a Web-based diagnostic decision support system for medical students.

PubMed

London, S

1998-01-01

DXplain is a diagnostic decision support program, with a new World Wide Web interface, designed to help medical students and physicians formulate differential diagnoses based on clinical findings. It covers over 2000 diseases and 5000 clinical manifestations. DXplain suggests possible diagnoses, and provides brief descriptions of every disease in the database. Not all diseases are included, nor does DXplain take into account preexisting conditions or the chronological sequence of clinical manifestations. Despite these limitations, it is a useful educational tool, particularly for problem-based learning (PBL) cases and for students in clinical rotations, as it fills a niche not adequately covered by MEDLINE or medical texts. The system is relatively self-explanatory, requiring little or no end-user training. Medical libraries offering, or planning to offer, their users access to Web-based materials and resources may find this system a valuable addition to their electronic collections. Should it prove popular with the local users, provision of access may also establish or enhance the library's image as a partner in medical education.

Biomedical visual data analysis to build an intelligent diagnostic decision support system in medical genetics.

PubMed

Kuru, Kaya; Niranjan, Mahesan; Tunca, Yusuf; Osvank, Erhan; Azim, Tayyaba

2014-10-01

In general, medical geneticists aim to pre-diagnose underlying syndromes based on facial features before performing cytological or molecular analyses where a genotype-phenotype interrelation is possible. However, determining correct genotype-phenotype interrelationships among many syndromes is tedious and labor-intensive, especially for extremely rare syndromes. Thus, a computer-aided system for pre-diagnosis can facilitate effective and efficient decision support, particularly when few similar cases are available, or in remote rural districts where diagnostic knowledge of syndromes is not readily available. The proposed methodology, visual diagnostic decision support system (visual diagnostic DSS), employs machine learning (ML) algorithms and digital image processing techniques in a hybrid approach for automated diagnosis in medical genetics. This approach uses facial features in reference images of disorders to identify visual genotype-phenotype interrelationships. Our statistical method describes facial image data as principal component features and diagnoses syndromes using these features. The proposed system was trained using a real dataset of previously published face images of subjects with syndromes, which provided accurate diagnostic information. The method was tested using a leave-one-out cross-validation scheme with 15 different syndromes, each of comprised 5-9 cases, i.e., 92 cases in total. An accuracy rate of 83% was achieved using this automated diagnosis technique, which was statistically significant (p<0.01). Furthermore, the sensitivity and specificity values were 0.857 and 0.870, respectively. Our results show that the accurate classification of syndromes is feasible using ML techniques. Thus, a large number of syndromes with characteristic facial anomaly patterns could be diagnosed with similar diagnostic DSSs to that described in the present study, i.e., visual diagnostic DSS, thereby demonstrating the benefits of using hybrid image processing

[Discussion on theory and indes system of Chinese material medical regionalization].

PubMed

Zhang, Xiaobo; Guo, Lanping; Zhou, Tao; Huang, Luqi

2010-09-01

The paper discusses the theory regarding to the Chinese material medical (CMM) regionalization. It is based on the studying of papers and practical experience in the field of CMM regionalization. The basic theories of CMM regionalization are laws of territorial differentiation and location theory. The basic principles are excellent quality of CMM, difference, similarity and practicability. The study objects are CMM resources, natural environment and social environment. The definition of CMM regionalization is that study on the laws of spatial pattern of resources and regional system in the field of CMM,then regionalize it based on this kind of spatial pattern and law. The index system is built based on the study of the theory,principle,object and index of CMM regionalization.

Electromagnetic Nanoparticles for Sensing and Medical Diagnostic Applications

PubMed Central

Vegni, Lucio

2018-01-01

A modeling and design approach is proposed for nanoparticle-based electromagnetic devices. First, the structure properties were analytically studied using Maxwell’s equations. The method provides us a robust link between nanoparticles electromagnetic response (amplitude and phase) and their geometrical characteristics (shape, geometry, and dimensions). Secondly, new designs based on “metamaterial” concept are proposed, demonstrating great performances in terms of wide-angle range functionality and multi/wide behavior, compared to conventional devices working at the same frequencies. The approach offers potential applications to build-up new advanced platforms for sensing and medical diagnostics. Therefore, in the final part of the article, some practical examples are reported such as cancer detection, water content measurements, chemical analysis, glucose concentration measurements and blood diseases monitoring. PMID:29652853

The Chinese Life-Steps Program: A Cultural Adaptation of a Cognitive-Behavioral Intervention to Enhance HIV Medication Adherence

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shiu, Cheng-Shi; Chen, Wei-Ti; Simoni, Jane; Fredriksen-Goldsen, Karen; Zhang, Fujie; Zhou, Hongxin

2013-01-01

China is considered to be the new frontier of the global AIDS pandemic. Although effective treatment for HIV is becoming widely available in China, adherence to treatment remains a challenge. This study aimed to adapt an intervention promoting HIV-medication adherence--favorably evaluated in the West--for Chinese HIV-positive patients. The…

Doctor-family-patient relationship: the Chinese paradigm of informed consent.

PubMed

Cong, Yali

2004-04-01

Bioethics is a subject far removed from the Chinese, even from many Chinese medical students and medical professionals. In-depth interviews with eighteen physicians, patients, and family members provided a deeper understanding of bioethical practices in contemporary China, especially with regard to the doctor-patient relationship (DPR) and informed consent. The Chinese model of doctor-family-patient relationship (DFPR), instead of DPR, is taken to reflect Chinese Confucian cultural commitments. An examination of the history of Chinese culture and the profession of medicine in China is used to disclose the deep roots of these commitments. The author predicts that the DFPR model will further develop in China but that it will maintain its Chinese character.

Prescribing patterns and adherence to medication among South-Asian, Chinese and white people with type 2 diabetes mellitus: a population-based cohort study.

PubMed

Chong, E; Wang, H; King-Shier, K M; Quan, H; Rabi, D M; Khan, N A

2014-12-01

To determine the prescribing of and adherence to oral hypoglycaemic agents, insulin, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, angiotensin receptor blockers and statin therapy among South-Asian, Chinese and white people with newly diagnosed diabetes. The present study was a population-based cohort study using administrative and pharmacy databases to include all South-Asian, Chinese and white people aged ≥ 35 years with diabetes living in British Columbia, Canada (1997-2006). Adherence to each class of medication was measured using proportion of days covered over 1 year with optimum adherence defined as ≥ 80%. The study population included 9529 South-Asian, 14 084 Chinese and 143 630 white people with diabetes. The proportion of people who were prescribed angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, angiotensin receptor blockers, statin or oral hypoglycaemic agents was ≤ 50% for all groups. South-Asian and Chinese people had significantly lower adherence for all medications than white people, with the lowest adherence to angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor treatment (South-Asian people: adjusted odds ratio 0.37, 95% CI 0.34-0.39; P<0.0001; Chinese people: adjusted odds ratio 0.50, 95% CI 0.47-0.54; P<0.0001) and statin therapy (South-Asian people: adjusted odds ratio 0.47, 95% CI 0.41 - 0.53, P < 0.0001; Chinese people: adjusted odds ratio 0.72, 95% CI 0.67 - 0.77; P<0.0001) compared with white people. Adherence to evidence-based pharmacotherapy was substantially worse among the South-Asian and Chinese populations. Care providers need to be alerted to the high levels of non-adherence in these groups and the underlying causes need to be investigated. © 2014 The Authors. Diabetic Medicine © 2014 Diabetes UK.

Medicine--the art of humaneness: on ethics of traditional Chinese medicine.

PubMed

Qiu, R Z

1988-08-01

This essay discusses the ethics of traditional Chinese medicine. After a brief remark on the history of traditional Chinese medical ethics, the author outlines the Confucian ethics which formed the cultural context in which traditional Chinese medicine was evolving and constituted the core of its ethics. Then he argued that how Chinese physicians applied the principles of Confucian ethics in medicine and prescribed the attitude a physician should take to himself, to patients and to his colleagues. In the last part of the essay he discusses the characteristics of traditional Chinese medical ethics.

[Registration study on analysis of adaptation syndromes and medication characteristics of tanreqing injection].

PubMed

Xie, Peng-Yang; Xie, Yan-Ming; Wang, Lian-Xin; Chang, Yan-Peng; You, Li; Zhang, Xiao-Li

2014-09-01

Tanreqing injection is suitable for early pneumonia, acute bronchitis, acute exacerbations of chronic, and upper respiratory tract infection which are classified with phlegm-heat obstructing lung syndrome of traditional Chinese medicine. To understand the clinical adaptation syndromes and medication characteristics of the post-market Tanreqing injection, the research team of the paper monitored the patients who are used with Tanreqing injection from September 2012 to October 2013 in four leader hospitals based on the method--prospective, multi-center, large sample, registration-type hospital centralized monitoring,and analyzes the general information, diagnostic information and medication characteristics of patients, in order to produce evidence for clinical practice and medication decisions and to establish the foundation of rational drug use.

Diagnostic and prognostic values of serum exosomal microRNA-21 in children with hepatoblastoma: a Chinese population-based study.

PubMed

Liu, Wanbo; Chen, Sheng; Liu, Bing

2016-11-01

Hepatoblastoma (HB) is the most common primary malignant tumor of the liver in young children. The aim of this study is to identify the diagnostic and prognostic values of serum exosomal miR-21 in Chinese patients with HB. We retrospectively reviewed 32 children with HB. The expressions of miR-21 were detected by real-time PCR. The comparison of diagnostic performance of plasmatic, exosomal miR-21 and AFP levels was measured using the Area Under ROC Curve. For patients in HB group, miR-21 concentration was significantly higher in the exosomes compared with the exosome-depleted supernatants and whole plasma. Expression of miR-21 was significantly higher in patients with HB compared with control group in both plasma and exosomes. With respect to the diagnosis of patients with HB, exosomal miR-21 was significantly more accurate compared with the Alpha-fetoprotein levels. Moreover, exosomal miR-21 was an independent predictor of Even-free survival for patients with HB. In this study, we found that expression of miR-21 was significantly higher in patients with HB compared with control group in both plasma and exosomes, and we confirmed that exosomal miR-21 could be defined as a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker for patients with HB.

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and Herbal Hepatotoxicity: RUCAM and the Role of Novel Diagnostic Biomarkers Such as MicroRNAs.

PubMed

Teschke, Rolf; Larrey, Dominique; Melchart, Dieter; Danan, Gaby

2016-07-19

Background : Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) with its focus on herbal use is popular and appreciated worldwide with increased tendency, although its therapeutic efficacy is poorly established for most herbal TCM products. Treatment was perceived as fairly safe but discussions emerged more recently as to whether herb induced liver injury (HILI) from herbal TCM is a major issue; Methods : To analyze clinical and case characteristics of HILI caused by herbal TCM, we undertook a selective literature search in the PubMed database with the search items Traditional Chinese Medicine, TCM, alone and combined with the terms herbal hepatotoxicity or herb induced liver injury; Results : HILI caused by herbal TCM is rare and similarly to drugs can be caused by an unpredictable idiosyncratic or a predictable intrinsic reaction. Clinical features of liver injury from herbal TCM products are variable, and specific diagnostic biomarkers such as microsomal epoxide hydrolase, pyrrole-protein adducts, metabolomics, and microRNAs are available for only a few TCM herbs. The diagnosis is ascertained if alternative causes are validly excluded and causality levels of probable or highly probable are achieved applying the liver specific RUCAM (Roussel Uclaf Causality Assessment Method) as the most commonly used diagnostic tool worldwide. Case evaluation may be confounded by inappropriate or lacking causality assessment, poor herbal product quality, insufficiently documented cases, and failing to exclude alternative causes such as infections by hepatotropic viruses including hepatitis E virus infections; Conclusion : Suspected cases of liver injury from herbal TCM represent major challenges that deserve special clinical and regulatory attention to improve the quality of case evaluations and ascertain patients' safety and benefit.

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and Herbal Hepatotoxicity: RUCAM and the Role of Novel Diagnostic Biomarkers Such as MicroRNAs

PubMed Central

Teschke, Rolf; Larrey, Dominique; Melchart, Dieter; Danan, Gaby

2016-01-01

Background: Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) with its focus on herbal use is popular and appreciated worldwide with increased tendency, although its therapeutic efficacy is poorly established for most herbal TCM products. Treatment was perceived as fairly safe but discussions emerged more recently as to whether herb induced liver injury (HILI) from herbal TCM is a major issue; Methods: To analyze clinical and case characteristics of HILI caused by herbal TCM, we undertook a selective literature search in the PubMed database with the search items Traditional Chinese Medicine, TCM, alone and combined with the terms herbal hepatotoxicity or herb induced liver injury; Results: HILI caused by herbal TCM is rare and similarly to drugs can be caused by an unpredictable idiosyncratic or a predictable intrinsic reaction. Clinical features of liver injury from herbal TCM products are variable, and specific diagnostic biomarkers such as microsomal epoxide hydrolase, pyrrole-protein adducts, metabolomics, and microRNAs are available for only a few TCM herbs. The diagnosis is ascertained if alternative causes are validly excluded and causality levels of probable or highly probable are achieved applying the liver specific RUCAM (Roussel Uclaf Causality Assessment Method) as the most commonly used diagnostic tool worldwide. Case evaluation may be confounded by inappropriate or lacking causality assessment, poor herbal product quality, insufficiently documented cases, and failing to exclude alternative causes such as infections by hepatotropic viruses including hepatitis E virus infections; Conclusion: Suspected cases of liver injury from herbal TCM represent major challenges that deserve special clinical and regulatory attention to improve the quality of case evaluations and ascertain patients’ safety and benefit. PMID:28930128

Pleural tuberculosis: medical thoracoscopy greatly increases the diagnostic accuracy

PubMed Central

Mori, Pier Anselmo; Majori, Maria; Anghinolfi, Miriam; Silini, Enrico Maria; Gnetti, Letizia; Motta, Federica; Larini, Sandra; Montecchini, Sara; Pisi, Roberta; Calderaro, Adriana

2018-01-01

Our objective was to evaluate the efficacy of a standardised work-up in the diagnosis of pleural tuberculosis (TB) that included fibreoptic bronchoscopy and medical thoracoscopy. A consecutive series of 52 pleural TB patients observed during the period 2001–2015 was evaluated retrospectively. 20 females, mean (range) age 39.7 (18–74) years, and 32 males, mean (range) age 45.75 (21–83) years, were included (28 non-EU citizens (53.8%)). The diagnosis of TB infections was established by identification (using stains, culture or molecular tests) of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in the pleura, sputum and/or bronchial specimens, or by evidence of caseous granulomas on pleural biopsies. Patients with and without lung lesions were considered separately. The diagnostic yield of the microbiological tests on pleural fluid was 17.3% (nine out of 52 patients). Among the 18 patients with lung lesions, bronchial samples (washing, lavage or biopsy) were positive in 50% of cases (nine patients). Cultures of pleural biopsies were positive in 63% of cases (29 out of 46 patients); pleural histology was relevant in all patients. Without pleural biopsy, a diagnosis would have been reached in 15 out of 52 patients (28.6%) and in four of them only following culture at 30–40 days. An integrated diagnostic work-up that includes all the diagnostic methods of interventional pulmonology is required for a diagnosis of pleural TB. In the majority of patients, a diagnosis can be reached only with pleural biopsy. PMID:29318136

[Assessment of the results of syndrome in clinical trials of dementia treated by Chinese herbal medicine].

PubMed

Ni, Jing-nian; Shi, Jing; Tian, Jin-zhou; Liu, Bing-lin; Liu, Jian-ping; Liu, Tong-hua; Xu, Shi-qian; Cui, Gong-ping; Wang, Yong-yan

2013-03-01

Chinese medical syndrome efficacy, as a second efficacy indicator, has been widely used in clinical trials of treating dementia by Chinese herbal medicine. The syndrome assessment tool is a key point in assessing the efficacy of Chinese medical syndrome. The syndrome assessment tool for dementia used nowadays needs to be optimized in content, reliability, and validity. In this paper, the authors reviewed some problems correlated with the design of Chinese medical assessment questionnaire on the basis of Chinese medical theories by combining the common requirements for questionnaire development.

On-line integration of computer controlled diagnostic devices and medical information systems in undergraduate medical physics education for physicians.

PubMed

Hanus, Josef; Nosek, Tomas; Zahora, Jiri; Bezrouk, Ales; Masin, Vladimir

2013-01-01

We designed and evaluated an innovative computer-aided-learning environment based on the on-line integration of computer controlled medical diagnostic devices and a medical information system for use in the preclinical medical physics education of medical students. Our learning system simulates the actual clinical environment in a hospital or primary care unit. It uses a commercial medical information system for on-line storage and processing of clinical type data acquired during physics laboratory classes. Every student adopts two roles, the role of 'patient' and the role of 'physician'. As a 'physician' the student operates the medical devices to clinically assess 'patient' colleagues and records all results in an electronic 'patient' record. We also introduced an innovative approach to the use of supportive education materials, based on the methods of adaptive e-learning. A survey of student feedback is included and statistically evaluated. The results from the student feedback confirm the positive response of the latter to this novel implementation of medical physics and informatics in preclinical education. This approach not only significantly improves learning of medical physics and informatics skills but has the added advantage that it facilitates students' transition from preclinical to clinical subjects. Copyright © 2011 Associazione Italiana di Fisica Medica. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Proband-only medical exome sequencing as a cost-effective first-tier genetic diagnostic test for patients without prior molecular tests and clinical diagnosis in a developing country: the China experience.

PubMed

Hu, Xuyun; Li, Niu; Xu, Yufei; Li, Guoqiang; Yu, Tingting; Yao, Ru-En; Fu, Lijun; Wang, Jiwen; Yin, Lei; Yin, Yong; Wang, Ying; Jin, Xingming; Wang, Xiumin; Wang, Jian; Shen, Yiping

2017-11-02

PurposeTo evaluate the performance of proband-only medical exome sequencing (POMES) as a cost-effective first-tier diagnostic test for pediatric patients with unselected conditions.MethodsA total of 1,323 patients were tested by POMES, which targeted 2,742 known disease-causing genes. Clinical relevant variants were Sanger-confirmed in probands and parents. We assessed the diagnostic validity and clinical utility of POMES by means of a survey questionnaire.ResultsPOMES, ordered by 136 physicians, identified 512 pathogenic or likely pathogenic variants associated with over 200 conditions. The overall diagnostic rate was 28.8%, ranging from 10% in neonatal intensive care unit patients to over 35% in pediatric intensive care unit patients. The test results had an impact on the management of the 45.1% of patients for whom there were positive findings. The average turnaround time was 57 days; the cost was $360/case.ConclusionWe adopted a relatively efficient and cost-effective approach in China for the molecular diagnosis of pediatric patients with suspected genetic conditions. While training for clinical geneticists and other specialists is lagging behind in China POMES is serving as a diagnostic equalizer for patients who do not normally receive extensive clinical evaluation and clinical diagnosis prior to testing. This Chinese experience should be applicable to other developing countries that are lacking clinical, financial, and personnel resources.GENETICS in MEDICINE advance online publication, 2 November 2017; doi:10.1038/gim.2017.195.

[Analysis on composition and medication regularities of prescriptions treating hypochondriac pain based on traditional Chinese medicine inheritance support system inheritance support platform].

PubMed

Zhao, Yan-qing; Teng, Jing

2015-03-01

To analyze the composition and medication regularities of prescriptions treating hypochondriac pain in Chinese journal full-text database (CNKI) based on the traditional Chinese medicine inheritance support system, in order to provide a reference for further research and development for new traditional Chinese medicines treating hypochondriac pain. The traditional Chinese medicine inheritance support platform software V2. 0 was used to build a prescription database of Chinese medicines treating hypochondriac pain. The software integration data mining method was used to distribute prescriptions according to "four odors", "five flavors" and "meridians" in the database and achieve frequency statistics, syndrome distribution, prescription regularity and new prescription analysis. An analysis were made for 192 prescriptions treating hypochondriac pain to determine the frequencies of medicines in prescriptions, commonly used medicine pairs and combinations and summarize 15 new prescriptions. This study indicated that the prescriptions treating hypochondriac pain in Chinese journal full-text database are mostly those for soothing liver-qi stagnation, promoting qi and activating blood, clearing heat and promoting dampness, and invigorating spleen and removing phlem, with a cold property and bitter taste, and reflect the principles of "distinguish deficiency and excess and relieving pain by smoothening meridians" in treating hypochondriac pain.

Sparking Thinking: Studying Modern Precision Medicine Will Accelerate the Progression of Traditional Chinese Medicine Patterns.

PubMed

Liu, Bao-Cheng; Ji, Guang

2017-07-01

Incorporating "-omics" studies with environmental interactions could help elucidate the biological mechanisms responsible for Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) patterns. Based on the authors' own experiences, this review outlines a model of an ideal combination of "-omics" biomarkers, environmental factors, and TCM pattern classifications; provides a narrative review of the relevant genetic and TCM studies; and lists several successful integrative examples. Two integration tools are briefly introduced. The first is the integration of modern devices into objective diagnostic methods of TCM patterning, which would improve current clinical decision-making and practice. The second is the use of biobanks and data platforms, which could broadly support biological and medical research. Such efforts will transform current medical management and accelerate the progression of precision medicine.

Two-layer Lab-on-a-chip (LOC) with passive capillary valves for mHealth medical diagnostics.

PubMed

Balsam, Joshua; Bruck, Hugh Alan; Rasooly, Avraham

2015-01-01

There is a new potential to address needs for medical diagnostics in Point-of-Care (PoC) applications using mHealth (Mobile computing, medical sensors, and communications technologies for health care), a mHealth based lab test will require a LOC to perform clinical analysis. In this work, we describe the design of a simple Lab-on-a-chip (LOC) platform for mHealth medical diagnostics. The LOC utilizes a passive capillary valve with no moving parts for fluid control using channels with very low aspect ratios cross sections (i.e., channel width ≫ height) achieved through transitions in the channel geometry via that arrest capillary flow. Using a CO2 laser in raster engraving mode, we have designed and fabricated an eight-channel LOC for fluorescence signal detection fabricated by engraving and combining just two polymer layers. Each of the LOC channels is capable of mixing two reagents (e.g., enzyme and substrate) for various assays. For mHealth detection, we used a mobile CCD detector equipped with LED multispectral illumination in the red, green, blue, and white range. This technology enables the development of low-cost LOC platforms for mHealth whose fabrication is compatible with standard industrial plastic fabrication processes to enable mass production of mHealth diagnostic devices, which may broaden the use of LOCs in PoC applications, especially in global health settings.

[Discuss on effect of physical environmental factors on nature of Chinese materia medica].

PubMed

Tang, Shihuan; Yang, Hongjun; Huang, Luqi

2010-01-01

Nature of Chinese materia medica is the nucleus in the theory of Chinese material medica, according to the recognition of Traditional Chinese Medicine, which is the character of the drug related on curative effect. Nature and efficacy of a drug is through the medical material, then, physical environment, including the temperature, humidity, atmospheric water, wind, topography, soil, micro-organism, and so on, influence the growth and development of the medical meterial. In this paper, we researched the explanation on nature of Chinese materia medica in the medical books of past dynasties, combined with the modem research, analyzed the relationship between generative reception and physical environmental factors, and discussed the effect of physical environmental factors on nature of Chinese materia medica. We indicated that the formation of Chinese materia medical nature is that the drug receptive the change of physical environmental factors, and resulted by the synthetic action of the factors, such as climate, soil, biology, topography, etc.

Comparison of two Chinese medical herbs, Huangbai and Qianniuzi, on influence of short circuit current across the rat intestinal epithelia.

PubMed

Tsai, Jong-Chang; Tsai, Shuli; Chang, Weng-Cheng

2004-07-01

Huangbai (Phellodendron spec.) and Qianniuzi (Pharbitis spec.) are two traditional Chinese medical herbs used for anti-diarrheal and laxative agents, respectively. Ethanol and water extracts of these two herbs were prepared and effects of the extracts on ion transport of the rat intestinal epithelia were studied. For measuring changes of the short circuit current across the epithelia, the rat intestinal epithelia were mounted in the Ussing chamber and attached with voltage/current clamp. The intestinal epithelia were firstly activated by serosal administration of 5 microM forskolin. As current raised and being stable, extracts of these herbs were added, respectively, and changes in the short circuit current were recorded. Ethanol extract of Huangbai attenuated the current increment; on the contrary, ethanol extract of Qianniuzi augmented the current increment additionally. Water extracts of the two herbs showed minor effects on the current in comparison to ethanol extracts. The results provide evidences to reveal the pharmacological mechanism of the two Chinese medical herbs on the intestinal tissue.

Prevalence, demographic and clinical correlates of suicide attempts in Chinese medicated chronic inpatients with schizophrenia.

PubMed

Zhang, Xiang Yang; Al Jurdi, Rayan K; Zoghbi, Anthony William; Chen, Da Chun; Xiu, Mei Hong; Tan, Yun Long; Yang, Fu De; Kosten, Thomas R

2013-10-01

The high prevalence of suicide in schizophrenia may be related to its demographic and clinical characteristics. Because suicide prevalence and its associations with clinical variables are less well characterized in Chinese than European patients with schizophrenia, we assessed the suicide attempts in 520 Chinese inpatients with schizophrenia. The suicide attempt data were collected from medical case notes and interviews with the patients and their family members. Patients were rated on the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), the Simpson and Angus Extrapyramidal Symptom Rating Scale (SAES), and the Abnormal Involuntary Movement Scale (AIMS). Smoking severity was evaluated using clinician-administered questionnaires and the Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND). We found a suicide attempt rate of 9.2% in these schizophrenic inpatients. The attempters were single, had a significantly younger age but more hospitalizations, had higher depressive symptoms, and began smoking at an earlier age, smoked more cigarettes each day and had higher FTND total scores than patients without suicide attempts. The logistic regression analysis also indicated that suicide attempts were associated with the number of hospitalizations, depressive symptoms and FTND total scores. These results suggest that Chinese inpatients with schizophrenia attempt suicide more often than the general population. Further, some demographic and clinical variables are risk factors for suicide attempts in schizophrenia. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Surveying Fourth-Year Medical Students Regarding the Choice of Diagnostic Radiology as a Specialty.

PubMed

Arleo, Elizabeth Kagan; Bluth, Edward; Francavilla, Michael; Straus, Christopher M; Reddy, Sravanthi; Recht, Michael

2016-02-01

The aim of this study was to survey fourth-year medical students, both those choosing and those not choosing diagnostic radiology as their specialty, regarding factors influencing their choice of specialty and their perceptions of radiology. A voluntary anonymous online survey hyperlink was sent to 141 US medical schools for distribution to fourth-year students. Topics included demographics, radiology education, specialty choice and influencing factors, and opinions of radiology. A representative sampling (7%) of 2015 fourth-year medical students (n = 1,219; 51% men, 49% women) participated: 7% were applying in radiology and 93% were not. For respondents applying in radiology, the most important factor was intellectual challenge. For respondents applying in nonradiology specialties, degree of patient contact was the most important factor in the decision not to choose radiology; job market was not listed as a top-three factor. Women were less likely than men to apply in radiology (P < .001), with radiology selected by 11.8% of men (56 of 476) and only 2.8% of women (13 of 459). Respondents self-identifying as Asian had a significantly higher (P = .015) likelihood of selecting radiology (19 of 156 [12.2%]) than all other races combined (44 of 723 [6.1%]). Respondents at medical schools with required dedicated medical imaging rotations were more likely to choose radiology as a specialty, but most schools still do not require the clerkship (82%). The reasons fourth-year medical students choose, or do not choose, diagnostic radiology as a specialty are multifactorial, but noncontrollable factors, such as the job market, proved less compelling than controllable factors, such as taking a radiology rotation. Copyright © 2016 American College of Radiology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

[Exploration of microcosmic Chinese medicine used by western medicine].

PubMed

Zheng, Zhi-jing

2015-02-01

"Microcosmic syndrome", "treatment based on syndrome differentiation", and "combination of disease identification and syndrome differentiation" generally refer to a mode: following the syndrome if with no disease identified, following the disease if with no syndrome type differentiated. For example, Chinese medical treatment of hypertension, high blood lipids, increased transaminase, and so on candirectly use Chinese recipes, but no longer with syndrome differentiation. Clinical application of Chinese patent medicine can also obtain favorable clinical. Western doctors need not follow syndrome differentiation. The invention of artemisinin was screened from more than 40 000 kinds of compounds and herbs, but with no reference of any traditional Chinese medical theory. A lot of folk remedy and empirical recipes have obtained effective efficacy but unnecessarily with profound Chinese medical theories. Various evidences showed that disease can also be cured without syndrome differentiation. I held that it might be associated with the same mechanism of Chinese medicine and Western medicine. Any disease can be cured or alleviated by Chinese medicine is a result from its modern pharmacological effect, which is achieved by improving etiologies, and pathogeneses. I was inspired by whether we can directly use traditional Chinese medicine with modern pharmacological effects to treat symptomatic disease. So I raised an idea of microcosmic Chinese medicine used by Western medicine, i.e., we find and use Chinese herbs with relatively effective modern pharmacological effect to treat diseases targeting at patients' clinical symptoms and signs, as well as various positive laboratory results (collectively called as microscopic dialectical indicators). More Western doctors would use it to treat disease due to omission of complicated and mysterious syndrome differentiation. This will promote extensive application and expansion of Chi- nese medicine and pharmacy, enlarge the team of

Endorsement of CONSORT by Chinese medical journals: a survey of "instruction to authors".

PubMed

Xiao, Lu; Hu, Jing; Zhang, Li; Shang, Hong-cai

2014-07-01

To determine the extent to which Chinese medical (CM) journals incorporate Consolidated Standards for Reporting of Trials (CONSORT) into their "instruction to authors". We reviewed the latest "instruction to authors" of the CM journals in China which indexed by MEDLINE in 2010 or Excerpta Medica Database (EMBASE) in 2012 and extracted all information of CONSORT, International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), other reporting guidelines or clinical trial registration. By reading the instructions to authors and reviewing recent studies published in those journals, those that do not publish clinical trials were excluded. We also contacted each of journals by telephone on contributor's status to ask them whether mentioned CONSORT in their instructions and incorporated it into their editorial and peer-review process. Full-text papers of randomized controlled trials (RCTs, from January 2011 to March 2012) published in the journals which mentioned "CONSORT" in their instructions for authors were downloaded. Seven CM journals were included. Three of these journals mentioned CONSORT in its instructions. By telephone survey, all journals gave responses and all respondents knew CONSORT statement. Three of 7 journals required authors to comply with the CONSORT statement and provide the CONSORT checklist and a flow chart of the trial. The rest 4 journals recommended authors of RCTs to refer to the CONSORT statement. From January 2011 to March 2012, a total of 50 RCTs were obtained from the 3 journals endorsing the CONSORT statement; 17 (17/50, 34%) contained a flow diagram in their manuscript, and none of those RCTs had mentioned the trial registration information. The endorsement of CONSORT by CM journals' "instruction to authors" was not satisfactory. The spread of CONSORT endorsement should be wider in instructing the performance of CM clinical trials in the future. Chinese journals should introduce CONSORT to their authors and require authors to comply with

Moving beyond quality control in diagnostic radiology and the role of the clinically qualified medical physicist.

PubMed

Delis, H; Christaki, K; Healy, B; Loreti, G; Poli, G L; Toroi, P; Meghzifene, A

2017-09-01

Quality control (QC), according to ISO definitions, represents the most basic level of quality. It is considered to be the snapshot of the performance or the characteristics of a product or service, in order to verify that it complies with the requirements. Although it is usually believed that "the role of medical physicists in Diagnostic Radiology is QC", this, not only limits the contribution of medical physicists, but is also no longer adequate to meet the needs of Diagnostic Radiology in terms of Quality. In order to assure quality practices more organized activities and efforts are required in the modern era of diagnostic radiology. The complete system of QC is just one element of a comprehensive quality assurance (QA) program that aims at ensuring that the requirements of quality of a product or service will consistently be fulfilled. A comprehensive Quality system, starts even before the procurement of any equipment, as the need analysis and the development of specifications are important components under the QA framework. Further expanding this framework of QA, a comprehensive Quality Management System can provide additional benefits to a Diagnostic Radiology service. Harmonized policies and procedures and elements such as mission statement or job descriptions can provide clarity and consistency in the services provided, enhancing the outcome and representing a solid platform for quality improvement. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) promotes this comprehensive quality approach in diagnostic imaging and especially supports the field of comprehensive clinical audits as a tool for quality improvement. Copyright © 2017 Associazione Italiana di Fisica Medica. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The doctor-patient relationship, defensive medicine and overprescription in Chinese public hospitals: evidence from a cross-sectional survey in Shenzhen city.

