Heat transfer analysis for peripheral blood flow measurement system.

Some disorders such as circulatory disease and metabolic abnormality cause many problems to peripheral blood flow condition. Therefore, frequent measurement of the blood flow condition is bound to contribute to precaution against those disorders and to control of conditions of the diseases. We propose a convenient means of blood flow volume measurement at peripheral part, such as fingertips. Principle of this measurement is based on heat transfer characteristics of peripheral part containing the blood flow. Transition response analysis of skin surface temperature has provided measurement model of the peripheral blood flow volume. We developed the blood flow measurement system based on that model and evaluated it by using artificial finger under various temperature conditions of ambience and internal fluid. The evaluation results indicated that proposed method could estimate the volume of the fluid regardless of temperature condition of them. Finally we applied our system to real finger testing and have obtained results correlated well with laser Doppler blood flow meter values.

[Problems facing undergraduate clinical practice training in laboratory medicine and proposed solution: remodeling of a point-of-care automatic analyzer].

It is essential that medical students learn how to precisely assess the results of laboratory tests. This may be accomplished by improving students' understanding of the processes involved in the laboratory testing of specimens, from blood collection to analysis, and by discovering factors that may influence these processes and impact results. Currently, medical students are generally taught the process by using a large automatic analyzer. However, because the students cannot observe the actual operation of the analyzer, they do not learn the process of analysis, that is, the chemical analysis of the specimen. To solve this problem, we remodeled a point-of-care automatic analyzer. The analyzer enabled students to observe its actual operation during specimen analysis. We used this analyzer for clinical practice training and obtained information on its effectiveness as a learning tool by means of a questionnaire survey. The questionnaire survey indicated that most of the students agree that the analyzer helped them learn more about the following, aspects of clinical practice: general clinical laboratory medicine (68.5%); method of analysis (57.5%); sampling method (70.0%); and point-of-care tests (52.8%). Above all, 60% of the students became interested in clinical laboratory medicine after their practical experience with the analyzer. The analyzer enables medical students to observe directly the process of biochemical analyses, and is a valuable learning tool for the students.