Comparing the compensatory reserve metric obtained from invasive arterial measurements and photoplethysmographic volume-clamp during simulated hemorrhage.

PURPOSE: The compensatory reserve metric (CRM) is a novel tool to predict cardiovascular decompensation during hemorrhage. The CRM is traditionally computed using waveforms obtained from photoplethysmographic volume-clamp (PPGVC), yet invasive arterial pressures may be uniquely available. We aimed to examine the level of agreement of CRM values computed from invasive arterial-derived waveforms and values computed from PPGVC-derived waveforms. METHODS: Sixty-nine participants underwent graded lower body negative pressure to simulate hemorrhage. Waveform measurements from a brachial arterial catheter and PPGVC finger-cuff were collected. A PPGVC brachial waveform was reconstructed from the PPGVC finger waveform. Thereafter, CRM values were computed using a deep one-dimensional convolutional neural network for each of the following source waveforms; (1) invasive arterial, (2) PPGVC brachial, and (3) PPGVC finger. Bland-Altman analyses were used to determine the level of agreement between invasive arterial CRM values and PPGVC CRM values, with results presented as the Mean Bias [95% Limits of Agreement]. RESULTS: The mean bias between invasive arterial- and PPGVC brachial CRM values at rest, an applied pressure of -45mmHg, and at tolerance was 6% [-17%, 29%], 1% [-28%, 30%], and 0% [-25%, 25%], respectively. Additionally, the mean bias between invasive arterial- and PPGVC finger CRM values at rest, applied pressure of -45mmHg, and tolerance was 2% [-22%, 26%], 8% [-19%, 35%], and 5% [-15%, 25%], respectively. CONCLUSION: There is generally good agreement between CRM values obtained from invasive arterial waveforms and values obtained from PPGVC waveforms. Invasive arterial waveforms may serve as an alternative for computation of the CRM.

Perceived Age as a Mortality and Comorbidity Predictor: A Systematic Review.

INTRODUCTION: Perceived age is defined as how old a person looks to external evaluators. It reflects the underlying biological age, which is a measure based on physical and physiological parameters reflecting a person's aging process more accurately than chronological age. People with a higher biological age have shorter lives compared to those with a lower biological age with the same chronological age. Our review aims to find whether increased perceived age is a risk factor for overall mortality risk or comorbidities. METHODS: A literature search of three databases was conducted following the PRISMA guidelines for studies analyzing perceived age or isolated facial characteristics of old age and their relationship to mortality risk or comorbidity outcomes. Data on the number of patients, type and characteristics of evaluation methods, evaluator characteristics, mean chronologic age, facial characteristics studied, measured outcomes, and study results were collected. RESULTS: Out of 977 studies, 15 fulfilled the inclusion criteria. These studies found an increase in mortality risk of 6-51% in older-looking people compared to controls (HR 1.06-1.51, p < 0.05). In addition, perceived age and some facial characteristics of old age were also associated with cardiovascular risk and myocardial infarction, cognitive function, bone mineral density, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). CONCLUSION: Perceived age promises to be a clinically useful predictor of overall mortality and cardiovascular, pulmonary, cognitive, and osseous comorbidities. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE III: This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266 .

AI-Enabled Advanced Development for Assessing Low Circulating Blood Volume for Emergency Medical Care: Comparison of Compensatory Reserve Machine-Learning Algorithms.

The application of artificial intelligence (AI) has provided new capabilities to develop advanced medical monitoring sensors for detection of clinical conditions of low circulating blood volume such as hemorrhage. The purpose of this study was to compare for the first time the discriminative ability of two machine learning (ML) algorithms based on real-time feature analysis of arterial waveforms obtained from a non-invasive continuous blood pressure system (Finometer®) signal to predict the onset of decompensated shock: the compensatory reserve index (CRI) and the compensatory reserve metric (CRM). One hundred ninety-one healthy volunteers underwent progressive simulated hemorrhage using lower body negative pressure (LBNP). The least squares means and standard deviations for each measure were assessed by LBNP level and stratified by tolerance status (high vs. low tolerance to central hypovolemia). Generalized Linear Mixed Models were used to perform repeated measures logistic regression analysis by regressing the onset of decompensated shock on CRI and CRM. Sensitivity and specificity were assessed by calculation of receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) area under the curve (AUC) for CRI and CRM. Values for CRI and CRM were not distinguishable across levels of LBNP independent of LBNP tolerance classification, with CRM ROC AUC (0.9268) being statistically similar (p = 0.134) to CRI ROC AUC (0.9164). Both CRI and CRM ML algorithms displayed discriminative ability to predict decompensated shock to include individual subjects with varying levels of tolerance to central hypovolemia. Arterial waveform feature analysis provides a highly sensitive and specific monitoring approach for the detection of ongoing hemorrhage, particularly for those patients at greatest risk for early onset of decompensated shock and requirement for implementation of life-saving interventions.