PubMed

He, Alex Jingwei

2014-12-01

Defensive medicine describes physicians' behavioral response to threats from medical malpractice litigation. Previous studies have found widespread practice of defensive medicine that is responsible for the global escalation of health care costs. Defying the traditional explanations, this study, with a case of a Chinese city, reveals that in a country where medical malpractice lawsuits are rare, physicians' self-perceived threats from patients may constitute a major reason for defensive practices. Defensive behaviors in the Chinese context mainly take the form of overprescribing diagnostic tests, procedures and drugs. The existing literature tends to explain this in terms of Chinese doctors' desire to supplement their low incomes. Behind this is a series of misaligned incentives deeply embedded in the Chinese health system. Using a cross-sectional survey of physicians, this study shows that overprescription in Chinese hospitals is driven not only by hard economic incentives, but also by doctors' motive of avoiding disputes with patients. The survey was carried out in Shenzhen City, in December 2013. A sample containing 504 licensed physicians was drawn by random sampling. Descriptive analyses identified significant dissatisfaction with income and workload as well as severe tensions between doctors and patients. Drawing from the literature on defensive medicine, multivariate analysis revealed that physicians' previous experience of medical disputes is significantly associated with defensive behaviors, particularly overprescription. Low income continued to be a critical predictor, reinforcing the target income hypothesis and suggesting the resilience of perverse economic incentives. This study sheds fresh light on China's recent health policy reforms by highlighting the critical impact of the doctor-patient relationship. The effort to contain health care costs must progress on two fronts, mitigating the tensions between doctors and patients while still reforming the

Preliminary investigation into application of problem-based learning in the practical teaching of diagnostics

PubMed Central

Rui, Zeng; Rong-Zheng, Yue; Hong-Yu, Qiu; Jing, Zeng; Xue-Hong, Wan; Chuan, Zuo

2015-01-01

Background Problem-based learning (PBL) is a pedagogical approach based on problems. Specifically, it is a student-centered, problem-oriented teaching method that is conducted through group discussions. The aim of our study is to explore the effects of PBL in diagnostic teaching for Chinese medical students. Methods A prospective, randomized controlled trial was conducted. Eighty junior clinical medical students were randomly divided into two groups. Forty students were allocated to a PBL group and another 40 students were allocated to a control group using the traditional teaching method. Their scores in the practice skills examination, ability to write and analyze medical records, and results on the stage test and behavior observation scale were compared. A questionnaire was administered in the PBL group after class. Results There were no significant differences in scores for writing medical records, content of interviewing, physical examination skills, and stage test between the two groups. However, compared with the control group, the PBL group had significantly higher scores on case analysis, interviewing skills, and behavioral observation scales. Conclusion The questionnaire survey revealed that PBL could improve interest in learning, cultivate an ability to study independently, improve communication and analytical skills, and good team cooperation spirit. However, there were some shortcomings in systematization of imparting knowledge. PBL has an obvious advantage in teaching with regard to diagnostic practice. PMID:25848334

[A customized method for information extraction from unstructured text data in the electronic medical records].

PubMed

Bao, X Y; Huang, W J; Zhang, K; Jin, M; Li, Y; Niu, C Z

2018-04-18

There is a huge amount of diagnostic or treatment information in electronic medical record (EMR), which is a concrete manifestation of clinicians actual diagnosis and treatment details. Plenty of episodes in EMRs, such as complaints, present illness, past history, differential diagnosis, diagnostic imaging, surgical records, reflecting details of diagnosis and treatment in clinical process, adopt Chinese description of natural language. How to extract effective information from these Chinese narrative text data, and organize it into a form of tabular for analysis of medical research, for the practical utilization of clinical data in the real world, is a difficult problem in Chinese medical data processing. Based on the EMRs narrative text data in a tertiary hospital in China, a customized information extracting rules learning, and rule based information extraction methods is proposed. The overall method consists of three steps, which includes: (1) Step 1, a random sample of 600 copies (including the history of present illness, past history, personal history, family history, etc.) of the electronic medical record data, was extracted as raw corpora. With our developed Chinese clinical narrative text annotation platform, the trained clinician and nurses marked the tokens and phrases in the corpora which would be extracted (with a history of diabetes as an example). (2) Step 2, based on the annotated corpora clinical text data, some extraction templates were summarized and induced firstly. Then these templates were rewritten using regular expressions of Perl programming language, as extraction rules. Using these extraction rules as basic knowledge base, we developed extraction packages in Perl, for extracting data from the EMRs text data. In the end, the extracted data items were organized in tabular data format, for later usage in clinical research or hospital surveillance purposes. (3) As the final step of the method, the evaluation and validation of the proposed

Medical capsule robots: A renaissance for diagnostics, drug delivery and surgical treatment.

PubMed

Mapara, Sanyat S; Patravale, Vandana B

2017-09-10

The advancements in electronics and the progress in nanotechnology have resulted in path breaking development that will transform the way diagnosis and treatment are carried out currently. This development is Medical Capsule Robots, which has emerged from the science fiction idea of robots travelling inside the body to diagnose and cure disorders. The first marketed capsule robot was a capsule endoscope developed to capture images of the gastrointestinal tract. Today, varieties of capsule endoscopes are available in the market. They are slightly larger than regular oral capsules, made up of a biocompatible case and have electronic circuitry and mechanisms to capture and transmit images. In addition, robots with diagnostic features such as in vivo body temperature detection and pH monitoring have also been launched in the market. However, a multi-functional unit that will diagnose and cure diseases inside the body has not yet been realized. A remote controlled capsule that will undertake drug delivery and surgical treatment has not been successfully launched in the market. High cost, inadequate power supply, lack of control over drug release, limited space for drug storage on the capsule, inadequate safety and no mechanisms for active locomotion and anchoring have prevented their entry in the market. The capsule robots can revolutionize the current way of diagnosis and treatment. This paper discusses in detail the applications of medical capsule robots in diagnostics, drug delivery and surgical treatment. In diagnostics, detailed analysis has been presented on wireless capsule endoscopes, issues associated with the marketed versions and their corresponding solutions in literature. Moreover, an assessment has been made of the existing state of remote controlled capsules for targeted drug delivery and surgical treatment and their future impact is predicted. Besides the need for multi-functional capsule robots and the areas for further research have also been

Borderline personality disorder subscale (Chinese version) of the structured clinical interview for DSM-IV axis II personality disorders: a validation study in Cantonese-speaking Hong Kong Chinese.

PubMed

Wong, H M; Chow, L Y

2011-06-01

Borderline personality disorder is an important but under-recognised clinical entity, for which there are only a few available diagnostic instruments in the Chinese language. None has been tested for its psychometric properties in the Cantonese-speaking population in Hong Kong. The present study aimed to assess the validity of the Chinese version of the Borderline Personality Disorder subscale of the Structured Clinical Interview for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Axis II Personality Disorders (SCID-II) in Cantonese-speaking Hong Kong Chinese. A convenience sampling method was used. The subjects were seen by a multidisciplinary clinical team, who arrived at a best-estimate diagnosis and then by application of the SCID-II rater using the Chinese version of the Borderline Personality Disorder subscale. The study was carried out at the psychiatric clinic of the Prince of Wales Hospital in Hong Kong. A total of 87 patients of Chinese ethnicity aged 18 to 64 years who attended the clinic in April 2007 were recruited. The aforementioned patient parameters were used to examine the internal consistency, best-estimate clinical diagnosis-SCID diagnosis agreement, sensitivity, and specificity of the Chinese version of the subscale. The Borderline Personality Disorder subscale (Chinese version) of SCID-II had an internal consistency of 0.82 (Cronbach's alpha coefficient), best-estimate clinical diagnosis-SCID diagnosis agreement of 0.82 (kappa), sensitivity of 0.92, and specificity of 0.94. The Borderline Personality Disorder subscale (Chinese version) of the SCID-II rater had reasonable validity when applied to Cantonese-speaking Chinese subjects in Hong Kong.

Depression literacy among Australians of Chinese-speaking background in Melbourne, Australia

PubMed Central

2010-01-01

Background This study investigated the knowledge of depression and preference for professional help, medications and treatment methods among Australians of Chinese-speaking background, and the perceptions of this population of the causes of mental illness. Methods Adopting a cluster convenience sampling method, the study recruited 200 Chinese-speaking subjects from four major areas in metropolitan Melbourne where many Chinese live. The respondents were presented with a vignette describing an individual with depression and then asked questions to assess their understanding of depression and preference for professional help, medications and treatment methods. A comparative approach was used to compare the findings with those of a previous study of the mental health literacy of Australian and Japanese adults. Results Compared to the Australian and Japanese samples, a much lower percentage of Chinese-speaking Australians (14%) could correctly identify major depression described in the vignette, and a higher percentage believed that counseling professionals could be helpful. Higher percentages of those who believed that close family members could be helpful were found in the Chinese-speaking Australian and Japanese samples, and these two groups also expressed more uncertainty about the usefulness or harmfulness of certain medications compared to the Australian sample. Higher percentages of respondents in both the Chinese-speaking Australian and the Australian sample considered "lifestyle changes" to be helpful compared to the Japanese sample. In the Chinese-speaking sample, 30%, 17.4%, 33% and 27% of the respondents rated "traditional Chinese medicine doctors," "Chinese herbal medications," "taking Chinese nutritional foods/supplements" and "qiqong" as helpful. Many perceived "changing fungshui" and "traditional Chinese worship" to be harmful. Regarding the perception of causes of mental illness, items related to psychosocial perspectives including "life stress" and

Depression literacy among Australians of Chinese-speaking background in Melbourne, Australia.

PubMed

Wong, Fu Keung Daniel; Lam, Yuk Kit Angus; Poon, Ada

2010-01-19

This study investigated the knowledge of depression and preference for professional help, medications and treatment methods among Australians of Chinese-speaking background, and the perceptions of this population of the causes of mental illness. Adopting a cluster convenience sampling method, the study recruited 200 Chinese-speaking subjects from four major areas in metropolitan Melbourne where many Chinese live. The respondents were presented with a vignette describing an individual with depression and then asked questions to assess their understanding of depression and preference for professional help, medications and treatment methods. A comparative approach was used to compare the findings with those of a previous study of the mental health literacy of Australian and Japanese adults. Compared to the Australian and Japanese samples, a much lower percentage of Chinese-speaking Australians (14%) could correctly identify major depression described in the vignette, and a higher percentage believed that counseling professionals could be helpful. Higher percentages of those who believed that close family members could be helpful were found in the Chinese-speaking Australian and Japanese samples, and these two groups also expressed more uncertainty about the usefulness or harmfulness of certain medications compared to the Australian sample. Higher percentages of respondents in both the Chinese-speaking Australian and the Australian sample considered "lifestyle changes" to be helpful compared to the Japanese sample. In the Chinese-speaking sample, 30%, 17.4%, 33% and 27% of the respondents rated "traditional Chinese medicine doctors," "Chinese herbal medications," "taking Chinese nutritional foods/supplements" and "qiqong" as helpful. Many perceived "changing fungshui" and "traditional Chinese worship" to be harmful. Regarding the perception of causes of mental illness, items related to psychosocial perspectives including "life stress" and "interpersonal conflict" were

The potential of high resolution melting analysis (hrma) to streamline, facilitate and enrich routine diagnostics in medical microbiology.

PubMed

Ruskova, Lenka; Raclavsky, Vladislav

2011-09-01

Routine medical microbiology diagnostics relies on conventional cultivation followed by phenotypic techniques for identification of pathogenic bacteria and fungi. This is not only due to tradition and economy but also because it provides pure culture needed for antibiotic susceptibility testing. This review focuses on the potential of High Resolution Melting Analysis (HRMA) of double-stranded DNA for future routine medical microbiology. Search of MEDLINE database for publications showing the advantages of HRMA in routine medical microbiology for identification, strain typing and further characterization of pathogenic bacteria and fungi in particular. The results show increasing numbers of newly-developed and more tailor-made assays in this field. For microbiologists unfamiliar with technical aspects of HRMA, we also provide insight into the technique from the perspective of microbial characterization. We can anticipate that the routine availability of HRMA in medical microbiology laboratories will provide a strong stimulus to this field. This is already envisioned by the growing number of medical microbiology applications published recently. The speed, power, convenience and cost effectiveness of this technology virtually predestine that it will advance genetic characterization of microbes and streamline, facilitate and enrich diagnostics in routine medical microbiology without interfering with the proven advantages of conventional cultivation.

Modeling paradigms for medical diagnostic decision support: a survey and future directions.

PubMed

Wagholikar, Kavishwar B; Sundararajan, Vijayraghavan; Deshpande, Ashok W

2012-10-01

Use of computer based decision tools to aid clinical decision making, has been a primary goal of research in biomedical informatics. Research in the last five decades has led to the development of Medical Decision Support (MDS) applications using a variety of modeling techniques, for a diverse range of medical decision problems. This paper surveys literature on modeling techniques for diagnostic decision support, with a focus on decision accuracy. Trends and shortcomings of research in this area are discussed and future directions are provided. The authors suggest that-(i) Improvement in the accuracy of MDS application may be possible by modeling of vague and temporal data, research on inference algorithms, integration of patient information from diverse sources and improvement in gene profiling algorithms; (ii) MDS research would be facilitated by public release of de-identified medical datasets, and development of opensource data-mining tool kits; (iii) Comparative evaluations of different modeling techniques are required to understand characteristics of the techniques, which can guide developers in choice of technique for a particular medical decision problem; and (iv) Evaluations of MDS applications in clinical setting are necessary to foster physicians' utilization of these decision aids.

Chinese translation of English textbooks on internal medicine from the 1850s to the 1940s.

PubMed

Hong, Chuang-Ye; Wang, Fu-Mei

2014-06-01

During the 100 years from 1850 to 1949, six English textbooks on internal medicine were translated into Chinese and published. Publication of these books was a response to the increased demand for Chinese textbooks after the opening of several Western-style hospitals and medical schools in China where the instruction was in Chinese. Throughout this period, textbooks translated from English were regarded as symbols of mainstream and authority within medical communities in China. There was a shift of translators from British and American medical missionaries to Chinese medical elites. Publishers also changed from missionary hospitals or missionary organizations to the Chinese Medical Association, which was led by ethnic Chinese. After the 1950s, translation activity continued in Taiwan, but it was halted in China until after the Cultural Revolution. This paper provides bibliographic information about these books. The transition of medical authority in China during this 100-year period is also reviewed through the successive publication of translated textbooks on internal medicine. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Interdisciplinary diagnostics in environmental medicine--findings and follow-up in patients with chronic medically unexplained health complaints.

PubMed

Herr, Caroline E; Kopka, Ines; Mach, Jens; Runkel, Bettina; Schill, Wolf-Bernhard; Gieler, Uwe; Eikmann, Thomas F

2004-01-01

In patients attributing their chronic, medically unexplained complaints to environmental factors the greatest challenge is to overcome their disabling belief in toxicogenic explanations. Patients presenting with health complaints that they attributed to environmental causes in an environmental outpatient department (EOPD) within a university medical center in Germany were studied. An interdisciplinary review of previously diagnosed medical conditions, current clinical consultations, personal risk communication and therapeutic advice is presented. Additionally, patient contentedness, complaint development, and belief in environmental attribution in a follow-up interview are given. The open, prospective study comprises 51 patients reporting more than one complaint. Symptoms had lasted for more than 3 years in 63% of the cases. Seventy percent attributed their complaints to more than one environmental cause. The clinical diagnostic procedure reduced the number of prediagnosed clinical conditions by 50%. Numerous foregoing environmental laboratory analyses had overestimated toxicologically relevant findings. These were not confirmed in 80% (8/10) of the cases. In 8% (n = 4) of the patients a relevant environmental or occupational medical condition was found. A mental or behavioral condition was not considered to have first priority in explaining all complaints in 43% (22/51) of the patients. Among these, mostly respiratory or skin-related diseases were found. All patients contacted participated in a follow-up study after a minimum of 21 months. Sixty-seven percent reported having felt that they were taken seriously, 38% felt better after the beginning of the study, and 45% were no longer certain about the importance of the environmental attribution. Since 83% of the patients with a preceding residential diagnosis of MCS or SBS still believed in environmental causes of their complaints in the follow-up study, we conclude that these prediagnoses appear to be a risk for

The use of Chinese herbal drugs in Islamic medicine.

PubMed

Heyadri, Mojtaba; Hashempur, Mohammad Hashem; Ayati, Mohammad Hosein; Quintern, Detlev; Nimrouzi, Majid; Heyadri, Mojtaba

2015-11-01

This paper investigates some of the ways that Chinese medicine has been transferred to the Western world and to Islamic territories. During the Golden Age of Islam (8th to 13th century CE), the herbal drug trade promoted significant commercial and scientific exchange between China and the Muslim world. Chinese herbal drugs have been described by medieval Muslim medical scholars such as Tabari (870 CE), Rhazes (925 CE), Haly Abbas (982 CE), Avicenna (1037 CE) and Jurjani (1137 CE). The term al-sin (the Arabic word for China) is used 46 times in Avicenna's Canon of Medicine in reference to herbal drugs imported from China. Cinnamon (dar sini; "Chinese herb"), wild ginger (asaron), rhubarb (rivand-e sini), nutmeg (basbasa), incense tree wood (ood), cubeb (kababe) and sandalwood (sandal) were the most frequently mentioned Chinese herbs in Islamic medical books. There are also multiple similarities between the clinical uses of these herbs in both medical systems. It appears that Chinese herbal drugs were a major component of the exchange of goods and knowledge between China and the Islamic and later to the Western world amid this era.

Pain in Underserved Community-Dwelling Chinese American Cancer Patients: Demographic and Medical Correlates

PubMed Central

Lam, Kin; Homel, Peter; Chen, Jack; Chang, Victor T.; Zhou, Juanyi; Chan, Selina; Lam, Wan Ling; Portenoy, Russell

2011-01-01

Background. Little is known about cancer pain in Chinese Americans. The objective of this study was to describe the epidemiology of pain in this population. This information is needed to identify and address unmet clinical needs for culturally relevant interventions targeting pain and its consequences. Methods. A consecutive sample of underserved ethnic Chinese patients in a large community-based oncology practice was screened for persistent or frequent pain. Those patients with pain completed translated instruments assessing demographics, linguistic acculturation, disease-related characteristics, and pain-related characteristics. Results. Of 312 patients screened, 178 (57.1%) reported frequent or persistent pain, 175 were eligible, and 170 participated. Most participants (85.9%) were born in China and 84.7% overall spoke Cantonese only. The most common cancers were gastrointestinal (28.2%), lung (21.8%), breast (20.6%), head and neck (12.9%), and genitourinary (4.7%); 43.5% had metastatic disease. The mean worst pain severity on a 0–10 numeric scale was 4.7 (standard deviation, 2.4), with 28.2% of patients rating their worst pain at ≥7 of 10. Although 37.6% used opioids and 47.1% used nonopioids, 45.8% reported “little” or “no” pain relief from medications. Complementary or alternative medicine therapies for cancer pain were used by 35.8%. In multiple regression analyses, worst pain was positively associated with acculturation to the English language and opioid therapy, and pain-related distress was positively associated with opioid therapy. Conclusion. Pain is prevalent among community-dwelling, ethnic Chinese American cancer patients. Additional studies are needed to confirm these results and investigate the finding that higher linguistic acculturation is associated with reports of more intense pain. PMID:21402591

A comparison of Chinese and non-Chinese Canadian patients hospitalized with heart failure

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Canadians of Chinese descent, represent one of the fastest growing visible minority groups in Canada, (as well as the second largest), but relatively little is known about the clinical features of heart failure (HF) in Chinese-Canadian versus non-Chinese Canadian patients. Methods We conducted a population-based analysis of urban patients hospitalized in Ontario, Canada for the first time with a most responsible diagnosis of HF between April 1, 1995 and March 31, 2008. Among the 99,278 patients, 1,339 (1.3%) were classified as Chinese using a previously validated list of Chinese surnames. Through linkage to other administrative databases, we compared the clinical characteristics, pharmacological management, and outcomes of Chinese versus non-Chinese HF patients. Results Ischemic heart disease was identified as the possible etiology of HF in a greater proportion of non-Chinese patients (47.7% vs. 35.3%; p < 0.001) whereas hypertension (26.1% vs. 16.1%; p < 0.001) and valvular heart disease (11.6% vs. 7.2%; p < 0.001) were relatively more common in Chinese patients. Chinese patients were prescribed angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors less frequently (57.5% vs. 66.4%, p < 0.001) and angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) more frequently (17.4% vs. 8.9%, p < 0.001) compared to non-Chinese patients. They were also less likely to be adherent to ACE inhibitors over a 1-year follow up period. However, the 1-year case-fatality rates were comparable between the Chinese (31.7%) and non-Chinese (30.2%) subjects (p = 0.24). Conclusion There are important differences in the causes and medical management of HF in Chinese and non-Chinese patients residing in Canada. Despite these differences, the long-term outcomes of HF patients were similar. PMID:24325765

A cloud system for mobile medical services of traditional Chinese medicine.

PubMed

Hu, Nian-Ze; Lee, Chia-Ying; Hou, Mark C; Chen, Ying-Ling

2013-12-01

Many medical centers in Taiwan have started to provide Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) services for hospitalized patients. Due to the complexity of TCM modality and the increasing need for providing TCM services for patients in different wards at distantly separate locations within the hospital, it is getting difficult to manage the situation in the traditional way. A computerized system with mobile ability can therefore provide a practical solution to the challenge presented. The study tries to develop a cloud system equipped with mobile devices to integrate electronic medical records, facilitate communication between medical workers, and improve the quality of TCM services for the hospitalized patients in a medical center. The system developed in the study includes mobile devices carrying Android operation system and a PC as a cloud server. All the devices use the same TCM management system developed by the study. A website of database is set up for information sharing. The cloud system allows users to access and update patients' medical information, which is of great help to medical workers for verifying patients' identification and giving proper treatments to patients. The information then can be wirelessly transmitted between medical personnel through the cloud system. Several quantitative and qualitative evaluation indexes are developed to measure the effectiveness of the cloud system on the quality of the TCM service. The cloud system is tested and verified based on a sample of hospitalized patients receiving the acupuncture treatment at the Lukang Branch of Changhua Christian Hospital (CCH) in Taiwan. The result shows a great improvement in operating efficiency of the TCM service in that a significant saving in labor time can be attributable to the cloud system. In addition, the cloud system makes it easy to confirm patients' identity through taking a picture of the patient upon receiving any medical treatment. The result also shows that the cloud system

English Word Reading Difficulties and Orthographic Processing Weaknesses in Chinese English Bilingual Adolescents with Dyslexia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tong, Xiuhong; McBride, Catherine

2017-01-01

Is dyslexia in Chinese for Chinese-English bilinguals associated with difficulties in reading English, given differences in L1 and L2 orthographies? Among 11 Hong Kong Chinese adolescents with dyslexia, who were diagnosed by professional psychologists using the diagnostic criteria set out in a standardized test, and 14 adolescents without…

Mutual Benefit for Foreign Medical Students and Chinese Postgraduates: A Mixed Team-Based Learning Method Overcomes Communication Problems in Hematology Clerkship

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chen, Xianling; Chen, Buyuan; Li, Xiaofan; Song, Qingxiao; Chen, Yuanzhong

2017-01-01

Hematology is difficult for students to learn. A beneficial education method for hematology clerkship training is required to help students develop clinical skills. Foreign medical students often encounter communication issues in China. To address this issue, Chinese post-graduates from our institute are willing to assist with educating foreign…

Variation in Results Release and Patient Portal Access to Diagnostic Test Results at an Academic Medical Center

PubMed Central

Krasowski, Matthew D.; Grieme, Caleb V.; Cassady, Brian; Dreyer, Nicholas R.; Wanat, Karolyn A.; Hightower, Maia; Nepple, Kenneth G.

2017-01-01

Background: Electronic health records (EHRs) are commonplace in industrialized countries. Many hospitals are granting their patients access to their medical information through online patient portals. In this report, we describe a retrospective analysis of patient access to diagnostic test results released through the patient portal (MyChart; Epic, Inc.) at a state academic medical center. Methods: We analyzed 6 months of data for anatomic pathology, clinical laboratory, and radiology test results to evaluate variations in results release (automated vs. manual) and subsequent patient access to the institutional patient portal. During this period, diagnostic test results were released for all patient encounters including inpatient units, outpatient clinics, and the emergency department. Results: Manual results release by providers before automated release time occurred most commonly in the outpatient setting. The highest rates of access of diagnostic test results occurred for outpatients (about 30% overall view rate), females (two times or more compared to males in nearly every age bracket), and 20–45-year-old. Access rates of diagnostic tests in the emergency department or inpatient units were <10% across all populations. Access of diagnostic test results was very low for 12–17-year-old, likely influenced by institutional policies limiting parental proxy access within this pediatric age range. Approximately 20% of outpatient laboratory results were viewed by patients within 8 h of release from the EHR to the patient portal and 10% within 2 h of release. Conclusions: Patient accessing of diagnostic test results were generally higher for females, outpatients, and 20–45-year-old. Approximately, 20% of outpatient results were viewed quickly by patients after release to the EHR. PMID:29226008

Variation in Results Release and Patient Portal Access to Diagnostic Test Results at an Academic Medical Center.

PubMed

Krasowski, Matthew D; Grieme, Caleb V; Cassady, Brian; Dreyer, Nicholas R; Wanat, Karolyn A; Hightower, Maia; Nepple, Kenneth G

2017-01-01

Electronic health records (EHRs) are commonplace in industrialized countries. Many hospitals are granting their patients access to their medical information through online patient portals. In this report, we describe a retrospective analysis of patient access to diagnostic test results released through the patient portal (MyChart; Epic, Inc.) at a state academic medical center. We analyzed 6 months of data for anatomic pathology, clinical laboratory, and radiology test results to evaluate variations in results release (automated vs. manual) and subsequent patient access to the institutional patient portal. During this period, diagnostic test results were released for all patient encounters including inpatient units, outpatient clinics, and the emergency department. Manual results release by providers before automated release time occurred most commonly in the outpatient setting. The highest rates of access of diagnostic test results occurred for outpatients (about 30% overall view rate), females (two times or more compared to males in nearly every age bracket), and 20-45-year-old. Access rates of diagnostic tests in the emergency department or inpatient units were <10% across all populations. Access of diagnostic test results was very low for 12-17-year-old, likely influenced by institutional policies limiting parental proxy access within this pediatric age range. Approximately 20% of outpatient laboratory results were viewed by patients within 8 h of release from the EHR to the patient portal and 10% within 2 h of release. Patient accessing of diagnostic test results were generally higher for females, outpatients, and 20-45-year-old. Approximately, 20% of outpatient results were viewed quickly by patients after release to the EHR.

Diagnostic value of medical history and physical examination of anterior cruciate ligament injury: comparison between primary care physician and orthopaedic surgeon.

PubMed

Geraets, Stijn E W; Meuffels, Duncan E; van Meer, Belle L; Breedveldt Boer, Hans P; Bierma-Zeinstra, Sita M A; Reijman, Max

2015-04-01

Well-designed validity studies on the clinical diagnosis of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury are scarce. Our purpose is to assess the diagnostic value of ACL-specific medical history assessment and physical examination between primary and secondary care medical specialists. Medical history assessment and physical examination were performed by both an orthopaedic surgeon and a primary care physician, both blinded to all clinical information, in a secondary care population. A knee arthroscopy was used as reference standard. A total of 60 participants were divided into an index group with an arthroscopically proven complete ACL rupture and a control group with an arthroscopically proven intact ACL. The orthopaedic surgeon recognized 94 % of the participants with an ACL rupture through a positive medical history combined with a positive physical examination; of the participants with an intact ACL, 16 % were misclassified by the orthopaedic surgeon. The primary care physician recognized 62 % of the participants with an ACL rupture and misclassified 23 % of the participants with an intact ACL. Physical examination appeared to have no additional value for the primary care physician. Combined medical history and physical examination have strong diagnostic value in ACL rupture diagnostics performed by an orthopaedic surgeon, whereas for the primary care physician, only medical history appeared to be of value. For current practice, this could mean that only orthopaedic surgeons can perform an ACL physical examination with accuracy. III.

The current situation and development of medical device testing institutes in China.

PubMed

Yang, Xiaofang; Mu, Ruihong; Fan, Yubo; Wang, Chunren; Li, Deyu

2017-04-01

This article analyses the current situation and development of Chinese medical device testing institutes from the perspectives of the two most important functions - testing functions and medical device standardization functions. Areas Covered: The objective of the Chinese government regulations for medical device industry is to ensure the safety and effectiveness of medical devices for Chinese patients. To support the regulation system, the Chinese government has established medical device testing institutes at different levels for example, the national, provincial, and municipal levels. These testing institutes also play an important role in technical support during medical device premarket registration and post market surveillance, they are also the vital practitioners of Chinese medical device standardization. Expert Commentary: Chinese medical device testing institutes are technical departments established by government, and serve the regulatory functions of government agency. In recent years, with the rapid development of medical device industry as well as constantly increasing international and domestic medical device market, the importance of medical device testing institute is more prominent, However, there are still some problems unsolved, such as their overall capacity remains to be improved, construction of standardization is to be strengthened, etc.

Design and implementation of the first nationwide, web-based Chinese Renal Data System (CNRDS).

PubMed

Xie, Fengbo; Zhang, Dong; Wu, Jinzhao; Zhang, Yunfeng; Yang, Qing; Sun, Xuefeng; Cheng, Jing; Chen, Xiangmei

2012-02-28

In April 2010, with an endorsement from the Ministry of Health of the People's Republic of China, the Chinese Society of Nephrology launched the first nationwide, web-based prospective renal data registration platform, the Chinese Renal Data System (CNRDS), to collect structured demographic, clinical, and laboratory data for dialysis cases, as well as to establish a kidney disease database for researchers and policy makers. The CNRDS program uses information technology to facilitate healthcare professionals to create a blood purification registry and to deliver an evidence-based care and education protocol tailored to chronic kidney disease, as well as online forum for communication between nephrologists. The online portal https://www.cnrds.net is implemented as a Java web application using an Apache Tomcat web server and a MySQL database. All data are stored in a central databank to establish a Chinese renal database for research and publication purposes. Currently, over 270,000 clinical cases, including general patient information, diagnostics, therapies, medications, and laboratory tests, have been registered in CNRDS by 3,669 healthcare institutions qualified for hemodialysis therapy. At the 2011 annual blood purification forum of the Chinese Society of Nephrology, the CNRDS 2010 annual report was reviewed and accepted by the society members and government representatives. CNRDS is the first national, web-based application for collecting and managing electronic medical records of patients with dialysis in China. It provides both an easily accessible platform for nephrologists to store and organize their patient data and acts as a communication platform among participating doctors. Moreover, it is the largest database for treatment and patient care of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients in China, which will be beneficial for scientific research and epidemiological investigations aimed at improving the quality of life of such patients. Furthermore, it is a

THE CHINESE CONNECTION OF TAMIL MEDICINE

PubMed Central

Kumar, D. Suresh; Prasad, P.R. Krishna

1992-01-01

Description of a meridian-like channel is available in the Tamil medical text, Akattiyar Nayanaviti – 500, attributed to Akattiyar. Therefore, further studies are essential to trace the interaction between Chinese medicine and the medical practices of southern India. PMID:22556572

Assessing the effectiveness of problem-based learning in physical diagnostics education in China: a meta-analysis

PubMed Central

Wang, Jianmiao; Xu, Yongjian; Liu, Xiansheng; Xiong, Weining; Xie, Jungang; Zhao, Jianping

2016-01-01

Problem-based learning (PBL) has been extensively applied as an experimental educational method in Chinese medical schools over the past decade. A meta-analysis was performed to assess the effectiveness of PBL on students’ learning outcomes in physical diagnostics education. Related databases were searched for eligible studies evaluating the effects of PBL compared to traditional teaching on students’ knowledge and/or skill scores of physical diagnostics. Standardized mean difference (SMD) with 95% confidence interval (CI) was estimated. Thirteen studies with a total of 2086 medical students were included in this meta-analysis. All of these studies provided usable data on knowledge scores, and the pooled analysis showed a significant difference in favor of PBL compared to the traditional teaching (SMD = 0.76, 95%CI = 0.33–1.19). Ten studies provided usable data on skill scores, and a significant difference in favor of PBL was also observed (SMD = 1.46, 95%CI = 0.89–2.02). Statistically similar results were obtained in the sensitivity analysis, and there was no significant evidence of publication bias. These results suggested that PBL in physical diagnostics education in China appeared to be more effective than traditional teaching method in improving knowledge and skills. PMID:27808158

Assessing the effectiveness of problem-based learning in physical diagnostics education in China: a meta-analysis.

