A New Digital Platform for Collecting Measurement Data from the Novel Imaging Sensors in Urology.

The use of UT and EIT technologies gives the opportunity to develop new, effective, minimally invasive diagnostic methods for urology. The introduction of new diagnostic methods into medicine requires the development of new tools for collecting, processing and analysing the data obtained from them. Such system might be seen as a part of the electronic health record EHR system. The digital medical data management platform must provide the infrastructure that will make medical activity possible and effective in the presented scope. The solution presented in this article was implemented using the newest computer technologies to obtain advantages such as mobility, versatility, flexibility and scalability. The architecture of the developed platform, technological stack proposals, database structure and user interface are presented. In the course of this study, an analysis of known and available standards such as Hl7, RIM, DICOM, and tools for collecting medical data was performed, and the results obtained using them are also presented. The developed digital platform also falls into an innovative path of creating a network of sensors communicating with each other in the digital space, resulting in the implementation of the IoT (Internet of Things) vision. The issues of building software based on the architecture of microservices were discussed emphasizing the role of message brokers. The selected message brokers were also analysed in terms of available features and message transmission time.

A comprehensive review on hydrogel materials in urology: Problems, methods, and new opportunities.

Hydrogel materials provide an extremely promising group of materials that can find an increasingly wide range of use in treating urinary system conditions due to their unique properties. The present review describes achievements to date in terms of the use and development prospects of hydrogel materials applications in the treatment and reconstruction of the urinary system organs, which among others include: hydrogel systems of intravesical drug delivery, ureteral stents design, treatment of vesicoureteral reflux, urinary bladder and urethral defects reconstruction, design of modern urinary catheters and also solutions applied in urinary incontinence therapy (Figure 4). In addition, hydrogel materials find increasingly growing applications in the construction of educational simulation models of organs and specific conditions of the urinary system, which enable the education of medical personnel. Numerous research efforts are underway to expand the existing treatment methods and reconstruction of the urinary system based on hydrogel materials. After conducting the further necessary research, many of the innovative solutions developed to date have high application potential.

Epididymal cysts in childhood - conservative or surgical approach?

THE AIM OF THE STUDY: To decide on the accurate way of treatment and to establish criteria for operation in boys with pubertal epididymal cysts (ECs). MATERIAL AND METHODS: Results of scrotal ultrasound of 363 boys and adolescents, aged 2 months to 18 years, were reviewed retrospectively. RESULTS: Of all 363 patients with scrotal ultrasound 59 (16.2%) at mean age of 14.03 yrs had ECs. The EC incidence increased with age and 42 out of 124 boys (33.8%) older than 14 yrs had cysts (chi2=27.627, p=0.000). Out of 59 patients, in 30 (50.8%) cysts were diagnosed incidentally at the time of scrotal US, 29 boys (49.2%) presented with scrotal mass and/or pain. 31 patients with ECs (52.5%) underwent elective surgery and the remaining 28 boys (47.5%) received conservative treatment. The age of boys with ECs who underwent surgery ranged from 8 to 18 years (mean 14.32). The age range of patients treated conservatively was 7-18 (mean 13.71). There was no statistical difference in age between boys treated surgically and conservatively (t=0.924, p=0.36). ECs resolved in 17 patients out of 28 boys treated conservatively, in remaining 11 boys the size of cysts was stabile and they remain asymptomatic. Clinical and ultrasonographic follow-up were carried out from 11 months to 5 years. CONCLUSIONS: ECs are more common in older boys (over 14 years). Management of ECs smaller than 10 mm should be conservative with clinical and ultrasound controls, leaving surgery for cysts increasing in size over 10 mm which did not involute with time.

Accuracy of sonographic criteria in the decision for surgical treatment in infantile hypertrophic pyloric stenosis.

INTRODUCTION: Abdominal ultrasonography has replaced barium studies in establishing the diagnosis in difficult cases of infantile hypertrophic pyloric stenosis (IHPS). The aim of this retrospective study was to establish sonographic criteria of qualification for surgical treatment in children with IHPS. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Hundred and fifteen infants (98 boys and 17 girls) with suspected IHPS were treated between 2000 and 2009. Pyloric muscle thickness, pyloric diameter and pyloric length were measured in US scans in all patients. Results were compared with US results of 19 infants with negative diagnosis and 29 children of the reference group. RESULTS: Diagnosis of IHPS was confirmed by US examination in 96 children (83.5%). There were 86 boys in the group with male prevalence 8.6 : 1. The remaining 19 infants (16.5%) had a negative ultrasound. The mean PL (20.89 vs. 12.73), PMT (5.41 vs. 2.24), and PD (14.1 vs. 7.42) differed significantly between patients with and without pyloric stenosis (p < 0.0001). The mean PL (12.34), PMT (2.2), and PD (7.48) in the reference group did not differ statistically from values obtained in patients with negative IHPS diagnosis and were significantly lower than in children from the IHPS group (p < 0.0001). US imaging had a sensitivity of 98%, specificity of 100%, with a positive and negative predictive value of 100% and 90% respectively. CONCLUSIONS: This study confirmed that ultrasonography is the first choice of diagnostic method in an infant with suspected hypertrophic pyloric stenosis. In cases with an uncertain clinical diagnosis of IHPS the examination can be easily repeated.