“Effect of 9 Hole Peg-Board Test for Improving Hand Dexterity Among Tuberculosis Patients”

Objectives: To check the effect of 9-Hole Peg Board Test for improving Hand dexterity among Tuberculosis patients. Methods: A total of 120 subjects were chosen as per inclusion and exclusion criteria via convenient sampling method. Subjects who were diagnosed with Tuberculosis were recruited in the study between Age group 20-70 years. Subjects were asked to fill the assessment form and were asked to perform the 9Hole Peg Board Test from Dominant and Non Dominant hands. The data was recorded continuously for 2 days to check any improvement in the performance of the patients and the net score was calculated. Result: The result was calculated by using the independent T-test. Significant and non-significant result came out as per variables. Conclusion: The present study proves that there is a significant effect of 9 Hole Peg Board testing on Dominant hand as well as on Non-dominant hand whereas if comparison is done between dominant and non-dominant hand, significant effect is seen maximally on dominant hand

Medical Simulation-Based Sensor Methods for Ultrasound-Guided Dialysis Cannulation Skill Assessment

End-stage kidney disease (EKSD) is the final, permanent stage of chronic kidney disease (CKD), where the body\u27s kidneys cannot filter blood sufficiently. Hemodialysis treats ESKD by filtering wastes and water from your blood externally via a dialyzer. Patients on hemodialysis require a vascular access, typically an arteriovenous fistula (AVF) or arteriovenous graft (AVG) for dialysis, which is used three times a week for about four hours a session. These life-saving therapies can be quite tedious, especially for elderly patients and patients with co-morbidities. As such, successful cannulation is extremely important to ensure the longevity of the patient\u27s vascular access and minimize the risk of complications during hemodialysis. Cannulation is a skill that requires comprehensive training and regular competency assessment. Poor clinical outcomes due to infiltration and other cannulation-related complications are often due to lack of cannulation skill training. Ultrasound-guided cannulation has emerged as a promising cannulation technique to improve the accuracy of first-time cannulations and minimizes complications by improving cannulation outcomes. While ultrasound-guided cannulation offers significant advantages over traditional cannulation, mastering this technique requires skill and can be demanding, time-consuming, and requires thorough training and practice with proper objective feedback. Given the significant challenges associated with dialysis cannulation and the lack of realistic training modalities that give objective feedback while allowing ultrasound guidance, the development of an ultrasound-guided cannulation skills training simulator becomes critical. The first aim was to develop an Infrared (IR) emitter-detector system to estimate the location of the needle tip inside the simulated AVF models. The system enables real-time tracking of the location of the needle inside the AVF models using an IR detector fabricated inside the 15 gauge (G) dialysis needle and four IR emitters actuating at different frequencies fabricated inside the AVF. A validation experiment was conducted, proving that this new system can detect the needle tip\u27s location in near real-time with only a 4mm error out of the total 90mm length of the simulated AVF. The second aim was to develop an ultrasound-guided cannulation skills training simulator with realistic patient-specific echogenic AVF models and objective feedback. Four patient-specific AVF geometries with varying levels of complexity were designed from actual patient fistula scans. Using these fistula geometries, a novel method was developed to create sensorized echogenic AVF phantoms for the ultrasound-guided cannulation skills training simulator. Reliable sensor data, along with ultrasound imaging, were recorded during the cannulations performed on these AVF phantoms. Metrics were successfully calculated on all patient-specific echogenic AVF phantoms. In the future, the needle insertion process can be segmented from the ultrasound imaging data to validate our metrics and develop new ultrasound-related metrics to help with ultrasound-guided cannulation skills training and assessment. In conclusion, the ultrasound-guided cannulation skills training simulator could be a valuable tool for the training and competency assessment of healthcare professionals in the cannulation of AVF’s, thus helping to improve overall patient outcomes

Medical Simulation-Based Sensor Methods for Ultrasound-Guided Dialysis Cannulation Skill Assessment

