Mehmet Hilal Özcanhan

A simple yet effective spam blocking method

Content-based filtering techniques for SPAM recognition require considerable amount of computational resources. Moreover, because the spammers are able to change the content as they wish, content-based filtering is not very successful. For this reason network-based filtering is gaining importance, and Sender Policy Framework (SPF) is a protocol that can provide an efficient filtering technique. In this paper, the advantage of the presence of SPF records and an SPF prediction method developed for domains without SPF records are explained. The SPF prediction method has been applied on the e-mails of thousands of volunteering users who are in our university domain deu.edu.tr, for SPAM filtering. First results of the proposed SPF prediction method are more promising than the present popular filtering methods.

Cryptographically Supported NFC Tags in Medication for Better Inpatient Safety

Reliable sources report that errors in drug administration are increasing the number of harmed or killed inpatients, during healthcare. This development is in contradiction to patient safety norms. A correctly designed hospital-wide ubiquitous system, using advanced inpatient identification and matching techniques, should provide correct medicine and dosage at the right time. Researchers are still making grouping proof protocol proposals based on the EPC Global Class 1 Generation 2 ver. 1.2 standard tags, for drug administration. Analyses show that such protocols make medication unsecure and hence fail to guarantee inpatient safety. Thus, the original goal of patient safety still remains. In this paper, a very recent proposal (EKATE) upgraded by a cryptographic function is shown to fall short of expectations. Then, an alternative proposal IMS-NFC which uses a more suitable and newer technology; namely Near Field Communication (NFC), is described. The proposed protocol has the additional support of stronger security primitives and it is compliant to ISO communication and security standards. Unlike previous works, the proposal is a complete ubiquitous system that guarantees full patient safety; and it is based on off-the-shelf, new technology products available in every corner of the world. To prove the claims the performance, cost, security and scope of IMS-NFC are compared with previous proposals. Evaluation shows that the proposed system has stronger security, increased patient safety and equal efficiency, at little extra cost.

Analysis of two protocols using EPC Gen-2 tags for safe inpatient medication

The number of people suffering due to wrong medication is increasing. A hospital-wide ubiquitous system can prevent inpatient medication errors. A correctly designed system guarantees the correct medicine and dosage administration, at the correct time. Such a system also helps tracing the location, time of errors and generates fast alarms to prevent harm to patients. Two proposals using UHF passive radio frequency identification tags have been made. But the proposed schemes give away critical patient information, raising privacy and intentional harm concerns. This work studies the proposals and demonstrates a new full-disclosure attack, on both. In addition, the weaknesses of protocols using the PRNG and CRC functions as encryption algorithms are studied. A conclusion is drawn about the suitability of grouping proofs and other protocols using the EPC Global Class-1 Generation-2 tags, in patient medication.

Is NFC a Better Option Instead of EPC Gen-2 in Safe Medication of Inpatients

Wrong medication is an important problem of the citizens of many countries. Using contemporary technologies like UHF Gen-2 RFID tags helps decreasing the medication errors, experienced by many. As UHF Gen-2 tags have limited capacity, cryptographic algorithms cannot be accommodated. The only available functions PRNG and CRC cannot be used instead of cryptographic algorithms. To overcome the known weaknesses, various grouping protocols have been proposed. But, each protocol has some deficiencies. Two of those protocols are covered in this study. Some of their common deficiencies are studied and solutions are suggested.

Improving communication among nurses and patients

Patients use nurse call systems to signal nurses for medical help. Traditional push button-flashing lamp call systems are not integrated with other hospital automation systems. Therefore, nurse response time becomes a matter of personal discretion. The improvement obtained by integrating a pager system into the nurse call systems does not increase care efficiency, because unnecessary visits are still not eliminated. To obtain an immediate response and a purposeful visit by a nurse; regardless of the location of nurse in hospital, traditional systems have to be improved by intelligent telephone system integration. The results of the developed Nurse Call System Software (NCSS), the Wireless Phone System Software (WPSS), the Location System Software (LSS) and the communication protocol are provided, together with detailed XML message structures. The benefits of the proposed system are also discussed and the direction of future work is presented.