Thigh musculature stiffness during active muscle contraction after anterior cruciate ligament injury.

BACKGROUND: Altered motor unit (MU) activity has been identified after anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury, but its effect on muscle tissue properties is unknown. The purpose of this study was to compare thigh musculature muscle stiffness between control and ACL-injured subjects. METHODS: Thirty ACL-injured subjects and 25 control subjects were recruited. Subjects completed a randomized protocol of isometric contractions while electromyography (EMG) signals were recorded. Three maximum voluntary isometric contractions (MVIC) determined peak force for 10 and 25% MVIC trials. Shear wave elastography was captured during each 10 and 25% MVIC trials. RESULTS: Differences in muscle stiffness were assessed between limbs and groups. 12 months post-surgery had higher stiffness for VM 0% MVIC, VL 0 and 10% MVIC, and ST 10 and 25% MVIC (all p ≤ 0.04). CONCLUSION: Thigh musculature stiffness changed throughout rehabilitation and remained altered at 12 months after ACL reconstruction.

Recent advances in 3D time-resolved contrast-enhanced MR angiography.

Contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance angiography (CE-MRA) was first introduced for clinical studies approximately 20 years ago. Early work provided 3-4 mm spatial resolution with acquisition times in the 30-second range. Since that time there has been continuing effort to provide improved spatial resolution with reduced acquisition time, allowing high resolution 3D time-resolved studies. The purpose of this work is to describe how this has been accomplished. Specific technical enablers have been: improved gradients allowing reduced repetition times, improved k-space sampling and reconstruction methods, parallel acquisition, particularly in two directions, and improved and higher count receiver coil arrays. These have collectively made high-resolution time-resolved studies readily available for many anatomic regions. Depending on the application, ∼1 mm isotropic resolution is now possible with frame times of several seconds. Clinical applications of time-resolved CE-MRA are briefly reviewed.

Artificial-Intelligence-Based Clinical Decision Support Systems in Primary Care: A Scoping Review of Current Clinical Implementations.

Primary Care Physicians (PCPs) are the first point of contact in healthcare. Because PCPs face the challenge of managing diverse patient populations while maintaining up-to-date medical knowledge and updated health records, this study explores the current outcomes and effectiveness of implementing Artificial Intelligence-based Clinical Decision Support Systems (AI-CDSSs) in Primary Healthcare (PHC). Following the PRISMA-ScR guidelines, we systematically searched five databases, PubMed, Scopus, CINAHL, IEEE, and Google Scholar, and manually searched related articles. Only CDSSs powered by AI targeted to physicians and tested in real clinical PHC settings were included. From a total of 421 articles, 6 met our criteria. We found AI-CDSSs from the US, Netherlands, Spain, and China whose primary tasks included diagnosis support, management and treatment recommendations, and complication prediction. Secondary objectives included lessening physician work burden and reducing healthcare costs. While promising, the outcomes were hindered by physicians' perceptions and cultural settings. This study underscores the potential of AI-CDSSs in improving clinical management, patient satisfaction, and safety while reducing physician workload. However, further work is needed to explore the broad spectrum of applications that the new AI-CDSSs have in several PHC real clinical settings and measure their clinical outcomes.

Clinical and Surgical Applications of Large Language Models: A Systematic Review.

Background: Large language models (LLMs) represent a recent advancement in artificial intelligence with medical applications across various healthcare domains. The objective of this review is to highlight how LLMs can be utilized by clinicians and surgeons in their everyday practice. Methods: A systematic review was conducted following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. Six databases were searched to identify relevant articles. Eligibility criteria emphasized articles focused primarily on clinical and surgical applications of LLMs. Results: The literature search yielded 333 results, with 34 meeting eligibility criteria. All articles were from 2023. There were 14 original research articles, four letters, one interview, and 15 review articles. These articles covered a wide variety of medical specialties, including various surgical subspecialties. Conclusions: LLMs have the potential to enhance healthcare delivery. In clinical settings, LLMs can assist in diagnosis, treatment guidance, patient triage, physician knowledge augmentation, and administrative tasks. In surgical settings, LLMs can assist surgeons with documentation, surgical planning, and intraoperative guidance. However, addressing their limitations and concerns, particularly those related to accuracy and biases, is crucial. LLMs should be viewed as tools to complement, not replace, the expertise of healthcare professionals.