End-stage kidney disease (EKSD) is the final, permanent stage of chronic kidney disease (CKD), where the body\u27s kidneys cannot filter blood sufficiently. Hemodialysis treats ESKD by filtering wastes and water from your blood externally via a dialyzer. Patients on hemodialysis require a vascular access, typically an arteriovenous fistula (AVF) or arteriovenous graft (AVG) for dialysis, which is used three times a week for about four hours a session. These life-saving therapies can be quite tedious, especially for elderly patients and patients with co-morbidities. As such, successful cannulation is extremely important to ensure the longevity of the patient\u27s vascular access and minimize the risk of complications during hemodialysis. Cannulation is a skill that requires comprehensive training and regular competency assessment. Poor clinical outcomes due to infiltration and other cannulation-related complications are often due to lack of cannulation skill training. Ultrasound-guided cannulation has emerged as a promising cannulation technique to improve the accuracy of first-time cannulations and minimizes complications by improving cannulation outcomes. While ultrasound-guided cannulation offers significant advantages over traditional cannulation, mastering this technique requires skill and can be demanding, time-consuming, and requires thorough training and practice with proper objective feedback. Given the significant challenges associated with dialysis cannulation and the lack of realistic training modalities that give objective feedback while allowing ultrasound guidance, the development of an ultrasound-guided cannulation skills training simulator becomes critical. The first aim was to develop an Infrared (IR) emitter-detector system to estimate the location of the needle tip inside the simulated AVF models. The system enables real-time tracking of the location of the needle inside the AVF models using an IR detector fabricated inside the 15 gauge (G) dialysis needle and four IR emitters actuating at different frequencies fabricated inside the AVF. A validation experiment was conducted, proving that this new system can detect the needle tip\u27s location in near real-time with only a 4mm error out of the total 90mm length of the simulated AVF. The second aim was to develop an ultrasound-guided cannulation skills training simulator with realistic patient-specific echogenic AVF models and objective feedback. Four patient-specific AVF geometries with varying levels of complexity were designed from actual patient fistula scans. Using these fistula geometries, a novel method was developed to create sensorized echogenic AVF phantoms for the ultrasound-guided cannulation skills training simulator. Reliable sensor data, along with ultrasound imaging, were recorded during the cannulations performed on these AVF phantoms. Metrics were successfully calculated on all patient-specific echogenic AVF phantoms. In the future, the needle insertion process can be segmented from the ultrasound imaging data to validate our metrics and develop new ultrasound-related metrics to help with ultrasound-guided cannulation skills training and assessment. In conclusion, the ultrasound-guided cannulation skills training simulator could be a valuable tool for the training and competency assessment of healthcare professionals in the cannulation of AVF’s, thus helping to improve overall patient outcomes

DESIGN OF A NOVEL VERTICALLY-STACKED KITE-SHAPED ANTENNA

&lt;p&gt;"This work has been submitted to the IEEE for possible publication. Copyright may be transferred without notice, after which this version may no longer be accessible"&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;This work focuses on the design and simulation of a novel low-profile ultra-wideband antenna that combines the feature of vertical stacking with wing structure similar to bow-tie antennas. Additionally, it investigates the effectiveness of vertical stacking and discusses its optimization.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;To gauge the effectiveness of stacking, we have compared the non-stacked, single-stack, double-stack, and triple-stack models against an optimizer function that covers parameters such as normalized cost, normalized return loss, and normalized -10dB bandwidth.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;This optimizer function concludes that the single-stack model performs best compared to other models.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;The antenna geometry is simulated and optimized using Altair FEKO. The proposed design of the single-stack model achieves a -10dB return loss over 248-752 MHz with VSWR &lt; 2 and a relatively constant omnidirectional radiation pattern.&lt;/p&gt;</jats:p

DESIGN OF A NOVEL VERTICALLY-STACKED KITE-SHAPED ANTENNA

&lt;p&gt;"This work has been submitted to the IEEE for possible publication. Copyright may be transferred without notice, after which this version may no longer be accessible"&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;This work focuses on the design and simulation of a novel low-profile ultra-wideband antenna that combines the feature of vertical stacking with wing structure similar to bow-tie antennas. Additionally, it investigates the effectiveness of vertical stacking and discusses its optimization.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;To gauge the effectiveness of stacking, we have compared the non-stacked, single-stack, double-stack, and triple-stack models against an optimizer function that covers parameters such as normalized cost, normalized return loss, and normalized -10dB bandwidth.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;This optimizer function concludes that the single-stack model performs best compared to other models.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;The antenna geometry is simulated and optimized using Altair FEKO. The proposed design of the single-stack model achieves a -10dB return loss over 248-752 MHz with VSWR &lt; 2 and a relatively constant omnidirectional radiation pattern.&lt;/p&gt;</jats:p

DESIGN OF A NOVEL VERTICALLY-STACKED KITE-SHAPED ANTENNA

"This work has been submitted to the IEEE for possible publication. Copyright may be transferred without notice, after which this version may no longer be accessible" This work focuses on the design and simulation of a novel low-profile ultra-wideband antenna that combines the feature of vertical stacking with wing structure similar to bow-tie antennas. Additionally, it investigates the effectiveness of vertical stacking and discusses its optimization. To gauge the effectiveness of stacking, we have compared the non-stacked, single-stack, double-stack, and triple-stack models against an optimizer function that covers parameters such as normalized cost, normalized return loss, and normalized -10dB bandwidth. This optimizer function concludes that the single-stack model performs best compared to other models. The antenna geometry is simulated and optimized using Altair FEKO. The proposed design of the single-stack model achieves a -10dB return loss over 248-752 MHz with VSWR < 2 and a relatively constant omnidirectional radiation pattern.</p

Design of Smart Sensors for e-village

&lt;p&gt;Smart sensors are intelligent devices that are capable of measuring, processing, and transmitting data to a central location for further analysis. These sensors have become increasingly popular in recent years due to their ability to improve efficiency, safety, and accuracy in various applications. In this paper, we provide an overview of smart sensors, their types, applications, and future prospects in the field of creating E-villages.&lt;/p&gt