1,721,123 research outputs found
Musculoskeletal injuries in gastrointestinal endoscopists: a systematic review
No full textGastrointestinal(GI) endoscopy forms a significant proportion of clinicians' workloads. However, little attention is given to the ergonomic aspects of endoscopy. This systematic review of musculoskeletal pain and/or injuries in GI endoscopists aims to better understand the types of occupational injuries resulting from endoscopic procedures and associated risk factors. Areas covered: Systematic literature search conducted for articles evaluating prevalence, risk factors and mechanism of musculoskeletal pain and/or injuries related to GI endoscopy. In 13 included studies, 39-89% of surveyed endoscopists reported pain and/or injuries related to endoscopy. Common areas of pain were the back(15-57%), neck(9-46%), shoulders(9-19%), elbows(8-15%) and hands/fingers(14-82%). Risk factors included procedure volume, time spent doing endoscopy, cumulative time in practice and endoscopist age. Experimental studies showed that forces and loads placed on endoscopists' bodies during procedures place them at risk of occupational injury. Areas of pain differed between novice and experienced endoscopists implying separate mechanisms of injury. Expert commentary: Comprehensive investigation into the prevalence, types, pathophysiology and methods to minimise endoscopy-related musculoskeletal injuries is vital to ensure the continued efficient provision of endoscopy services in the face of rising demands worldwide. A paradigm shift is required in endoscopic devices and techniques to improve safety and comfort
An artificial neural network architecture for non-parametric visual odometry in wireless capsule endoscopy
No full textWireless capsule endoscopy is a non-invasive screening procedure of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract performed with an ingestible capsule endoscope (CE) of the size of a large vitamin pill. Such endoscopes are equipped with a usually low-frame-rate color camera which enables the visualization of the GI lumen and the detection of pathologies. The localization of the commercially available CEs is performed in the 3D abdominal space using radio-frequency (RF) triangulation from external sensor arrays, in combination with transit time estimation. State-of-the-art approaches, such as magnetic localization, which have been experimentally proved more accurate than the RF approach, are still at an early stage. Recently, we have demonstrated that CE localization is feasible using solely visual cues and geometric models. However, such approaches depend on camera parameters, many of which are unknown. In this paper the authors propose a novel non-parametric visual odometry (VO) approach to CE localization based on a feed-forward neural network architecture. The effectiveness of this approach in comparison to state-of-the-art geometric VO approaches is validated using a robotic-assisted in vitro experimental setup
Diagnosis and Treatment of Small Bowel Disorders
No full textOver the last few decades, remarkable progress has been made in understanding the aetiology and pathophysiology of diseases and many new theories emphasize the importance of the small bowel ‘ecosystem’ in the pathogenesis of acute and chronic illness. Emerging factors such as microbiome, stem cells, innate intestinal immunity and the enteric nervous system along with mucosal and endothelial barriers have key role in the development of gastrointestinal and extra-intestinal diseases. Therefore, the small intestine is considered key player in metabolic disease development, including diabetes mellitus, and other diet-related disorders such as celiac and non-celiac enteropathies. Another major field is drug metabolism and its interaction with microbiota. Moreover, the emergence of gut-brain, gut-liver and gut-blood barriers points toward the important role of small intestine in the pathogenesis of common disorders, such as liver disease, hypertension and neurodegenerative disease. However, the small bowel remains an organ that is difficult to fully access and assess and accurate diagnosis often poses a clinical challenge. Eventually, the therapeutic potential remains untapped. Therefore, it is due time to direct our interest towards the small intestine and unravel the interplay between small-bowel and other gastrointestinal (GI) and non-GI related maladies
Diagnosis and Treatment of Small Bowel Disorders
Full text linkOver the last few decades, remarkable progress has been made in understanding the aetiology and pathophysiology of diseases and many new theories emphasize the importance of the small bowel ‘ecosystem’ in the pathogenesis of acute and chronic illness. Emerging factors such as microbiome, stem cells, innate intestinal immunity and the enteric nervous system along with mucosal and endothelial barriers have key role in the development of gastrointestinal and extra-intestinal diseases. Therefore, the small intestine is considered key player in metabolic disease development, including diabetes mellitus, and other diet-related disorders such as celiac and non-celiac enteropathies. Another major field is drug metabolism and its interaction with microbiota. Moreover, the emergence of gut-brain, gut-liver and gut-blood barriers points toward the important role of small intestine in the pathogenesis of common disorders, such as liver disease, hypertension and neurodegenerative disease. However, the small bowel remains an organ that is difficult to fully access and assess and accurate diagnosis often poses a clinical challenge. Eventually, the therapeutic potential remains untapped. Therefore, it is due time to direct our interest towards the small intestine and unravel the interplay between small-bowel and other gastrointestinal (GI) and non-GI related maladies
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Optimising performance in clinical capsule endoscopy
Full text linkVideo capsule endoscopy (VCE), perfomed by ingesting a small vitamin-sized camera pill, was developed over a period of a couple of decades and –since its introduction in clinical practice at the dawn of the millennium– has become an essential tool in the diagnosis and management of small bowel (SB) diseases. At the same time, other fields such as minimally invasive diagnosis of other parts of the gastointestinal (GI) tract has been or is currently explored as future applications of this technology. As a pure imaging modality, VCE ‘suffers’ from lack of additional on-board data that could allow higher diagnostic accurary. This could be either advanced image enhancement or biochemical sensors that could provide relevant info. Furthermore, as VCE clips reading remains manual, it is heavily dependent on the reviewer’s experience. Historically, VCE lesion miss rates have been reported at levels between 6% and 18%. There is also poor agreement on interobserver agreement and subsequent management decisionmaking. The aim of this thesis was to increase the knowledge and to critically evaluate the importance of existing applications as well as exploring and developing new applications to optimize use and diagnostic outcomes of VCE in clinical practice. More specifically, to investigate the correlation between VCE imaging and faecal calprotectin (FC); to develop a model for prediction of VCE results based on FC levels; to investigate and consolidate existing clinical data on the utility of Fujinon Intelligent Chromoendoscopy (FICE) in improving delineation and detection rate for pathological findings in VCE compared to conventional reading; to develop and validate a novel database aiming to provide a reference for research on the development of medical decision support system (MDSS) for VCE; and to develop an approach to capsule localisation and to provide estimations of relative movement of the VCE during its passage through the GI tract. Results of the studies showed that in patients with strong clinical suspicion of SB inflammation and negative (conventional) bidirectional endoscopy, VCE should not be limited to patients with elevated biomarkers only. Moreover, the correlation between FC levels and GI inflammation –as detected by VCE– was moderate and FC=>76 mcg/g may be associated with appreciable SB inflammation on VCE in patients with negative prior diagnostic workup. Furthemore, FICE seems to perform better for pigmented lesions such as angiectasias, both in lesion delineation and detection. However, overall using the three FICE modes did not significantly improve detection rate or the quality of visualization of the most common pathological findings seen on SB VCE. We developed KID, the first database of VCE images and videos with both graphic and semantic annotations, developed specifically for MDSS research. KID provides a platform for data sharing and software development. The experiments detailed are proof-of-principle studies demonstrating the potential for KID to fulfil this role. Moreover, we presented methods for both 2D and 3D localisation of capsules using visual information alone. Such methods are feasible and have potential to be of clinical use
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
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