PubMed

Wang, Jianmiao; Xu, Yongjian; Liu, Xiansheng; Xiong, Weining; Xie, Jungang; Zhao, Jianping

2016-11-03

Problem-based learning (PBL) has been extensively applied as an experimental educational method in Chinese medical schools over the past decade. A meta-analysis was performed to assess the effectiveness of PBL on students' learning outcomes in physical diagnostics education. Related databases were searched for eligible studies evaluating the effects of PBL compared to traditional teaching on students' knowledge and/or skill scores of physical diagnostics. Standardized mean difference (SMD) with 95% confidence interval (CI) was estimated. Thirteen studies with a total of 2086 medical students were included in this meta-analysis. All of these studies provided usable data on knowledge scores, and the pooled analysis showed a significant difference in favor of PBL compared to the traditional teaching (SMD = 0.76, 95%CI = 0.33-1.19). Ten studies provided usable data on skill scores, and a significant difference in favor of PBL was also observed (SMD = 1.46, 95%CI = 0.89-2.02). Statistically similar results were obtained in the sensitivity analysis, and there was no significant evidence of publication bias. These results suggested that PBL in physical diagnostics education in China appeared to be more effective than traditional teaching method in improving knowledge and skills.

GENOSENSE Diagnostics GmbH.

PubMed

Schneeberger, Christian

2004-07-01

GENOSENSE Diagnostics GmbH, a company specialized in preventive genetic diagnostics, has committed itself to applying molecular medical knowledge to realizing the vision of individual, preventive and patient-tailored medicine. GENOSENSE offers a unique line of preventive genomic diagnostic profiles. Each profile focuses on a carefully selected set of polymorphisms associated with particular diseases or physiologic imbalances. GENOSENSE does not only provide the genetic test results, but highly capable medical experts 'translate' the results into a clinical language and assist the customer with established support regarding their medical interpretation. In addition, the company provides academic institutions and pharmaceutical companies with turnkey solutions for research-based projects.

Design of portable ultraminiature flow cytometers for medical diagnostics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leary, James F.

2018-02-01

Design of portable microfluidic flow/image cytometry devices for measurements in the field (e.g. initial medical diagnostics) requires careful design in terms of power requirements and weight to allow for realistic portability. True portability with high-throughput microfluidic systems also requires sampling systems without the need for sheath hydrodynamic focusing both to avoid the need for sheath fluid and to enable higher volumes of actual sample, rather than sheath/sample combinations. Weight/power requirements dictate use of super-bright LEDs with top-hat excitation beam architectures and very small silicon photodiodes or nanophotonic sensors that can both be powered by small batteries. Signal-to-noise characteristics can be greatly improved by appropriately pulsing the LED excitation sources and sampling and subtracting noise in between excitation pulses. Microfluidic cytometry also requires judicious use of small sample volumes and appropriate statistical sampling by microfluidic cytometry or imaging for adequate statistical significance to permit real-time (typically in less than 15 minutes) initial medical decisions for patients in the field. This is not something conventional cytometry traditionally worries about, but is very important for development of small, portable microfluidic devices with small-volume throughputs. It also provides a more reasonable alternative to conventional tubes of blood when sampling geriatric and newborn patients for whom a conventional peripheral blood draw can be problematical. Instead one or two drops of blood obtained by pin-prick should be able to provide statistically meaningful results for use in making real-time medical decisions without the need for blood fractionation, which is not realistic in the doctor's office or field.

[Substance basis research on Chinese materia medica is one of key scientific problems of inheriting, development and innovation of Chinese materia medica].

PubMed

Yang, Xiu-wei

2015-09-01

The compound Chinese materia medica is the medication pattern of the traditional Chinese medicine for the disease prevention and treatment. The single Chinese materia medica (mostly in decoction pieces) is the prescription composition of the compound Chinese materia medica. The study of the effective substance basis of Chinese materia medica should be based on the chemical compositions of the compound Chinese materia medica as an entry point considering the different status of "Monarch, Minister, Assistant, and Guide" for a certain single Chinese materia medica in the different compound Chinese materia medica while substance basis research of a certain single Chinese materia medica should be a full component analysis as well as both stable and controllable quality. Substance basis research on Chinese materia medica is one of key scientific problems of inheriting, development and innovation of Chinese materia medica.

Kyoto global consensus report on Helicobacter pylori gastritis and its impact on Chinese clinical practice.

PubMed

Chen, Qi; Lu, Hong

2016-06-01

The Kyoto global consensus report on Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) gastritis has had a great effect on the field of H. pylori studies worldwide. For the first time H. pylori gastritis was defined entirely as an infectious disease and H. pylori-associated dyspepsia as a new category of organic dyspepsia apart from functional dyspepsia, together with a proposed diagnostic algorithm. Accordingly, the report states that the eradication of H. pylori should be regarded as the first-line treatment for dyspepsia. Moreover, H. pylori eradication before the development of pre-neoplastic changes is recommended to reduce the risk of more serious complications of H. pylori gastritis. Despite the recommendations of this new global consensus, the task of transforming them into feasible and practical recommendations for individual countries will require them to become region-specific, which requires further discussion. © 2016 Chinese Medical Association Shanghai Branch, Chinese Society of Gastroenterology, Renji Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.

Crossing the Great Divide: Adoption of New Technologies, Therapeutics and Diagnostics at Academic Medical Centers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

DeMonaco, Harold J.; Koski, Greg

2007-01-01

The role of new technology in healthcare continues to expand from both the clinical and financial perspectives. Despite the importance of innovation, most academic medical centers do not have a clearly defined process for technology assessment. Recognizing the importance of new drugs, diagnostics and procedures in the care of patients and in the…

Psychiatry and Chinese Culture

PubMed Central

Lin, Tsung-Yi

1983-01-01

When we examine the cultural characteristics that influence mental disorders and related behavior among the Chinese, no major differences are found between Chinese and other groups in the range of disorders or in overall prevalence. Several cultural factors influence the recognition and treatment of mental illness, among which are attitudes toward emotional display, somatic as opposed to psychogenic disorders and features of the traditional medical belief system in Chinese culture. The Chinese have a relatively favorable prognosis of schizophrenia, low rates of depressive illness, a strong tendency towards somatization and the presence of several unique culture-bound syndromes. From studying Chinese in Vancouver, it was found that they have a characteristic way of dealing with mental illness in the family, in that there is first a protracted period of intrafamilial coping with serious psychiatric illness, followed by recourse to friends, elders and neighbors in the community; third, consultation with traditional specialists, religious healers or general physicians; fourth, outpatient or inpatient treatment from specialists, and, finally, a process of rejection and scapegoating of the patient. The efficacy of Western psychiatric treatment of Chinese patients has yet to be objectively assessed. PMID:6364576

[A accurate identification method for Chinese materia medica--systematic identification of Chinese materia medica].

PubMed

Wang, Xue-Yong; Liao, Cai-Li; Liu, Si-Qi; Liu, Chun-Sheng; Shao, Ai-Juan; Huang, Lu-Qi

2013-05-01

This paper put forward a more accurate identification method for identification of Chinese materia medica (CMM), the systematic identification of Chinese materia medica (SICMM) , which might solve difficulties in CMM identification used the ordinary traditional ways. Concepts, mechanisms and methods of SICMM were systematically introduced and possibility was proved by experiments. The establishment of SICMM will solve problems in identification of Chinese materia medica not only in phenotypic characters like the mnorphous, microstructure, chemical constituents, but also further discovery evolution and classification of species, subspecies and population in medical plants. The establishment of SICMM will improve the development of identification of CMM and create a more extensive study space.

[The Chinese expert consensus on clinical practice of "medically unexplained symptoms"].

PubMed

2017-02-01

"Medically unexplained symptoms" (MUS) are commonly seen in all clinical specialties. The preliminary investigations in China show a prevalence of MUS in 4.15%-18.2% of clinical patients. Based on international and national guidelines and the most advanced studies, a Chinese expert consensus on clinical practice of MUS is reached through three rounds of discussion seminars by 25 experts from various specialties including psychiatry, internal medicine, surgery, gynecology-obstetrics, otorhinolar-yngology and traditional Chinese medicine. Clinical doctors should be alert of patients whose discomfort complaints cannot be explained by organic conditions after thorough physical examination and necessary laboratory tests. MUS should be recognized as early as possible so as to avoid complicating iatrogenic factors. A full bio-psycho-social evaluation of the patient is the basic structure of understanding MUS patients. In clinical practice, a trustful doctor-patient relationship is the first step of successful treatment. Then after a reasonable clinical evaluation, explain to the patient that it is a harmless functional symptom, communicate with the patient and reach an acceptable therapeutic goal, help the patient understand the symptoms in a psycho-somatic aspect and rebuild confidence of getting back to normal life. Patients with mild symptoms can be treated by doctors in various specialties, from whom the patient seeks help. Patients with severe symptoms need multi-disciplinary care including specific psychotherapy. Pharmaceutical treatment includes symptom alleviating drugs and antidepressants. In clinical care of patients with "MUS" , a full bio-psycho-social evaluation, a good doctor-patient relationship, a treatment plan according to the severity of symptoms, and a multi-disciplinary cooperation should be noted and practiced.

[Investigation methodology and application on scientific and technological personnel of traditional Chinese medical resources based on data from Chinese scientific research paper].

PubMed

Li, Hai-yan; Li, Yuan-hai; Yang, Yang; Liu, Fang-zhou; Wang, Jing; Tian, Ye; Yang, Ce; Liu, Yang; Li, Meng; Sun Li-ying

2015-12-01

The aim of this study is to identify the present status of the scientific and technological personnel in the field of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) resource science. Based on the data from Chinese scientific research paper, an investigation regarding the number of the personnel, the distribution, their output of paper, their scientific research teams, high-yield authors and high-cited authors was conducted. The study covers seven subfields of traditional Chinese medicine identification, quality standard, Chinese medicine cultivation, harvest processing of TCM, market development and resource protection and resource management, as well as 82 widely used Chinese medicine species, such as Ginseng and Radix Astragali. One hundred and fifteen domain authority experts were selected based on the data of high-yield authors and high-cited authors. The database system platform "Skilled Scientific and Technological Personnel in the field of Traditional Chinese Medicine Resource Science-Chinese papers" was established. This platform successfully provided the retrieval result of the personnel, output of paper, and their core research team by input the study field, year, and Chinese medicine species. The investigation provides basic data of scientific and technological personnel in the field of traditional Chinese medicine resource science for administrative agencies and also evidence for the selection of scientific and technological personnel and construction of scientific research teams.

Joint development of evidence-based medical record by doctors and patients through integrated Chinese and Western medicine on digestive system diseases.

PubMed

Li, Bo; Gao, Hong-yang; Gao, Rui; Zhao, Ying-pan; Li, Qing-na; Zhao, Yang; Tang, Xu-dong; Shang, Hong-cai

2016-02-01

Building the clinical therapeutic evaluation system by combing the evaluation given by doctors and patients can form a more comprehensive and objective evaluation system. A literature search on the practice of evidence-based evaluation was conducted in key biomedical databases, i.e. PubMed, Excerpt Medica Database, China Biology Medicine disc and China National Knowledge Infrastructure. However, no relevant study on the subjects of interest was identified. Therefore, drawing on the principles of narrative medicine and expert opinion from systems of Chinese medicine and Western medicine, we propose to develop and pilot-test a novel evidence-based medical record format that captures the perspectives of both patients and doctors in a clinical trial. Further, we seek to evaluate a strategic therapeutic approach that integrates the wisdom of Chinese medicine with the scientific basis of Western medicine in the treatment of digestive system disorders. Evaluation of therapeutic efficacy of remedies under the system of Chinese medicine is an imperative ongoing research. The present study intends to identify a novel approach to assess the synergistic benefits achievable from an integrated therapeutic approach combining Chinese and Western system of medicine to treat digestive system disorders.

Enhancement of CLAIM (clinical accounting information) for a localized Chinese version.

PubMed

Guo, Jinqiu; Takada, Akira; Niu, Tie; He, Miao; Tanaka, Koji; Sato, Junzo; Suzuki, Muneou; Takahashi, Kiwamu; Daimon, Hiroyuki; Suzuki, Toshiaki; Nakashima, Yusei; Araki, Kenji; Yoshihara, Hiroyuki

2005-10-01

CLinical Accounting InforMation (CLAIM) is a standard for the exchange of data between patient accounting systems and electronic medical record (EMR) systems. It uses eXtensible Markup Language (XML) as a meta-language and was developed in Japan. CLAIM is subordinate to the Medical Markup Language (MML) standard, which allows the exchange of medical data between different medical institutions. It has inherited the basic structure of MML 2.x and the current version, version 2.1, contains two modules and nine data definition tables. In China, no data exchange standard yet exists that links EMR systems to accounting systems. Taking advantage of CLAIM's flexibility, we created a localized Chinese version based on CLAIM 2.1. Since Chinese receipt systems differ from those of Japan, some information such as prescription formats, etc. are also different from those in Japan. Two CLAIM modules were re-engineered and six data definition tables were either added or redefined. The Chinese version of CLAIM takes local needs into account, and consequently it is now possible to transfer data between the patient accounting systems and EMR systems of Chinese medical institutions effectively.

Gender differences in mental health literacy among Chinese-speaking Australians in Melbourne, Australia.

PubMed

Wong, Daniel Fu Keung; Lam, Angus Yuk Kit; Poon, Ada; Chow, Amy Yin Man

2012-03-01

This study attempted to understand gender differences in knowledge of mental illness, preference for professional help, and medications and treatment methods among Australians of Chinese-speaking background. This study adopted a cluster convenience sampling method in which subjects were taken from the four major areas in cosmopolitan Melbourne where most Chinese people are living. A total of 200 Chinese-speaking Australians participated in the study. They were presented with two vignettes describing an individual with acute depression or acute schizophrenia and then questions were asked to assess their understanding of the conditions, preference for professional help, medications and treatment methods. More female than male respondents could correctly identify the conditions in the two vignettes. Female participants also perceived medications to be relatively more harmful than their male counterparts. In contrast, there were significantly more males than females who adhered to traditional views on the causation of mental illness; had significantly higher percentages of endorsement of 'deal with it alone'; believed 'traditional Chinese medical doctor' and 'Chinese herbal medicines' to be helpful to the person in the schizophrenia vignette; and significantly endorsed 'psychiatric ward', 'electro-convulsive treatment', 'changing fungshui' and 'traditional Chinese worship' to be helpful for the persons in both vignettes. A combination of factors, which included age, duration of migration and traditional Chinese cultural values, were put forward to explain the above differences. Campaigns to improve the mental health literacy of Chinese-speaking Australians must take into account the gender differences between male and female Chinese-speaking Australians so that culturally relevant and gender-specific education programmes can be developed.

The effectiveness of the problem-based learning teaching model for use in introductory Chinese undergraduate medical courses: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

PubMed

Zhang, Yanqi; Zhou, Liang; Liu, Xiaoyu; Liu, Ling; Wu, Yazhou; Zhao, Zengwei; Yi, Dali; Yi, Dong

2015-01-01

Although the problem-based learning (PBL) emerged in 1969 and was soon widely applied internationally, the rapid development in China only occurred in the last 10 years. This study aims to compare the effect of PBL and lecture-based learning (LBL) on student course examination results for introductory Chinese undergraduate medical courses. Randomized and nonrandomized controlled trial studies on PBL use in Chinese undergraduate medical education were retrieved through PubMed, the Excerpta Medica Database (EMBASE), Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) and VIP China Science and Technology Journal Database (VIP-CSTJ) with publication dates from 1st January 1966 till 31 August 2014. The pass rate, excellence rate and examination scores of course examination were collected. Methodological quality was evaluated based on the modified Jadad scale. The I-square statistic and Chi-square test of heterogeneity were used to assess the statistical heterogeneity. Overall RRs or SMDs with their 95% CIs were calculated in meta-analysis. Meta-regression and subgroup meta-analyses were also performed based on comparators and other confounding factors. Funnel plots and Egger's tests were performed to assess degrees of publication bias. The meta-analysis included 31studies and 4,699 subjects. Fourteen studies were of high quality with modified Jadad scores of 4 to 6, and 17 studies were of low quality with scores of 1 to 3. Relative to the LBL model, the PBL model yielded higher course examination pass rates [RR = 1.09, 95%CI (1.03, 1.17)], excellence rates [RR = 1.66, 95%CI (1.33, 2.06)] and examination scores [SMD = 0.82, 95%CI (0.63, 1.01)]. The meta-regression results show that course type was the significant confounding factor that caused heterogeneity in the examination-score meta-analysis (t = 0.410, P<0.001). The examination score SMD in "laboratory course" subgroup [SMD = 2.01, 95% CI: (1.50, 2.52)] was higher than that in "theory course" subgroup [SMD = 0.72, 95

The Effectiveness of the Problem-Based Learning Teaching Model for Use in Introductory Chinese Undergraduate Medical Courses: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

PubMed Central

Zhang, Yanqi; Zhou, Liang; Liu, Xiaoyu; Liu, Ling; Wu, Yazhou; Zhao, Zengwei; Yi, Dali; Yi, Dong

2015-01-01

Background Although the problem-based learning (PBL) emerged in 1969 and was soon widely applied internationally, the rapid development in China only occurred in the last 10 years. This study aims to compare the effect of PBL and lecture-based learning (LBL) on student course examination results for introductory Chinese undergraduate medical courses. Methods Randomized and nonrandomized controlled trial studies on PBL use in Chinese undergraduate medical education were retrieved through PubMed, the Excerpta Medica Database (EMBASE), Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) and VIP China Science and Technology Journal Database (VIP-CSTJ) with publication dates from 1st January 1966 till 31 August 2014. The pass rate, excellence rate and examination scores of course examination were collected. Methodological quality was evaluated based on the modified Jadad scale. The I-square statistic and Chi-square test of heterogeneity were used to assess the statistical heterogeneity. Overall RRs or SMDs with their 95% CIs were calculated in meta-analysis. Meta-regression and subgroup meta-analyses were also performed based on comparators and other confounding factors. Funnel plots and Egger’s tests were performed to assess degrees of publication bias. Results The meta-analysis included 31studies and 4,699 subjects. Fourteen studies were of high quality with modified Jadad scores of 4 to 6, and 17 studies were of low quality with scores of 1 to 3. Relative to the LBL model, the PBL model yielded higher course examination pass rates [RR = 1.09, 95%CI (1.03, 1.17)], excellence rates [RR = 1.66, 95%CI (1.33, 2.06)] and examination scores [SMD = 0.82, 95%CI (0.63, 1.01)]. The meta-regression results show that course type was the significant confounding factor that caused heterogeneity in the examination-score meta-analysis (t = 0.410, P<0.001). The examination score SMD in “laboratory course” subgroup [SMD = 2.01, 95% CI: (1.50, 2.52)] was higher than that in �

Utilization Pattern and Drug Use of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Western Medicine, and Integrated Chinese-Western Medicine Treatments for Allergic Rhinitis Under the National Health Insurance Program in Taiwan.

PubMed

Huang, Sheng-Kang; Lai, Chih-Sung; Chang, Yuan-Shiun; Ho, Yu-Ling

2016-10-01

Patients in Taiwan with allergic rhinitis seek not only Western medicine treatment but also Traditional Chinese Medicine treatment or integrated Chinese-Western medicine treatment. Various studies have conducted pairwise comparison on Traditional Chinese Medicine, Western medicine, and integrated Chinese-Western medicine treatments. However, none conducted simultaneous analysis of the three treatments. This study analyzed patients with allergic rhinitis receiving the three treatments to identify differences in demographic characteristic and medical use and thereby to determine drug use patterns of different treatments. The National Health Insurance Research Database was the data source, and included patients were those diagnosed with allergic rhinitis (International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification codes 470-478). Chi-square test and Tukey studentized range (honest significant difference) test were conducted to investigate the differences among the three treatments. Visit frequency for allergic rhinitis treatment was higher in female than male patients, regardless of treatment with Traditional Chinese Medicine, Western medicine, or integrated Chinese-Western medicine. Persons aged 0-19 years ranked the highest in proportion of visits for allergic rhinitis. Traditional Chinese Medicine treatment had more medical items per person-time and daily drug cost per person-time and had the lowest total expenditure per person-time. In contrast, Western medicine had the lowest daily drug cost per person-time and the highest total expenditure per person-time. The total expenditure per person-time, daily drug cost per person-time, and medical items per person-time of integrated Chinese-Western medicine treatment lay between those seen with Traditional Chinese Medicine and Western medicine treatments. Although only 6.82 % of patients with allergic rhinitis chose integrated Chinese-Western medicine treatment, the visit frequency per person-year of

Fatalism and health promoting behaviors in Chinese and Korean immigrants and Caucasians.

PubMed

Heiniger, Louise E; Sherman, Kerry A; Shaw, Laura-Kate E; Costa, Daniel

2015-02-01

Fatalism has been associated with non-adherence to health behavior in the past. This study compared fatalism of Chinese and Korean immigrants with native-born Caucasians (N = 309) and examined whether the relationship between fatalism and exercise, nutrition and medical screening would be moderated by ethnicity. Chinese reported higher fatalism than Caucasians and Koreans. Higher fatalism was associated with greater exercise among Chinese and Koreans, but less reported exercise among Caucasians. Caucasian participants had higher scores for nutrition and medical screening compared with Chinese and Korean immigrants. These findings indicate that fatalism is more prevalent among Chinese immigrants; however, there is no evidence of a detrimental effect of fatalism on exercise, nutrition or medical screening among the Asian immigrants. Caucasians with higher fatalism may be at greater risk of future illnesses, given the association between fatalism and sedentary behavior in this group. Differences between cultural groups in the adoption of health behavior justify the development and assessment of targeted interventions to optimize health promoting behaviors.

Screening for Depression in Medical Settings with the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ): A Diagnostic Meta-Analysis

PubMed Central

Richards, David; Brealey, Stephen; Hewitt, Catherine

2007-01-01

Objective To summarize the psychometric properties of the PHQ2 and PHQ9 as screening instruments for depression. Interventions We identified 17 validation studies conducted in primary care; medical outpatients; and specialist medical services (cardiology, gynecology, stroke, dermatology, head injury, and otolaryngology). Electronic databases from 1994 to February 2007 (MEDLINE, PsycLIT, EMBASE, CINAHL, Cochrane registers) plus study reference lists have been used for this study. Translations included US English, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, German and Arabic). Summary sensitivity, specificity, likelihood and diagnostic odds ratios (OR) against a gold standard (DSM-IV) Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) were calculated for each study. We used random effects bivariate meta-analysis at recommended cut points to produce summary receiver–operator characteristic (sROC) curves. We explored heterogeneity with metaregression. Measurements and Main Results Fourteen studies (5,026 participants) validated the PHQ9 against MDD: sensitivity = 0.80 (95% CI 0.71–0.87); specificity = 0.92 (95% CI 0.88–0.95); positive likelihood ratio = 10.12 (95% CI 6.52–15.67); negative likelihood ratio = 0.22 (0.15 to 0.32). There was substantial heterogeneity (Diagnostic Odds Ratio heterogeneity I2 = 82%), which was not explained by study setting (primary care versus general hospital); method of scoring (cutoff ≥ 10 versus “diagnostic algorithm”); or study quality (blinded versus unblinded). The diagnostic validity of the PHQ2 was only validated in 3 studies and showed wide variability in sensitivity. Conclusions The PHQ9 is acceptable, and as good as longer clinician-administered instruments in a range of settings, countries, and populations. More research is needed to validate the PHQ2 to see if its diagnostic properties approach those of the PHQ9. PMID:17874169

CRIE: An automated analyzer for Chinese texts.

PubMed

Sung, Yao-Ting; Chang, Tao-Hsing; Lin, Wei-Chun; Hsieh, Kuan-Sheng; Chang, Kuo-En

2016-12-01

Textual analysis has been applied to various fields, such as discourse analysis, corpus studies, text leveling, and automated essay evaluation. Several tools have been developed for analyzing texts written in alphabetic languages such as English and Spanish. However, currently there is no tool available for analyzing Chinese-language texts. This article introduces a tool for the automated analysis of simplified and traditional Chinese texts, called the Chinese Readability Index Explorer (CRIE). Composed of four subsystems and incorporating 82 multilevel linguistic features, CRIE is able to conduct the major tasks of segmentation, syntactic parsing, and feature extraction. Furthermore, the integration of linguistic features with machine learning models enables CRIE to provide leveling and diagnostic information for texts in language arts, texts for learning Chinese as a foreign language, and texts with domain knowledge. The usage and validation of the functions provided by CRIE are also introduced.

Frontotemporal Dementia in Eight Chinese Individuals

PubMed Central

Chao, Steven Z.; Rosen, Howard J.; Azor, Virgina; Ong, Hilary; Tse, Marian M.; Lai, Ngan Betty; Hou, Craig E.; Seeley, William W.; Miller, Bruce L.; Matthews, Brandy R.

2012-01-01

Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) has rarely been reported in Chinese populations. There are many potential reasons for this, including possible hesitancy on the part of patients or families to bring FTD-related symptoms to medical attention. Here, we present data on eight Chinese individuals, all of whom met criteria for the behavioral variant of FTD or the semantic variant of primary progressive aphasia. These patients presented for neurological evaluation at a relatively advanced stage. The mean MMSE score at initial presentation was 15. Behavioral symptoms were common and usually elicited during the medical history only after direct questioning. Delay in presentation was attributed to a variety of issues, including family disagreements about whether the symptoms represented a disease and lack of medical insurance. These cases illustrate that the symptoms of FTD in Chinese Americans are similar to those in Caucasians but various factors, some potentially culturally-relevant, may influence the likelihood and timing of clinical presentation for FTD, as well as other dementias. Additional study of FTD in diverse ethnic groups needs to address barriers to clinical presentation, including factors that may be culturally specific. PMID:23311888

Suboptimal performance of simple noninvasive tests for advanced fibrosis in Chinese patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.

PubMed

Xun, Yun Hao; Fan, Jian Gao; Zang, Guo Qing; Liu, Hong; Jiang, Yan Ming; Xiang, Jing; Huang, Qian; Shi, Jun Ping

2012-11-01

To evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of some noninvasive fibrosis models in Chinese patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Consecutive biopsy-proven NAFLD patients were recruited from a single center from January 2005 to December 2010. Advanced fibrosis (stage 3 and 4) was defined using Kleiner criteria. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) was used to compare the diagnostic accuracy of the NAFLD fibrosis score (NFS), FIB-4 index, aspartate transaminase (AST)/platelet ratio index (APRI), AST/alanine transaminase (ALT) ratio (AAR) and body mass index (BMI)-AAR-Diabetes (BARD) score. Of the patients with NAFLD, 79.6% were males with a mean age of 37.1 years, mean BMI of 26.1 kg/m(2) and 41.4% of them had nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, and 24 (15.8%) had advanced fibrosis. The AUROC of the FIB-4 index, APRI, AAR, NFS and BARD score for advanced fibrosis were 0.756, 0.742, 0.670, 0.653 and 0.642 (P < 0.05 for all), respectively. A concordant negative predictive value of approximately 90% was indicated whereas the positive predictive values were modest for all tests, and only the FIB-4 index yielded a higher positive likelihood ratio of 7.65. Using these cut-off values of tests for excluding advanced fibrosis could reduce the use of liver biopsy in 56.6-74.3% of the patients, with a minor false negative rate of 5.3-9.9%. Although slightly less accurate than liver biopsy, simple noninvasive tests can reliably exclude advanced fibrosis in Chinese NAFLD patients in our center. FIB-4 index performs better than the other tests under examination. © 2012 The Authors. Journal of Digestive Diseases © 2012 Chinese Medical Association Shanghai Branch, Chinese Society of Gastroenterology, Renji Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine and Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.

Diagnostic value and safety of medical thoracoscopy in tuberculous pleural effusion.

PubMed

Wang, Zhen; Xu, Li-Li; Wu, Yan-Bing; Wang, Xiao-Juan; Yang, Yuan; Zhang, Jun; Tong, Zhao-Hui; Shi, Huan-Zhong

2015-09-01

Differentiating tuberculous pleural effusion from other lymphocytic pleural effusions is often challenging. This retrospective study aimed to assess the efficacy and safety of medical thoracoscopy in patients with suspected tuberculous pleural effusion. Between July 2005 and June 2014, patients with pleural effusions of unknown etiologies underwent medical thoracoscopy in our institute after less invasive means of diagnosis had failed. Demographic, radiographic, procedural, and histological data of patients with tuberculous pleural effusion were analyzed. During this 9-year study, 333 of 833 patients with pleural effusion were confirmed to have tuberculous pleurisy. Under thoracoscopy, we observed pleural nodules in 69.4%, pleural adhesion in 66.7%, hyperemia in 60.7%, plaque-like lesions in 6.0%, ulceration in 1.5% of patients with tuberculous pleurisy. Pleural biopsy revealed the presence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in the pleural tissue or/and demonstration of caseating granulomas in 330 (99.1%) patients. No serious adverse events were recorded, and the most common minor complication was transient chest pain (43.2%) from the indwelling chest tube. Our data showed that medical thoracoscopy is a simple procedure with high diagnostic yield and excellent safety for the diagnosis of tuberculous pleural effusion. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Quality of reporting of multivariable logistic regression models in Chinese clinical medical journals.

PubMed

Zhang, Ying-Ying; Zhou, Xiao-Bin; Wang, Qiu-Zhen; Zhu, Xiao-Yan

2017-05-01

Multivariable logistic regression (MLR) has been increasingly used in Chinese clinical medical research during the past few years. However, few evaluations of the quality of the reporting strategies in these studies are available.To evaluate the reporting quality and model accuracy of MLR used in published work, and related advice for authors, readers, reviewers, and editors.A total of 316 articles published in 5 leading Chinese clinical medical journals with high impact factor from January 2010 to July 2015 were selected for evaluation. Articles were evaluated according 12 established criteria for proper use and reporting of MLR models.Among the articles, the highest quality score was 9, the lowest 1, and the median 5 (4-5). A total of 85.1% of the articles scored below 6. No significant differences were found among these journals with respect to quality score (χ = 6.706, P = .15). More than 50% of the articles met the following 5 criteria: complete identification of the statistical software application that was used (97.2%), calculation of the odds ratio and its confidence interval (86.4%), description of sufficient events (>10) per variable, selection of variables, and fitting procedure (78.2%, 69.3%, and 58.5%, respectively). Less than 35% of the articles reported the coding of variables (18.7%). The remaining 5 criteria were not satisfied by a sufficient number of articles: goodness-of-fit (10.1%), interactions (3.8%), checking for outliers (3.2%), collinearity (1.9%), and participation of statisticians and epidemiologists (0.3%). The criterion of conformity with linear gradients was applicable to 186 articles; however, only 7 (3.8%) mentioned or tested it.The reporting quality and model accuracy of MLR in selected articles were not satisfactory. In fact, severe deficiencies were noted. Only 1 article scored 9. We recommend authors, readers, reviewers, and editors to consider MLR models more carefully and cooperate more closely with statisticians and

The Effect of Self-Explanation of Pathophysiological Mechanisms of Diseases on Medical Students' Diagnostic Performance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Peixoto, José Maria; Mamede, Sílvia; de Faria, Rosa Malena Delbone; Moura, Alexandre Sampaio; Santos, Silvana Maria Elói; Schmidt, Henk G.

2017-01-01

Self-explanation while diagnosing clinical cases fosters medical students' diagnostic performance. In previous studies on self-explanation, students were free to self-explain any aspect of the case, and mostly clinical knowledge was used. Elaboration on knowledge of pathophysiological mechanisms of diseases has been largely unexplored in studies…

A retrospective survey of research design and statistical analyses in selected Chinese medical journals in 1998 and 2008.

