Ontology-Based and Architecture-Based Method for the Development of Interoperable Care Systems for Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.

Processes like the care of type 2 diabetes mellitus patients require support by information systems considering the heterogeneity of the actors from different domains involved, enabling harmonization and integration of their specific methodologies and knowledge representation approaches towards interdisciplinary cooperation. Currently, the development of systems starts from the simplified information world, ignoring the aforementioned heterogeneity and specificity of real-world processes. This paper aims to demonstrate the feasibility of developing an adaptive, interoperable and intelligent system that supports the major aspects of type 2 diabetes mellitus care based on the Generic Component Model as formal methodology for modelling universal systems. The result is a deployable solution based on a formal representation of the diabetes care system, its objectives, and the intended business process. The implemented system enables reasoning over the data, inferring medical diagnosis. The effectiveness of the inference was evaluated, obtaining an F-measure of 0.89. The methods presented in this paper helps to build high quality models based on computation-independent aspects, which enable the construction of knowledge-based adaptive, intelligent and interoperable eHealth systems.

18F-FDG PET/TC para la estadificación y la delineación del volumen de radioterapia en el cáncer de cabeza y cuello / 18F-FDG PET/CT in staging and delineation of radiotherapy volume for head and neck cancer

OBJETIVOS: Investigar el uso de la 18F-FDG(flúor-18 fluorodesoxiglucosa) PET/TC en la estadificación del cáncer de cabeza y cuello (CCC) y su repercusión en la decisión terapéutica y planificación de tratamiento radioterápico. MATERIAL Y MÉTODOS: Se incluyen 100 pacientes con CCC y la siguiente localización tumoral: 18% cavidad oral, 20% orofaringe, 12% hipofaringe, 11% nasofaringe, 37% laringe, 2% senos paranasales. La estadificación tumoral según la AJCC (American Joint Committee of Cancer, 7th) es: 5%-I, 7%-II, 14%-III, 61%-IVA, 7%-IVB, 6%-IVC. Se les realiza una TC y una 18F-FDG PET/TC en condiciones de simulación para comparar la reclasificación del estadiaje. Además, se analizan los cambios de actitud terapéutica. RESULTADOS: La 18F-FDG PET/CT detecta 6 pacientes metastásicos que requieren tratamiento paliativo y 8 tumores sincrónicos, siendo uno paliativo. Se produce una reclasificación del estadiaje en 27 pacientes. La extensión tumoral varía en 28 (14% sobre-estadificación, 14% infra-estadificación), implicando una variación en el contorneo del GTV (Gross Tumor Volume). La estadificación ganglionar cambia en 47: 8 pacientes son infra-estadificados (N2C cambia a N2A/N2B/N1) y 2 son falsos positivos. Diecinueve pacientes son falsos negativos y 5 con afectación ganglionar unilateral (N1/N2A/N2B) muestran actividad metabólica bilateral. Estos cambios de estadificación implican una adaptación del volumen ganglionar a irradiar. CONCLUSIONES: La 18F-FDG PET/TC produce una reclasificación superior al 10% en casi todas las categorías estudiadas (cTNM, extensión tumoral, enfermedad ganglionar) y detecta más estadíos metastásicos y tumores sincrónicos que los estudios convencionales, lo que genera un impacto en el manejo del paciente y contorneo de los volúmenes de radioterapia

PURPUSE: The aim is to investigate the use of 18F-FDG (fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose) PET/CT in head and neck cancer (HNC) staging and its effect on the therapeutic strategy and radiotherapy (RT) planning. METHODS AND MATERIALS: One hundred patients with HNC were included. Primary tumor sites: 18% oral cavity, 20% oropharynx, 12% hypopharynx, 11% nasopharynx, 37% larynx, 2% paranasal sinuses. Patients were staged according to the American Joint Committee of Cancer 7th edition. Stage: 5% stage I, 7% stage II, 14% stage III, 61% stage IVA, 7% stage IVB and 6% stage IVC. A contrast-enhanced CT and a 18F-FDG PET/CT acquired under RT position were performed. Both exams were compared to analyze patients' staging reclassification. Changes in therapeutic strategy were analyzed. RESULTS: 18F-FDG PET/CT detected 6 distant metastases and treatment intention changed to palliative. Eight synchronous tumors were detected; one received palliative treatment.18F-FDG PET/CT reclassified cTNM staging in 27patients. Tumor extension changed in 28 (14% up-staged; 14% down-staged), implying a change in GTV (Gross Tumor Volume) delineation. Nodal detection was reclassified in 47 PATIENTS: 8 patients down-staged (N2C to N2A/N2B/N1) and 2 were false positive. Nineteen patients were false negatives and 5 staged as N+(N1/N2A/N2B) turned out into N2C. These staging modifications imply adapting the nodal volume to be irradiated. CONCLUSIONS: 18F-FDG PET/CT reclassification was higher than 10% in almost all categories studied (cTNM, tumor extension and nodal disease) and detects more metastases and synchronous tumors than conventional studies, which has an impact on the therapeutic patient management and RT planning

18F-FDG PET/CT in staging and delineation of radiotherapy volume for head and neck cancer. / 18F-FDG PET/TC para la estadificación y la delineación del volumen de radioterapia en el cáncer de cabeza y cuello.