Artificial Intelligence Algorithms for Expert Identification in Medical Domains: A Scoping Review.

With abundant information and interconnectedness among people, identifying knowledgeable individuals in specific domains has become crucial for organizations. Artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms have been employed to evaluate the knowledge and locate experts in specific areas, alleviating the manual burden of expert profiling and identification. However, there is a limited body of research exploring the application of AI algorithms for expert finding in the medical and biomedical fields. This study aims to conduct a scoping review of existing literature on utilizing AI algorithms for expert identification in medical domains. We systematically searched five platforms using a customized search string, and 21 studies were identified through other sources. The search spanned studies up to 2023, and study eligibility and selection adhered to the PRISMA 2020 statement. A total of 571 studies were assessed from the search. Out of these, we included six studies conducted between 2014 and 2020 that met our review criteria. Four studies used a machine learning algorithm as their model, while two utilized natural language processing. One study combined both approaches. All six studies demonstrated significant success in expert retrieval compared to baseline algorithms, as measured by various scoring metrics. AI enhances expert finding accuracy and effectiveness. However, more work is needed in intelligent medical expert retrieval.

Stability of One-Step Spray-on Splint for Lower Extremity Fractures During Splinting, MEDEVAC, and Impact.

INTRODUCTION: Military transport can induce whole-body vibrations, and combat almost always involves high impact between lower extremities and the ground. Therefore, robust splinting technology is necessary for lower extremity fractures in these settings. Our team compared a novel one-step spray-on foam splint (FastCast) to the current military standard structured aluminum malleable (SAM) splint. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Ten cadaveric specimens were subjected to complete tibia/fibula osteotomy. Specimens were fitted with custom accelerometer and gyroscope sensors superior and inferior to the fracture line. Each specimen underwent fracture and splinting from a standard of care SAM splint and an experimental FastCast spray foam splint in a randomized order. Each specimen was manually transported to an ambulance and then released from a 1 meter height to simulate impact. The custom sensors recorded accelerations and rotations throughout each event. Repeated-measures Friedman tests were used to assess differences between splint method within each event and between sensors within each splint method. RESULTS: During splinting, overall summation of change and difference of change between sensors for accelerations and rotations were greater for SAM splints than FastCast across all axes (P ≤ 0.03). During transport, the range of acceleration along the linear superior/inferior axis was greater for SAM splint than FastCast (P = 0.02), as was the range of rotation along the transverse plane (P < 0.01). On impact, the summation of change observed was greater for SAM splint than FastCast with respect to acceleration and rotation on the posterior/anterior and superior/inferior axes (P ≤ 0.03), and the cumulative difference between superior and inferior sensors was greater for SAM than FastCast with respect to anterior-axis rotation (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: FastCast maintains stabilization of fractured lower extremities during transport and impacts to a significantly greater extent than SAM splints. Therefore, FastCast can potentially reduce the risk of fracture complications following physical stressors associated with combat and extraction.

Machine Learning Algorithms Predict Long-Term Postoperative Opioid Misuse: A Systematic Review.

INTRODUCTION: A steadily rising opioid pandemic has left the US suffering significant social, economic, and health crises. Machine learning (ML) domains have been utilized to predict prolonged postoperative opioid (PPO) use. This systematic review aims to compile all up-to-date studies addressing such algorithms' use in clinical practice. METHODS: We searched PubMed/MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, and Web of Science using the keywords "machine learning," "opioid," and "prediction." The results were limited to human studies with full-text availability in English. We included all peer-reviewed journal articles that addressed an ML model to predict PPO use by adult patients. RESULTS: Fifteen studies were included with a sample size ranging from 381 to 112898, primarily orthopedic-surgery-related. Most authors define a prolonged misuse of opioids if it extends beyond 90 days postoperatively. Input variables ranged from 9 to 23 and were primarily preoperative. Most studies developed and tested at least two algorithms and then enhanced the best-performing model for use retrospectively on electronic medical records. The best-performing models were decision-tree-based boosting algorithms in 5 studies with AUC ranging from .81 to .66 and Brier scores ranging from .073 to .13, followed second by logistic regression classifiers in 5 studies. The topmost contributing variable was preoperative opioid use, followed by depression and antidepressant use, age, and use of instrumentation. CONCLUSIONS: ML algorithms have demonstrated promising potential as a decision-supportive tool in predicting prolonged opioid use in post-surgical patients. Further validation studies would allow for their confident incorporation into daily clinical practice.