PubMed

Jin, Zhichao; Yu, Danghui; Zhang, Luoman; Meng, Hong; Lu, Jian; Gao, Qingbin; Cao, Yang; Ma, Xiuqiang; Wu, Cheng; He, Qian; Wang, Rui; He, Jia

2010-05-25

High quality clinical research not only requires advanced professional knowledge, but also needs sound study design and correct statistical analyses. The number of clinical research articles published in Chinese medical journals has increased immensely in the past decade, but study design quality and statistical analyses have remained suboptimal. The aim of this investigation was to gather evidence on the quality of study design and statistical analyses in clinical researches conducted in China for the first decade of the new millennium. Ten (10) leading Chinese medical journals were selected and all original articles published in 1998 (N = 1,335) and 2008 (N = 1,578) were thoroughly categorized and reviewed. A well-defined and validated checklist on study design, statistical analyses, results presentation, and interpretation was used for review and evaluation. Main outcomes were the frequencies of different types of study design, error/defect proportion in design and statistical analyses, and implementation of CONSORT in randomized clinical trials. From 1998 to 2008: The error/defect proportion in statistical analyses decreased significantly ( = 12.03, p<0.001), 59.8% (545/1,335) in 1998 compared to 52.2% (664/1,578) in 2008. The overall error/defect proportion of study design also decreased ( = 21.22, p<0.001), 50.9% (680/1,335) compared to 42.40% (669/1,578). In 2008, design with randomized clinical trials remained low in single digit (3.8%, 60/1,578) with two-third showed poor results reporting (defects in 44 papers, 73.3%). Nearly half of the published studies were retrospective in nature, 49.3% (658/1,335) in 1998 compared to 48.2% (761/1,578) in 2008. Decreases in defect proportions were observed in both results presentation ( = 93.26, p<0.001), 92.7% (945/1,019) compared to 78.2% (1023/1,309) and interpretation ( = 27.26, p<0.001), 9.7% (99/1,019) compared to 4.3% (56/1,309), some serious ones persisted. Chinese medical research seems to have made

[Improvement of work of chiefs of therapeutic and diagnostic hospital departments--chief medical specialists of military districts (fleet)].

PubMed

Tregubov, V N; Kostiuchenko, A I; Stetsenko, B G

2009-03-01

In now-day conditions, on the background of enlargement and complication of tasks', solved by military health service, it's supervised the increase of significance of qualitative and effective administration by collectives of military-medical organizations. An important role belongs to activity of chiefs of treatment-diagnostic units (centers) of military hospitals. These chiefs in the same time are staff or inorganic medical specialists of military regions (NAVYs).

Paper-based sample-to-answer molecular diagnostic platform for point-of-care diagnostics.

PubMed

Choi, Jane Ru; Tang, Ruihua; Wang, ShuQi; Wan Abas, Wan Abu Bakar; Pingguan-Murphy, Belinda; Xu, Feng

2015-12-15

Nucleic acid testing (NAT), as a molecular diagnostic technique, including nucleic acid extraction, amplification and detection, plays a fundamental role in medical diagnosis for timely medical treatment. However, current NAT technologies require relatively high-end instrumentation, skilled personnel, and are time-consuming. These drawbacks mean conventional NAT becomes impractical in many resource-limited disease-endemic settings, leading to an urgent need to develop a fast and portable NAT diagnostic tool. Paper-based devices are typically robust, cost-effective and user-friendly, holding a great potential for NAT at the point of care. In view of the escalating demand for the low cost diagnostic devices, we highlight the beneficial use of paper as a platform for NAT, the current state of its development, and the existing challenges preventing its widespread use. We suggest a strategy involving integrating all three steps of NAT into one single paper-based sample-to-answer diagnostic device for rapid medical diagnostics in the near future. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Effects of Rural Mutual Health Care on outpatient service utilization in Chinese village medical institutions: evidence from panel data.

PubMed

Zhou, Zhongliang; Gao, Jianmin; Xue, Qinxiang; Yang, Xiaowei; Yan, Ju'e

2009-07-01

To solve the problem of 'Kan bing nan, kan bing gui' (medical treatment is difficult to access and expensive), a Harvard-led research team implemented a community-based health insurance scheme known as Rural Mutual Health Care (RMHC) in Chinese rural areas from 2004 to 2006. Two major policies adopted by RMHC included insurance coverage of outpatient services (demand-side policy) and drug policy (supply-side policy). This paper focuses on the effects of these two policies on outpatient service utilization in Chinese village clinics. The data used in this study are from 3-year household follow-up surveys. A generalized negative binomial regression model and a Heckman selection model were constructed using panel data from 2005 to 2007. The results indicate that the price elasticities of demand for outpatient visits and per-visit outpatient expenses were -1.5 and -0.553, respectively. After implementing the supply-side policy, outpatient visits and per-visit outpatient expenses decreased by 94.7 and 55.9%, respectively, controlling for insurance coverage. These findings can be used to make recommendations to the Chinese government on improving the health care system.

Diagnostic reasoning strategies and diagnostic success.

PubMed

Coderre, S; Mandin, H; Harasym, P H; Fick, G H

2003-08-01

Cognitive psychology research supports the notion that experts use mental frameworks or "schemes", both to organize knowledge in memory and to solve clinical problems. The central purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between problem-solving strategies and the likelihood of diagnostic success. Think-aloud protocols were collected to determine the diagnostic reasoning used by experts and non-experts when attempting to diagnose clinical presentations in gastroenterology. Using logistic regression analysis, the study found that there is a relationship between diagnostic reasoning strategy and the likelihood of diagnostic success. Compared to hypothetico-deductive reasoning, the odds of diagnostic success were significantly greater when subjects used the diagnostic strategies of pattern recognition and scheme-inductive reasoning. Two other factors emerged as independent determinants of diagnostic success: expertise and clinical presentation. Not surprisingly, experts outperformed novices, while the content area of the clinical cases in each of the four clinical presentations demonstrated varying degrees of difficulty and thus diagnostic success. These findings have significant implications for medical educators. It supports the introduction of "schemes" as a means of enhancing memory organization and improving diagnostic success.

Hadoop-based implementation of processing medical diagnostic records for visual patient system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Yuanyuan; Shi, Liehang; Xie, Zhe; Zhang, Jianguo

2018-03-01

We have innovatively introduced Visual Patient (VP) concept and method visually to represent and index patient imaging diagnostic records (IDR) in last year SPIE Medical Imaging (SPIE MI 2017), which can enable a doctor to review a large amount of IDR of a patient in a limited appointed time slot. In this presentation, we presented a new approach to design data processing architecture of VP system (VPS) to acquire, process and store various kinds of IDR to build VP instance for each patient in hospital environment based on Hadoop distributed processing structure. We designed this system architecture called Medical Information Processing System (MIPS) with a combination of Hadoop batch processing architecture and Storm stream processing architecture. The MIPS implemented parallel processing of various kinds of clinical data with high efficiency, which come from disparate hospital information system such as PACS, RIS LIS and HIS.

Diagnostic aids: the Surgical Sieve revisited.

PubMed

Chai, Jason; Evans, Lloyd; Hughes, Tom

2017-08-01

Diagnostic errors are well documented in the literature and emphasise the need to teach diagnostic skills at an early stage in medical school to create effective and safe clinicians. Hence, there may be a place for diagnostic aids (such as the Surgical Sieve) that provide a framework for generating ideas about diagnoses. With repeated use of the Surgical Sieve in teaching sessions with students, and prompted by the traditional handheld wheels used in antenatal clinics, we developed the Compass Medicine, a handheld diagnostic wheel comprising three concentric discs attached at the centre. We report a preliminary study comparing the Surgical Sieve and the Compass Medicine in generating differential diagnoses. A total of 48 third-year medical students from Cardiff University participated in a study aimed at measuring the efficacy of diagnostic aids (Surgical Sieve and Compass Medicine) in generating diagnoses. We quantified the effect each aid had on the number of diagnoses generated, and compared the size of the effect between the two diagnostic aids. There may be a place for diagnostic aids that provide a framework for generating ideas about diagnoses RESULTS: The study suggests that both diagnostic aids prompted users to generate a greater number of diagnoses, but there was no significant difference in the size of effect between the two diagnostic aids. We hope that our study with diagnostic aids will encourage the use of robust tools to teach medical students an easily visualised framework for diagnostic thinking. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd and The Association for the Study of Medical Education.

Horizon 2020 SME-Instrument topic: clinical research for the validation of biomarkers and/or diagnostic medical devices.

PubMed

Sanne, Jean-Luc

2018-06-21

The European Commission released €130 million over 2014, 2015 and 2017 under the EU Framework Program for Research and Innovation, Horizon 2020, to support innovative small and medium-sized enterprises in the diagnostic area. The call topic focused on 'Clinical research for the validation of biomarkers and/or diagnostic medical devices'. It attracted 1194 applicants from all over Europe. The quality of the proposals was high and a large proportion of them were eligible for funding. In the majority, proposals were about in vitro diagnostics and tackled both clinical validation of new biomarkers and device optimization. The proposals dealt with various advanced technologies. One third of the proposers gave priority to the new and promising field of personalized medicine.

Estimating medical costs of gastroenterological diseases

PubMed Central

Chou, Li-Fang

2004-01-01

AIM: To estimate the direct medical costs of gastroenterological diseases within the universal health insurance program among the population of local residents in Taiwan. METHODS: The data sources were the first 4 cohort datasets of 200 000 people from the National Health Insurance Research Database in Taipei. The ambulatory, inpatient and pharmacy claims of the cohort in 2001 were analyzed. Besides prevalence and medical costs of diseases, both amount and costs of utilization in procedures and drugs were calculated. RESULTS: Of the cohort with 183 976 eligible people, 44.2% had ever a gastroenterological diagnosis during the year. The age group 20-39 years had the lowest prevalence rate (39.2%) while the elderly had the highest (58.4%). The prevalence rate was higher in women than in men (48.5% vs. 40.0%). Totally, 30.4% of 14 888 inpatients had ever a gastroenterological diagnosis at discharge and 18.8% of 51 359 patients at clinics of traditional Chinese medicine had such a diagnosis there. If only the principal diagnosis on each claim was considered, 16.2% of admissions, 8.0% of outpatient visits, and 10.1% of the total medical costs (8 469 909 US dollars/ 83 830 239 US dollars) were attributed to gastroenterological diseases. On average, 46.0 US dollars per insured person in a year were spent in treating gastroenterological diseases. Diagnostic procedures related to gastroenterological diseases accounted for 24.2% of the costs for all diagnostic procedures and 2.3% of the total medical costs. Therapeutic procedures related to gastroenterological diseases accounted for 4.5% of the costs for all therapeutic procedures and 1.3% of the total medical costs. Drugs related to gastroenterological diseases accounted for 7.3% of the costs for all drugs and 1.9% of the total medical costs. CONCLUSION: Gastroenterological diseases are prevalent among the population of local residents in Taiwan, accounting for a tenth of the total medical costs. Further investigations are

Estimating medical costs of gastroenterological diseases.

PubMed

Chou, Li-Fang

2004-01-15

To estimate the direct medical costs of gastroenterological diseases within the universal health insurance program among the population of local residents in Taiwan. The data sources were the first 4 cohort datasets of 200,000 people from the National Health Insurance Research Database in Taipei. The ambulatory, inpatient and pharmacy claims of the cohort in 2001 were analyzed. Besides prevalence and medical costs of diseases, both amount and costs of utilization in procedures and drugs were calculated. Of the cohort with 183,976 eligible people, 44.2% had ever a gastroenterological diagnosis during the year. The age group 20-39 years had the lowest prevalence rate (39.2%) while the elderly had the highest (58.4%). The prevalence rate was higher in women than in men (48.5% vs. 40.0%). Totally, 30.4% of 14,888 inpatients had ever a gastroenterological diagnosis at discharge and 18.8% of 51,359 patients at clinics of traditional Chinese medicine had such a diagnosis there. If only the principal diagnosis on each claim was considered, 16.2% of admissions, 8.0% of outpatient visits, and 10.1% of the total medical costs (8,469,909 US dollars/83,830,239 US dollars) were attributed to gastroenterological diseases. On average, 46.0 US dollars per insured person in a year were spent in treating gastroenterological diseases. Diagnostic procedures related to gastroenterological diseases accounted for 24.2% of the costs for all diagnostic procedures and 2.3% of the total medical costs. Therapeutic procedures related to gastroenterological diseases accounted for 4.5% of the costs for all therapeutic procedures and 1.3% of the total medical costs. Drugs related to gastroenterological diseases accounted for 7.3% of the costs for all drugs and 1.9% of the total medical costs. Gastroenterological diseases are prevalent among the population of local residents in Taiwan, accounting for a tenth of the total medical costs. Further investigations are needed to differentiate costs in

[Citation analysis of originals in Chinese Journal of Ophthalmology].

PubMed

Cai, Lian

2002-09-01

To evaluate the academic level and the popularity of Chinese Journal of Ophthalmology. According to the information of Chinese science and technology papers and citation database (CSTPC), I statistically analyzed the amount and distribution of the originals in Chinese Journal of Ophthalmology cited by the journals included by CSTPC. The originals of Chinese Journal of Ophthalmology were high-qualified and influential, and their authors were all over the country. With the unique style and character, Chinese Journal of Ophthalmology is the main medical core periodical and one of the most important information resources in the field of ophthalmology in China.

Dual Processing Model for Medical Decision-Making: An Extension to Diagnostic Testing

PubMed Central

Tsalatsanis, Athanasios; Hozo, Iztok; Kumar, Ambuj; Djulbegovic, Benjamin

2015-01-01

Dual Processing Theories (DPT) assume that human cognition is governed by two distinct types of processes typically referred to as type 1 (intuitive) and type 2 (deliberative). Based on DPT we have derived a Dual Processing Model (DPM) to describe and explain therapeutic medical decision-making. The DPM model indicates that doctors decide to treat when treatment benefits outweigh its harms, which occurs when the probability of the disease is greater than the so called “threshold probability” at which treatment benefits are equal to treatment harms. Here we extend our work to include a wider class of decision problems that involve diagnostic testing. We illustrate applicability of the proposed model in a typical clinical scenario considering the management of a patient with prostate cancer. To that end, we calculate and compare two types of decision-thresholds: one that adheres to expected utility theory (EUT) and the second according to DPM. Our results showed that the decisions to administer a diagnostic test could be better explained using the DPM threshold. This is because such decisions depend on objective evidence of test/treatment benefits and harms as well as type 1 cognition of benefits and harms, which are not considered under EUT. Given that type 1 processes are unique to each decision-maker, this means that the DPM threshold will vary among different individuals. We also showed that when type 1 processes exclusively dominate decisions, ordering a diagnostic test does not affect a decision; the decision is based on the assessment of benefits and harms of treatment. These findings could explain variations in the treatment and diagnostic patterns documented in today’s clinical practice. PMID:26244571

Dual Processing Model for Medical Decision-Making: An Extension to Diagnostic Testing.

PubMed

Tsalatsanis, Athanasios; Hozo, Iztok; Kumar, Ambuj; Djulbegovic, Benjamin

2015-01-01

Dual Processing Theories (DPT) assume that human cognition is governed by two distinct types of processes typically referred to as type 1 (intuitive) and type 2 (deliberative). Based on DPT we have derived a Dual Processing Model (DPM) to describe and explain therapeutic medical decision-making. The DPM model indicates that doctors decide to treat when treatment benefits outweigh its harms, which occurs when the probability of the disease is greater than the so called "threshold probability" at which treatment benefits are equal to treatment harms. Here we extend our work to include a wider class of decision problems that involve diagnostic testing. We illustrate applicability of the proposed model in a typical clinical scenario considering the management of a patient with prostate cancer. To that end, we calculate and compare two types of decision-thresholds: one that adheres to expected utility theory (EUT) and the second according to DPM. Our results showed that the decisions to administer a diagnostic test could be better explained using the DPM threshold. This is because such decisions depend on objective evidence of test/treatment benefits and harms as well as type 1 cognition of benefits and harms, which are not considered under EUT. Given that type 1 processes are unique to each decision-maker, this means that the DPM threshold will vary among different individuals. We also showed that when type 1 processes exclusively dominate decisions, ordering a diagnostic test does not affect a decision; the decision is based on the assessment of benefits and harms of treatment. These findings could explain variations in the treatment and diagnostic patterns documented in today's clinical practice.

Predictive Modeling of Student Performances for Retention and Academic Support in a Diagnostic Medical Sonography Program

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Borghese, Peter; Lacey, Sandi

2014-01-01

As part of a retention and academic support program, data was collected to develop a predictive model of student performances in core classes in a Diagnostic Medical Sonography (DMS) program. The research goal was to identify students likely to have difficulty with coursework and provide supplemental tutorial support. The focus was on the…

21 CFR 890.1850 - Diagnostic muscle stimulator.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

...) MEDICAL DEVICES PHYSICAL MEDICINE DEVICES Physical Medicine Diagnostic Devices § 890.1850 Diagnostic... electromyograph machine to initiate muscle activity. It is intended for medical purposes, such as to diagnose...

Virtual reality aided visualization of fluid flow simulations with application in medical education and diagnostics.

PubMed

Djukic, Tijana; Mandic, Vesna; Filipovic, Nenad

2013-12-01

Medical education, training and preoperative diagnostics can be drastically improved with advanced technologies, such as virtual reality. The method proposed in this paper enables medical doctors and students to visualize and manipulate three-dimensional models created from CT or MRI scans, and also to analyze the results of fluid flow simulations. Simulation of fluid flow using the finite element method is performed, in order to compute the shear stress on the artery walls. The simulation of motion through the artery is also enabled. The virtual reality system proposed here could shorten the length of training programs and make the education process more effective. © 2013 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

[Comparative analysis between origin of cooked traditional Chinese medicine powder and modern formula granules].

PubMed

Li, Rui; Zhai, Hua-Qiang; Tian, Wei-Lan; Hou, Ji-Ru; Jin, Shi-Yuan; Wang, Yong-Yan

2016-03-01

In this study, the origin and causes of cooked traditional Chinese medicine powder were reviewed, and a comprehensive analysis was made for the time background of modern traditional Chinese medicine formula granules and the future development trend, in order to provide reference for application and promotion of traditional Chinese medicine formula granules. By reference to ancient medical books of previous dynasties, a system review was conducted for infancy, formation, maturity and transition of cooked traditional Chinese medicine powder, and a comprehensive analysis was made for the six factors of cooked traditional Chinese medicine powder's maturity in the Song Dynasty. Efforts were made to collect domestic and foreign research literatures of modern formula granules, understand the detailed development, and conduct an objective analysis of the current clinical application of modern formula granules. According to the comparative analysis for the application characteristics of cooked traditional Chinese medicine powder and modern formula granules, ①the popularity of cooked traditional Chinese medicine powder in the Song Dynasty has six factors: soaring numbers of medical students and medical practitioners, high medical expenses due to huge army, rapid population growth, frequent epidemics and increasing diseases, and insufficient finances of central and local governments. ②On the basis of clinical application characteristics of traditional Chinese medicine formula granules, traditional Chinese medicine formula granules contain extracted and concentrated effective components, which guarantee the curative effect, meet modern people's demands for "quick, simple and convenience" traditional Chinese medicine decoctions, show a relatively high cost performance; however, formula granules are restricted by their varieties and lack unified quality control standards, and single-extract formula granules have not synergy and attenuation effects of combined traditional

Systematic Analysis of the Decision Rules of Traditional Chinese Medicine

PubMed Central

Bin-Rong, Ma; Xi-Yuan, Jiang; Su-Ming, Liso; Huai-ning, Zhu; Xiu-ru, Lin

1981-01-01

Chinese traditional medicine has evolved over many centuries, and has accumulated a body of observed relationships between symptoms, signs and prognoses, and the efficacy of alternative treatments and prescriptions. With the assistance of a computer-based clinical data base for recording the diagnostic and therapeutic practice of skilled practitioners of Chinese traditional medicine, a systematic program is being conducted to identify and define the clinical decision-making rules that underlie current practice.

[Standardization of names in prescriptions of traditional Chinese medicines].

PubMed

Li, Chao-Feng; Zhang, Yu-Jun; Fan, Dong-He; Zhang, Meng-Jie; Bai, Xue; Yang, Wen-Hua; Qi, Shu-Ya; Zhang, Zhi-Jie; Xue, Chun-Miao; Mao, Liu-Ying; Cao, Jun-Ling

2017-01-01

Chinese medicine prescriptions are a type of medical documents written by doctors after they understand the patients' conditions for syndrome differentiation. Chinese medicine prescriptions are also the basis for pharmacy personnel to dispense medicines and guide patients to use drugs. It has the legal, technical and economic significances. Chinese medicine prescriptions contain such information of names, quantity and usage. Whether the names of drugs in Chinese medicine prescriptions are standardized or not is directly related to the safety and efficacy of the drugs. At present, nonstandard clinical prescriptions are frequently seen. With "Chinese medicine prescription", "names of drug in Chinese medicine prescription" and "standards of Chinese medicine prescription" as key words, the author searched CNKI, Wanfang and other databases, and consulted nearly 100 literatures, so as to summarize current names of drugs in traditional Chinese medicine prescription, analyze the reasons, and give suggestions, in the expectation of standardizing the names of drugs used in traditional Chinese medicine prescriptions. Copyright© by the Chinese Pharmaceutical Association.

Overuse of diagnostic tools and medications in acute rhinosinusitis in Spain: a population-based study (the PROSINUS study)

PubMed Central

Jaume, Francesca; Quintó, Llorenç; Alobid, Isam; Mullol, Joaquim

2018-01-01

Objectives Acute rhinosinusitis (ARS) has a high incidence. Diagnosis is clinical, and evolution is mostly self-limited. The aim of this study was to describe the sociodemographic characteristics and use of diagnostic tools and medications in patients with ARS. Design This is a prospective observational study in real-life clinical practice. Setting Patients with clinical diagnosis of ARS (n=2610) were included from ear, nose and throat clinics in Spain. A second visit at resolution was done. Participants Patients were classified according to the duration of symptoms: viral ARS (≤10 days), postviral ARS (>10 days, ≤12 weeks) and chronic rhinosinusitis (>12 weeks). Main outcome measures Sociodemographic characteristics, symptoms, disease severity, quality of life (Sino-Nasal Outcome Test-16), used diagnostic tools and medications, and the management performed by primary care physicians (PCPs) and by otorhinolaryngologists (ORLs) were assessed. Results Of the patients 36% were classified as having viral ARS, 63% postviral ARS and 1% as chronic rhinosinusitis. Working in a poorly air-conditioned environment was a risk factor (OR: 2.26, 95% CI 1.27 to 4.04) in developing postviral ARS. A higher number of diagnostic tools (rhinoscopy/endoscopy: 80% vs 70%; plain X-ray: 70% vs 55%; CT scan: 22% vs 12%; P<0.0001) were performed in postviral than viral cases. PCPs performed more X-rays than ORLs (P<0.0001). Patients, more those with postviral than viral ARS, received a high number of medications (oral antibiotics: 76% vs 62%; intranasal corticosteroids: 54% vs 38%; antihistamines: 46% vs 31%; mucolytic: 48% vs 60%; P<0.0001). PCPs prescribed more antibiotics, antihistamines and mucolytics than ORLs (P<0.0068). More patients with postviral than viral ARS reported symptoms of potential complications (1.5% vs 0.4%; P=0.0603). Independently of prescribed medications, quality of life was more affected in patients with postviral (38.7±14.2 vs 36.0±15.3; P=0

Percent free prostate-specific antigen for prostate cancer diagnosis in Chinese men with a PSA of 4.0-10.0 ng/mL: Results from the Chinese Prostate Cancer Consortium.

PubMed

Chen, Rui; Xie, Liping; Cai, Xiaobing; Huang, Yiran; Zhou, Liqun; Ma, Lulin; Gao, Xu; Xu, Chuanliang; Ren, Shancheng; Shao, Pengfei; Xu, Danfeng; Xu, Kexin; Ye, Zhangqun; Liu, Chunxiao; Ye, Dingwei; Lu, Li; Fu, Qiang; Hou, Jianquan; Yuan, Jianlin; He, Dalin; Zhou, Tie; Wang, Fubo; He, Biming; Sun, Yinghao

2015-04-01

To test the diagnostic performance of percent free prostate-specific antigen (%fPSA) in predicting any prostate cancer (PCa) and high-grade prostate cancer (HGPCa) in a retrospective multi-center biopsy cohort with a PSA level of 4.0-10.0 ng/mL in China. Consecutive patients with a PSA of 4.0-10.0 ng/mL who underwent transrectal ultrasound-guided biopsy were enrolled at 16 Chinese medical centers from January 1st, 2010 to December 31st, 2013. Total and free serum PSA determinations were performed using three types of electro-chemiluminescence immunoassays recalibrated to the World Health Organization (WHO) standard. The diagnostic accuracy of PSA, %fPSA, and %fPSA in combination with PSA (%fPSA + PSA) was determined using the area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC). A total of 2310 consecutive men with PSA levels between 4.0 and 10.0 ng/mL were included, and the detection rate of PCa was 25.1%. The AUC of %fPSA and %fPSA + PSA in predicting any PCa was superior to PSA alone in men aged ≥60 years (0.623 vs. 0.534, p  < 0.0001) but not in men aged 40-59 years (0.517 vs. 0.518, p  = 0.939). Similar result was yield in predicting HGPCa. In a clinical setting of Chinese men with 4.0-10.0 ng/mL PSA undergoing initial prostate biopsy, adding %fPSA to PSA can moderately improve the diagnostic accuracy for any PCa and HGPCa compared with PSA alone in patients ≥60 but not in patients aged 40-59 years.

Chinese ethics review system and Chinese medicine ethical review: past, present, and future.

PubMed

Li, En-Chang; Du, Ping; Ji, Ke-Zhou; Wang, Zhen

2011-11-01

The Chinese medical ethics committee and the ethical review system have made the following achievements: (1) enabled the institutionalization of medical ethics, (2) carried out the ethics review of Chinese medicine (CM) and integrative medicine extensively, (3) trained a large number of ethical professionals, (4) supported and protected the interests of patients and subjects, and (5) ensured the correct direction of biological research and provided ethical defense for the publication of its results. However, at the same time, they are also faced with some new problems and difficulties that need to be resolved in the following ways: (1) to refine the relevant rules of ethical review, (2) to develop the relevant standards of the CM and integrative medicine ethical review, (3) to enhance the independence and authority of ethics committee, (4) to emphasize innovation and to discover and solve new problems, and (5) to increase international exchanges and improve relevant research.

Oral traditional Chinese medication for adhesive small bowel obstruction.

PubMed

Suo, Tao; Gu, Xixi; Andersson, Roland; Ma, Huaixing; Zhang, Wei; Deng, Wei; Zhang, Boheng; Cai, Dingfang; Qin, Xinyu

2012-05-16

Small bowel obstruction (SBO) is one of the most common emergent complications of general surgery. Intra-abdominal adhesions are the leading cause of SBO. Because surgery can induce new adhesions, non-operative management is preferred in the absence of signs of peritonitis or strangulation. Oral traditional Chinese herbal medicine has long been used as a non-operative therapy to treat adhesive SBO in China. Many controlled trials have been conducted to investigate its therapeutic value in resolving adhesive SBO. The aim of this review was to assess the efficacy and safety of oral traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) for adhesive small bowel obstruction. We searched the following databases, without regard to language or publishing restrictions: the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), MEDLINE, EMBASE, Chinese Biomedical Database (CBM), China National Knowledge Infrastructure/Chinese Academic Journals full-text Database (CNKI), and VIP (a full-text database of Chinese journals). The searches were conducted in November 2011. Randomised controlled trials and quasi-randomised controlled trials comparing Chinese medicines administered orally, via the gastric canal, or both with a placebo or conventional therapy in participants diagnosed with adhesive SBO were considered. We also considered trials of TCM (oral administration, gastric tube perfusion, or both) plus conventional therapy compared with conventional therapy alone for patients with adhesive SBO. Studies addressing the safety and efficacy of oral traditional Chinese medicinal agents in the treatment of adhesive SBO were also considered. Two authors collected the data independently. We assessed the risk of bias according to the following methodological criteria: random sequence generation, allocation concealment, blinding, incomplete outcome data, selective outcome reporting and other sources of bias. Dichotomous data are presented as risk ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI

The Diagnostic Value of Gastrin-17 Detection in Atrophic Gastritis

PubMed Central

Wang, Xu; Ling, Li; Li, Shanshan; Qin, Guiping; Cui, Wei; Li, Xiang; Ni, Hong

2016-01-01

Abstract A meta-analysis was performed to assess the diagnostic value of gastrin-17 (G-17) for the early detection of chronic atrophic gastritis (CAG). An extensive literature search was performed, with the aim of selecting publications that reported the accuracy of G-17 in predicting CAG, in the following databases: PubMed, Science Direct, Web of Science, Chinese Biological Medicine, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang, and VIP. To assess the diagnostic value of G-17, the following statistics were estimated and described: sensitivity, specificity, diagnostic odds ratios (DOR), summary receiver operating characteristic curves, area under the curve (AUC), and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Thirteen studies that met the inclusion criteria were included in this meta-analysis, comprising 894 patients and 1950 controls. The pooled sensitivity and specificity of these studies were 0.48 (95% CI: 0.45–0.51) and 0.79 (95% CI: 0.77–0.81), respectively. The DOR was 5.93 (95% CI: 2.93–11.99), and the AUC was 0.82. G-17 may have potential diagnostic value because it has good specificity and a moderate DOR and AUC for CAG. However, more studies are needed to improve the sensitivity of this diagnostic tool in the future. PMID:27149493

Chinese herbal medicines for hypercholesterolemia

PubMed Central

Liu, Zhao Lan; Liu, Jian Ping; Zhang, Anthony Lin; Wu, Qiong; Ruan, Yao; Lewith, George; Visconte, Denise

2011-01-01

Background Hypercholesterolemia is an important key contributory factor for ischemic heart disease and is associated with age, high blood pressure, a family history of hypercholesterolemia, and diabetes. Chinese herbal medicines have been used for a long time as lipid-lowering agents. Objectives To assess the effects of Chinese herbal medicines on hypercholesterolemia. Search strategy We searched the following databases: The Cochrane Library (issue 8, 2010), MEDLINE (until July 2010), EMBASE (until July 2010), Chinese BioMedical Database (until July 2010), Traditional Chinese Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System (until July 2010), China National Knowledge Infrastructure (until July 2010), Chinese VIP Information (until July 2010), Chinese Academic Conference Papers Database and Chinese Dissertation Database (until July 2010), and Allied and Complementary Medicine Database (until July 2010). Selection criteria We considered randomized controlled clinical trials in hypercholesterolemic participants comparing Chinese herbal medicines with placebo, no treatment, and pharmacological or non-pharmacological interventions. Data collection and analysis Two review authors independently extracted data and assessed the risk of bias. We resolved any disagreements with this assessment through discussion and a decision was achieved based by consensus. We assessed trials for the risk of bias against key criteria: random sequence generation, allocation concealment, blinding of participants, incomplete outcome data, selective outcome reporting and other sources of bias. Main results We included 22 randomized trials (2130 participants). The mean treatment duration was 2.3 ± 1.3 months (ranging from one to six months). Twenty trials were conducted in China and 18 trials were published in Chinese. Overall, the risk of bias of included trials was high or unclear. Five different herbal medicines were evaluated in the included trials, which compared herbs with conventional

[Tianjin characteristics of integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine in first aid medical system].

PubMed

Li, Zhijun

2018-05-01

Tianjin, as the earliest city to open up, the exchange of Chinese and Western cultures also started earlier. Therefore, today's emergency medicine system with integrated features of Chinese and Western medicine is formed. Professor Wang Jinda, who works in Tianjin First Center Hospital, makes the theory of "treating bronchitis and treating diseases" and "three methods of three syndromes" for the treatment of severe diseases such as sepsis. The surgical aspect is the treatment of acute abdomen with the combination of Chinese and Western medicine which is proposed by Academician Wu Xianzhong who worked in Tianjin Nankai Hospital. In the aspect of acupuncture and moxibustion, Professor Guo Yi, who works in Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, provides the twelve Jing points blood-letting therapy for cerebral diseases such as stroke. Professor Liu Xinqiao from the First Affiliated Hospital of Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine also conducts in-depth studies on brain protection after cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). He proposes the importance of traditional Chinese medicine in addition to mild hypothermia and neuroprotective agents. The author summarized these achievements, in light of which looked forward to the future and proposed the concept of establishing a multi-specialist collaboration and an emergency center with obvious characteristics of integrated Chinese and Western medicine, which would pave the way for the development of integrated Chinese and Western medicine first aid.

[Research progress on antioxidation effect of traditional Chinese medicine polysaccharides and sports for diabetes prevention and treatment].

