Joaquin Blaya

Adaptive control of a variable-impedance ankle-foot orthosis to assist drop-foot gait

An active ankle-foot orthoses (AAFO) is presented where the impedance of the orthotic joint is modulated throughout the walking cycle to treat drop-foot gait. During controlled plantar flexion, a biomimetic torsional spring control is applied where orthotic joint stiffness is actively adjusted to minimize forefoot collisions with the ground. Throughout late stance, joint impedance is minimized so as not to impede powered plantar flexion movements, and during the swing phase, a torsional spring-damper control lifts the foot to provide toe clearance. To assess the clinical effects of variable-impedance control, kinetic and kinematic gait data were collected on two drop-foot participants wearing the AAFO. For each participant, zero, constant, and variable impedance control strategies were evaluated and the results were compared to the mechanics of three age, weight, and height matched normals. We find that actively adjusting joint impedance reduces the occurrence of slap foot allows greater powered plantar flexion and provides for less kinematic difference during swing when compared to normals. These results indicate that a variable-impedance orthosis may have certain clinical benefits for the treatment of drop-foot gait compared to conventional ankle-foot orthoses having zero or constant stiffness joint behaviors.

E-health technologies show promise in developing countries.

Is there any evidence that e-health-using information technology to manage patient care-can have a positive impact in developing countries? Our systematic review of evaluations of e-health implementations in developing countries found that systems that improve communication between institutions, assist in ordering and managing medications, and help monitor and detect patients who might abandon care show promise. Evaluations of personal digital assistants and mobile devices convincingly demonstrate that such devices can be very effective in improving data collection time and quality. Donors and funders should require and sponsor outside evaluations to ensure that future e-health investments are well-targeted.

Medical Information Systems: A Foundation for Healthcare Technologies in Developing Countries

Among the significant barriers to the provision of health care in developing countries, detailed information concerning disease incidence, health practices and available resources (such as drugs for treatment) are some of the most important. Without detailed information concerning the response to health programs, it is impossible to evaluate the efficacy of a particular program and, hence, effectively allocate funding and resources. Although paper-based systems can provide a partial solution, information transmission is slow and prone to errors. Furthermore, aggregation of data is challenging as patient numbers rise into the hundreds [19], and near impossible with thousands of patients. It is also difficult to impose consistent reporting indicators. The systems described above illustrate the advantages of implementing healthcare technologies within larger collaborations that improve the overall public health infrastructure. One key aspect of the technologies employed in these projects is the use of open standards and open-source development in a collaborative environment. The cases described in this article also demonstrate the need for community data collection, and feasibility of using ICT to enable data collection, and improve information flow in developing countries. Without such approaches, interventions may exacerbate inequalities within countries with weak infrastructure and ingrained social disparities. However, these systems will only work well with carefully designed forms and interfaces, and excellent data management. Furthermore, EMRs can provide a foundational technology that allows for the adoption and evaluation of other health care technologies, such as drug ordering, medical devices, and longitudinal patient follow-ups. Moreover, the projects described above illustrate that the creation of long-term relationships to build infrastructure and solving systemic problems to provide health care can be beneficial to both the patients and the projects involved.

Scale-up of Multidrug-Resistant Tuberculosis Laboratory Services, Peru

One-sentence summary for table of contents: Strategic design and implementation of these services is feasible in resource-poor settings.

Personal digital assistants to collect tuberculosis bacteriology data in Peru reduce delays, errors, and workload, and are acceptable to users: cluster randomized controlled trial

OBJECTIVES To evaluate the effectiveness of a personal digital assistant (PDA)-based system for collecting tuberculosis test results and to compare this new system to the previous paper-based system. The PDA- and paper-based systems were evaluated based on processing times, frequency of errors, and number of work-hours expended by data collectors. METHODS We conducted a cluster randomized controlled trial in 93 health establishments in Peru. Baseline data were collected for 19 months. Districts (n=4) were then randomly assigned to intervention (PDA) or control (paper) groups, and further data were collected for 6 months. Comparisons were made between intervention and control districts and within-districts before and after the introduction of the intervention. RESULTS The PDA-based system had a significant effect on processing times (p<0.001) and errors (p=0.005). In the between-districts comparison, the median processing time for cultures was reduced from 23 to 8 days and for smears was reduced from 25 to 12 days. In that comparison, the proportion of cultures with delays >90 days was reduced from 9.2% to 0.1% and the number of errors was decreased by 57.1%. The intervention reduced the work-hours necessary to process results by 70% and was preferred by all users. CONCLUSIONS A well-designed PDA-based system to collect data from institutions over a large, resource-poor area can significantly reduce delays, errors, and person-hours spent processing data.