The usefulness of artificial intelligence in breast reconstruction: a systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Artificial Intelligence (AI) offers an approach to predictive modeling. The model learns to determine specific patterns of undesirable outcomes in a dataset. Therefore, a decision-making algorithm can be built based on these patterns to prevent negative results. This systematic review aimed to evaluate the usefulness of AI in breast reconstruction. METHODS: A systematic review was conducted in August 2022 following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. MEDLINE, EMBASE, SCOPUS, and Google Scholar online databases were queried to capture all publications studying the use of artificial intelligence in breast reconstruction. RESULTS: A total of 23 studies were full text-screened after removing duplicates, and twelve articles fulfilled our inclusion criteria. The Machine Learning algorithms applied for neuropathic pain, lymphedema diagnosis, microvascular abdominal flap failure, donor site complications associated to muscle sparing Transverse Rectus Abdominis flap, surgical complications, financial toxicity, and patient-reported outcomes after breast surgery demonstrated that AI is a helpful tool to accurately predict patient results. In addition, one study used Computer Vision technology to assist in Deep Inferior Epigastric Perforator Artery detection for flap design, considerably reducing the preoperative time compared to manual identification. CONCLUSIONS: In breast reconstruction, AI can help the surgeon by optimizing the perioperative patients' counseling to predict negative outcomes, allowing execution of timely interventions and reducing the postoperative burden, which leads to obtaining the most successful results and improving patient satisfaction.

Physiologic validation of the Compensatory Reserve Metric obtained from pulse oximetry: A step toward advanced medical monitoring on the battlefield.

BACKGROUND: The Compensatory Reserve Metric (CRM) provides a time sensitive indicator of hemodynamic decompensation. However, its in-field utility is limited because of the size and cost-intensive nature of standard vital sign monitors or photoplethysmographic volume-clamp (PPG VC ) devices used to measure arterial waveforms. In this regard, photoplethysmographic measurements obtained from pulse oximetry may serve as a useful, portable alternative. This study aimed to validate CRM values obtained using pulse oximeter (PPG PO ). METHODS: Forty-nine healthy adults (25 females) underwent a graded lower body negative pressure (LBNP) protocol to simulate hemorrhage. Arterial waveforms were sampled using PPG PO and PPG VC . The CRM was calculated using a one-dimensional convolutional neural network. Cardiac output and stroke volume were measured using PPG VC . A brachial artery catheter was used to measure intra-arterial pressure. A three-lead electrocardiogram was used to measure heart rate. Fixed-effect linear mixed models with repeated measures were used to examine the association between CRM values and physiologic variables. Log-rank analyses were used to examine differences in shock determination during LBNP between monitored hemodynamic parameters. RESULTS: The median LBNP stage reached was 70 mm Hg (range, 45-100 mm Hg). Relative to baseline, at tolerance, there was a 47% ± 12% reduction in stroke volume, 64% ± 27% increase in heart rate, and 21% ± 7% reduction in systolic blood pressure ( p < 0.001 for all). Compensatory Reserve Metric values obtained with both PPG PO and PPG VC were associated with changes in heart rate ( p < 0.001), stroke volume ( p < 0.001), and pulse pressure ( p < 0.001). Furthermore, they provided an earlier detection of hemodynamic shock relative to the traditional metrics of shock index ( p < 0.001 for both), systolic blood pressure ( p < 0.001 for both), and heart rate ( p = 0.001 for both). CONCLUSION: The CRM obtained from PPG PO provides a valid, time-sensitized prediction of hemodynamic decompensation, opening the door to provide military medical personnel noninvasive in-field advanced capability for early detection of hemorrhage and imminent onset of shock. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Diagnostic Tests or Criteria; Level III.

The Impact of Digital Health Solutions on Bridging the Health Care Gap in Rural Areas: A Scoping Review.

Digital health tools can improve health care access and outcomes for individuals with limited access to health care, particularly those residing in rural areas. This scoping review examines the existing literature on using digital tools in patients with limited access to health care in rural areas. It assesses their effectiveness in improving health outcomes. The review adopts a comprehensive search strategy to identify relevant studies from electronic databases, and the selected studies are analyzed descriptively. The findings highlight the advantages and barriers of digital health interventions in rural populations. The advantages include increased access to health care practitioners through teleconsultations, improved health care outcomes through remote monitoring, better disease management through mobile health applications and wearable devices, and enhanced access to specialized care and preventive programs. However, limited internet connectivity and a lack of familiarity with digital tools are barriers that must be addressed to ensure equitable access to digital health interventions in rural areas. Overall, digital tools improve health outcomes for individuals with limited health care access in rural areas.