PubMed

Wu, Wei; Zhang, Ling-Li; Zou, Jun

2016-07-01

Researchers found that oxidative stress was closely related to the development of diabetes, and hyperglycemia was a main cause for oxidative stress. Many researchers have proved that oxidative stress, present in diabetes, can aggravate diabetes. Now, traditional Chinese medicines have certain treatment and relief effects for oxidative stress in diabetes, but there are no scientific and systematic conclusions on the efficacy of different Chinese medicines for diabetes and complications. Tomakea scientific and systematic review on the recent years' researches on antioxidation effects of traditional Chinese medication polysaccharides for diabetes, analyze the antioxidation effects of sports in treatment of diabetes, and provide the reference and basis for medications and sports in diabetic patients, as well as prevention and treatments of diabetes and complications from aspects of "internal nursing and external workouts". Databases of CNKI and PubMed were retrieved with key words of "diabetes, oxidative stress, antioxidant, traditional Chinese medication, polysaccharide, sports" in both Chinese and English from Jan 2000 to Apr 2016.Finally 118 papers were included in for analysis and review. Polysaccharides of traditional Chinese medications as well as sports have antioxidation effects for diabetes and its complications, and the combination of these two would produce huge significance for relieving oxidative stress in diabetes, as well as for the prevention and treatment of diabetes and its complications. We need further researches on the levels of oxidative stress markers, doses of Chinese medicines, and the time of taking medications. Copyright© by the Chinese Pharmaceutical Association.

The effects of medication education and behavioral intervention on Chinese patients with epilepsy.

PubMed

Tang, Fengmin; Zhu, Guoxing; Jiao, Zheng; Ma, Chunlai; Chen, Nianzu; Wang, Bin

2014-08-01

The objectives of this study were to evaluate the effects of medication education and behavioral intervention on Chinese patients with epilepsy and to compare the difference between them. A total of 109 patients with epilepsy who did not to take their antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) more than once were randomly assigned to two intervention groups: the medication education group (group I) and the medication education with behavioral intervention group (group II). Group I was initially provided with medication education in the form of oral education and written materials, and this education was reinforced by monthly calls from the pharmacist over the next six months. The behavioral intervention provided to group II consisted of a modified medication schedule which was based on cue-dose training therapy. The outcomes that were evaluated both in the beginning and in the end of the study included adherence, which was measured using the four-item Morisky Medication Adherence Scale (MMAS-4), the number of seizures, knowledge of AEDs, and the number of patients who missed a dose of their AEDs. Differences within and between the groups were analyzed. After intervention, the adherence and knowledge of AEDs increased greatly in all patients, and the number of patients who had seizures or missed AEDs decreased. However, no significant differences were observed between groups I and II. The observed changes were (group I vs group II, p value) increased adherence: 62.3% vs 64.3%, 0.827; increased knowledge of AEDs: 88.7% vs 80.4%, 0.231; and improved seizure control: 64.2% vs 64.3%, 0.988. In addition, the percentage of patients who forgot to take their AEDs decreased to 45.0% from more than 70%, and 44.9% of these patients took the missed AEDs as soon as they remembered. These findings clearly demonstrate that medication education and reinforced telephone calls from pharmacists can help to increase adherence to AEDs, the knowledge of patients regarding AEDs, and seizure control

Use of antihypertensive medications and diagnostic tests among privately insured adolescents and young adults with primary versus secondary hypertension.

PubMed

Yoon, Esther Y; Cohn, Lisa; Freed, Gary; Rocchini, Albert; Kershaw, David; Ascione, Frank; Clark, Sarah

2014-07-01

To compare the use of antihypertensive medications and diagnostic tests among adolescents and young adults with primary versus secondary hypertension. We conducted retrospective cohort analysis of claims data for adolescents and young adults (12-21 years of age) with ≥3 years of insurance coverage (≥11 months/year) in a large private managed care plan during 2003-2009 with diagnosis of primary hypertension or secondary hypertension. We examined their use of antihypertensive medications and identified demographic characteristics and the presence of obesity-related comorbidities. For the subset receiving antihypertensive medications, we examined their diagnostic test use (echocardiograms, renal ultrasounds, and electrocardiograms). The study sample included 1,232 adolescents and young adults; 84% had primary hypertension and 16% had secondary hypertension. The overall prevalence rate of hypertension was 2.6%. One quarter (28%) with primary hypertension had one or more antihypertensive medications, whereas 65% with secondary hypertension had one or more antihypertensive medications. Leading prescribers of antihypertensives for subjects with primary hypertension were primary care physicians (80%), whereas antihypertensive medications were equally prescribed by primary care physicians (43%) and sub-specialists (37%) for subjects with secondary hypertension. The predominant hypertension diagnosis among adolescents and young adults is primary hypertension. Antihypertensive medication use was higher among those with secondary hypertension compared with those with primary hypertension. Further study is needed to determine treatment effectiveness and patient outcomes associated with differential treatment patterns used for adolescents and young adults with primary versus secondary hypertension. Copyright © 2014 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A Retrospective Survey of Research Design and Statistical Analyses in Selected Chinese Medical Journals in 1998 and 2008

PubMed Central

Jin, Zhichao; Yu, Danghui; Zhang, Luoman; Meng, Hong; Lu, Jian; Gao, Qingbin; Cao, Yang; Ma, Xiuqiang; Wu, Cheng; He, Qian; Wang, Rui; He, Jia

2010-01-01

Background High quality clinical research not only requires advanced professional knowledge, but also needs sound study design and correct statistical analyses. The number of clinical research articles published in Chinese medical journals has increased immensely in the past decade, but study design quality and statistical analyses have remained suboptimal. The aim of this investigation was to gather evidence on the quality of study design and statistical analyses in clinical researches conducted in China for the first decade of the new millennium. Methodology/Principal Findings Ten (10) leading Chinese medical journals were selected and all original articles published in 1998 (N = 1,335) and 2008 (N = 1,578) were thoroughly categorized and reviewed. A well-defined and validated checklist on study design, statistical analyses, results presentation, and interpretation was used for review and evaluation. Main outcomes were the frequencies of different types of study design, error/defect proportion in design and statistical analyses, and implementation of CONSORT in randomized clinical trials. From 1998 to 2008: The error/defect proportion in statistical analyses decreased significantly ( = 12.03, p<0.001), 59.8% (545/1,335) in 1998 compared to 52.2% (664/1,578) in 2008. The overall error/defect proportion of study design also decreased ( = 21.22, p<0.001), 50.9% (680/1,335) compared to 42.40% (669/1,578). In 2008, design with randomized clinical trials remained low in single digit (3.8%, 60/1,578) with two-third showed poor results reporting (defects in 44 papers, 73.3%). Nearly half of the published studies were retrospective in nature, 49.3% (658/1,335) in 1998 compared to 48.2% (761/1,578) in 2008. Decreases in defect proportions were observed in both results presentation ( = 93.26, p<0.001), 92.7% (945/1,019) compared to 78.2% (1023/1,309) and interpretation ( = 27.26, p<0.001), 9.7% (99/1,019) compared to 4.3% (56/1,309), some serious

Design and implementation of the first nationwide, web-based Chinese Renal Data System (CNRDS)

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background In April 2010, with an endorsement from the Ministry of Health of the People's Republic of China, the Chinese Society of Nephrology launched the first nationwide, web-based prospective renal data registration platform, the Chinese Renal Data System (CNRDS), to collect structured demographic, clinical, and laboratory data for dialysis cases, as well as to establish a kidney disease database for researchers and policy makers. Methods The CNRDS program uses information technology to facilitate healthcare professionals to create a blood purification registry and to deliver an evidence-based care and education protocol tailored to chronic kidney disease, as well as online forum for communication between nephrologists. The online portal https://www.cnrds.net is implemented as a Java web application using an Apache Tomcat web server and a MySQL database. All data are stored in a central databank to establish a Chinese renal database for research and publication purposes. Results Currently, over 270,000 clinical cases, including general patient information, diagnostics, therapies, medications, and laboratory tests, have been registered in CNRDS by 3,669 healthcare institutions qualified for hemodialysis therapy. At the 2011 annual blood purification forum of the Chinese Society of Nephrology, the CNRDS 2010 annual report was reviewed and accepted by the society members and government representatives. Conclusions CNRDS is the first national, web-based application for collecting and managing electronic medical records of patients with dialysis in China. It provides both an easily accessible platform for nephrologists to store and organize their patient data and acts as a communication platform among participating doctors. Moreover, it is the largest database for treatment and patient care of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients in China, which will be beneficial for scientific research and epidemiological investigations aimed at improving the quality of life of

A crash course in Chinese herbology for the psychopharmocological prescriber.

PubMed

White, Kathryn P

2009-12-01

Given the unparalleled popularity of botanicals in the United States, it is safe to say that almost every psychopharmacological prescriber will see some patients using Chinese herbs. Data show that between 36% and 42% of Americans use complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) each year and that persons suffering from depression and anxiety (67%) use CAM services significantly more than do their nonanxious and nondepressed counterparts (39%). This article gives an overview of several classical Chinese medical single herbs and herbal formulas commonly used for persons with psychiatric disorders and discusses some of the herbs that have the potential to interact with various pharmaceutical drugs. In addition, the article reviews scientific evidence and, at times, the lack thereof to validate the use of Chinese herbs and formulas in treating psychiatric conditions. Overall, the article seeks to prepare the pharmacological prescriber for working with patients concomitantly taking psychiatric medications and Chinese herbs.

Principle and engineering implementation of 3D visual representation and indexing of medical diagnostic records (Conference Presentation)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shi, Liehang; Sun, Jianyong; Yang, Yuanyuan; Ling, Tonghui; Wang, Mingqing; Zhang, Jianguo

2017-03-01

Purpose: Due to the generation of a large number of electronic imaging diagnostic records (IDR) year after year in a digital hospital, The IDR has become the main component of medical big data which brings huge values to healthcare services, professionals and administration. But a large volume of IDR presented in a hospital also brings new challenges to healthcare professionals and services as there may be too many IDRs for each patient so that it is difficult for a doctor to review all IDR of each patient in a limited appointed time slot. In this presentation, we presented an innovation method which uses an anatomical 3D structure object visually to represent and index historical medical status of each patient, which is called Visual Patient (VP) in this presentation, based on long term archived electronic IDR in a hospital, so that a doctor can quickly learn the historical medical status of the patient, quickly point and retrieve the IDR he or she interested in a limited appointed time slot. Method: The engineering implementation of VP was to build 3D Visual Representation and Index system called VP system (VPS) including components of natural language processing (NLP) for Chinese, Visual Index Creator (VIC), and 3D Visual Rendering Engine.There were three steps in this implementation: (1) an XML-based electronic anatomic structure of human body for each patient was created and used visually to index the all of abstract information of each IDR for each patient; (2)a number of specific designed IDR parsing processors were developed and used to extract various kinds of abstract information of IDRs retrieved from hospital information systems; (3) a 3D anatomic rendering object was introduced visually to represent and display the content of VIO for each patient. Results: The VPS was implemented in a simulated clinical environment including PACS/RIS to show VP instance to doctors. We setup two evaluation scenario in a hospital radiology department to evaluate whether

Traditional Chinese medicine ZHENG and Omics convergence: a systems approach to post-genomics medicine in a global world.

PubMed

Wang, Peng; Chen, Zhen

2013-09-01

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is a comprehensive system of medical practice that has been used to diagnose, treat, and prevent illnesses for more than 3000 years. ZHENG (also known as "syndrome") differentiation remains the essence of TCM. In China, TCM shares equal status, and integrated with Western medicine in the healthcare system to treat many types of diseases. Yet, compared to biomolecular science and Western medicine, the ZHENG/TCM approach to diagnostics might appear unobjective, but offers at the same time long-standing clinical and phenotypic-rich insights. With the current globalization of life sciences and the arrival of "Big Data" research and development, these two silos of medical lore are rapidly coalescing. The applications of multi-omics strategies to TCM have begun to provide novel insights into the essence and molecular basis of TCM ZHENG. We searched the Chinese electronic databases and PubMed for published articles related to "Omics" and "TCM ZHENG" and observed a dramatic increase in studies over the past few years. In this article, we provide a timely synthesis of the lessons learned, and the emerging applications of omics science in TCM ZHENG research. We suggest that the global health scholarship and the field of "developing world Omics" can usefully draw from TCM, and vice versa.

Radiological safety status and quality assurance audit of medical X-ray diagnostic installations in India.

PubMed

Sonawane, A U; Singh, Meghraj; Sunil Kumar, J V K; Kulkarni, Arti; Shirva, V K; Pradhan, A S

2010-10-01

We conducted a radiological safety and quality assurance (QA) audit of 118 medical X-ray diagnostic machines installed in 45 major hospitals in India. The main objective of the audit was to verify compliance with the regulatory requirements stipulated by the national regulatory body. The audit mainly covered accuracy check of accelerating potential (kVp), linearity of tube current (mA station) and timer, congruence of radiation and optical field, and total filtration; in addition, we also reviewed medical X-ray diagnostic installations with reference to room layout of X-ray machines and conduct of radiological protection survey. A QA kit consisting of a kVp Test-O-Meter (ToM) (Model RAD/FLU-9001), dose Test-O-Meter (ToM) (Model 6001), ionization chamber-based radiation survey meter model Gun Monitor and other standard accessories were used for the required measurements. The important areas where there was noncompliance with the national safety code were: inaccuracy of kVp calibration (23%), lack of congruence of radiation and optical field (23%), nonlinearity of mA station (16%) and timer (9%), improper collimator/diaphragm (19.6%), faulty adjustor knob for alignment of field size (4%), nonavailability of warning light (red light) at the entrance of the X-ray room (29%), and use of mobile protective barriers without lead glass viewing window (14%). The present study on the radiological safety status of diagnostic X-ray installations may be a reasonably good representation of the situation in the country as a whole. The study contributes significantly to the improvement of radiological safety by the way of the steps already taken and by providing a vital feed back to the national regulatory body.

Raman spectroscopy for medical diagnostics--From in-vitro biofluid assays to in-vivo cancer detection.

PubMed

Kong, Kenny; Kendall, Catherine; Stone, Nicholas; Notingher, Ioan

2015-07-15

Raman spectroscopy is an optical technique based on inelastic scattering of light by vibrating molecules and can provide chemical fingerprints of cells, tissues or biofluids. The high chemical specificity, minimal or lack of sample preparation and the ability to use advanced optical technologies in the visible or near-infrared spectral range (lasers, microscopes, fibre-optics) have recently led to an increase in medical diagnostic applications of Raman spectroscopy. The key hypothesis underpinning this field is that molecular changes in cells, tissues or biofluids, that are either the cause or the effect of diseases, can be detected and quantified by Raman spectroscopy. Furthermore, multivariate calibration and classification models based on Raman spectra can be developed on large "training" datasets and used subsequently on samples from new patients to obtain quantitative and objective diagnosis. Historically, spontaneous Raman spectroscopy has been known as a low signal technique requiring relatively long acquisition times. Nevertheless, new strategies have been developed recently to overcome these issues: non-linear optical effects and metallic nanoparticles can be used to enhance the Raman signals, optimised fibre-optic Raman probes can be used for real-time in-vivo single-point measurements, while multimodal integration with other optical techniques can guide the Raman measurements to increase the acquisition speed and spatial accuracy of diagnosis. These recent efforts have advanced Raman spectroscopy to the point where the diagnostic accuracy and speed are compatible with clinical use. This paper reviews the main Raman spectroscopy techniques used in medical diagnostics and provides an overview of various applications. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The systematic assessment of traditional evidence from the premodern Chinese medical literature: a text-mining approach.

PubMed

May, Brian H; Zhang, Anthony; Lu, Yubo; Lu, Chuanjian; Xue, Charlie C L

2014-12-01

This project aimed to develop an approach to evaluating information contained in the premodern Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) literature that was (1) comprehensive, systematic, and replicable and (2) able to produce quantifiable output that could be used to answer specific research questions in order to identify natural products for clinical and experimental research. The project involved two stages. In stage 1, 14 TCM collections and compendia were evaluated for suitability as sources for searching; 8 of these were compared in detail. The results were published in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. Stage 2 developed a text-mining approach for two of these sources. The text-mining approach was developed for Zhong Hua Yi Dian; Encyclopaedia of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 4th edition) and Zhong Yi Fang Ji Da Ci Dian; Great Compendium of Chinese Medical Formulae). This approach developed procedures for search term selection; methods for screening, classifying, and scoring data; procedures for systematic searching and data extraction; data checking procedures; and approaches for analyzing results. Examples are provided for studies of memory impairment and diabetic nephropathy, and issues relating to data interpretation are discussed. This approach to the analysis of large collections of the premodern TCM literature uses widely available sources and provides a text-mining approach that is systematic, replicable, and adaptable to the requirements of the particular project. Researchers can use these methods to explore changes in the names and conceptions of a disease over time, to identify which therapeutic methods have been more or less frequently used in different eras for particular disorders, and to assist in the selection of natural products for research efforts.

[The characteristics of medical technologies in emergency medical care hospital].

PubMed

Murakhovskiĭ, A G; Babenko, A I; Bravve, Iu I; Tataurova, E A

2013-01-01

The article analyzes the implementation of major 12 diagnostic and 17 treatment technologies applied during medical care of patients with 12 key nosology forms of diseases in departments of the emergency medical care hospital No 2 of Omsk. It is established that key groups of technologies in the implementation of diagnostic process are the laboratory clinical diagnostic analyses and common diagnostic activities at reception into hospital and corresponding departments. The percentage of this kind of activities is about 78.3% of all diagnostic technologies. During the realization of treatment process the priority technologies are common curative and rehabilitation activities, intensive therapy activities and clinical diagnostic monitoring activities. All of them consist 80.1% of all curative technologies.

Is Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT) or Its Shorter Versions More Useful to Identify Risky Drinkers in a Chinese Population? A Diagnostic Study

PubMed Central

Yip, Benjamin H. K.; Chung, Roger Y.; Chung, Vincent C. H.; Kim, Jean; Chan, Iris W. T.; Wong, Martin C. S.; Wong, Samuel Y. S.; Griffiths, Sian M.

2015-01-01

Objective To examine the diagnostic performance of shorter versions of Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT), including Alcohol Consumption (AUDIT-C), in identifying risky drinkers in primary care settings using conventional performance measures, supplemented by decision curve analysis and reclassification table. Study design and Setting A cross-sectional study of adult males in general outpatient clinics in Hong Kong. The study included only patients who reported at least sometimes drinking alcoholic beverages. Timeline follow back alcohol consumption assessment method was used as the reference standard. A Chinese translated and validated 10-item AUDIT (Ch-AUDIT) was used as a screening tool of risky drinking. Results Of the participants, 21.7% were classified as risky drinkers. AUDIT-C has the best overall performance among the shorter versions of Ch-AUDIT. The AUC of AUDIT-C was comparable to Ch-AUDIT (0.898 vs 0.901, p-value = 0.959). Decision curve analysis revealed that when the threshold probability ranged from 15–30%, the AUDIT-C had a higher net-benefit than all other screens. AUDIT-C improved the reclassification of risky drinking when compared to Ch-AUDIT (net reclassification improvement = 0.167). The optimal cut-off of AUDIT-C was at ≥5. Conclusion Given the rising levels of alcohol consumption in the Chinese regions, this Chinese translated 3-item instrument provides convenient and time-efficient risky drinking screening and may become an increasingly useful tool. PMID:25756353

Interventions to improve medication adherence among Chinese patients with hypertension: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trails.

PubMed

Xu, Rixiang; Xie, Xuefeng; Li, Shuting; Chen, Xiaoyu; Wang, Sheng; Hu, Chengyang; Lv, Xiongwen

2018-04-25

A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were performed to understand the effectiveness of medication adherence (MA) interventions among Chinese patients with hypertension. A literature search was conducted with three English databases (PubMed, Web of Science and Embase) and three Chinese databases (China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang and VIP Database for Chinese Technical Periodicals) for the period from 1970 to October 2017. Only both RCTs with a minimum of 10 participants in each intervention group and Chinese patients with hypertension as participants were included. A random-effects model was applied to calculate pooled effect sizes with 95% CI. Subgroup analysis was conducted to identify potential sources of heterogeneity from duration of intervention, type of intervener, methods of intervention and sites of intervention. Funnel plots and Egger's test were used to evaluate for publication bias. A total of 48 studies met criteria for the meta-analysis, including 14 568 participants, testing 57 independent comparisons. Overall, the effect size revealed that interventions significantly improved MA (pooled relative risk = 1.59, 95% CI: 1.43 to 1.78; pooled Cohen's d = 1.42, 95% CI: 0.976 to 1.876). Interventions were found to significantly reduce blood pressure (BP) (systolic BP: Cohen's d = -0.85, 95% CI: -1.11 to -0.60 and diastolic BP: Cohen's d = -0.73, 95% CI: -1.00 to -0.46). Longer duration of intervention gave better effectiveness. Physician as interventionist, regular follow-up visits and interventions conducted at a hospital were associated with better effectiveness. Adherence interventions improve MA and reduce uncontrolled BP among Chinese patients with hypertension. In the future, investigators should adopt a skill set to address the problem of poor MA. © 2018 Royal Pharmaceutical Society.

The diagnostic accuracy of three rapid diagnostic tests for typhoid fever at Chittagong Medical College Hospital, Chittagong, Bangladesh.

PubMed

Maude, Rapeephan R; de Jong, Hanna K; Wijedoru, Lalith; Fukushima, Masako; Ghose, Aniruddha; Samad, Rasheda; Hossain, Mohammed Amir; Karim, Mohammed Rezaul; Faiz, Mohammed Abul; Parry, Christopher M

2015-10-01

To determine the diagnostic accuracy of three rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) for typhoid fever in febrile hospitalised patients in Bangladesh. Febrile adults and children admitted to Chittagong Medical College Hospital, Bangladesh, were investigated with Bact/Alert(®) blood cultures and real-time PCR to detect Salmonella enterica Typhi and Paratyphi A and assays for Rickettsia, leptospirosis and dengue fever. Acute serum samples were examined with the LifeAssay (LA) Test-it™ Typhoid IgM lateral flow assay detecting IgM antibodies against S. Typhi O antigen, CTKBiotech Onsite Typhoid IgG/IgM Combo Rapid-test cassette lateral flow assay detecting IgG and IgM antibodies against S. Typhi O and H antigens and SD Bioline line assay for IgG and IgM antibodies against S. Typhi proteins. In 300 malaria smear-negative febrile patients [median (IQR) age of 13.5 (5-31) years], 34 (11.3%) had confirmed typhoid fever: 19 positive by blood culture for S. Typhi (three blood PCR positive) and 15 blood culture negative but PCR positive for S. Typhi in blood. The respective sensitivity and specificity of the three RDTs in patients using a composite reference standard of blood culture and/or PCR-confirmed typhoid fever were 59% and 61% for LifeAssay, 59% and 74% for the CTK IgM and/or IgG, and 24% and 96% for the SD Bioline RDT IgM and/or IgG. The LifeAssay RDT had a sensitivity of 63% and a specificity of 91% when modified with a positive cut-off of ≥2+ and analysed using a Bayesian latent class model. These typhoid RDTs demonstrated moderate diagnostic accuracies, and better tests are needed. © 2015 The Authors. Tropical Medicine & International Health Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Artemisinin and Chinese Medicine as Tu Science.

PubMed

Fu, Jia-Chen

2017-09-01

The story of discovery of artemisinin highlights the diversity of scientific values across time and space. Resituating artemisinin research within a broader temporal framework allows us to understand how Chinese drugs like qinghao came to articulate a space for scientific experimentation and innovation through its embodiment of alternating clusters of meanings associated with tu and yang within scientific discourse. Tu science, which was associated with terms like native, Chinese, local, rustic, mass, and crude, articulated a radical vision of science in the service of socialist revolutionary ideals. Yang science, which signified foreign, Western, elite, and professional, tended to bear the hallmarks of professionalism, transnational networks in education and training, and an emphasis on basic or foundational research. With respect to medical research, the case of artemisinin highlights how the constitution of socialist science as an interplay of tu and yang engendered different scientific values and parameters for scientific endeavor. Modern medical research in Maoist China could harness the productive energies of mass participation to technical expertise in its investigations of Chinese drugs, and under the banner of tu science, it became possible and scientifically legitimate to research Chinese drugs in ways that had previously provoked resistance and controversy. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

[Cultural anthropology of traditional Chinese medicine].

PubMed

Wan, Xia; Liu, Jian-ping; Ai, Yan-ke; Li, Liu-ji

2008-07-01

Biological, psychological and sociological model of medicine substantializes the old model lacking the social humane attributes. The new medical model makes people take medical anthropology into research and highly evaluate traditional medical system. Cultural anthropology of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is part of medical anthropology with three major characteristics: wide research scope, specificity, and integration. It has developed its own research methods, such as field investigation, comprehensive inspection and comparison study. Cultural anthropology provides an efficient research method for TCM, and its application would further develop TCM theory and form comprehensive evaluation on TCM effects.

[Forensic medical diagnostics of intra-vitality of the strangulation mark by morphological methods].

PubMed

Bogomolov, D V; Zbrueva, Yu V; Putintsev, V A; Denisova, O P

2016-01-01

The objective of the present study WaS to overview the current domestic and foreign literature concerning the up-to-date methods employed for the expert evaluation of intra-vitality of the strangulation mark. The secondary objective was to propose the new approaches for addressing this problem. The methods of expert diagnostics with a view to determining the time of infliction of injuries as exemplified by mechanical asphyxia are discussed. It is concluded that immunohistochemical and morphometric studies provide the most promising tools for the evaluation of intra-vitality of the strangulation mark for the purpose of forensic medical expertise.

Diagnostics barriers and innovations in rural areas: insights from junior medical doctors on the frontlines of rural care in Peru.

PubMed

Anticona Huaynate, Cynthia Fiorella; Pajuelo Travezaño, Monica Jehnny; Correa, Malena; Mayta Malpartida, Holger; Oberhelman, Richard; Murphy, Laura L; Paz-Soldan, Valerie A

2015-10-05

Worldwide, rural communities face barriers when accessing health services. In response, numerous initiatives have focused on fostering technological innovations, new management approaches and health policies. Research suggests that the most successful innovations are those involving stakeholders at all levels. However, there is little evidence exploring the opinions of local health providers that could contribute with further innovation development and research. The aims of this study were to explore the perspectives of medical doctors (MDs) working in rural areas of Peru, regarding the barriers impacting the diagnostic process, and ideas for diagnostic innovations that could assist them. Data gathered through three focus group discussions (FGG) and 18 individual semi-structured interviews (SSI) with MDs who had completed their medical service in rural areas of Peru in the last two years were analyzed using thematic analysis. Three types of barriers emerged. The first barrier was the limited access to point of care (POC) diagnostic tools. Tests were needed for: i) the differential diagnosis of malaria vs. pneumonia, ii) dengue vs. leptospirosis, iii) tuberculosis, iv) vaginal infections and cervical cancer, v) neurocysticercosis, and vi) heavy metal toxicity. Ultrasound was needed for the diagnosis of obstetric and intra-abdominal conditions. There were also health system-related barriers such as limited funding for diagnostic services, shortage of specialists, limited laboratory services and access to telecommunications, and lack of institutional support. Finally, the third type of barriers included patient related-barriers to follow through with diagnostic referrals. Ideas for innovations proposed included POC equipment and tests, and telemedicine. MDs at primary health facilities in rural Peru face diagnostic challenges that are difficult to overcome due to a limited access to diagnostic tools. Referrals to specialized facilities are constrained by deficiencies

Elder abuse and its medical outcomes in older Chinese people with cognitive and physical impairments.

PubMed

Fang, Boye; Yan, Elsie; Chan, Ko Ling; Ip, Partick

2018-05-04

Elder abuse poses a major public health threat considering the ongoing rapid aging of the global population. This study investigates the association between elder abuse by family caregivers and medical outcomes among older Chinese patients with cognitive and physical impairments in the People's Republic of China. Using cross-sectional design, 1002 older patients (aged 55 y and older) and their family caregivers were recruited from 3 grade A hospitals in Guangdong Province. The major independent variable is caregiver-reported elder abuse, while outcome variables include cardiovascular disease, cerebrovascular disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, peptic ulcer, digestive disorder, chronic hepatic disease, chronic renal disease, metabolic disease, acute inflammation, joint disease, tumor, and general injury. The prevalence of these medical conditions among patients who were abused and those who were not were compared using descriptive analyses and chi-square tests, and logistic regression was used to establish the relevant independent associations. A total of 429 (42.8%) older persons have experienced physical or psychological abuse over the past 12 months. After adjusting for potential confounders, abused older persons were more susceptible to cardiovascular disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, peptic ulcer, digestive disorder, metabolic disease, acute inflammation, tumor, and injuries. Elder abuse is associated with various major medical morbidities. Interdisciplinary cooperation is necessary to identify and reduce the adverse physiological consequences in victims. Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Cannabis in Chinese Medicine: Are Some Traditional Indications Referenced in Ancient Literature Related to Cannabinoids?

PubMed Central

Brand, E. Joseph; Zhao, Zhongzhen

2017-01-01

Cannabis sativa L. (Cannabaceae) has a long history of utilization as a fiber and seed crop in China, and its achenes (“seeds”) as well as other plant parts have been recorded in Chinese medical texts for nearly 2000 years. While the primary applications of cannabis in Chinese medicine center around the use of the achenes, ancient indications for the female inflorescence, and other plant parts include conditions such as pain and mental illness that are the subject of current research into cannabinoids such as cannabidiol (CBD) and Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). However, little previous research has been conducted to analyze the Chinese medical literature in light of recent advances in the pharmacology and taxonomy of cannabis, and most of the relevant Chinese historical records have not yet been translated into Western languages to facilitate textual research. Furthermore, many key questions remain unresolved in the Chinese literature, including how various traditional drug names precisely correspond to different plant parts, as well as the implications of long-term selection for fiber-rich cultivars on the medical applications of cannabis in Chinese medicine. In this article, prominent historical applications of cannabis in Chinese medicine are chronologically reviewed, and indications found in ancient Chinese literature that may relate to cannabinoids such as CBD and Δ9-THC are investigated. PMID:28344554

21 CFR 868.1840 - Diagnostic spirometer.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Diagnostic spirometer. 868.1840 Section 868.1840...) MEDICAL DEVICES ANESTHESIOLOGY DEVICES Diagnostic Devices § 868.1840 Diagnostic spirometer. (a) Identification. A diagnostic spirometer is a device used in pulmonary function testing to measure the volume of...

Traditional Chinese and Thai medicine in a comparative perspective.

PubMed

He, Ke

2015-12-01

The work presented in this paper compares traditional Chinese medicine and traditional Thai medicine, expounding on origins, academic thinking, theoretical system, diagnostic method and modern development. Based on a secondary analysis of available literature, the paper concentrates on two crucial historical developments: (1) the response to, and consequences of, the impact of the Western medicine; and (2) the revival of traditional medicine in these two countries and its prospects. From a comparative perspective, the analysis has led to the conclusion that the rise and fall of traditional medicine is an issue closely related with social and political issues; and the development of traditional medicines requires national policy and financial support from governments, human resource development, the improvement of service quality, and the dissemination of traditional medicine knowledge to the public. In addition, this paper also suggests deepening exchanges and cooperation between China and Thailand, strengthening cooperation between traditional medicine and medical tourism. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A meta-analysis of Chinese herbal medicines for vascular dementia.

PubMed

Qin, Xiude; Liu, Yu; Wu, Yanqing; Wang, Shuo; Wang, Dandan; Zhu, Jinqiang; Ye, Qiaofeng; Mou, Wei; Kang, Liyuan

2013-06-25

To investigate the efficacy and safety of Chinese herbal medicines in the treatment of patients with vascular dementia. We retrieved publications from Cochrane Library (2004 to July 2011), PubMed (1966 to July 2011), the Chinese Science and Technique Journals Database (1977 to July 2011), the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (1979 to July 2011), Google Scholar (July 2011), and the Chinese Biomedical Database (1977 to July 2011) using the key words "Chinese medicine OR Chinese herbal medicine" and "vascular dementia OR mild cognition impair OR multi-infarct dementia OR small-vessel dementia OR strategic infarct dementia OR hypoperfusion dementia OR hemorrhagic dementia OR hereditary vascular dementia". Randomized controlled trials comparing Chinese herbal medicines with placebo/western medicine in the treatment of patients with vascular dementia were included. Diagnostic standards included Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-IV, and National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke and Association Internationale pour la Recherché et l'Enseignement en Neurosciences. Two participants independently conducted literature screening, quality evaluation and data extraction. The quality of each trial was assessed according to the Cochrane Reviewers' Handbook 5.0. Effective rate, Mini-Mental State Examination scores, Hasegawa Dementia Scale scores, and incidence of adverse reactions. We identified 1 143 articles discussing the effects of Chinese medicine on vascular dementia. Thirty-one of these were included in the analysis. These studies involved a total of 2 868 participants (1 605 patients took Chinese medicine decoctions (treatment group); 1 263 patients took western medicine or placebo). The results of our meta-analysis revealed that Chinese herbal remedies in the treatment group were more efficacious than the control intervention (relative risk (RR) = 1.27; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.18-1.38, P < 0.01). Mini-Mental State Examination

Dermoscopy for common skin problems in Chinese children using a novel Hong Kong-made dermoscope.