Impact of rapid drug susceptibility testing for tuberculosis: program experience in Lima, Peru

SETTING Programmatic implementation of decentralized rapid drug susceptibility testing (DST) in Lima, Peru. OBJECTIVE Pre-post analysis compared time to diagnosis, treatment outcome and survival among patients tested with direct nitrate reductase assay (NRA) vs. indirect conventional methods. DESIGN From 2005 to 2009, we prospectively followed all patients referred for DST before (control) and after (intervention) NRA implementation. Among those referred for DST, NRA was used for smear-positive samples of patients with no prior history of multidrug resistance or treatment for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (TB). Data were abstracted from patient charts and laboratory registers. Endpoints were favorable outcomes, time to result and time to death. RESULTS Of those patients who met the criteria for NRA, 740 underwent NRA and 621 underwent conventional DST. NRA yielded test results for 78.4% of cases vs. 68.8% for conventional DST (P < 0.0001); the median time to result was 44 vs. 133 days, respectively (adjusted HR 0.64, 95%CI 0.56-0.73). Among individuals without previous anti-tuberculosis treatment, NRA was associated with a favorable treatment outcome (adjusted OR 1.39, 95%CI 1.01-1.90) and prolonged survival (adjusted HR 0.53, 95%CI 0.31-0.90). CONCLUSION Direct NRA significantly shortened time to test result and improved treatment outcomes and survival in certain groups.

Experiences in mHealth for chronic disease management in 4 countries

This paper describes mHealth applications to deal with Non Communicable Diseases in North and Latin America: In Chile, a project focused on Diabetes Mellitus type 2; In the United States, Honduras, and Mexico, projects focused in diabetes, heart failure, depression, hypertension, and cancer. Information Technologies used include voice and sms on cell phones and electronic health records systems.

Reducing Communication Delays and Improving Quality of Care with a Tuberculosis Laboratory Information System in Resource Poor Environments: A Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial

Background Lost, delayed or incorrect laboratory results are associated with delays in initiating treatment. Delays in treatment for Multi-Drug Resistant Tuberculosis (MDR-TB) can worsen patient outcomes and increase transmission. The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of a laboratory information system in reducing delays and the time for MDR-TB patients to culture convert (stop transmitting). Methods Setting: 78 primary Health Centers (HCs) in Lima, Peru. Participants lived within the catchment area of participating HCs and had at least one MDR-TB risk factor. The study design was a cluster randomized controlled trial with baseline data. The intervention was the e-Chasqui web-based laboratory information system. Main outcome measures were: times to communicate a result; to start or change a patients treatment; and for that patient to culture convert. Results 1671 patients were enrolled. Intervention HCs took significantly less time to receive drug susceptibility test (DST) (median 11 vs. 17 days, Hazard Ratio 0.67 [0.62–0.72]) and culture (5 vs. 8 days, 0.68 [0.65–0.72]) results. The time to treatment was not significantly different, but patients in intervention HCs took 16 days (20%) less time to culture convert (p = 0.047). Conclusions The eChasqui system reduced the time to communicate results between laboratories and HCs and time to culture conversion. It is now used in over 259 HCs covering 4.1 million people. This is the first randomized controlled trial of a laboratory information system in a developing country for any disease and the only study worldwide to show clinical impact of such a system. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01201941

Reimagining Health Data Exchange: An Application Programming Interface–Enabled Roadmap for India

In February 2018, the Government of India announced a massive public health insurance scheme extending coverage to 500 million citizens, in effect making it the world’s largest insurance program. To meet this target, the government will rely on technology to effectively scale services, monitor quality, and ensure accountability. While India has seen great strides in informational technology development and outsourcing, cellular phone penetration, cloud computing, and financial technology, the digital health ecosystem is in its nascent stages and has been waiting for a catalyst to seed the system. This National Health Protection Scheme is expected to provide just this impetus for widespread adoption. However, health data in India are mostly not digitized. In the few instances that they are, the data are not standardized, not interoperable, and not readily accessible to clinicians, researchers, or policymakers. While such barriers to easy health information exchange are hardly unique to India, the greenfield nature of India’s digital health infrastructure presents an excellent opportunity to avoid the pitfalls of complex, restrictive, digital health systems that have evolved elsewhere. We propose here a federated, patient-centric, application programming interface (API)–enabled health information ecosystem that leverages India’s near-universal mobile phone penetration, universal availability of unique ID systems, and evolving privacy and data protection laws. It builds on global best practices and promotes the adoption of human-centered design principles, data minimization, and open standard APIs. The recommendations are the result of 18 months of deliberations with multiple stakeholders in India and the United States, including from academia, industry, and government.