Artificial Intelligence Support for Informal Patient Caregivers: A Systematic Review.

This study aims to explore how artificial intelligence can help ease the burden on caregivers, filling a gap in current research and healthcare practices due to the growing challenge of an aging population and increased reliance on informal caregivers. We conducted a search with Google Scholar, PubMed, Scopus, IEEE Xplore, and Web of Science, focusing on AI and caregiving. Our inclusion criteria were studies where AI supports informal caregivers, excluding those solely for data collection. Adhering to PRISMA 2020 guidelines, we eliminated duplicates and screened for relevance. From 947 initially identified articles, 10 met our criteria, focusing on AI's role in aiding informal caregivers. These studies, conducted between 2012 and 2023, were globally distributed, with 80% employing machine learning. Validation methods varied, with Hold-Out being the most frequent. Metrics across studies revealed accuracies ranging from 71.60% to 99.33%. Specific methods, like SCUT in conjunction with NNs and LibSVM, showcased accuracy between 93.42% and 95.36% as well as F-measures spanning 93.30% to 95.41%. AUC values indicated model performance variability, ranging from 0.50 to 0.85 in select models. Our review highlights AI's role in aiding informal caregivers, showing promising results despite different approaches. AI tools provide smart, adaptive support, improving caregivers' effectiveness and well-being.

Prospective comparison of cartesian acquisition with projection-like reconstruction magnetic resonance angiography with computed tomography angiography for evaluation of below-the-knee runoff.

PURPOSE: To compare prospectively the assessment of stenosis and radiologist confidence in the evaluation of below-the-knee lower extremity runoff vessels between computed tomography (CT) angiography and contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance (MR) angiography in a cohort of 19 clinical patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was compliant with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 and approved by the institutional review board. Imaging was performed in 19 consecutive patients with known or suspected peripheral arterial disease; both CT angiography and a more recently developed MR angiography technique were performed within 24 hours of each other and before any therapeutic intervention. Resulting images were randomized and interpreted in blinded fashion by four board-certified radiologists with expertise in CT angiography and MR angiography. Vasculature of the lower leg was apportioned into 22 segments, 11 for each leg. For each segment, degree of stenosis and confidence of diagnosis were determined using a 3-point scale. Differences between CT angiography and MR angiography were assessed for significance using pooled histograms that were analyzed using the Wilcoxon signed rank test. RESULTS: For assessment of stenosis, there was no difference in CT angiography compared with MR angiography for 20 of 22 segments. For confidence of diagnosis, assessment of popliteal arteries was superior on CT angiography compared with MR angiography (P<.05). Confidence in assessment of both tibioperoneal trunks and the left proximal anterior tibial artery was not significantly different between CT angiography and MR angiography. Confidence in assessment of all other 17 segments was superior with MR angiography compared with CT angiography (P<.02). CONCLUSIONS: MR angiography using the method described here is a promising technique for evaluating lower extremity arterial runoff. MR angiography had an overall superior performance in radiologist confidence compared with CT angiography for imaging runoff vessels below the knee.

Verification and Validation of Lower Body Negative Pressure as a Non-Invasive Bioengineering Tool for Testing Technologies for Monitoring Human Hemorrhage.

Since hemorrhage is a leading cause of preventable death in both civilian and military settings, the development of advanced decision support monitoring capabilities is necessary to promote improved clinical outcomes. The emergence of lower body negative pressure (LBNP) has provided a bioengineering technology for inducing progressive reductions in central blood volume shown to be accurate as a model for the study of the early compensatory stages of hemorrhage. In this context, the specific aim of this study was to provide for the first time a systematic technical evaluation to meet a commonly accepted engineering standard based on the FDA-recognized Standard for Assessing Credibility of Modeling through Verification and Validation (V&V) for Medical Devices (ASME standard V&V 40) specifically highlighting LBNP as a valuable resource for the safe study of hemorrhage physiology in humans. As an experimental tool, evidence is presented that LBNP is credible, repeatable, and validated as an analog for the study of human hemorrhage physiology compared to actual blood loss. The LBNP tool can promote the testing and development of advanced monitoring algorithms and evaluating wearable sensors with the goal of improving clinical outcomes during use in emergency medical settings.

