A comparison of perceived image quality between computer display monitors and augmented reality smart glasses.

INTRODUCTION: Augmented-reality (AR) smart glasses provide an alternative to standard computer display monitors (CDM). AR smart glasses may provide an opportunity to improve visualisation during fluoroscopy and interventional radiology (IR) procedures when there can be difficulty in viewing intra-procedural images on a CDM. The aim of this study was to evaluate radiographer perception of image quality (IQ) when comparing CDM and AR smart glasses. METHODS: 38 radiographers attending an international congress evaluated ten fluoroscopic-guided surgery and IR images on both a CDM (1920 × 1200 pixels) and a set of Epson Moverio BT-40 AR smart glasses (1920 × 1080 pixels). Participants provided oral responses to pre-defined IQ questions generated by study researchers. Summative IQ scores for each participant/image were compared between CDM and AR smart glasses. RESULTS: Of the 38 participants, the mean age was 39 ± 1 years. 23 (60.5%) participants required corrective glasses. In terms of generalisability, participants were from 12 different countries, the majority (n = 9, 23.7%) from the United Kingdom. For eight out of ten images, the AR smart glasses demonstrated a statistically significant increase in perceived IQ (median [IQR] 2.0 [-1.0 to 7.0] points) when compared to the CDM. CONCLUSION: AR smart glasses appear to show improvements in perceived IQ when compared to a CDM. AR smart glasses could provide an option for improving the experiences of radiographers involved in image-guided procedures and should be subject to further clinical evaluations. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Opportunities exist to improve perceived IQ for radiographers when reviewing fluoroscopy and IR images. AR smart glasses should be further evaluated as a potential opportunity to improve practice when visual attention is split between positioning equipment and image review.

Radiation protection value to the operator from augmented reality smart glasses in interventional fluoroscopy procedures using phantoms.

INTRODUCTION: Smart glasses can be adapted to display radiographic images to allow clinician's gaze not to be directionally fixed or predetermined by computer monitor location. This study presents an analysis of eye lens dose during interventional fluoroscopy guided procedures, comparing fixed monitor positions against the use of smart glasses. METHODS: Using a head phantom (simulating the clinician), thermoluminescent dosimeters and lead shielded glasses, the dose to the eye was measured for different head 'rotations and tilts' for: gaze directed towards the main scattering source (patient/primary beam) to represent potential gaze direction if smart glasses are used; gaze directed to a range of potential computer monitor positions. An anthropomorphic pelvis phantom was utilised to simulate the patient. Accumulated dose rates (µGy s-1) from five 10-second exposures at 75 kV 25.2 mAs were recorded. RESULTS: An average DAP reading of 758.84 cGy cm2 was measured during each 10 second exposure. Whilst wearing lead shielded glasses a 6.10 - fold reduction in dose rate to the lens is possible (p < 0.05). Influence of the direction of gaze by the clinician demonstrated a wide range of dose rate reduction from 3.13% (p = 0.16) to 143.69% (p < 0.05) when the clinician's gaze was towards the main scattering source. Increased dose rate to the clinician's eyes was received despite wearing lead shielded glasses, as the angle of gaze moved 45° and 90° from 0°. CONCLUSION: If the clinician's gaze is directed towards the main scattering source a potential exists for reducing eye lens dose compared with fixed location computer monitors. Introduction of lead lined smart glasses into interventional radiology may lead to improvements in patient care, reducing the need for the clinician to look away from the patient to observe a radiographic image.

Cognitive functioning, aging, and work: A review and recommendations for research and practice.

There is a larger proportion and number of older adults in the labor force than ever before. Furthermore, older adults in the workforce are working until later ages. Although a great deal of research has examined physical health and well-being of working older adults, less research has focused on cognitive functioning. The purpose of this article is to provide a broad contemporary and multidisciplinary review of the intersection between cognitive functioning, aging, and work as a follow-up to a paper previously written by Fisher et al. (2014). We begin by providing definitions and background about cognitive functioning and how it changes over the life span. Next we discuss theories relevant to the intersection of cognitive functioning and work, including the use-it-or-lose-it hypothesis, the cognitive reserve hypothesis, hypotheses regarding environmental influences on intellectual functioning, and the job-demands-resources model. Then we summarize recent research about the effects of work on cognitive functioning, as well as ways that cognitive functioning may influence work motivation, learning, development, training, and safety. We conclude by emphasizing the importance of person-environment fit, suggesting avenues for future research, and discussing practical implications for the field of occupational health psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record

Intensive occlusion therapy for amblyopia.

AIM: To study the effects of supervised inpatient occlusion treatment for amblyopia in children who had failed to respond to outpatient treatment. METHODS: A retrospective study of 39 children admitted to a paediatric ophthalmic ward for 5 days of supervised intensive occlusion therapy having previously failed to respond to outpatient occlusion. Visual acuity of amblyopic and fellow eyes was recorded at each clinic visit before admission, daily during admission, and at each outpatient visit after discharge. RESULTS: There was no significant overall improvement in visual acuity during a mean of 9 months of attempted outpatient occlusion before admission. During the 5 days of admission 26 children (67%) gained at least one line of acuity in their amblyopic eye and five (13%) gained three or more lines (mean gain 1.03 Snellen lines). The acuities of both the amblyopic and fellow eyes subsequently improved with continuing part time patching as an outpatient, including in nine of the children who did not respond during admission. At the last recorded visit, at a median time of 14 months after discharge, 13 (33%) of the patients had an acuity of at least 6/12 in their amblyopic eye. CONCLUSIONS: The acuity of amblyopic eyes did not improve without effective treatment. Subsequent supervised inpatient occlusion therapy was effective in the majority of the children.