PURPOSE: The aim is to investigate the use of 18F-FDG (fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose) PET/CT in head and neck cancer (HNC) staging and its effect on the therapeutic strategy and radiotherapy (RT) planning. METHODS AND MATERIALS: One hundred patients with HNC were included. Primary tumor sites: 18% oral cavity, 20% oropharynx, 12% hypopharynx, 11% nasopharynx, 37% larynx, 2% paranasal sinuses. Patients were staged according to the American Joint Committee of Cancer 7th edition. Stage: 5% stage I, 7% stage II, 14% stage III, 61% stage IVA, 7% stage IVB and 6% stage IVC. A contrast-enhanced CT and a 18F-FDG PET/CT acquired under RT position were performed. Both exams were compared to analyze patients' staging reclassification. Changes in therapeutic strategy were analyzed. RESULTS: 18F-FDG PET/CT detected 6 distant metastases and treatment intention changed to palliative. Eight synchronous tumors were detected; one received palliative treatment. 18F-FDG PET/CT reclassified cTNM staging in 27patients. Tumor extension changed in 28 (14% up-staged; 14% down-staged), implying a change in GTV (Gross Tumor Volume) delineation. Nodal detection was reclassified in 47 patients: 8 patients down-staged (N2C to N2A/N2B/N1) and 2 were false positive. Nineteen patients were false negatives and 5 staged as N+(N1/N2A/N2B) turned out into N2C. These staging modifications imply adapting the nodal volume to be irradiated. CONCLUSIONS: 18F-FDG PET/CT reclassification was higher than 10% in almost all categories studied (cTNM, tumor extension and nodal disease) and detects more metastases and synchronous tumors than conventional studies, which has an impact on the therapeutic patient management and RT planning.

Quality indicators in radiation oncology: proposal of the Spanish Society of Radiation Oncology (SEOR) for a continuous improvement of the quality of care in oncology.

PURPOSE: Current cancer treatment options include surgical intervention, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy. The quality of the provision of each of them and their effective coordination determines the results in terms of benefit/risk. Regarding the radiation oncology treatments, there are not stabilised quality indicators to be used to perform control and continuous improvement processes for healthcare services. Therefore, the Spanish Society of Radiation Oncology has undertaken a comprehensive project to establish quality indicators for use with the information systems available in most Spanish healthcare services. METHODS: A two-round Delphi study examines consensus of several possible quality indicators (n = 28) in daily practice. These indicators were defined after a bibliographic search and the assessment by radiation oncology specialists (n = 8). They included aspects regarding treatment equipment, patient preparation, treatment, and follow-up processes and were divided in structure, process, and outcome indicators. RESULTS: After the evaluation of the defined quality indicators (n = 28) by an expert panel (38 radiation oncologist), 26 indicators achieved consensus in terms of agreement with the statement. Two quality indicators did not achieve consensus. CONCLUSIONS: There is a high degree of consensus in Spanish Radiation Oncology specialists on which indicators in routine clinical practice can best measure quality. These indicators can be used to classify services based on several parameters (patients, equipments, complexity of the techniques used, and scientific research). Furthermore, these indicators allow assess our current situation and set improvements' objectives.

Specializing architectures for the type 2 diabetes mellitus care use cases with a focus on process management.

The development of software supporting inter-disciplinary systems like the type 2 diabetes mellitus care requires the deployment of methodologies designed for this type of interoperability. The GCM framework allows the architectural description of such systems and the development of software solutions based on it. A first step of the GCM methodology is the definition of a generic architecture, followed by its specialization for specific use cases. This paper describes the specialization of the generic architecture of a system, supporting Type 2 diabetes mellitus glycemic control, for a pharmacotherapy use case. It focuses on the behavioral aspect of the system, i.e. the policy domain and the definition of the rules governing the system. The design of this architecture reflects the inter-disciplinary feature of the methodology. Finally, the resulting architecture allows building adaptive, intelligent and complete systems.