Ernesto Iadanza

Patients tracking and identifying inside hospital: A multilayer method to plan an RFId solution

This paper shows a method to get a patient tracking RFId solution, basing on a multilayer planning architecture. This approach is thought to guarantee that the found technical solution is as much as possible coherent to the very initial idea. Project aims, functional requirements and technical constraints are defined in order to arrive to an active RFId solution to track and identify patients inside a hospital. The article also deals with economical issues and physical design aspects. In this work its also defined a three phases process for patient tracking, that could serve as a guideline for different technical solutions to the same problem.

Heart failure artificial intelligence-based computer aided diagnosis telecare system

In this paper we present an Artificial Intelligence-based Computer Aided Diagnosis system designed to assist the clinical decision of non-specialist staff in the analysis of Heart Failure patients. The system computes the patients pathological condition and highlights possible aggravations. The system is based on three functional parts: Diagnosis (severity assessing), Prognosis, and Follow-up management. Four Artificial Intelligence-based techniques are used and compared in diagnosis function: a Neural Network, a Support Vector Machine, a Decision Tree and a Fuzzy Expert System whose rules are produced by a Genetic Algorithm. In order to offer a complete HF analysis dashboard, state of the art algorithms are implemented to support a score-based prognosis function. The patients Follow-up is used to refine the diagnosis by adding Heart Failure type information and to detect any worsening of patients clinical status. In the Results section we compared the accuracy of the different implemented techniques.

Heart Failure analysis Dashboard for patient's remote monitoring combining multiple artificial intelligence technologies

In this paper we describe an Heart Failure analysis Dashboard that, combined with a handy device for the automatic acquisition of a set of patients clinical parameters, allows to support telemonitoring functions. The Dashboards intelligent core is a Computer Decision Support System designed to assist the clinical decision of non-specialist caring personnel, and it is based on three functional parts: Diagnosis, Prognosis, and Follow-up management. Four Artificial Intelligence-based techniques are compared for providing diagnosis function: a Neural Network, a Support Vector Machine, a Classification Tree and a Fuzzy Expert System whose rules are produced by a Genetic Algorithm. State of the art algorithms are used to support a score-based prognosis function. The patients Follow-up is used to refine the diagnosis.

Custom active RFID solution for children tracking and identifying in a resuscitation ward

In this work is discussed an active RFId system to track and identify patients in a children’s critical care ward. The technical solutions may be very different according to the patients type, age and cognitive conditions and according to the hospital shapes. The proposed system to track and identify patients has been developed taking into account all the constraints induced by the particular environment. The system is composed of five different hardware devices and a tracking software, purposely designed and realized.

Health technology management: A database analysis as support of technology managers in hospitals

Technology management in healthcare must continually respond and adapt itself to new improvements in medical equipment. Multidisciplinary approaches which consider the interaction of different technologies, their use and user skills, are necessary in order to improve safety and quality. An easy and sustainable methodology is vital to Clinical Engineering (CE) services in healthcare organizations in order to define criteria regarding technology acquisition and replacement. This article underlines the critical aspects of technology management in hospitals by providing appropriate indicators for benchmarking CE services exclusively referring to the maintenance database from the CE department at the Careggi Hospital in Florence, Italy.

Random forest for automatic assessment of heart failure severity in a telemonitoring scenario

In this study, we describe an automatic classifier of patients with Heart Failure designed for a telemonitoring scenario, improving the results obtained in our previous works. Our previous studies showed that the technique that better processes the heart failure typical telemonitoring-parameters is the Classification Tree. We therefore decided to analyze the data with its direct evolution that is the Random Forest algorithm. The results show an improvement both in accuracy and in limiting critical errors.

Electromagnetic Interferences (EMI) from Active RFId on Critical Care Equipment

RFId is quickly becoming a pervasive technology inside hospitals. EMI on electrical medical equipment is a concern. Patient safety has to be assured by assessing the electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) between Radio Frequency Identification (RFId) equipment and electrical medical devices. This study tests the effects of an active RFId system, used to track patients, on a critical care electrical medical equipment. 16 devices in five different categories have been tested in a children’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and no performance modifications were observed.

An RFId Smart Container to Perform Drugs Administration Reducing Adverse Drug Events

In this work is proposed an RFId drugs container to perform a correct link between patients and their medications. The system is designed to reduce the risk of Adverse Drug Events (ADEs) in the drugs administration process. Mechanical and electronic design details are discussed. The system is based on ISO 15693 standard in order to be compatible with most of the wristbands on the market.

Analysis and management of the risks related to the collection, processing and distribution of peripheral blood haematopoietic stem cells.

The procedure for improving the quality and safety of any product or service, both directly related to the characteristics of the process through which the product or service is generated, involves a series of common, preliminary steps: a description of the processes related to the life-cycle of the product, identification of all the elements involved in the processes (informatics systems, procedures, human resources, infrastructures) with the creation of a detailed inventory of the materials and equipment, the definition of measurable points of control for every element; the controls must be based on requisites identified a priori and on a mechanism in which the controller and the controlled person are not the same. The information collected by quality management systems and risk analysis techniques is combined in order to determine the priorities for interventions aimed at making improvements.

Testing of mechanical ventilators and infant incubators in healthcare institutions

The medical device industry has grown rapidly and incessantly over the past century. The sophistication and complexity of the designed instrumentation is nowadays rising and, with it, has also increased the need to develop some better, more effective and efficient maintenance processes, as part of the safety and performance requirements. This paper presents the results of performance tests conducted on 50 mechanical ventilators and 50 infant incubators used in various public healthcare institutions. Testing was conducted in accordance to safety and performance requirements stated in relevant international standards, directives and legal metrology policies. Testing of output parameters for mechanical ventilators was performed in 4 measuring points while testing of output parameters for infant incubators was performed in 7 measuring points for each infant incubator. As performance criteria, relative error of output parameters for mechanical ventilators and absolute error of output parameters for infant incubators was calculated. The ranges of permissible error, for both groups of devices, are regulated by the Rules on Metrological and Technical Requirements published in the Official Gazette of Bosnia and Herzegovina No. 75/14, which are defined based on international recommendations, standards and guidelines. All ventilators and incubators were tested by etalons calibrated in an ISO 17025 accredited laboratory, which provides compliance to international standards for all measured parameters.The results show that 30% of the tested medical devices are not operating properly and should be serviced, recalibrated and/or removed from daily application.