The clinical features of albinism and their correlation with visual evoked potentials.

AIM: To investigate the relation between the clinical and electrophysiological abnormalities of patients undergoing visual evoked potential investigation for albinism. METHODS: 40 subjects with a probable or possible clinical diagnosis of albinism underwent pattern appearance and/or flash visual evoked potential (VEP) examination. The VEP findings are correlated with the clinical features of albinism determined by clinical examination and orthoptic assessment. RESULTS: The majority of patients with clinical evidence of albinism showed a contralateral predominance in the VEPs. There was close correlation between the clinical signs of albinism and the degree of contralateral VEP predominance. This manifested as an interhemispheric latency asymmetry to monocular pattern appearance stimulation but amplitude asymmetry to flash stimulation. The strongest correlation for pattern appearance interhemispheric latency difference was with foveal hypoplasia (rho = 0.58; p = 0.0003) followed by nystagmus (rho = 0.48; p = 0.0027) and iris transillumination (rho = 0.33; p = 0.039). The VEP abnormalities were of greater magnitude in those patients with most features of albinism. Several patients with apparently mild disorders of ocular pigmentation had small but significantly abnormal VEP latency asymmetries. CONCLUSION: There is a strong association between the magnitude of the interhemispheric latency asymmetry of the pattern appearance VEP, and of amplitude asymmetry of the flash VEP, with the clinical signs of albinism. The data are consistent with a spectrum of abnormalities in albinism involving both clinical expression and electrophysiological misrouting, which is wider than previously recognised.

Low dose choline chloride in cerebellar degeneration.

Sixteen patients with cerebellar degeneration were treated with oral choline chloride for six weeks at doses of 3 and 6 g daily. Two patients improved with choline but another four improved with placebo. Choline chloride in a dose of 3-6 g daily is no better than placebo in improving ataxia due to cerebellar degeneration.

Water content, lens hardness and cataract appearance.

Hardening of a cataractous lens is associated with the clinical appearance of brunescence and advancing age. Alterations in the nature and concentration of proteins, lens fibre compaction and other biochemical changes may all be contributing factors towards increased hardness. As the nucleus confers most of the rigidity to the lens and water content decreases towards the centre of the nucleus, the hardness might be thought to be related to total water content. To study the relationship between water content, hardness and the clinical appearance of cataract, 135 lenses were obtained from eyes undergoing extracapsular cataract surgery. The cataracts were assessed and classified pre-operatively. Lens hardness was determined by a specially designed guillotine and water content was measured by weighing the lens before and after desiccation. A regression analysis was carried out to look at the variation of lens water content with hardness, degree of nuclear sclerosis, extent of cortical and posterior subcapsular cataract, vacuolation and age. Multivariate analysis of data demonstrated a relationship between lens hardness and lens water content, degree of nuclear sclerosis and age (R2 = 0.59). An association could not be detected between lens water content and age, degree of nuclear sclerosis, extent of cortical and posterior subcapsular cataract and vacuoles. This study suggests that hardening of the lens is reflected by a respective decrease in water content. Increased hardness is associated with coloration and advancing age.

Hydrogen peroxide from the oxidative burst is neither necessary nor sufficient for hypersensitive cell death induction, phenylalanine ammonia lyase stimulation, salicylic acid accumulation, or scopoletin consumption in cultured tobacco cells treated with elicitin.

H(2)O(2) from the oxidative burst, cell death, and defense responses such as the production of phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL), salicylic acid (SA), and scopoletin were analyzed in cultured tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) cells treated with three proteinaceous elicitors: two elicitins (alpha-megaspermin and beta-megaspermin) and one glycoprotein. These three proteins have been isolated from Phytophthora megasperma H20 and have been previously shown to be equally efficient in inducing a hypersensitive response (HR) upon infiltration into tobacco leaves. However, in cultured tobacco cells these elicitors exhibited strikingly different biological activities. beta-Megaspermin was the only elicitor that caused cell death and induced a strong, biphasic H(2)O(2) burst. Both elicitins stimulated PAL activity similarly and strongly, while the glycoprotein caused only a slight increase. Only elicitins induced SA accumulation and scopoletin consumption, and beta-megaspermin was more efficient. To assess the role of H(2)O(2) in HR cell death and defense response expression in elicitin-treated cells, a gain and loss of function strategy was used. Our results indicated that H(2)O(2) was neither necessary nor sufficient for HR cell death, PAL activation, or SA accumulation, and that extracellular H(2)O(2) was not a direct cause of intracellular scopoletin consumption.

Synthesis and biological evaluation of carbocyclic analogues of lipid X: new nonpolar antagonists of LPS induced TNF production.

We have synthesised a number of analogues of lipid X, a precursor in the biosynthesis of LPS, some of which exhibit marked antagonism of LPS induced TNF production in vivo. These compounds provide new non-polar leads in the search for a therapy for endotoxic shock.