An Ultra-Light PRNG for RFID Tags

This work presents a pseudo-random number generator for RFID tags. The proposed generator takes non-random seeds and produces output that passes popular randomness tests. The generator uses true random numbers extracted from a newly discovered property of the tag memories. Unlike previous work, the proposed scheme uses very little die area and clock, leaving space for other security applications as well. The scheme is inspired from a well founded pseudo random number generator, which has many variations for computer security applications. Even though it is simple and sequential, the proposed scheme’s performance equals similar previous work, even though others depend on random number inputs.

A sample for secure sensor data collection: Data secured fall prevention and fall detection sensor

Falling costs and shrinking sizes of electronic components have led to an increase in the wearable sensor applications. Among other areas, wearable sensors are also used in medical health care applications; capitalizing on their property of mobility. But, mobile sensors use wireless technologies in transmitting their data. Thus, sensitive patient data travel through many unknown users, until reaching the data collector. In present study, a sensor designed for preventing and detecting patient falls is presented, where only encrypted data is transmitted. The capabilities, accuracy, sensitivity and specificity performances of the proposed design are compared with previous works. In addition, the presented designs results, advantages and superiorities are discussed.

Virtual reality measurement tool: Kinect MedVision

Digital images obtained through medical imaging techniques are viewed using different visualization applications (methods). Also with the help of these applications, the three dimensional (3D) models of the images are created. Usually, the visualization and modelling processes are executed by medical staff, using general purpose applications. Via the same applications operation planning is made, after various calculations and diagnosis. In our time, virtual reality applications also come forward as tools that support planning. In present study, a virtual reality application has been developed. The developed application is used to detect the movements, via a Kinect device. The work presents a software that aids the medical staff to do rotation, zooming, and length measurement between two points, on 3D objects. The developed software has been successfully tested on 3D heart and aortal aneurism.

The Mechanical Effect of Rod Contouring on Rod-Screw System Strength in Spine Fixation

Objective Rod-screw fixation systems are widely used for spinal instrumentation. Although many biomechanical studies on rod-screw systems have been carried out, but the effects of rod contouring on the construct strength is still not very well defined in the literature. This work examines the mechanical impact of straight, 20° kyphotic, and 20° lordotic rod contouring on rod-screw fixation systems, by forming a corpectomy model. Methods The corpectomy groups were prepared using ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene samples. Non-destructive loads were applied during flexion/extension and torsion testing. Spine-loading conditions were simulated by load subjections of 100 N with a velocity of 5 mm min-1, to ensure 8.4-Nm moment. For torsional loading, the corpectomy models were subjected to rotational displacement of 0.5° s-1 to an end point of 5.0°, in a torsion testing machine. Results Under both flexion and extension loading conditions the stiffness values for the lordotic rod-screw system were the highest. Under torsional loading conditions, the lordotic rod-screw system exhibited the highest torsional rigidity. Conclusion We concluded that the lordotic rod-screw system was the most rigid among the systems tested and the risk of rod and screw failure is much higher in the kyphotic rod-screw systems. Further biomechanical studies should be attempted to compare between different rod kyphotic angles to minimize the kyphotic rod failure rate and to offer a more stable and rigid rod-screw construct models for surgical application in the kyphotic vertebrae.

Automated personnel-assets-consumables-drug tracking in ambulance services for more effective and efficient medical emergency interventions

Patient delivery time is no longer considered as the only critical factor, in ambulatory services. Presently, five clinical performance indicators are used to decide patient satisfaction. Unfortunately, the emergency ambulance services in rapidly growing metropolitan areas do not meet current satisfaction expectations; because of human errors in the management of the objects onboard the ambulances. But, human involvement in the information management of emergency interventions can be reduced by electronic tracking of personnel, assets, consumables and drugs (PACD) carried in the ambulances. Electronic tracking needs the support of automation software, which should be integrated to the overall hospital information system. Our work presents a complete solution based on a centralized database supported by radio frequency identification (RFID) and bluetooth low energy (BLE) identification and tracking technologies. Each object in an ambulance is identified and tracked by the best suited technology. The automated identification and tracking reduces manual paper documentation and frees the personnel to better focus on medical activities. The presence and amounts of the PACD are automatically monitored, warning about their depletion, non-presence or maintenance dates. The computerized two way hospital-ambulance communication link provides information sharing and instantaneous feedback for better and faster diagnosis decisions. A fully implemented system is presented, with detailed hardware and software descriptions. The benefits and the clinical outcomes of the proposed system are discussed, which lead to improved personnel efficiency and more effective interventions.