PubMed

Luk, David C K; Lam, Sam Y Y; Cheung, Patrick C H; Chan, Bill H B

2014-12-01

To evaluate the dermoscopic features of common skin problems in Chinese children. A case series with retrospective qualitative analysis of dermoscopic features of common skin problems in Chinese children. A regional hospital in Hong Kong. Dermoscopic image database, from 1 May 2013 to 31 October 2013, of 185 Chinese children (aged 0 to 18 years). Dermoscopic features of common paediatric skin problems in Chinese children were identified. These features corresponded with the known dermoscopic features reported in the western medical literature. New dermoscopic features were identified in café-au-lait macules. Dermoscopic features of common skin problems in Chinese children were consistent with those reported in western medical literature. Dermoscopy has a role in managing children with skin problems.

Incidence of nasopharyngeal carcinoma in Chinese immigrants, compared with Chinese in China and South East Asia: review.

PubMed

Yu, W M; Hussain, S S M

2009-10-01

To evaluate the literature and to compare published data on age-standardised incidence rates of nasopharyngeal carcinoma in Chinese people living in and outside China. Systematic review of incidence rate studies and statistical incidence data concerning nasopharyngeal carcinoma in Chinese populations from 1960 to 2008. Sixteen papers were identified from the PubMed, Embase and Scopus electronic databases and from a hand search of the reference lists of the retrieved papers. Further searches for raw data on age-specific and age-standardised incidence rates of nasopharyngeal carcinoma were conducted. Textbooks on relevant subjects were referred to for background information. A total of 19 papers met the inclusion criteria. Seven studies included raw data on age-specific and age-standardised incidence rates of nasopharyngeal carcinoma in Chinese people. Twelve other studies reported on changes in the incidence of nasopharyngeal carcinoma in Chinese populations in selected countries or regions. Studies on age-specific and age-standardised rates obtained data from individual registries. Studies on incidence rates obtained data from hospital records, cancer notifications (from all sections of the medical profession), pathology records and death certificates. The results showed a decline in age-standardised incidence rates of nasopharyngeal carcinoma in Chinese immigrant populations, compared with Chinese people in China. There was also a trend towards decreasing incidence the further the population had immigrated. Thus, the incidence of nasopharyngeal carcinoma in Singaporean Chinese was higher than that in Hawaiian Chinese, and that in Hawaiian Chinese was higher than that in Californian Chinese. This review found a decreasing trend in the incidence of nasopharyngeal carcinoma in Chinese migrants living in countries with a low risk of the disease.

Chinese Obstetrics & Gynecology journal club: a randomised controlled trial

PubMed Central

Tsui, Ilene K; Dodson, William C; Kunselman, Allen R; Kuang, Hongying; Han, Feng-Juan; Legro, Richard S; Wu, Xiao-Ke

2016-01-01

Objectives To assess whether a journal club model could improve comprehension and written and spoken medical English in a population of Chinese medical professionals. Setting and participants The study population consisted of 52 medical professionals who were residents or postgraduate master or PhD students in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, China. Intervention After a three-part baseline examination to assess medical English comprehension, participants were randomised to either (1) an intensive journal club treatment arm or (2) a self-study group. At the conclusion of the 8-week intervention participants (n=52) were re-tested with new questions. Outcome measures The primary outcome was the change in score on a multiple choice examination. Secondary outcomes included change in scores on written and oral examinations which were modelled on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). Results Both groups had improved scores on the multiple choice examination without a statistically significant difference between them (90% power). However, there was a statistically significant difference between the groups in mean improvement in scores for both written (95% CI 1.1 to 5.0; p=0.003) and spoken English (95% CI 0.06 to 3.7; p=0.04) favouring the journal club intervention. Conclusions Interacting with colleagues and an English-speaking facilitator in a journal club improved both written and spoken medical English in Chinese medical professionals. Journal clubs may be suitable for use as a self-sustainable teaching model to improve fluency in medical English in foreign medical professionals. Trial registration number NCT01844609. PMID:26823180

Medical professionalism in China and the United States: a transcultural interpretation.

PubMed

Nie, Jing-Bao; Smith, Kirk L; Cong, Yali; Hu, Linying; Tucker, Joseph D

2015-01-01

As in other societies, medical professionalism in the Peoples' Republic of China has been rapidly evolving. One of the major events in this process was the endorsement in 2005 of the document, "Medical Professionalism in the New Millennium: A Physician Charter," by the Chinese Medical Doctor Association (hereafter, the Charter)(1). More recently, a national survey, the first on such a large scale, was conducted on Chinese physicians' attitudes toward the fundamental principles and core commitments put forward in the Charter. Based on empirical findings from that study and comparing them to the published results of a similar American survey, the authors offer an in-depth interpretation of significant cross-cultural differences and important transcultural commonalities. The broader historical, socio-economic, and ethical issues relating to salient Chinese cultural practices such as family consent, familism (the custom of deferring decisions to family members), and the withholding of medical information, as well as controversial topics such as not respecting patients' autonomy, are examined. The Chinese Survey found that Chinese physicians supported the principles of the Charter in general. Here we argue that Chinese culture and traditional medical ethics are broadly compatible with the moral commitments demanded by modern medical professionalism. Methodologically and theoretically-recognizing the problems inherent in the hoary but still popular habit of dichotomizing cultures and in relativism-a transcultural approach is adopted that gives greater (due) weight to the internal moral diversity present within every culture, the common ground shared by different cultures, and the primacy of morality. Genuine cross-cultural dialogue, including a constructive Chinese-American dialogue in the area of medical professionalism, is not only possible, but necessary. Copyright 2015 The Journal of Clinical Ethics. All rights reserved.

Diagnostic Accuracy of Lumbosacral Spine Magnetic Resonance Image Reading by Chiropractors, Chiropractic Radiologists, and Medical Radiologists.

PubMed

de Zoete, Annemarie; Ostelo, Raymond; Knol, Dirk L; Algra, Paul R; Wilmink, Jan T; van Tulder, Maurits W

2015-06-01

A cross-sectional diagnostic accuracy study was conducted in 2 sessions. It is important to know whether it is possible to accurately detect "specific findings" on lumbosacral magnetic resonance (MR) images and whether the results of different observers are comparable. Health care providers frequently use magnetic resonance imaging in the diagnostic process of patients with low back pain. The use of MR scans is increasing. This leads to an increase in costs and to an increase in risk of inaccurately labeling patients with an anatomical diagnosis that might not be the actual cause of symptoms. A set of 300 blinded MR images was read by medical radiologists, chiropractors, and chiropractic radiologists in 2 sessions. Each assessor read 100 scans in round 1 and 50 scans in round 2. The reference test was an expert panel.For all analyses, the magnetic resonance imaging findings were dichotomized into "specific findings" or "no specific findings." For the agreement, percentage agreement and κ values were calculated and for validity, sensitivity, and specificity. Sensitivity analysis was done for classifications A and B (prevalence of 31% and 57%, respectively). The intraobserver κ values for chiropractors, chiropractic radiologists, and medical radiologists were 0.46, 0.49, and 0.69 for A and 0.55, 0.75, and 0.64 for B, respectively.The interobserver κ values were lowest for chiropractors (0.28 for A, 0.37 for B) and highest for chiropractic radiologists (0.50 for A, 0.49 for B).The sensitivities of the medical radiologists, chiropractors, and chiropractic radiologists were 0.62, 0.71, and 0.75 for A and 0.70, 0.74, 0.84 for B, respectively.The specificities of medical radiologists, chiropractic radiologists, and chiropractors were 0.82, 0.77, and 0.70 for A and 0.74, 0.52, and 0.61 for B, respectively. Agreement and validity of MR image readings of chiropractors and chiropractic and medical radiologists is modest at best. This study supports recommendations in

The future of medical diagnostics: review paper

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

While histopathology of excised tissue remains the gold standard for diagnosis, several new, non-invasive diagnostic techniques are being developed. They rely on physical and biochemical changes that precede and mirror malignant change within tissue. The basic principle involves simple optical techniques of tissue interrogation. Their accuracy, expressed as sensitivity and specificity, are reported in a number of studies suggests that they have a potential for cost effective, real-time, in situ diagnosis. We review the Third Scientific Meeting of the Head and Neck Optical Diagnostics Society held in Congress Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria on the 11th May 2011. For the first time the HNODS Annual Scientific Meeting was held in association with the International Photodynamic Association (IPA) and the European Platform for Photodynamic Medicine (EPPM). The aim was to enhance the interdisciplinary aspects of optical diagnostics and other photodynamic applications. The meeting included 2 sections: oral communication sessions running in parallel to the IPA programme and poster presentation sessions combined with the IPA and EPPM posters sessions. PMID:21861912

[Sulfur dioxide limit standard and residues in Chinese medicinal materials].

PubMed

Kang, Chuan-Zhi; Yang, Wan-Zhen; Mo, Ge; Zhou, Li; Jiang, Jing-Yi; Lv, Chao-Geng; Wang, Sheng; Zhou, Tao; Yang, Ye; Guo, Lan-Ping

2018-01-01

medicinal materials that are consistent with the medication characteristics of traditional Chinese medicinal materials and can guarantee people's demand for safe medication. Copyright© by the Chinese Pharmaceutical Association.

Defining and Measuring Diagnostic Uncertainty in Medicine: A Systematic Review.

PubMed

Bhise, Viraj; Rajan, Suja S; Sittig, Dean F; Morgan, Robert O; Chaudhary, Pooja; Singh, Hardeep

2018-01-01

Physicians routinely encounter diagnostic uncertainty in practice. Despite its impact on health care utilization, costs and error, measurement of diagnostic uncertainty is poorly understood. We conducted a systematic review to describe how diagnostic uncertainty is defined and measured in medical practice. We searched OVID Medline and PsycINFO databases from inception until May 2017 using a combination of keywords and Medical Subject Headings (MeSH). Additional search strategies included manual review of references identified in the primary search, use of a topic-specific database (AHRQ-PSNet) and expert input. We specifically focused on articles that (1) defined diagnostic uncertainty; (2) conceptualized diagnostic uncertainty in terms of its sources, complexity of its attributes or strategies for managing it; or (3) attempted to measure diagnostic uncertainty. We identified 123 articles for full review, none of which defined diagnostic uncertainty. Three attributes of diagnostic uncertainty were relevant for measurement: (1) it is a subjective perception experienced by the clinician; (2) it has the potential to impact diagnostic evaluation-for example, when inappropriately managed, it can lead to diagnostic delays; and (3) it is dynamic in nature, changing with time. Current methods for measuring diagnostic uncertainty in medical practice include: (1) asking clinicians about their perception of uncertainty (surveys and qualitative interviews), (2) evaluating the patient-clinician encounter (such as by reviews of medical records, transcripts of patient-clinician communication and observation), and (3) experimental techniques (patient vignette studies). The term "diagnostic uncertainty" lacks a clear definition, and there is no comprehensive framework for its measurement in medical practice. Based on review findings, we propose that diagnostic uncertainty be defined as a "subjective perception of an inability to provide an accurate explanation of the patient

Can electronic medical images replace hard-copy film? Defining and testing the equivalence of diagnostic tests.

PubMed

Obuchowski, N A

2001-10-15

Electronic medical images are an efficient and convenient format in which to display, store and transmit radiographic information. Before electronic images can be used routinely to screen and diagnose patients, however, it must be shown that readers have the same diagnostic performance with this new format as traditional hard-copy film. Currently, there exist no suitable definitions of diagnostic equivalence. In this paper we propose two criteria for diagnostic equivalence. The first criterion ('population equivalence') considers the variability between and within readers, as well as the mean reader performance. This criterion is useful for most applications. The second criterion ('individual equivalence') involves a comparison of the test results for individual patients and is necessary when patients are followed radiographically over time. We present methods for testing both individual and population equivalence. The properties of the proposed methods are assessed in a Monte Carlo simulation study. Data from a mammography screening study is used to illustrate the proposed methods and compare them with results from more conventional methods of assessing equivalence and inter-procedure agreement. Copyright 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The Application of Whole Cell-Based Biosensors for Use in Environmental Analysis and in Medical Diagnostics

PubMed Central

Gui, Qingyuan; Lawson, Tom; Shan, Suyan; Yan, Lu; Liu, Yong

2017-01-01

Various whole cell-based biosensors have been reported in the literature for the last 20 years and these reports have shown great potential for their use in the areas of pollution detection in environmental and in biomedical diagnostics. Unlike other reviews of this growing field, this mini-review argues that: (1) the selection of reporter genes and their regulatory proteins are directly linked to the performance of celllular biosensors; (2) broad enhancements in microelectronics and information technologies have also led to improvements in the performance of these sensors; (3) their future potential is most apparent in their use in the areas of medical diagnostics and in environmental monitoring; and (4) currently the most promising work is focused on the better integration of cellular sensors with nano and micro scaled integrated chips. With better integration it may become practical to see these cells used as (5) real-time portable devices for diagnostics at the bedside and for remote environmental toxin detection and this in situ application will make the technology commonplace and thus as unremarkable as other ubiquitous technologies. PMID:28703749

Urgent need to improve the quality of case report in traditional Chinese medicine: Assessment on reporting quality of 3,417 cases.

PubMed

Fu, Shu-Fei; Kun, Wai; Zeng, Xiao-Xi; Zhang, Li; Cheng, Chung-Wah; Song, Lisa; Zhong, Linda Li-Dan; Lin, Jia; Wang, Yong-Yan; Shang, Hong-Cai; Bian, Zhao-Xia

2016-06-01

To survey the reporting quality of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) case reports published in recent years and understand the common problems. The assessment results would lay the foundation for the development of recommendations for case report in Chinese medicine. This survey determined the reporting quality of cases with Chinese herbal decoction, Chinese proprietary medicine, acupuncture, moxibustion and other traditional therapies published in 20 core medical journals of China by searching the China Academic Journals Full-text Database from 2006 to 2010. Fifty survey items in 16 domains were used to determine the reporting quality. One point was assigned to each item (Yes=1 point; No=0 point), and total score was 50 points. The domain of treatment was assessed independently, ranging from 2 to 9 items for different TCM interventions. The total of 1,858 case reports, covering 3,417 cases were included to analyze from 13 out of 20 core medical journals of China. There were 74.8% of them did not identify the nature of study in title, while 73.9% did not comprise an abstract. Incomplete reporting was found in discussions/ comment, and only 38.9% had made recommendations or take-away messages. Figures and tables were infrequently used. Three cases cited the full names of patients, but without declaring that any consent was obtained. Over 90% reported the symptoms and signs of TCM, and characteristics on tongue and pulse, but less than 50% did mention other medical history and diagnostic rationale. More than 90% treatments of the included cases were herbal decoction, with clear reporting on the ingredients and dosages. However, the reporting rate of the dosages of each ingredient was just 48.4%. Almost none reported the quality control of crude herbs, manufacturers and lot numbers of herbal proprietary medicine. Besides, advices and precautions on diet, emotions and living were rare to be illustrated. Systematic reporting recommendations are urged to develop for

Veterinary nurse to medical diagnostic radiographer.

PubMed

Taylor, Nicholas

2017-08-19

Nicholas Taylor is senior diagnostic radiographer at the Great Western Hospital, Swindon, having initially qualified as a veterinary nurse. It was a college lecture that initially sparked his interest in radiography - little did he know where it would lead. British Veterinary Association.

[Construction and practice on rational medication model of Chinese patent medicine for orthopedics based on ″symdrome-dosage-toxicity differentiation″ theory].

PubMed

Wang, Yu-Guang; Jin, Rui; Qiang, Si-Si; Lin, Zhi-Jian; Li, Hong-Yan; Lu, Shu; Kong, Xiang-Wen

2016-01-01

Chinese patent medicines for orthopedics are among the hotspot and difficulty in the rational medication of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), because they mostly contain toxic medicinal herbs and oriented to special patients. According to the hospital pharmacy practices and the therapeutic theories of TCM, this paper focused on a novel model of rational drug use of Chinese patent medicine for orthopedics based on the principles of ″syndrome-dosage-toxicity differentiation″. We also proposed relevant specifications for guiding their clinical use. Firstly, we proposed a list of the primary clinical application characteristics for rational drug use of orthopedic TCMs, including the syndromes of patient, the dosage of medicine and the toxic ingredients in medicine. Secondly, a database was established for recording the package inserts of all of the 81 orthopedic patent medicines in our hospital, and 2 000 retrospective recipes were analyzed for looking for the high-frequency medicines and common irrational factors. Then clinical case reports involving the adverse reactions and side effects of related drugs were searched from CNKI, VIP and WanFang databases. Then the key information for rational application of each medicine was extracted from these resources and some survey questionnaires. Finally, we established a guide named instructions for clinical use of orthopedic Chinese patient medicines (ICUOCPM) after the discusstion with experts. According to the effect after the practice in hospital for 2 months, the proposed principles of ″syndrome-dosage-toxicity differentiation″ in this paper were believed to be the core elements and the most important clinical monitoring points in TCM for orthopedic patents. It would provide innovative ideas, theoretical guarantee and data support for the development of TCM clinical pharmacy. Copyright© by the Chinese Pharmaceutical Association.

Plasmonic SERS nanochips and nanoprobes for medical diagnostics and bio-energy applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ngo, Hoan T.; Wang, Hsin-Neng; Crawford, Bridget M.; Fales, Andrew M.; Vo-Dinh, Tuan

2017-02-01

The development of rapid, easy-to-use, cost-effective, high accuracy, and high sensitive DNA detection methods for molecular diagnostics has been receiving increasing interest. Over the last five years, our laboratory has developed several chip-based DNA detection techniques including the molecular sentinel-on-chip (MSC), the multiplex MSC, and the inverse molecular sentinel-on-chip (iMS-on-Chip). In these techniques, plasmonic surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) Nanowave chips were functionalized with DNA probes for single-step DNA detection. Sensing mechanisms were based on hybridization of target sequences and DNA probes, resulting in a distance change between SERS reporters and the Nanowave chip's gold surface. This distance change resulted in change in SERS intensity, thus indicating the presence and capture of the target sequences. Our techniques were single-step DNA detection techniques. Target sequences were detected by simple delivery of sample solutions onto DNA probe-functionalized Nanowave chips and SERS signals were measured after 1h - 2h incubation. Target sequence labeling or washing to remove unreacted components was not required, making the techniques simple, easy-to-use, and cost effective. The usefulness of the techniques for medical diagnostics was illustrated by the detection of genetic biomarkers for respiratory viral infection and of dengue virus 4 DNA.

Molecular diagnostics: the changing culture of medical microbiology.

PubMed

Bullman, Susan; Lucey, Brigid; Sleator, Roy D

2012-01-01

Diagnostic molecular biology is arguably the fastest growing area in current laboratory-based medicine. Growth of the so called 'omics' technologies has, over the last decade, led to a gradual migration away from the 'one test, one pathogen' paradigm, toward multiplex approaches to infectious disease diagnosis, which have led to significant improvements in clinical diagnostics and ultimately improved patient care.

A map of copy number variations in Chinese populations.

PubMed

Lou, Haiyi; Li, Shilin; Yang, Yajun; Kang, Longli; Zhang, Xin; Jin, Wenfei; Wu, Bailin; Jin, Li; Xu, Shuhua

2011-01-01

It has been shown that the human genome contains extensive copy number variations (CNVs). Investigating the medical and evolutionary impacts of CNVs requires the knowledge of locations, sizes and frequency distribution of them within and between populations. However, CNV study of Chinese minorities, which harbor the majority of genetic diversity of Chinese populations, has been underrepresented considering the same efforts in other populations. Here we constructed, to our knowledge, a first CNV map in seven Chinese populations representing the major linguistic groups in China with 1,440 CNV regions identified using Affymetrix SNP 6.0 Array. Considerable differences in distributions of CNV regions between populations and substantial population structures were observed. We showed that ∼35% of CNV regions identified in minority ethnic groups are not shared by Han Chinese population, indicating that the contribution of the minorities to genetic architecture of Chinese population could not be ignored. We further identified highly differentiated CNV regions between populations. For example, a common deletion in Dong and Zhuang (44.4% and 50%), which overlaps two keratin-associated protein genes contributing to the structure of hair fibers, was not observed in Han Chinese. Interestingly, the most differentiated CNV deletion between HapMap CEU and YRI containing CCL3L1 gene reported in previous studies was also the highest differentiated regions between Tibetan and other populations. Besides, by jointly analyzing CNVs and SNPs, we found a CNV region containing gene CTDSPL were in almost perfect linkage disequilibrium between flanking SNPs in Tibetan while not in other populations except HapMap CHD. Furthermore, we found the SNP taggability of CNVs in Chinese populations was much lower than that in European populations. Our results suggest the necessity of a full characterization of CNVs in Chinese populations, and the CNV map we constructed serves as a useful resource in

A Map of Copy Number Variations in Chinese Populations

PubMed Central

Yang, Yajun; Kang, Longli; Zhang, Xin; Jin, Wenfei; Wu, Bailin; Jin, Li; Xu, Shuhua

2011-01-01

It has been shown that the human genome contains extensive copy number variations (CNVs). Investigating the medical and evolutionary impacts of CNVs requires the knowledge of locations, sizes and frequency distribution of them within and between populations. However, CNV study of Chinese minorities, which harbor the majority of genetic diversity of Chinese populations, has been underrepresented considering the same efforts in other populations. Here we constructed, to our knowledge, a first CNV map in seven Chinese populations representing the major linguistic groups in China with 1,440 CNV regions identified using Affymetrix SNP 6.0 Array. Considerable differences in distributions of CNV regions between populations and substantial population structures were observed. We showed that ∼35% of CNV regions identified in minority ethnic groups are not shared by Han Chinese population, indicating that the contribution of the minorities to genetic architecture of Chinese population could not be ignored. We further identified highly differentiated CNV regions between populations. For example, a common deletion in Dong and Zhuang (44.4% and 50%), which overlaps two keratin-associated protein genes contributing to the structure of hair fibers, was not observed in Han Chinese. Interestingly, the most differentiated CNV deletion between HapMap CEU and YRI containing CCL3L1 gene reported in previous studies was also the highest differentiated regions between Tibetan and other populations. Besides, by jointly analyzing CNVs and SNPs, we found a CNV region containing gene CTDSPL were in almost perfect linkage disequilibrium between flanking SNPs in Tibetan while not in other populations except HapMap CHD. Furthermore, we found the SNP taggability of CNVs in Chinese populations was much lower than that in European populations. Our results suggest the necessity of a full characterization of CNVs in Chinese populations, and the CNV map we constructed serves as a useful resource in

Evidence of the preferential use of disease prototypes over case exemplars among early year one medical students prior to and following diagnostic training.

PubMed

Papa, Frank J; Li, Feiming

2015-12-01

Two core dual processing theory (DPT) System I constructs (Exemplars and Prototypes) were used to: 1) formulate a training exercise designed to improve diagnostic performance in year one medical students, and 2) explore whether any observed performance improvements were associated with preferential use of exemplars or prototypes. With IRB approval, 117 year one medical students participated in an acute chest pain diagnostic training exercise. A pre- and post-training test containing the same 27 case vignettes was used to determine if the subjects' diagnostic performance improved via training in both exemplars and prototypes. Exemplar and Prototype theory was also used to generate a unique typicality estimate for each case vignette. Because these estimates produce different performance predictions, differences in the subjects' observed performance would make it possible to infer whether subjects were preferentially using Exemplars or Prototypes. Pre- vs. post-training comparison revealed a significant performance improvement; t=14.04, p<0.001, Cohen's d=1.32. Pre-training, paired t-testing demonstrated that performance against the most typical vignettes>mid typical vignettes: t=4.94, p<0.001; and mid typical>least typical: t=5.16, p<0.001. Post-training, paired t-testing again demonstrated that performance against the most typical vignettes>mid typical: t=2.94, p<0.01; and mid typical>least typical: t=6.64, p<0.001. These findings are more consistent with the performance predictions generated via Prototype theory than Exemplar theory. DPT is useful in designing and evaluating the utility of new approaches to diagnostic training, and, investigating the cognitive factors driving diagnostic capabilities among early medical students.

21 CFR 892.1570 - Diagnostic ultrasonic transducer.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Diagnostic ultrasonic transducer. 892.1570 Section... (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES RADIOLOGY DEVICES Diagnostic Devices § 892.1570 Diagnostic ultrasonic transducer. (a) Identification. A diagnostic ultrasonic transducer is a device made of a piezoelectric material...

21 CFR 870.1425 - Programmable diagnostic computer.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Programmable diagnostic computer. 870.1425 Section... (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES CARDIOVASCULAR DEVICES Cardiovascular Diagnostic Devices § 870.1425 Programmable diagnostic computer. (a) Identification. A programmable diagnostic computer is a device that can be...

21 CFR 870.1425 - Programmable diagnostic computer.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Programmable diagnostic computer. 870.1425 Section... (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES CARDIOVASCULAR DEVICES Cardiovascular Diagnostic Devices § 870.1425 Programmable diagnostic computer. (a) Identification. A programmable diagnostic computer is a device that can be...

21 CFR 870.1425 - Programmable diagnostic computer.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Programmable diagnostic computer. 870.1425 Section... (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES CARDIOVASCULAR DEVICES Cardiovascular Diagnostic Devices § 870.1425 Programmable diagnostic computer. (a) Identification. A programmable diagnostic computer is a device that can be...

21 CFR 870.1425 - Programmable diagnostic computer.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Programmable diagnostic computer. 870.1425 Section... (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES CARDIOVASCULAR DEVICES Cardiovascular Diagnostic Devices § 870.1425 Programmable diagnostic computer. (a) Identification. A programmable diagnostic computer is a device that can be...

21 CFR 870.1425 - Programmable diagnostic computer.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Programmable diagnostic computer. 870.1425 Section... (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES CARDIOVASCULAR DEVICES Cardiovascular Diagnostic Devices § 870.1425 Programmable diagnostic computer. (a) Identification. A programmable diagnostic computer is a device that can be...

Review of the use of botanicals for epilepsy in complementary medical systems--Traditional Chinese Medicine.

PubMed

Xiao, Fenglai; Yan, Bo; Chen, Lei; Zhou, Dong

2015-11-01

In traditional Chinese medicine, botanical remedies have been used for centuries to treat seizures. This review aimed to summarize the botanicals that have been used in traditional Chinese medicine to treat epilepsy. We searched Chinese online databases to determine the botanicals used for epilepsy in traditional Chinese medicine and identified articles using a preset search syntax and inclusion criteria of each botanical in the PubMed database to explore their potential mechanisms. Twenty-three botanicals were identified to treat epilepsy in traditional Chinese medicine. The pharmacological mechanisms of each botanical related to antiepileptic activity, which were mainly examined in animal models, were reviewed. We discuss the use and current trends of botanical treatments in China and highlight the limitations of botanical epilepsy treatments. A substantial number of these types of botanicals would be good candidates for the development of novel AEDs. More rigorous clinical trials of botanicals in traditional Chinese medicine for epilepsy treatment are encouraged in the future. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled "Botanicals for Epilepsy". Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Chinese Obstetrics & Gynecology journal club: a randomised controlled trial.

PubMed

Tsui, Ilene K; Dodson, William C; Kunselman, Allen R; Kuang, Hongying; Han, Feng-Juan; Legro, Richard S; Wu, Xiao-Ke

2016-01-28

To assess whether a journal club model could improve comprehension and written and spoken medical English in a population of Chinese medical professionals. The study population consisted of 52 medical professionals who were residents or postgraduate master or PhD students in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, China. After a three-part baseline examination to assess medical English comprehension, participants were randomised to either (1) an intensive journal club treatment arm or (2) a self-study group. At the conclusion of the 8-week intervention participants (n=52) were re-tested with new questions. The primary outcome was the change in score on a multiple choice examination. Secondary outcomes included change in scores on written and oral examinations which were modelled on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). Both groups had improved scores on the multiple choice examination without a statistically significant difference between them (90% power). However, there was a statistically significant difference between the groups in mean improvement in scores for both written (95% CI 1.1 to 5.0; p=0.003) and spoken English (95% CI 0.06 to 3.7; p=0.04) favouring the journal club intervention. Interacting with colleagues and an English-speaking facilitator in a journal club improved both written and spoken medical English in Chinese medical professionals. Journal clubs may be suitable for use as a self-sustainable teaching model to improve fluency in medical English in foreign medical professionals. NCT01844609. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/

Racial differences in the elderly's use of medical procedures and diagnostic tests.

PubMed Central

Escarce, J J; Epstein, K R; Colby, D C; Schwartz, J S

1993-01-01

OBJECTIVES. This study sought to examine racial differences in the use of medical procedures and diagnostic tests by elderly Americans. METHODS. We used 1986 physician claims data for a 5% national sample of Medicare enrollees aged 65 years and older to study 32 procedures and tests. For each service, we calculated the age- and sex-adjusted rate of use by race and the corresponding White-Black relative risk. RESULTS. Whites were more likely than Blacks to receive 23 services, and for many of these services, the differences in use were substantial. In contrast, Blacks were more likely than Whites to receive seven services. Whites had a particular advantage in access to higher-technology or newer services. Racial differences in use persisted among elders who had Medicaid in addition to Medicare coverage and increased among rural elders. CONCLUSIONS. There are pervasive racial differences in the use of medical services by elderly Americans that cannot be explained by differences in the prevalence of specific clinical conditions. Financial barriers to care do not fully account for these findings. Race may exacerbate the impact of other barriers to access. PMID:8328615

21 CFR 886.1380 - Diagnostic condensing lens.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Diagnostic condensing lens. 886.1380 Section 886...) MEDICAL DEVICES OPHTHALMIC DEVICES Diagnostic Devices § 886.1380 Diagnostic condensing lens. (a) Identification. A diagnostic condensing lens is a device used in binocular indirect ophthalmoscopy (a procedure...

Medical Library Education in China.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Crawford, David S.; Xiong, Dizhi

1990-01-01

The establishment of faculties of medical library and information science in four Chinese national medical universities is described. The faculties were established in the mid-1980s, and each is fully integrated into its university. Students receive three years of nonclinical medical training and two years of library and information science…

Effect of Accreditation on Accuracy of Diagnostic Tests in Medical Laboratories

PubMed Central

Jang, Mi-Ae; Yoon, Young Ahn; Song, Junghan; Kim, Jeong-Ho; Min, Won-Ki; Lee, Ji Sung

2017-01-01

Background Medical laboratories play a central role in health care. Many laboratories are taking a more focused and stringent approach to quality system management. In Korea, laboratory standardization efforts undertaken by the Korean Laboratory Accreditation Program (KLAP) and the Korean External Quality Assessment Scheme (KEQAS) may have facilitated an improvement in laboratory performance, but there are no fundamental studies demonstrating that laboratory standardization is effective. We analyzed the results of the KEQAS to identify significant differences between laboratories with or without KLAP and to determine the impact of laboratory standardization on the accuracy of diagnostic tests. Methods We analyzed KEQAS participant data on clinical chemistry tests such as albumin, ALT, AST, and glucose from 2010 to 2013. As a statistical parameter to assess performance bias between laboratories, we compared 4-yr variance index score (VIS) between the two groups with or without KLAP. Results Compared with the group without KLAP, the group with KLAP exhibited significantly lower geometric means of 4-yr VIS for all clinical chemistry tests (P<0.0001); this difference justified a high level of confidence in standardized services provided by accredited laboratories. Confidence intervals for the mean of each test in the two groups (accredited and non-accredited) did not overlap, suggesting that the means of the groups are significantly different. Conclusions These results confirmed that practice standardization is strongly associated with the accuracy of test results. Our study emphasizes the necessity of establishing a system for standardization of diagnostic testing. PMID:28224767

21 CFR 890.1375 - Diagnostic electromyograph.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Diagnostic electromyograph. 890.1375 Section 890.1375 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES PHYSICAL MEDICINE DEVICES Physical Medicine Diagnostic Devices § 890.1375 Diagnostic...

21 CFR 890.1375 - Diagnostic electromyograph.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Diagnostic electromyograph. 890.1375 Section 890.1375 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES PHYSICAL MEDICINE DEVICES Physical Medicine Diagnostic Devices § 890.1375 Diagnostic...

