Design and Development of an Automated, Portable and Handheld Tablet Personal Computer-Based Data Acquisition System for Monitoring Electromyography Signals During Rehabilitation.

Design and development of an automated, portable and handheld tablet personal computer-based data acquisition system for monitoring electromyography signals during rehabilitation.

Proc Inst Mech Eng H. 2013 Mar; 227(3): 262-74
Ahamed NU, Sundaraj K, Poo TS

This article describes the design of a robust, inexpensive, easy-to-use, small, and portable online electromyography acquisition system for monitoring electromyography signals during rehabilitation. This single-channel (one-muscle) system was connected via the universal serial bus port to a programmable Windows operating system handheld tablet personal computer for storage and analysis of the data by the end user. The raw electromyography signals were amplified in order to convert them to an observable scale. The inherent noise of 50 Hz (Malaysia) from power lines electromagnetic interference was then eliminated using a single-hybrid IC notch filter. These signals were sampled by a signal processing module and converted into 24-bit digital data. An algorithm was developed and programmed to transmit the digital data to the computer, where it was reassembled and displayed in the computer using software. Finally, the following device was furnished with the graphical user interface to display the online muscle strength streaming signal in a handheld tablet personal computer. This battery-operated system was tested on the biceps brachii muscles of 20 healthy subjects, and the results were compared to those obtained with a commercial single-channel (one-muscle) electromyography acquisition system. The results obtained using the developed device when compared to those obtained from a commercially available physiological signal monitoring system for activities involving muscle contractions were found to be comparable (the comparison of various statistical parameters) between male and female subjects. In addition, the key advantage of this developed system over the conventional desktop personal computer-based acquisition systems is its portability due to the use of a tablet personal computer in which the results are accessible graphically as well as stored in text (comma-separated value) form. HubMed – rehab

 

Review of secondary alveolar cleft repair.

Ann Maxillofac Surg. 2013 Jan; 3(1): 46-50
Cho-Lee GY, García-Díez EM, Nunes RA, Martí-Pagès C, Sieira-Gil R, Rivera-Baró A

The alveolar cleft is a bony defect that is present in 75% of the patients with cleft lip and palate. Although secondary alveolar cleft repair is commonly accepted for these patients, nowadays, controversy still remains regarding the surgical technique, the timing of the surgery, the donor site, and whether the use of allogenic materials improve the outcomes. The purpose of the present review was to evaluate the protocol, the surgical technique and the outcomes in a large population of patients with alveolar clefts that underwent secondary alveolar cleft repair.A total of 109 procedures in 90 patients with alveolar cleft were identified retrospectively after institutional review board approval was obtained. The patients were treated at a single institution during a period of 10 years (2001-2011). Data were collected regarding demographics, type of cleft, success parameters of the procedure (oronasal fistulae closure, unification of the maxillary segments, eruption and support of anterior teeth, support to the base of the nose, normal ridge form for prosthetic rehabilitation), donor site morbidity, and complications. Pre- and postoperative radiological examination was performed by means of orthopantomogram and computed tomography (CT) scan.The average patient age was 14.2 years (range 4-21.3 years). There were 4 right alveolar-lip clefts, 9 left alveolar-lip clefts, 3 bilateral alveolar-lip clefts, 18 right palate-lip clefts, 40 left palate-lip clefts and 16 bilateral palate-lip clefts. All the success parameters were favorable in 87 patients. Iliac crest bone grafts were employed in all cases. There were three bone graft losses. In three cases, allogenic materials used in a first surgery performed in other centers, underwent infection and lacked consolidation. They were removed and substituted by autogenous iliac crest bone graft.THE USE OF AUTOGENOUS ILIAC CREST FOR SECONDARY ALVEOLAR BONE GRAFTING ACHIEVES ALL THESE SEVERAL OBJECTIVES: (1) to obtain maxillary arch continuity, (2) to maximize bone support for the dentition, (3) to stabilize the maxillary segments after orthodontic treatment, (4) to eliminate oronasal fistulae, (5) to provide nasal alar cartilage support, (6) to establish ideal alveolar morphology, and (7) to provide available bone with attached soft tissue for future endosteal implant placement in cases where there is a residual dental space. We advocate for the use of a minimal incision to obtain the iliac crest bone graft and for the use of a corticocancellous block of bone in combination with bone chips. HubMed – rehab

 

Encoding scratch and scrape features for wear modeling of total joint replacements.

Comput Math Methods Med. 2013; 2013: 624267
Kruger KM, Tikekar NM, Heiner AD, Baer TE, Lannutti JJ, Callaghan JJ, Brown TD

Damage to hard bearing surfaces of total joint replacement components typically includes both thin discrete scratches and broader areas of more diffuse scraping. Traditional surface metrology parameters such as average roughness (R a) or peak asperity height (R p) are not well suited to quantifying those counterface damage features in a manner allowing their incorporation into models predictive of polyethylene wear. A diffused lighting technique, which had been previously developed to visualize these microscopic damage features on a global implant level, also allows damaged regions to be automatically segmented. These global-level segmentations in turn provide a basis for performing high-resolution optical profilometry (OP) areal scans, to quantify the microscopic-level damage features. Algorithms are here reported by means of which those imaged damage features can be encoded for input into finite element (FE) wear simulations. A series of retrieved clinically failed implant femoral heads analyzed in this manner exhibited a wide range of numbers and severity of damage features. Illustrative results from corresponding polyethylene wear computations are also presented. HubMed – rehab

 

Effectively managing intractable central hyperthermia in a stroke patient by bromocriptine: a case report.

Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat. 2013; 9: 605-8
Yu KW, Huang YH, Lin CL, Hong CZ, Chou LW

Central hyperthermia is characterized by a rapid onset, high temperature, marked temperature fluctuation, and poor response to antipyretics and antibiotics. Although poststroke central hyperthermia is common, prolonged instances are rare. We report a case of prolonged central fever after an intracranial hemorrhage. Before the accurate diagnosis and management of central fever, the patient underwent long-term antibiotic use that led to pseudomembranous colitis. Bromocriptine was used to treat the prolonged central hyperthermia, after which the fever did not exceed 39°C. A week later, the body temperature baseline was reduced to 37°C and a low-grade fever with minor temperature fluctuation occurred only a few times. No fever occurred in the month following the treatment. After the fever subsided, the patient could undergo an aggressive rehabilitation program. HubMed – rehab

 


 

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