Technical note: Improved differentiation of calcification from hemosiderin using paramagnetic- and diamagnetic-specific magnetic resonance susceptibility weighted imaging (p-SWI, d-SWI).

INTRODUCTION: Differentiation of calcification and calcium-containing tissue from blood products remains challenging using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). We developed a novel post-processing algorithm which creates both paramagnetic- and diamagnetic-specific SWI images generated from T2* weighted images using distinct "positive" and "negative" phase masks. METHODS: 10 patients who had undergone clinical MRI scanning of the brain with a rapid echo planar based T2*-weighted EPI-GRE pulse sequence with evidence for either hemosiderin and/or calcifications were retrospectively identified. Complex raw k-space data from individual imaging coils were then extracted, reconstructed, and appropriately combined to produce magnitude and phase images using a phase preserving method. The final reconstructed images included the T2* EPI-GRE magnitude images, p-SWI and d-SWI images. Filtered phase images were also available for review. Correlation with CT scans and MR imaging appearance over time corroborated the composition of the voxels. RESULTS: Differential "blooming" of diamagnetic and paramagnetic foci was readily identified on the corresponding p-SWI and d-SWI images and provided fast and reliable visual differentiation of diamagnetic from paramagnetic susceptibility effects by ascertaining which of the two images depicted the greatest "blooming" effect. Correlation with the available filtered phase maps was not necessary for differentiation of paramagnetic from diamagnetic image components. CONCLUSION: Clinical interpretation of SWI images can be further enhanced by creating specific p-SWI and d-SWI image pairs which contain greater visual information than the combination of standard p-SWI images and phase image.

Towards a Lightweight Classifier to Detect Hypovolemic Shock.

Predicting the ability of an individual to compensate for blood loss during hemorrhage and detect the likely onset of hypovolemic shock is necessary to permit early clinical intervention. Towards this end, the compensatory reserve metric (CRM) has been demonstrated to directly correlate with an individual's ability to maintain compensatory mechanisms during loss of blood volume from onset (one-hundred percent health) to exsanguination (zero percent health). This effort describes a lightweight, three-class predictor (good, fair, poor) of an individual's compensatory reserve using a linear support-vector machine (SVM) classifier. A moving mean filter of the predictions demonstrates a feasible model for implementation of real-time hypovolemia monitoring on a wearable device, requiring only 408 bytes to store the models' coefficients and minimal processor cycles to complete the computations.

Identification of Sleep Patterns via Clustering of Hypnodensities.

Sleep patterns vary widely between individuals. We explore methods for identifying populations exhibiting similar sleep patterns in an automated fashion using polysomnography data. Our novel approach applies unsupervised machine learning algorithms to hypnodensities graphs generated by a pre-trained neural network. In a population of 100 subjects we identify two stable clusters whose characteristics we visualize graphically and through estimates of total sleep time. We also find that the hypnodensity representation of the sleep stages produces more robust clustering results than the same methods applied to traditional hypnograms.

Benefits and Challenges of Remote Patient Monitoring as Perceived by Health Care Practitioners: A Systematic Review.

BACKGROUND: Remote patient monitoring (RPM), or telemonitoring, offers ways for health care practitioners to gather real-time information on the physiological conditions of patients. As telemedicine, and thus telemonitoring, is becoming increasingly relevant in today's society, understanding the practitioners' opinions is crucial. This systematic review evaluates the perspectives and experiences of health care practitioners with telemonitoring technologies. METHODS: A database search was conducted following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines for the selection of articles measuring health care practitioners' perspectives and experiences with RPM technologies published between 2017 and 2021. Only articles written in English were included. No statistical analysis was performed and thus this is a qualitative review. RESULTS: A total of 1605 studies were identified after the initial search. After applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria of this review's authors, 13 articles were included in this review. In all, 2351 practitioners' perspectives and experience utilizing RPM technology in a variety of medical specialties were evaluated through close- and open-ended surveys. Recurring themes emerged for both the benefits and challenges. Common benefits included continuous monitoring of patients to provide prompt care, improvement of patient self-care, efficient communication, increased patient confidence, visualization of health trends, and greater patient education. Challenges comprised increased workload, higher patient anxiety, data inaccuracy, disorienting technology, financial issues, and privacy concerns. CONCLUSION: Health care practitioners generally believe that RPM is feasible for application. Additionally, there is a consensus that telemonitoring strategies will become increasingly relevant. However, there are still drawbacks to the technology that need to be considered.