21 CFR 890.1375 - Diagnostic electromyograph.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Diagnostic electromyograph. 890.1375 Section 890.1375 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES PHYSICAL MEDICINE DEVICES Physical Medicine Diagnostic Devices § 890.1375 Diagnostic...

21 CFR 890.1375 - Diagnostic electromyograph.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Diagnostic electromyograph. 890.1375 Section 890.1375 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES PHYSICAL MEDICINE DEVICES Physical Medicine Diagnostic Devices § 890.1375 Diagnostic...

Mental Health Consequences of Childhood Physical Abuse in Chinese Populations: A Meta-Analysis.

PubMed

Ip, Patrick; Wong, Rosa S; Li, Sophia L; Chan, Ko Ling; Ho, Frederick K; Chow, Chun-Bong

2016-12-01

Childhood physical abuse (CPA) can lead to adverse mental health outcomes in adulthood, but its potential impact on Chinese populations is still unclear. This meta-analysis is the first to examine the association between CPA and mental health outcomes in Chinese populations. Studies published before December 31, 2014 were identified from Embase, CINAHL, Scopus, PsycINFO, PubMed, and Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure databases. Studies with data on the association between CPA and mental health outcomes from Chinese subjects were included. Twenty-four studies were initially identified but two were excluded because of poor quality. Two reviewers independently extracted data to generate summary effect sizes using a random-effects meta-analytic model. A priori subgroup and sensitivity analyses were performed to evaluate heterogeneity and bias in these studies. Our meta-analysis of 22 studies found a significant positive association between CPA and overall mental health outcomes among all Chinese subjects (pooled effect size: odds ratio [OR] = 2.16, 95% confidence interval [CI] = [1.87, 2.49]) and among community samples (pooled effect size: OR = 2.06, 95% CI [1.71, 2.48]). Based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision, diagnostic criteria, CPA was more strongly associated with Axis II (OR = 2.62, 95% CI [2.13, 3.22]) than Axis I disorders (OR = 1.85, 95% CI [1.58, 2.17]). The detrimental effects of CPA on mental health outcomes in Chinese populations were comparable to, if not more than, the West. Contrary to the Chinese belief that physical punishment is a safe way to discipline children, our findings highlight the potential harm to mental health and the need to change this parenting practice. © The Author(s) 2015.

21 CFR 890.1375 - Diagnostic electromyograph.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

...) MEDICAL DEVICES PHYSICAL MEDICINE DEVICES Physical Medicine Diagnostic Devices § 890.1375 Diagnostic..., and to monitor and display the electrical activity produced by nerves, for the diagnosis and prognosis...

[Principles of traditional Chinese medicine].

PubMed

Meng, A

2000-01-01

The beginnings of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) can be related to the three most important philosophic and religious personalities. Modern Western medicine (MM), which was already sensationally successful at that time, was brought to China by business men, missionaries and soldiers. Compared to MM, the theories of TCM seem abstract, its concept unusual. Historical hallmarks of TCM influenced by culture are the following: the medical system is philosophical, oriented towards humanism. TCM is a medical system without strict structural relationships (without anatomy).

[The apprentice education system of Chinese medicinal industry in modern Kunming].

PubMed

Yang, Zhuqing

2015-07-01

In the late Qing Dynasty, following the appearance of the Chinese medicinal materials industry trade association of Kunming, the "master agreement" as a professional regulation, also implemented, marking the beginning of the contractualization and institutionalization of apprentice education in Yunnan. The contents and implementation of the "master agreement" was organized by the Chinese medicinal materials industry trade association of Kunming and its craft union. The apprentice education in Kunming traditional Chinese medicinal industry has the following characteristics: expanding the source of talent; adepting at agricultural production of the accorded apprentice; conforming to the conditions of human manipulation of Chinese traditional medicine; being in line with the characteristics and rules of Chinese medicine skills taught by oral narration and tacit understanding; unity of the medical and pharmaceutical professionals; and non-governmental organization. Apprentice training had trained a number of medical talents, and promoted the transformation of manual workshop to industrialization in Kunming. Apprentice education had catalyzed the establishment of specialized shops selling patent medicines exclusively to separated from those running both crude drugs and patent medicines, to form a set of effective teaching system, thus exerting profound influence on later generations.

[Comparison of simple pooling and bivariate model used in meta-analyses of diagnostic test accuracy published in Chinese journals].

PubMed

Huang, Yuan-sheng; Yang, Zhi-rong; Zhan, Si-yan

2015-06-18

To investigate the use of simple pooling and bivariate model in meta-analyses of diagnostic test accuracy (DTA) published in Chinese journals (January to November, 2014), compare the differences of results from these two models, and explore the impact of between-study variability of sensitivity and specificity on the differences. DTA meta-analyses were searched through Chinese Biomedical Literature Database (January to November, 2014). Details in models and data for fourfold table were extracted. Descriptive analysis was conducted to investigate the prevalence of the use of simple pooling method and bivariate model in the included literature. Data were re-analyzed with the two models respectively. Differences in the results were examined by Wilcoxon signed rank test. How the results differences were affected by between-study variability of sensitivity and specificity, expressed by I2, was explored. The 55 systematic reviews, containing 58 DTA meta-analyses, were included and 25 DTA meta-analyses were eligible for re-analysis. Simple pooling was used in 50 (90.9%) systematic reviews and bivariate model in 1 (1.8%). The remaining 4 (7.3%) articles used other models pooling sensitivity and specificity or pooled neither of them. Of the reviews simply pooling sensitivity and specificity, 41(82.0%) were at the risk of wrongly using Meta-disc software. The differences in medians of sensitivity and specificity between two models were both 0.011 (P<0.001, P=0.031 respectively). Greater differences could be found as I2 of sensitivity or specificity became larger, especially when I2>75%. Most DTA meta-analyses published in Chinese journals(January to November, 2014) combine the sensitivity and specificity by simple pooling. Meta-disc software can pool the sensitivity and specificity only through fixed-effect model, but a high proportion of authors think it can implement random-effect model. Simple pooling tends to underestimate the results compared with bivariate model. The

VCSEL technology for medical diagnostics and therapeutics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hibbs-Brenner, M. K.; Johnson, K. L.; Bendett, M.

2009-02-01

In the 1990's a new laser technology, Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Lasers, or VCSELs, emerged and transformed the data communication industry. The combination of performance characteristics, reliability and performance/cost ratio allowed high data rate communication to occur over short distances at a commercially viable price. VCSELs have not been widely used outside of this application space, but with the development of new attributes, such as a wider range of available wavelengths, the demonstration of arrays of VCSELs on a single chip, and a variety of package form factors, VCSELs can have a significant impact on medical diagnostic and therapeutic applications. One area of potential application is neurostimulation. Researchers have previously demonstrated the feasibility of using 1850nm light for nerve stimulation. The ability to create an array of VCSELs emitting at this wavelength would allow significantly improved spatial resolution, and multiple parallel channels of stimulation. For instance, 2D arrays of 100 lasers or more can be integrated on a single chip less than 2mm on a side. A second area of interest is non-invasive sensing. Performance attributes such as the narrow spectral width, low power consumption, and packaging flexibility open up new possibilities in non-invasive and/or continuous sensing. This paper will suggest ways in which VCSELs can be implemented within these application areas, and the advantages provided by the unique performance characteristics of the VCSEL. The status of VCSEL technology as a function of available wavelength and array size and form factors will be summarized.

Should we search Chinese biomedical databases when performing systematic reviews?

PubMed

Cohen, Jérémie F; Korevaar, Daniël A; Wang, Junfeng; Spijker, René; Bossuyt, Patrick M

2015-03-06

Chinese biomedical databases contain a large number of publications available to systematic reviewers, but it is unclear whether they are used for synthesizing the available evidence. We report a case of two systematic reviews on the accuracy of anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide for diagnosing rheumatoid arthritis. In one of these, the authors did not search Chinese databases; in the other, they did. We additionally assessed the extent to which Cochrane reviewers have searched Chinese databases in a systematic overview of the Cochrane Library (inception to 2014). The two diagnostic reviews included a total of 269 unique studies, but only 4 studies were included in both reviews. The first review included five studies published in the Chinese language (out of 151) while the second included 114 (out of 118). The summary accuracy estimates from the two reviews were comparable. Only 243 of the published 8,680 Cochrane reviews (less than 3%) searched one or more of the five major Chinese databases. These Chinese databases index about 2,500 journals, of which less than 6% are also indexed in MEDLINE. All 243 Cochrane reviews evaluated an intervention, 179 (74%) had at least one author with a Chinese affiliation; 118 (49%) addressed a topic in complementary or alternative medicine. Although searching Chinese databases may lead to the identification of a large amount of additional clinical evidence, Cochrane reviewers have rarely included them in their search strategy. We encourage future initiatives to evaluate more systematically the relevance of searching Chinese databases, as well as collaborative efforts to allow better incorporation of Chinese resources in systematic reviews.

Evidence assessing the diagnostic performance of medical smartphone apps: a systematic review and exploratory meta-analysis

PubMed Central

Buechi, Rahel; Faes, Livia; Bachmann, Lucas M; Thiel, Michael A; Bodmer, Nicolas S; Schmid, Martin K; Job, Oliver; Lienhard, Kenny R

2017-01-01

Objective The number of mobile applications addressing health topics is increasing. Whether these apps underwent scientific evaluation is unclear. We comprehensively assessed papers investigating the diagnostic value of available diagnostic health applications using inbuilt smartphone sensors. Methods Systematic Review—MEDLINE, Scopus, Web of Science inclusive Medical Informatics and Business Source Premier (by citation of reference) were searched from inception until 15 December 2016. Checking of reference lists of review articles and of included articles complemented electronic searches. We included all studies investigating a health application that used inbuilt sensors of a smartphone for diagnosis of disease. The methodological quality of 11 studies used in an exploratory meta-analysis was assessed with the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies 2 tool and the reporting quality with the ’STAndards for the Reporting of Diagnostic accuracy studies' (STARD) statement. Sensitivity and specificity of studies reporting two-by-two tables were calculated and summarised. Results We screened 3296 references for eligibility. Eleven studies, most of them assessing melanoma screening apps, reported 17 two-by-two tables. Quality assessment revealed high risk of bias in all studies. Included papers studied 1048 subjects (758 with the target conditions and 290 healthy volunteers). Overall, the summary estimate for sensitivity was 0.82 (95 % CI 0.56 to 0.94) and 0.89 (95 %CI 0.70 to 0.97) for specificity. Conclusions The diagnostic evidence of available health apps on Apple’s and Google’s app stores is scarce. Consumers and healthcare professionals should be aware of this when using or recommending them. PROSPERO registration number 42016033049. PMID:29247099

Herbal compatibility of traditional Chinese medical formulas for acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.

PubMed

Cui, Meng; Li, Jinghua; Li, Haiyan; Song, Chunxin

2012-09-01

Because herbal compatibility is one of the most important reasons why Traditional Chinese Medcine (TCM) formulas are effective for acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), our study aimed to determine the compatibility of herbs based on published AIDS clinical research in Chinese periodicals. To achieve this aim, we designed a new data-mining algorithm according to TCM data characteristics. We found 25 clinical AIDS studies, all using Chinese herbs for treatment, in the Traditional Chinese Medicine Database System, and information on diagnosis and treatment was extracted. To find out herbal compatibility, especially the formulae for herbal combinations, we proposed an improved association rule algorithm based on the frequency of combinations. In this algorithm, all the compatibility relationships were displayed in a tree structure, by which the relationship between formulas and their derivation could be clearly inferred. Data analysis showed that approximately 100 herbs have been used for treating AIDS. Based on the whole herb compatibility tree, we calculated a basic formula for AIDS: Huang Qi combined with Ren Shen, Fu Ling, Bai Zhu, Bai Zhu, Dang Gui, and Bai Shao. This formula, deriving from most of clinical prescriptions, and was chosed by most of clinicians for AIDS treatment. From data mining we found that Qi replenishment and detoxification were the main treatment principles, which coincided with the AIDS pathological mechanism in which immune function is destroyed by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Our data-mining results suggest that the core TCM treatment of AIDS is replenishing Qi and detoxification, by which AIDS patients' immune system may be enhanced. Compatibility of Huang Qi with some frequently-used herbs have shown real efficacy in clinical practice, which warrants pharmacological research in the future.

Hybridizing scholastic psychology with Chinese medicine: a seventeenth-century Chinese Catholic's conceptions of xin (mind and heart).

PubMed

Zhang, Qiong

2008-01-01

This paper explores the dynamics of cultural interactions between early modern China and Europe initiated by the Jesuits and other Catholic missionaries through a case study of Wang Honghan, a seventeenth-century Chinese Catholic who systematically sought to integrate European learning introduced by the missionaries with pre-modern Chinese medicine. Focusing on the ways in which Wang combined his Western and Chinese sources to develop and articulate his views on xin (mind and heart), this paper argues that Wang arrived at a peculiar hybrid between scholastic psychology and Chinese medicine, not so much through a course of haphazard misunderstanding as through his conscious and patterned use and abuse of his Western sources, which was motivated most possibly by a wish to define a theoretical position that most suited his social roles as a Catholic convert and a Chinese medical doctor. Thus, rather than seeing Wang as an epitome of"transmission failure," this paper offers it as a showcase for the tremendous dynamism and creativity occurring at this East-West "contact zone as representatives of both cultures sought to appropriate and transform the symbolic and textual resources of the other side.

Advances in heroin addiction treatment with traditional Chinese medicine: a systematic review of recent Chinese language journals.

PubMed

Jordan, James B; Tu, Xiang

2008-01-01

The aim of this review is to critically examine the clinical trial research on Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) as an intervention in treating heroin addiction in People's Republic of China. This review examines Chinese-language-only publications for the patent medicines: Shenfu Tuodu, Fukang Pian, and Shifu Sheng. Other compound medicines will be reviewed in future publications. A systematic review of the literature was conducted in Western and Chinese databases. Most trials were excluded because they did not declare randomization and had poor methodology or reporting. The majority of clinical evidence in the random controlled trials demonstrates good evidence for TCM patent medicines in heroin addiction treatment. When compared to typical Western medications, TCMs demonstrate fewer side-effects, in addition to equal measures of treatment efficacy and safety.

Ethno-Cultural Considerations in Cardiac Patients' Medication Adherence.

PubMed

King-Shier, K M; Singh, S; Khan, N A; LeBlanc, P; Lowe, J C; Mather, C M; Chong, E; Quan, H

2017-10-01

We aimed to develop an in-depth understanding about factors that influence cardiac medication adherence among South Asian, Chinese, and European White cardiac patients. Sixty-four patients were purposively sampled from an ongoing study cohort. Interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed for analyses. Physicians' culturally sensitive communication and patients' motivation to live a symptom-free and longer life enhanced adherence. European Whites were motivated to enhance personal well-being and enjoy family life. South Asians' medication adherence was influenced by the desire to fulfill the will of God and family responsibilities. The Chinese were motivated to avoid pain, illness, and death, and to obey a health care provider. The South Asians and Chinese wanted to ultimately reduce medication use. Previous positive experiences, family support, and establishing a routine also influenced medication adherence. Deterrents to adherence were essentially the reverse of the motivators/facilitators. This analysis represents an essential first step forward in developing ethno-culturally tailored interventions to optimize adherence.

Some recommendations to assess depression in Chinese people in Australasia.

PubMed

Chan, Bibiana; Parker, Gordon

2004-03-01

To provide some general recommendations for psychiatric assessment of depression among Chinese patients within a predominately Western society. A literature review is provided with interpretive comments. The prevalence of depression reported in community studies undertaken in Chinese communities is very low. To what extent Chinese people experience and seek help for depression, and how they report depressive symptoms have long been topics of some importance. The impact of acculturation as well as concepts and interpretations of illness in traditional Chinese medicine are discussed. Awareness of sensitive issues and practices within the Chinese culture will facilitate communication between medical professionals and patients, resulting in more accurate identification and diagnosis of depressive disorders. Direct but culturally sensitive and empathic questioning of psychological symptoms is needed to unveil patients' explanatory models, as most Chinese initially nominate only somatic symptoms to health practitioners. Successfully treated patients can promote earlier and wider utilization of mental health services to other Chinese people.

Self-Care Strategies among Chinese Adolescent Girls with Dysmenorrhea: A Qualitative Study.

PubMed

Wong, Cho Lee; Ip, Wan Yim; Lam, Lai Wah

2016-08-01

Little is known about how Chinese adolescent girls manage dysmenorrhea. This study aims to explore self-care strategies among Chinese adolescent girls with dysmenorrhea. The study uses a mixed methods design with two phases: a cross-sectional survey in phase I and semistructured interviews in phase II. This paper reports phase II. In line with the phase I findings, 28 adolescent girls with different characteristics (high or low levels of self-care behavior and pain intensity, who did or did not self-medicate, and who had or had not received menstrual education) were recruited for interviews. Content analysis was used for data analysis. Four categories emerged from the data: lifestyle changes, symptom management, communicating dysmenorrhea with others, and seeking medical advice. Girls selected their diets carefully and reduced physical activity during menstruation to avoid aggravating symptoms. Heat therapy commonly was employed for symptom management. A few girls self-medicated to obtain immediate relief from pain, but the majority expressed reservations about using medication because they worried about dependence and side effects. Some girls communicated dysmenorrhea with their family and friends, but the majority did not seek medical advice. The present study showed that girls employed various self-care strategies for dysmenorrhea, including some strategies stemming from traditional Chinese medicine. The findings revealed menstrual etiquette among Chinese adolescent girls with dysmenorrhea, and demonstrated that self-medication was not part of most girls' self-care. Understanding the self-care strategies of these girls is important, as it can help nurses develop a culturally-specific intervention to promote self-care among adolescent girls with dysmenorrhea. Copyright © 2016 American Society for Pain Management Nursing. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

[Traditional Chinese medicine inheritance system analysis of professor Ding Yuanqing in treating tic disorder medication based on experience].

PubMed

Sun, Lu-yan; Li, Qing-peng; Zhao, Li-li; Ding, Yuan-qing

2015-08-01

In recent years, the incidence of tic disorders has increased, and it is not uncommon for the patients to treat the disease. The pathogenesis and pathogenesis of Western medicine are not yet clear, the clinical commonly used western medicine has many adverse reactions, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) research is increasingly valued. Based on the software of TCM inheritance assistant system, this paper discusses Ding Yuanqing's experience in treating tic disorder with Professor. Collect yuan Qing Ding professor in treating tic disorder of medical records by association rules Apriori algorithm, complex system entropy clustering without supervision and data mining method, carries on the analysis to the selected 800 prescriptions, to determine the frequency of use of prescription drugs, the association rules between the drug and digging out the 12 core combination and the first six new prescription, medication transferred to the liver and extinguish wind, cooling blood and relieving convulsion, Qingxin soothe the nerves, with the card cut, flexible application, strict compatibility.

Diagnostic Imaging

MedlinePlus

Diagnostic imaging lets doctors look inside your body for clues about a medical condition. A variety of machines and ... and activities inside your body. The type of imaging your doctor uses depends on your symptoms and ...

Tactility and the body in early Chinese medicine.

PubMed

Hsu, Elisabeth

2005-03-01

If visual inspection of corpses was central to the development of anatomy in modern Europe, one may ask which of the senses was important for the emergence of the predominant currents of scholarly medical knowledge and practice in third- and second-century B.C.E. China? This article argues that it was tactile perception prompted by a tactile exploration of living bodies. The evidence, derived from a close reading of the Mawangdui medical manuscripts, the 105th chapter of the Records of the Historian, and selected passages from the Huang Di's Inner Canon, points to three important trends: first, the tactile exploration of the extremities led to a rich vocabulary of compound words for pain as localized in specific body parts; second, the tactile exploration of the mai gave rise to an even richer vocabulary on qualities of touch in pulse diagnostics; and third, the tactile exploration of the abdomen led to the assessment of the quality of the internal viscera with words that generally were used for describing the tactile quality of skin and flesh. This finding may appear surprising in the light of later developments during the dynastic history of Chinese medicine where tactile exploration of abdomen and extremities would appear unseemly. The author suggests that extensive tactile explorations of the body were possible before Confucius' teachings became a predominant aspect of state ideology.

The Relationship between Traditional Chinese Medicine and Modern Medicine

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

The essence of the traditional Chinese medicine has always been the most advanced and experienced therapeutic approach in the world. It has knowledge that can impact the direction of future modern medical development; still, it is easy to find simple knowledge with mark of times and special cultures. The basic structure of traditional Chinese medicine is composed of three parts: one consistent with modern medicine, one involuntarily beyond modern medicine, and one that needs to be further evaluated. The part that is consistent with modern medicine includes consensus on several theories and concepts of traditional Chinese medicine, and usage of several treatments and prescriptions of traditional Chinese medicine including commonly used Chinese herbs. The part that is involuntarily beyond modern medicine contains several advanced theories and important concepts of traditional Chinese medicine, relatively advanced treatments, formula and modern prescriptions, leading herbs, acupuncture treatment and acupuncture anesthesia of traditional Chinese medicine that affect modern medicine and incorporates massage treatment that has been gradually acknowledged by modern therapy. The part that needs to be further evaluated consists not only the knowledge of pulse diagnosis, prescription, and herbs, but also many other aspects of traditional Chinese medicine. PMID:23983772

Effectiveness of evidence-based medicine training for undergraduate students at a Chinese Military Medical University: a self-controlled trial.

PubMed

Ma, Xiangyu; Xu, Bin; Liu, Qingyun; Zhang, Yao; Xiong, Hongyan; Li, Yafei

2014-07-04

To evaluate the effect of the integration of evidence-based medicine (EBM) into medical curriculum by measuring undergraduate medical students' EBM knowledge, attitudes, personal application, and anticipated future use. A self-controlled trial was conducted with 251 undergraduate students at a Chinese Military Medical University, using a validated questionnaire regarding the students' evidence-based practice (EBP) about knowledge (EBP-K), attitude (EBP-A), personal application (EBP-P), and future anticipated use (EBP-F). The educational intervention was a 20-hour EBM course formally included in the university's medical curriculum, combining lectures with small group discussion and student-teacher exchange sessions. Data were analyzed using paired t-tests to test the significance of the difference between a before and after comparison. The difference between the pre- and post-training scores were statistically significant for EBP-K, EBP-A, EBP-P, and EBP-F. The scores for EBP-P showed the most pronounced percentage change after EBM training (48.97 ± 8.6%), followed by EBP-A (20.83 ± 2.1%), EBP-K (19.21 ± 3.2%), and EBP-F (17.82 ± 5.7%). Stratified analyses by gender, and program subtypes did not result in any significant changes to the results. The integration of EBM into the medical curriculum improved undergraduate medical students' EBM knowledge, attitudes, personal application, and anticipated future use. A well-designed EBM training course and objective outcome measurements are necessary to ensure the optimum learning opportunity for students.

Intimate partner violence education for medical students in the USA, Vietnam and China.

PubMed

Kamimura, A; Al-Obaydi, S; Nguyen, H; Trinh, H N; Mo, W; Doan, P; Franchek-Roa, K

2015-11-01

While intimate partner violence (IPV) is a global concern for women's health, there are few comparative studies of IPV training in medical schools. The aim of this study was to investigate medical students' knowledge of, and training in, IPV in the USA, Vietnam and China. Cross-national, cross-sectional study. US (n = 60), Vietnamese (n = 232) and Chinese (n = 174) medical students participated in a cross-sectional self-administered survey that included demographic characteristics; opinions, training and knowledge regarding IPV against women; and personal experience with IPV victims. Attitudes, knowledge and training about IPV among medical students varied between the three countries. US participants reported higher levels of knowledge of IPV, were more likely to believe that IPV was a serious problem, and were more likely to consider IPV to be a healthcare problem compared with Vietnamese and Chinese participants. Chinese participants, in particular, did not appear to appreciate the importance of addressing IPV. Differences were found between the Vietnamese and Chinese students. While most medical schools in the USA include IPV training within their core medical curricula, education throughout medical school seems to be necessary to improve medical education regarding treatment of patients with a history of IPV. Vietnamese and Chinese medical schools should consider including IPV education in the training of their future physicians to improve the health of women who have experienced IPV. Practical opportunities for medical students to interact with women who have experienced IPV are essential to develop effective IPV education. Copyright © 2015 The Royal Society for Public Health. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

GONADAL AND BONE MARROW DOSE IN MEDICAL DIAGNOSTIC RADIOLOGY

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mahmoud, K.A.; Mahfouz, M.M.; Mahmoud, M.E.

1961-08-01

Measurements were made of the active mean bone marrow, integral bone marrow, gonadal, and maximum skin doses from diagnostic x-ray procedures used in Cairo University Hospitals. The active mean marrow dose in cervical, dorsal, and lumbar spine diagnostic exposures were: found to be somewhat smaller than those reported by some western couatries. One of the most striking results of the survey was the relatively high values of the urinary tract cases investigated diagnostically; owing to the high incidence of urinary tract Schistosomiasis. The gonadal dose delivered to males and females was found to be almosi negligible for all diagnostic investigationsmore » of the spine, except for the lumbo-dorsal region which was within the range 50 to 500 mrads. It was also found that the gonadal dose was significant in investigations of the lower gastrointestinal tract, gall bladder, and urinary tract. (P.C.H.)« less

21 CFR 874.1925 - Toynbee diagnostic tube.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Toynbee diagnostic tube. 874.1925 Section 874.1925...) MEDICAL DEVICES EAR, NOSE, AND THROAT DEVICES Diagnostic Devices § 874.1925 Toynbee diagnostic tube. (a) Identification. The toynbee diagnostic tube is a listening device intended to determine the degree of openness of...

21 CFR 874.1925 - Toynbee diagnostic tube.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Toynbee diagnostic tube. 874.1925 Section 874.1925...) MEDICAL DEVICES EAR, NOSE, AND THROAT DEVICES Diagnostic Devices § 874.1925 Toynbee diagnostic tube. (a) Identification. The toynbee diagnostic tube is a listening device intended to determine the degree of openness of...

[A Chinese patient with pernicious anemia; a medical experience from the Indonesian period].

PubMed

Zuidema, P J

1996-03-09

On May 19th 1952 a 64-year-old Chinese man was admitted to a hospital at Yogyakarta (Indonesia) on account of a sawing noise in both ears and some soreness of the tongue. He had macrocytic anemia (haemoglobin: 3.7 mmol/l) and the tongue showed some smooth patches. A presumptive diagnosis of pernicious anaemia was confirmed by gastric analysis which revealed a histamine fast achlorhydria. On treatment with vitamin B12 the noise in the ears rapidly disappeared and there was a characteristic rise in reticulocytes and haemoglobin content. After 3 years the patient died of inoperable gastric carcinoma. There probably was a hereditary component as in a 54-year-old cousin, who also suffered (and died) from gastric carcinoma, gastric analysis showed a histamine fast achlorhydria. The patient is the first case of pernicious anaemia described in a Chinese resident of Indonesia. A survey of the literature revealed that until now pernicious anaemia has been recorded in 31 Chinese patients, in chronological order from the following countries: U.S (1945), Indonesia (1954), Singapore (1967), Hong-Kong (1969) and China (1990). In the autochthonous Chinese population no case has yet been reported.

Demographic and medication characteristics of traditional Chinese medicine users among dementia patients in Taiwan: a nationwide database study.

PubMed

Lin, Shun-Ku; Tsai, Yueh-Ting; Lai, Jung-Nien; Wu, Chien-Tung

2015-02-23

Few studies have reported on the utilization of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) among dementia patients. The aim of the present study is to analyze factors associated with TCM users in the dementia populations and to investigate the medical conditions related to TCM visits. A total of 18,141 dementia patients were screened from the one million sample of the National Health Insurance Research Database. The dementia patients were then divided into TCM users and non-TCM users according to their medical records between 1997 and 2008. Demographic characteristics included gender, age, insured amount, and geographic location and medical conditions including comorbidity diseases, behavioral and psychological symptoms, and anti-dementia medication were also investigated. Their tendency of TCM usage was investigated using a multivariate logistic regression. In Taiwan, 43.3% dementia patients had sought TCM treatments. The inclination of TCM usage was inversely proportional to age; the younger and early-onset dementia (age less than 55 years) patients constituted the high usage group. Female, living in central Taiwan, and higher insured amount were also associated with higher tendency of TCM use. Multilevel Poisson regression analysis showed that the Adjust odds ratios (OR) of TCM use were 1.80 (95% CI=1.68-1.94), 2.52 (95% CI=2.30-2.76), and 3.41 (95% CI=3.01-3.86) for those with one, two, three or more behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD), respectively compared with dementia sufferers without BPSD. In addition, polypharmacy led to higher utilization of TCM (one type: Adjust OR=1.41, 95% CI=1.28-1.56, two types: Adjust OR=1.97, 95% CI=1.63-2.00; three or more types: Adjust OR=2.95, 95% CI=2.27-2.78). More than 70% TCM visits were treated with Chinese herbal remedies, while others used acupuncture and manipulative therapies. Qi-Ju-Di-Huang-Wan (9.7%) was the most frequently prescribed formula, followed by Jia-Wei-Xiao-Yao-San and Ban

Mandarin Chinese Dictionary: English-Chinese.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wang, Fred Fangyu

This dictionary is a companion volume to the "Mandarin Chinese Dictionary (Chinese-English)" published in 1967 by Seton Hall University. The purpose of the dictionary is to help English-speaking students produce Chinese sentences in certain cultural situations by looking up the English expressions. Natural, spoken Chinese expressions within the…

Myasthenia Gravis: Tests and Diagnostic Methods

MedlinePlus

... Focus on MG Newsletter MG Quarterly Test & Diagnostic methods In addition to a complete medical and neurological ... How can I help? About MGFA Test & Diagnostic methods Treatment for MG FAQ's Upcoming Events 2018 MG ...

Proteomics and syndrome of Chinese medicine

PubMed Central

Lu, Chuan-Li; Qv, Xiao-Ying; Jiang, Jian-Guo

2010-01-01

Abstract Syndrome of Chinese medicine is an understanding of the regularity of disease occurrence and development and its performance of symptoms. Syndrome is the key to recognize diseases and the foundation to treat them. However, because of the complexity of the concept and the limitation of present investigations, the research of syndrome is hard to go further. Proteomics has been received extensive attention in the area of medical diagnosis and drug development. In the holistic and systemic context, proteomics have a convergence with traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) syndrome, which could overcome the one-sidedness and singleness of TCM and avoid the complication and tedious processes. Chinese medicine has a wealth of experience and proteomics has a substantial research potential, the integration of the two aspects will bring a great enhancement of our knowledge of disease. PMID:20874721

Molecular diagnostics of neurodegenerative disorders.

PubMed

Agrawal, Megha; Biswas, Abhijit

2015-01-01

Molecular diagnostics provide a powerful method to detect and diagnose various neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. The confirmation of such diagnosis allows early detection and subsequent medical counseling that help specific patients to undergo clinically important drug trials. This provides a medical pathway to have better insight of neurogenesis and eventual cure of the neurodegenerative diseases. In this short review, we present recent advances in molecular diagnostics especially biomarkers and imaging spectroscopy for neurological diseases. We describe advances made in Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease (PD), Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and Huntington's disease (HD), and finally present a perspective on the future directions to provide a framework for further developments and refinements of molecular diagnostics to combat neurodegenerative disorders.

Uncharted territory: measuring costs of diagnostic errors outside the medical record.

PubMed

Schwartz, Alan; Weiner, Saul J; Weaver, Frances; Yudkowsky, Rachel; Sharma, Gunjan; Binns-Calvey, Amy; Preyss, Ben; Jordan, Neil

2012-11-01

In a past study using unannounced standardised patients (USPs), substantial rates of diagnostic and treatment errors were documented among internists. Because the authors know the correct disposition of these encounters and obtained the physicians' notes, they can identify necessary treatment that was not provided and unnecessary treatment. They can also discern which errors can be identified exclusively from a review of the medical records. To estimate the avoidable direct costs incurred by physicians making errors in our previous study. In the study, USPs visited 111 internal medicine attending physicians. They presented variants of four previously validated cases that jointly manipulate the presence or absence of contextual and biomedical factors that could lead to errors in management if overlooked. For example, in a patient with worsening asthma symptoms, a complicating biomedical factor was the presence of reflux disease and a complicating contextual factor was inability to afford the currently prescribed inhaler. Costs of missed or unnecessary services were computed using Medicare cost-based reimbursement data. Fourteen practice locations, including two academic clinics, two community-based primary care networks with multiple sites, a core safety net provider, and three Veteran Administration government facilities. Contribution of errors to costs of care. Overall, errors in care resulted in predicted costs of approximately $174,000 across 399 visits, of which only $8745 was discernible from a review of the medical records alone (without knowledge of the correct diagnoses). The median cost of error per visit with an incorrect care plan differed by case and by presentation variant within case. Chart reviews alone underestimate costs of care because they typically reflect appropriate treatment decisions conditional on (potentially erroneous) diagnoses. Important information about patient context is often entirely missing from medical records. Experimental

Effect of Accreditation on Accuracy of Diagnostic Tests in Medical Laboratories.

PubMed

Jang, Mi Ae; Yoon, Young Ahn; Song, Junghan; Kim, Jeong Ho; Min, Won Ki; Lee, Ji Sung; Lee, Yong Wha; Lee, You Kyoung

2017-05-01

Medical laboratories play a central role in health care. Many laboratories are taking a more focused and stringent approach to quality system management. In Korea, laboratory standardization efforts undertaken by the Korean Laboratory Accreditation Program (KLAP) and the Korean External Quality Assessment Scheme (KEQAS) may have facilitated an improvement in laboratory performance, but there are no fundamental studies demonstrating that laboratory standardization is effective. We analyzed the results of the KEQAS to identify significant differences between laboratories with or without KLAP and to determine the impact of laboratory standardization on the accuracy of diagnostic tests. We analyzed KEQAS participant data on clinical chemistry tests such as albumin, ALT, AST, and glucose from 2010 to 2013. As a statistical parameter to assess performance bias between laboratories, we compared 4-yr variance index score (VIS) between the two groups with or without KLAP. Compared with the group without KLAP, the group with KLAP exhibited significantly lower geometric means of 4-yr VIS for all clinical chemistry tests (P<0.0001); this difference justified a high level of confidence in standardized services provided by accredited laboratories. Confidence intervals for the mean of each test in the two groups (accredited and non-accredited) did not overlap, suggesting that the means of the groups are significantly different. These results confirmed that practice standardization is strongly associated with the accuracy of test results. Our study emphasizes the necessity of establishing a system for standardization of diagnostic testing. © The Korean Society for Laboratory Medicine

Information-Gathering Patterns Associated with Higher Rates of Diagnostic Error

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Delzell, John E., Jr.; Chumley, Heidi; Webb, Russell; Chakrabarti, Swapan; Relan, Anju

2009-01-01

Diagnostic errors are an important source of medical errors. Problematic information-gathering is a common cause of diagnostic errors among physicians and medical students. The objectives of this study were to (1) determine if medical students' information-gathering patterns formed clusters of similar strategies, and if so (2) to calculate the…

Screening pregnant women for suicidal behavior in electronic medical records: diagnostic codes vs. clinical notes processed by natural language processing.

PubMed

Zhong, Qiu-Yue; Karlson, Elizabeth W; Gelaye, Bizu; Finan, Sean; Avillach, Paul; Smoller, Jordan W; Cai, Tianxi; Williams, Michelle A

2018-05-29

We examined the comparative performance of structured, diagnostic codes vs. natural language processing (NLP) of unstructured text for screening suicidal behavior among pregnant women in electronic medical records (EMRs). Women aged 10-64 years with at least one diagnostic code related to pregnancy or delivery (N = 275,843) from Partners HealthCare were included as our "datamart." Diagnostic codes related to suicidal behavior were applied to the datamart to screen women for suicidal behavior. Among women without any diagnostic codes related to suicidal behavior (n = 273,410), 5880 women were randomly sampled, of whom 1120 had at least one mention of terms related to suicidal behavior in clinical notes. NLP was then used to process clinical notes for the 1120 women. Chart reviews were performed for subsamples of women. Using diagnostic codes, 196 pregnant women were screened positive for suicidal behavior, among whom 149 (76%) had confirmed suicidal behavior by chart review. Using NLP among those without diagnostic codes, 486 pregnant women were screened positive for suicidal behavior, among whom 146 (30%) had confirmed suicidal behavior by chart review. The use of NLP substantially improves the sensitivity of screening suicidal behavior in EMRs. However, the prevalence of confirmed suicidal behavior was lower among women who did not have diagnostic codes for suicidal behavior but screened positive by NLP. NLP should be used together with diagnostic codes for future EMR-based phenotyping studies for suicidal behavior.

Introducing First-Year Medical Students to Early Diagnostic Hypotheses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Taylor, P. J.; And Others

1978-01-01

A method of instruction in gynecology is described that encouraged the formulation of early diagnostic hypotheses, an important part of clinical problem-solving. Students were given a set of clinical clues to help them make broad diagnostic hypotheses. Student ability, results, and student perceptions of the course are provided. (Author/LBH)

21 CFR 886.1380 - Diagnostic condensing lens.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... light from the fundus of the eye. (b) Classification. Class I (general controls). The device is exempt...) MEDICAL DEVICES OPHTHALMIC DEVICES Diagnostic Devices § 886.1380 Diagnostic condensing lens. (a) Identification. A diagnostic condensing lens is a device used in binocular indirect ophthalmoscopy (a procedure...

[Comments on Nigel Wiseman's "A Practical Sictionary of Chinese Medicine"--on Wiseman' s literal translation].

PubMed

Xie, Zhu-fan; Liu, Gan-zhong; Lu, Wei-bo; Fang, Tingyu; Zhang, Qingrong; Wang, Tai; Wang, Kui

2005-10-01

Comments were made on the word-for-word literal translation method used by Mr. Nigel Wiseman in A Practical Dictionary of Chinese Medicine. He believes that only literal translation can reflect Chinese medical concepts accurately. The so-called "word-for-word" translation is actually "English-word-for-Chinese-character" translation. First, he made a list of Single Characters with English Equivalents, and then he replaced each character of Chinese medical terms with the assigned English equivalent. Many English terms thus produced are confusing. The defect of the word-for-word literal translation stems from the erroneous idea that the single character constitutes the basic element of meaning corresponding to the notion of "word" in English, and the meaning of a disyllabic or polysyllabic Chinese word is simply the addition of the meanings of the two or more characters. Another big mistake is the negligence of the polysemy of Chinese characters. One or two English equivalents can by no means cover all the various meanings of a polysemous character as a monosyllabic word. Various examples were cited from this dictionary to illustrate the mistakes.

Thyroid Storm Caused by a Chinese Herb Contaminated with Thyroid Hormones

PubMed Central

St-Onge, Maude; Vandenberghe, Hilde; Thompson, Margaret

2015-01-01

Patient: Male, 70 Final Diagnosis: Thyroid storm Symptoms: Atrial fibrillation • confusion • hyperthermia • tachycardia Medication: — Clinical Procedure: Intubation • cardioversion Specialty: Critical Care Medicine Objective: Adverse events of drug therapy Background: We report a case of thyroid storm caused by consuming a Chinese herb contaminated with thyroid hormones. Case Report: A 70-year-old man presented to an emergency department after 2 days of nausea, vomiting, and weakness. Three days previously, he had started taking Cordyceps powder and “Flower Man Sang Hung” as recommended by his Chinese physician. Following admission, the patient deteriorated and was eventually diagnosed with thyroid storm complicated by rapid atrial fibrillation requiring cardioversion, intubation, and intensive care admission. The analysis of the Chinese herb “Flower Man Sang Hung” was positive for levothyroxine. The patient was extubated 11 days after admission and discharged to a rehabilitation centre after 17 days of hospitalization. The Chinese medicine physician was informed of the events. Conclusions: Herbal products can be the source of illness, medication interactions, and contamination. Awareness should be raised among Chinese medicine physicians, allopathic physicians, and their patients. Clinicians should also have a low threshold of suspicion to seek laboratory analysis of suspect substances when the cause of the clinical presentation is unclear. PMID:25644333

Advances in Patient Classification for Traditional Chinese Medicine: A Machine Learning Perspective

PubMed Central

Zhao, Changbo; Li, Guo-Zheng; Wang, Chengjun; Niu, Jinling

2015-01-01

As a complementary and alternative medicine in medical field, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has drawn great attention in the domestic field and overseas. In practice, TCM provides a quite distinct methodology to patient diagnosis and treatment compared to western medicine (WM). Syndrome (ZHENG or pattern) is differentiated by a set of symptoms and signs examined from an individual by four main diagnostic methods: inspection, auscultation and olfaction, interrogation, and palpation which reflects the pathological and physiological changes of disease occurrence and development. Patient classification is to divide patients into several classes based on different criteria. In this paper, from the machine learning perspective, a survey on patient classification issue will be summarized on three major aspects of TCM: sign classification, syndrome differentiation, and disease classification. With the consideration of different diagnostic data analyzed by different computational methods, we present the overview for four subfields of TCM diagnosis, respectively. For each subfield, we design a rectangular reference list with applications in the horizontal direction and machine learning algorithms in the longitudinal direction. According to the current development of objective TCM diagnosis for patient classification, a discussion of the research issues around machine learning techniques with applications to TCM diagnosis is given to facilitate the further research for TCM patient classification. PMID:26246834

21 CFR 892.1570 - Diagnostic ultrasonic transducer.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Diagnostic ultrasonic transducer. 892.1570 Section 892.1570 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES RADIOLOGY DEVICES Diagnostic Devices § 892.1570 Diagnostic ultrasonic transducer...

21 CFR 890.1850 - Diagnostic muscle stimulator.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Diagnostic muscle stimulator. 890.1850 Section 890.1850 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES PHYSICAL MEDICINE DEVICES Physical Medicine Diagnostic Devices § 890.1850 Diagnostic...

21 CFR 890.1850 - Diagnostic muscle stimulator.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Diagnostic muscle stimulator. 890.1850 Section 890.1850 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES PHYSICAL MEDICINE DEVICES Physical Medicine Diagnostic Devices § 890.1850 Diagnostic...

21 CFR 890.1850 - Diagnostic muscle stimulator.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Diagnostic muscle stimulator. 890.1850 Section 890.1850 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES PHYSICAL MEDICINE DEVICES Physical Medicine Diagnostic Devices § 890.1850 Diagnostic...

21 CFR 890.1850 - Diagnostic muscle stimulator.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Diagnostic muscle stimulator. 890.1850 Section 890.1850 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES PHYSICAL MEDICINE DEVICES Physical Medicine Diagnostic Devices § 890.1850 Diagnostic...

[Analysis of projects funded by NSFC in field of Chinese material medica resource in recent three years].

PubMed

Gao, Wei; Guo, Shu-Zhen; Han, Li-Wei; Zhang, Feng-Zhu

2016-10-01

The paper reviewed the sponsorship and final reports of projects focus on Science of Chinese materia medica resource in Medical Science Department, National Natural Science Foundation of China. The applicant and supportive organizations were analyzed. The progress and results of some projects were summarized by research fields including formation mechanism of Dao-di herbs, research of plant taxonomy, breeding and cultivation of medical plants, ecological and environmental adaptability of Chinese materia medica resource, quality assessment of Chinese materia medica resource, and biosynthesis and regulation of active compounds. In addition, the potential problems and the most and least focused areas in the application were summarized for reference. Copyright© by the Chinese Pharmaceutical Association.

Medical abortion in early pregnancy: experience in China.

PubMed

Cheng, Linan

2006-07-01

When medical abortion was first introduced in China, prostaglandins (PGs) were used alone or in combination with Chinese herbs or steroid drugs, but the results were not satisfactory. Mifepristone is now produced in three companies in China and is commonly used with PGs for medical abortion. We performed a Chinese- and English-language literature review of medical abortion in early pregnancy in China. A large multicenter trial conducted in China showed that, when used with a PGF(2alpha) analogue, the complete abortion rate in women given multiple doses of mifepristone (total, 150 mg) was significantly higher than that in women given a single dose of 200 mg of mifepristone. Oral misoprostol (0.6 mg) with mifepristone is now the most commonly used regimen, with a complete abortion rate of over 93%. In China, medical abortion is currently restricted to pregnancies before 49 days, but some hospitals have recently extended the use of medical abortion to pregnancies beyond 49 days. Prolonged bleeding is the main medical abortion side effect and is more likely to occur if the blood levels of human chorionic gonadotrophin fall slowly or when the gestational sac is big. Prescription of testosterone propionate may reduce the duration of bleeding. Over 80% of Chinese women are satisfied with current medical abortion regimens and will choose medical abortion again if they need to terminate a future unwanted pregnancy. Currently, medical abortion is a safe, efficient and acceptable method for the termination of early pregnancy in China.

The Chinese Life-Steps Program: A Cultural Adaptation of a Cognitive-Behavioral Intervention to Enhance HIV Medication Adherence.

PubMed

Shiu, Cheng-Shi; Chen, Wei-Ti; Simoni, Jane; Fredriksen-Goldsen, Karen; Zhang, Fujie; Zhou, Hongxin

2013-05-01

China is considered to be the new frontier of the global AIDS pandemic. Although effective treatment for HIV is becoming widely available in China, adherence to treatment remains a challenge. This study aimed to adapt an intervention promoting HIV-medication adherence-favorably evaluated in the West-for Chinese HIV-positive patients. The adaptation process was theory-driven and covered several key issues of cultural adaptation. We considered the importance of interpersonal relationships and family in China and cultural notions of health. Using an evidence-based treatment protocol originally designed for Western HIV-positive patients, we developed an 11-step Chinese Life-Steps program with an additional culture-specific intervention option. We describe in detail how the cultural elements were incorporated into the intervention and put into practice at each stage. Clinical considerations are also outlined and followed by two case examples that are provided to illustrate our application of the intervention. Finally, we discuss practical and research issues and limitations emerging from our field experiments in a HIV clinic in Beijing. The intervention was tailored to address both universal and culturally specific barriers to adherence and is readily applicable to generalized clinical settings. This evidence-based intervention provides a case example of the process of adapting behavioral interventions to culturally diverse communities with limited resources.

Benefit-risk Evaluation for Diagnostics: A Framework (BED-FRAME).

PubMed

Evans, Scott R; Pennello, Gene; Pantoja-Galicia, Norberto; Jiang, Hongyu; Hujer, Andrea M; Hujer, Kristine M; Manca, Claudia; Hill, Carol; Jacobs, Michael R; Chen, Liang; Patel, Robin; Kreiswirth, Barry N; Bonomo, Robert A

2016-09-15

The medical community needs systematic and pragmatic approaches for evaluating the benefit-risk trade-offs of diagnostics that assist in medical decision making. Benefit-Risk Evaluation of Diagnostics: A Framework (BED-FRAME) is a strategy for pragmatic evaluation of diagnostics designed to supplement traditional approaches. BED-FRAME evaluates diagnostic yield and addresses 2 key issues: (1) that diagnostic yield depends on prevalence, and (2) that different diagnostic errors carry different clinical consequences. As such, evaluating and comparing diagnostics depends on prevalence and the relative importance of potential errors. BED-FRAME provides a tool for communicating the expected clinical impact of diagnostic application and the expected trade-offs of diagnostic alternatives. BED-FRAME is a useful fundamental supplement to the standard analysis of diagnostic studies that will aid in clinical decision making. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press for the Infectious Diseases Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, e-mail journals.permissions@oup.com.

Effectiveness of evidence-based medicine training for undergraduate students at a Chinese Military Medical University: a self-controlled trial

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background To evaluate the effect of the integration of evidence-based medicine (EBM) into medical curriculum by measuring undergraduate medical students’ EBM knowledge, attitudes, personal application, and anticipated future use. Methods A self-controlled trial was conducted with 251 undergraduate students at a Chinese Military Medical University, using a validated questionnaire regarding the students’ evidence-based practice (EBP) about knowledge (EBP-K), attitude (EBP-A), personal application (EBP-P), and future anticipated use (EBP-F). The educational intervention was a 20-hour EBM course formally included in the university’s medical curriculum, combining lectures with small group discussion and student-teacher exchange sessions. Data were analyzed using paired t-tests to test the significance of the difference between a before and after comparison. Results The difference between the pre- and post-training scores were statistically significant for EBP-K, EBP-A, EBP-P, and EBP-F. The scores for EBP-P showed the most pronounced percentage change after EBM training (48.97 ± 8.6%), followed by EBP-A (20.83 ± 2.1%), EBP-K (19.21 ± 3.2%), and EBP-F (17.82 ± 5.7%). Stratified analyses by gender, and program subtypes did not result in any significant changes to the results. Conclusions The integration of EBM into the medical curriculum improved undergraduate medical students’ EBM knowledge, attitudes, personal application, and anticipated future use. A well-designed EBM training course and objective outcome measurements are necessary to ensure the optimum learning opportunity for students. PMID:24996537

Application of the 2016 diagnostic approach for autoimmune encephalitis from Lancet Neurology to Chinese patients.

PubMed

Li, Lin; Sun, Lin; Du, Rong; Zheng, Yuanchu; Dai, Feifei; Ma, Qiuying; Wang, Jiawei

2017-11-06

immune-modulating therapy immediately. Moreover, the criteria for patients with paraneoplastic syndromes (PNSs) should be considered to avoid diagnosis omission. For Chinese patients, a multi-centre, prospective study on the clinical manifestations, laboratory diagnostic technology, therapy, and prognosis is greatly needed.

The relationship between coping styles and benefit finding of Chinese cancer patients: The mediating role of distress.

PubMed

Liu, Zhunzhun; Zhang, Lanfeng; Cao, Yuerong; Xia, Wenkai; Zhang, Liying

2018-06-01

To identify the relationship of medical coping styles and benefit finding in Chinese early-stage cancer patients by preliminary pilot study. Three hundred and fifty one cancer patients were recruited from the Affiliated Jiangyin Hospital of Southeast University medical college and the Nantong Tumor Hospital in this study. Measurements were Chinese Benefit Finding Scale, Medical Coping Modes Questionnaire- Chinese version and Distress Thermometer. Regression analysis and pathway analysis were employed to identify the correlation of medical coping styles and benefit finding, and the mediating role of distress. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that confrontation coping style explained 24% of the variance in benefit finding, controlling for demographics and medical variables. While confrontation and resignation coping styles explained 10% and 6% of variance in distress separately. Pathway analyses implied that distress was found to mediate the effect of confrontation coping style on benefit finding in our study. Our study suggested an indirect association between medical coping styles and benefit finding, and a negative correlation of distress to medical coping styles and benefit finding. These results indicated that medical coping styles could influence benefit finding through distress. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

21 CFR 886.1390 - Flexible diagnostic Fresnel lens.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Flexible diagnostic Fresnel lens. 886.1390 Section... (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES OPHTHALMIC DEVICES Diagnostic Devices § 886.1390 Flexible diagnostic Fresnel lens. (a) Identification. A flexible diagnostic Fresnel lens is a device that is a very thin lens which has...

SMS-Based Medical Diagnostic Telemetry Data Transmission Protocol for Medical Sensors

PubMed Central

Townsend, Ben; Abawajy, Jemal; Kim, Tai-Hoon

2011-01-01

People with special medical monitoring needs can, these days, be sent home and remotely monitored through the use of data logging medical sensors and a transmission base-station. While this can improve quality of life by allowing the patient to spend most of their time at home, most current technologies rely on hardwired landline technology or expensive mobile data transmissions to transmit data to a medical facility. The aim of this paper is to investigate and develop an approach to increase the freedom of a monitored patient and decrease costs by utilising mobile technologies and SMS messaging to transmit data from patient to medico. To this end, we evaluated the capabilities of SMS and propose a generic communications protocol which can work within the constraints of the SMS format, but provide the necessary redundancy and robustness to be used for the transmission of non-critical medical telemetry from data logging medical sensors. PMID:22163845

Chinese herbal medicines for hyperthyroidism.

PubMed

Zen, X X; Yuan, Y; Liu, Y; Wu, T X; Han, S

2007-04-18

Hyperthyroidism is a disease in which excessive amounts of thyroid hormones circulate in the blood. Patients, among other things suffer from tachycardia, warm moist skin and raised body temperature. The treatment of hyperthyroidism includes symptom relief and therapy with antithyroid medications, radioiodine and thyroidectomy. Medicinal herbs are used alone or in combination with antithyroid agents to treat hyperthyroidism in China and some other countries. To assess the effects of Chinese herbal medicines for treating hyperthyroidism. Studies were obtained from computerised searches of MEDLINE, EMBASE, The Cochrane Library, the Chinese Biomedical Database. Randomised controlled trials comparing the effects of Chinese herbal medicines alone with Chinese herbal medicines combined with antithyroid drugs, radioiodine or both. Three authors interviewed authors of all potentially relevant studies by telephone to verify randomisation procedures. One author entered data into a data extraction form and another author verified the results of this procedure. Thirteen relevant trials with 1770 participants were included. All of them were of low quality. Fifty-two studies still need to be assessed because the original authors could not be interviewed. None of these trials analysed mortality, health related quality of life, economic outcomes or compliance. Compared to antithyroid drugs alone the results showed that Chinese herbal medicines combined with antithyroid drugs may offer benefits in lowering relapse rates, reducing the incidence of adverse effects, relieving symptoms, improving thyroid antibody status and thyroid function. Two trials investigated Chinese herbal medicine versus radioiodine and reported improvements in anxiety, tachycardia and heat intolerance. However, thyroid function - with the exception of restored thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) - was not significantly altered. The results suggest that traditional Chinese herbal medicines added to other routine

[Analysis on traditional Chinese medicine prescriptions treating cancer based on traditional Chinese medicine inheritance assistance system and discovery of new prescriptions].

PubMed

Yu, Ming; Cao, Qi-chen; Su, Yu-xi; Sui, Xin; Yang, Hong-jun; Huang, Lu-qi; Wang, Wen-ping

2015-08-01

Malignant tumor is one of the main causes for death in the world at present as well as a major disease seriously harming human health and life and restricting the social and economic development. There are many kinds of reports about traditional Chinese medicine patent prescriptions, empirical prescriptions and self-made prescriptions treating cancer, and prescription rules were often analyzed based on medication frequency. Such methods were applicable for discovering dominant experience but hard to have an innovative discovery and knowledge. In this paper, based on the traditional Chinese medicine inheritance assistance system, the software integration of mutual information improvement method, complex system entropy clustering and unsupervised entropy-level clustering data mining methods was adopted to analyze the rules of traditional Chinese medicine prescriptions for cancer. Totally 114 prescriptions were selected, the frequency of herbs in prescription was determined, and 85 core combinations and 13 new prescriptions were indentified. The traditional Chinese medicine inheritance assistance system, as a valuable traditional Chinese medicine research-supporting tool, can be used to record, manage, inquire and analyze prescription data.

Medical education: Changes and perspectives

PubMed Central

Zhang, Qin; Lee, Liming; Gruppen, Larry D.; Ba, Denian

2013-01-01

As medical education undergoes significant internationalization, it is important for the medical education community to understand how different countries structure and provide medical education. This article highlights the current landscape of medical education in China, particularly the changes that have taken place in recent years. It also examines policies and offers suggestions about future strategies for medical education in China. Although many of these changes reflect international trends, Chinese medical education has seen unique transformations that reflect its particular culture and history. PMID:23631405

Development and validation of the Acculturative Stress Scale for Chinese College Students in the United States (ASSCS).

PubMed

Bai, Jieru

2016-04-01

Chinese students are the biggest ethnic group of international students in the United States. This study aims to develop a reliable and valid scale to accurately measure their acculturative stress. A 72-item pool was sent online to Chinese students and a five-factor scale of 32 items was generated by exploratory factor analysis. The five factors included language insufficiency, social isolation, perceived discrimination, academic pressure, and guilt toward family. The Acculturative Stress Scale for Chinese Students demonstrated high reliability and initial validity by predicting depression and life satisfaction. It was the first Chinese scale of acculturative stress developed and validated among a Chinese student sample in the United States. In the future, the scale can be used as a diagnostic tool by mental health professionals and a self-assessment tool by Chinese students. (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved.

Impact of Culture on Breast Cancer Screening in Chinese American Women

DTIC Science & Technology

2004-09-01

health fairs, churches, and Chinese New Year Celebrations to introduce this study. Chinese-language recruitment flyers were distributed at these events...your medical care? [READ CATEGORIES] Yes No 6.1 Lack of transportation 1 2 6.2 Difficulty in getting an appointment 1 2 6.3 Lack of a babysitter 1 2...10 Lack of a babysitter ......................................................... 11 No or only partial insurance

Evidence assessing the diagnostic performance of medical smartphone apps: a systematic review and exploratory meta-analysis.

PubMed

Buechi, Rahel; Faes, Livia; Bachmann, Lucas M; Thiel, Michael A; Bodmer, Nicolas S; Schmid, Martin K; Job, Oliver; Lienhard, Kenny R

2017-12-14

The number of mobile applications addressing health topics is increasing. Whether these apps underwent scientific evaluation is unclear. We comprehensively assessed papers investigating the diagnostic value of available diagnostic health applications using inbuilt smartphone sensors. Systematic Review-MEDLINE, Scopus, Web of Science inclusive Medical Informatics and Business Source Premier (by citation of reference) were searched from inception until 15 December 2016. Checking of reference lists of review articles and of included articles complemented electronic searches. We included all studies investigating a health application that used inbuilt sensors of a smartphone for diagnosis of disease. The methodological quality of 11 studies used in an exploratory meta-analysis was assessed with the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies 2 tool and the reporting quality with the 'STAndards for the Reporting of Diagnostic accuracy studies' (STARD) statement. Sensitivity and specificity of studies reporting two-by-two tables were calculated and summarised. We screened 3296 references for eligibility. Eleven studies, most of them assessing melanoma screening apps, reported 17 two-by-two tables. Quality assessment revealed high risk of bias in all studies. Included papers studied 1048 subjects (758 with the target conditions and 290 healthy volunteers). Overall, the summary estimate for sensitivity was 0.82 (95 % CI 0.56 to 0.94) and 0.89 (95 %CI 0.70 to 0.97) for specificity. The diagnostic evidence of available health apps on Apple's and Google's app stores is scarce. Consumers and healthcare professionals should be aware of this when using or recommending them. 42016033049. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

Factor structure of the Chinese version of the Meaning in Life Questionnaire among Hong Kong Chinese caregivers.

PubMed

Chan, Wallace Chi Ho

2014-08-01

This study examines the factor structure of the Chinese version of the Meaning in Life Questionnaire (C-MLQ) in a sample of Hong Kong Chinese caregivers of patients with chronic illness (N = 223). Confirmatory factor analysis was performed to examine the factor structure. Findings confirm that, identical to the original version, C-MLQ showed the same two-factor structure: Presence and Search. Correlation between Presence and Search was found to be positive and moderate (r = .47). This study establishes empirically the same factor structure as the original version of MLQ among caregivers in Hong Kong. The relationship between Presence and Meaning is discussed in the contexts of Chinese culture and caregiving. Results suggest caregivers' continuing need for meaning in life. Medical social workers may help caregivers to integrate their caregiving experience with their sense of meaning in life and search for meaning in life to sustain their caregiving role.

Lifetime Prevalence and Correlates of Schizophrenia-Spectrum, Affective, and Other Non-affective Psychotic Disorders in the Chinese Adult Population.

PubMed

Chang, Wing Chung; Wong, Corine Sau Man; Chen, Eric Yu Hai; Lam, Linda Chiu Wa; Chan, Wai Chi; Ng, Roger Man Kin; Hung, Se Fong; Cheung, Eric Fuk Chi; Sham, Pak Chung; Chiu, Helen Fung Kum; Lam, Ming; Lee, Edwin Ho Ming; Chiang, Tin Po; Chan, Lap Kei; Lau, Gary Kar Wai; Lee, Allen Ting Chun; Leung, Grace Tak Yu; Leung, Joey Shuk Yan; Lau, Joseph Tak Fai; van Os, Jim; Lewis, Glyn; Bebbington, Paul

2017-10-21

Lifetime prevalence of psychotic disorders varies widely across studies. Epidemiological surveys have rarely examined prevalences of specific psychotic disorders other than schizophrenia, and the majority used a single-phase design without employing clinical reappraisal interview for diagnostic verification. The current study investigated lifetime prevalence, correlates and service utilization of schizophrenia-spectrum, affective, and other non-affective psychotic disorders in a representative sample of community-dwelling Chinese adult population aged 16-75 years (N = 5719) based on a territory-wide, population-based household survey for mental disorders in Hong Kong. The survey adopted a 2-phase design comprising first-phase psychosis screening and second-phase diagnostic verification incorporating clinical information from psychiatrist-administered semi-structured interview and medical record review to ascertain DSM-IV lifetime diagnosis for psychotic disorders. Data on sociodemographics, psychosocial characteristics and service utilization were collected. Our results showed that lifetime prevalence was 2.47% for psychotic disorder overall, 1.25% for schizophrenia, 0.15% for delusional disorder, 0.38% for psychotic disorder not otherwise specified, 0.31% for bipolar disorder with psychosis, and 0.33% for depressive disorder with psychosis. Schizophrenia-spectrum disorder was associated with family history of psychosis, cigarette smoking and variables indicating socioeconomic disadvantage. Victimization experiences were significantly related to affective psychoses and other non-affective psychoses. Around 80% of participants with any psychotic disorder sought some kind of professional help for mental health problems in the past year. Using comprehensive diagnostic assessment involving interview and record data, our results indicate that approximately 2.5% of Chinese adult population had lifetime psychotic disorder which represents a major public health concern. �

[The technological innovation strategy for quality control of Chinese medicine based on Big Data].

PubMed

Li, Zhen-hao; Qian, Zhong-zhi; Cheng, Yi-yu

2015-09-01

The evolution of the quality control concepts of medical products within the global context and the development of the quality control technology of Chinese medicine are briefly described. Aimed at the bottlenecks in the regulation and quality control of Chinese medicine, using Big Data technology to address the significant challenges in Chinese medicine industry is proposed. For quality standard refinements and internationalization of Chinese medicine, a technological innovation strategy encompassing its methodology, and the R&D direction of the subsequent core technology are also presented.

Application of Toxic Chinese Medicine in Chinese Pharmacopoeia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Hui; Feng, Yu; Mao, Mingsan

2018-01-01

Objective: Explore the application characteristics of proprietary Chinese medicine prescriptions containing toxic herbs in pharmacopoeia. Methods: In this paper, according to the clinical application of pharmacopoeia proprietary Chinese medicine is divided into table agent, Qushu agent, diarrhea agent, heat agent, Wen Li agent, cough and asthma agents, resuscitation agent, Gutian agent, Fuzheng agent, Anshen agent, hemostatic agent, The traditional Chinese medicine prescription and the clinical application of the Chinese herbal medicine containing the toxic Chinese medicine were analyzed and sorted out., Summed up the compatibility of toxic herbs and application characteristics. Results: Toxic Chinese herbal medicine in the cure of traditional Chinese medicine to play a long-standing role, through the overall thinking, dialectical thinking, and thinking of toxic Chinese medicine in the analysis of Chinese medicine that [2], toxic Chinese medicine in the application of proprietary Chinese medicine can not lack. Conclusion: Pharmacopoeia included proprietary Chinese medicine not only in the clinical treatment of good, but also the application of its toxic traditional Chinese medicine and its understanding of the enrichment of the toxic characteristics of traditional Chinese medicine and treatment-related disease pathology between the points of contact for patients with clinical applications Based on and theoretical guidance of Chinese medicine [3].

Towards intelligent diagnostic system employing integration of mathematical and engineering model

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Isa, Nor Ashidi Mat

The development of medical diagnostic system has been one of the main research fields during years. The goal of the medical diagnostic system is to place a nosological system that could ease the diagnostic evaluation normally performed by scientists and doctors. Efficient diagnostic evaluation is essentials and requires broad knowledge in order to improve conventional diagnostic system. Several approaches on developing the medical diagnostic system have been designed and tested since the earliest 60s. Attempts on improving their performance have been made which utilizes the fields of artificial intelligence, statistical analyses, mathematical model and engineering theories. With the availability ofmore » the microcomputer and software development as well as the promising aforementioned fields, medical diagnostic prototypes could be developed. In general, the medical diagnostic system consists of several stages, namely the 1) data acquisition, 2) feature extraction, 3) feature selection, and 4) classifications stages. Data acquisition stage plays an important role in converting the inputs measured from the real world physical conditions to the digital numeric values that can be manipulated by the computer system. One of the common medical inputs could be medical microscopic images, radiographic images, magnetic resonance image (MRI) as well as medical signals such as electrocardiogram (ECG) and electroencephalogram (EEG). Normally, the scientist or doctors have to deal with myriad of data and redundant to be processed. In order to reduce the complexity of the diagnosis process, only the significant features of the raw data such as peak value of the ECG signal or size of lesion in the mammogram images will be extracted and considered in the subsequent stages. Mathematical models and statistical analyses will be performed to select the most significant features to be classified. The statistical analyses such as principal component analysis and discriminant analysis