Computers in Our World

Chapter 3Computers in

Medicine and Science

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Overview

• The disciplines of medicine and science involve similar steps– Make an assessment to the cause of an occurrence

(ex. new disease, hole in ozone layer, etc.)– Collect and analyze data in relation to the occurrence

(why it happened)– Recommend a course of action

• Technology has changed the medical and scientific fields in terms of:– Data collection and analysis– Data presentation/visualization– Data storage

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Computers in Medicine

• Medical informatics is the application of computers, communications, and information technology to all aspects of medicine. We will review:– Patient history– Medical practice management– Patient diagnosis and monitoring– Operating room technology– Telemedicine and telepresence surgery– Research and training– Consumer information

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Maintaining Patient History

• A computer-based patient record (CPR) stores patient information electronically– Includes medical history, prescriptions, and health

insurance information– Can also store digital X-rays, surgery videos, and

recorded physician notes

• An electronic medical record (EMT) system is a healthcare management software package– Stores CPRs– Integrates computer devices and connectivity with labs– Checks for possible drug interactions

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Managing the Medical Practice

• EMT systems can help manage the medical practice– Link patient records with billing systems– Use coded records to file insurance claims

• Scheduling systems– Schedule patient appointments– Print out reminder cards for patients

• Reporting systems– Monitor patient outcomes over time– Help billing and insurance managers keep track of

payments

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Patient Diagnosis and Monitoring• Technology allows healthcare professionals to

– Capture and analyze patient data with electronic diagnostic tools

• ECG (electrocardiogram), ultrasound, MRI (magnetic resonance imaging), CAT (computerized axial tomography) scans, digital X rays, pill-sized cameras

– Use computer-assisted diagnostics (CAD) to confirm or exclude a diagnosis

• Decision support or expert systems

– Access pharmacy and medical information online• Useful for both physician and patients

– Monitor patients continuously• In the hospital or remotely from home

7Medical diagnostic tools using computer technology

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MRI

Digital X ray

Ultrasound

ECG

9Medical Web sites for physicians and patients

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Pulse oximeters are used to continuously monitor a patient’s blood oxygen levels and pulse rate. Handheld devices can be equipped with pulse oximeter software and a probe to provide fully functional portability.

Monitoring patients

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A G2 GlucoWatch consists of two main parts: a watchlike device that measures blood sugar and a plastic part that snaps into the watch and sticks to your skin. Gel discs collect the glucose; the watch measures the glucose every ten minutes and sounds an alarm if the reading is abnormal.

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Operating Room Technology

• Computer-aided surgery (CAS) is used to assist surgeons. For example:– Image-guided surgery

• Uses MRIs, CAT scans, and other images to place diagnosis before surgery, or determine the least invasive procedure (ex. brain functions map to determine least damage on brain)

• Endoscopy uses a tubular probe with a camera to view images of internal structures in the body (the surgeon watches the screen while moving the tube through the surgical area)

– Robots• Used to perform very delicate procedures (believed in

Europe to be more accurate than human surgeon)

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Telemedicine and Telepresence Surgery • Telemedicine helps healthcare professionals

consult and work together regardless of where the patient or clinical data is located– Uses live videoconferencing – Allows to share digitized images– Allows doctors in remote areas to consult with

specialists (using a satellite link)– Remote monitoring of chronically-ill patients (use online

forms to submit measurements)

• Telepresence surgery involves the use of robots– Surgeon operates robotic arms from a remote site

(may be used in battlefield)

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Sharing digitized images with Internet and videoconferencing technologies

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Medical Research and Training• Epidemiology is concerned with the distribution,

cause, and control of disease• Computer software allows for data related to a

specific disease to be:– Collected into a database– Processed and analyzed by computers– Searched for patterns in the spread of the disease

• Automated pattern classification/artificial intelligence techniques may recognize patterns of disease that would normally be missed with human analysis alone– Used with cancer studies, outbreaks, and epidemics

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Improving Medical Training

• Virtual reality (VR) simulators– Allow students and trainees to interact with a patient– React to the student movements and projects the

correct response– Collects student performance data for later review

• Newer simulators use Haptic feedback (based on the sense of touch, ex. feel scalpel)– Simulator can recreate how a procedure actually feels– Used with the Army’s human patient simulator

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Army medics use a high-tech patient simulator called SimMan that trains them to deal with battlefield injuries

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Credibility of Medical Information• Numerous Web sites provide health information

– e.g., AMA Physician Select, National Cancer Institute, WebMD, MEDLINEplus

• Not all online information is accurate or up-to-date• Use sites recommended by your doctor; or, use sites

accredited by:– Health on the Net Foundation (HON) – American Accreditation HealthCare commission (URAC)

• The Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) lists current false health reports and hoaxes

19Tips to evaluate health-related Web sites

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Computers in Science

• The process of science generally follows series of steps known as the scientific method

• Computer technology has affected the steps of the scientific method:– Observing, developing a hypothesis, collecting data to

test, analyzing, and making conclusions

• Computers can create accurate models and simulations to test hypotheses

• The speed and power of computers allow scientists to tackle complex problems with vast amounts of data (ex. extracting the human genome)

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Observation and Data Collection

• A key part of the scientific method is the collection of data

• Computers and communications devices have transformed the data collection process, allowing scientists to– Gather data automatically– Store or transmit data for immediate analysis– Gather data from remote locations

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Collecting Weather Data

• Weather balloons carry radiosondes into the upper atmosphere to collect data– Radiosondes are high-tech instrument packages that measure

temperature, humidity, air pressure, and wind speed and direction

• Weather radars collect data by sending out a beam of energy and then measuring how much of that beam is reflected back (ex. rain and snow reflect more of the beam)

• Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) orbit the earth 22,000 miles above the equator– Measure temperature and humidity at various altitudes, use

camera to create satellite images

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A weather balloon helps measure basic weather information by:

1) Lifting a radiosonde about 20 miles into the atmosphere

2) The radiosonde measures temperature, humidity, and air pressure

3) The balloon pops and the radiosonde is carried back to earth by parachute

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Hunting Hurricanes

• Hurricane hunters are airplanes that routinely fly into weather that most pilots avoid. Having computers collect data in such circumstances is of great value.– Contain probes, weather radar, data collection instruments,

computers– Transmit data and radar photos back to a hurricane center

using a satellite link

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Remote Sensing

• Uses GOES satellites to track and record data (ex. hazardous waste, beach erosion, wildlife populations, atmospheric and weather changes, etc.)

• Automatic weather station (AWS) units in Antarctica support meteorological research and climate prediction– A computer periodically updates data and transmits it to a satellite for

storage

• The National Data Buoy Center tracks weather along U.S coastlines– Buoys and C-MAN stations transmit data to the satellite; the data is

then posted on the Web

• The DART (deep ocean reporting and assessment of tsunamis) system uses moored buoys to track tsunamis– A bottom pressure recorder (BPR) transmits data from the moored

buoy to the surface buoy, and then on to a GOES

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Antarctica automatic weather station (AWS)

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Data Classification and Analysis• Computers have provided scientists and researchers

with the power to classify and analyze vast quantities of data more quickly and accurately than ever before

• The Human Genome Project– Identifies all of the genes in human DNA

• A genome is a blueprint for an organism, encompassing the entire set of DNA

• A gene defines the characteristic of an organism• DNA contains chemical bases that repeat billions of times through an

organism’s genome• The order of the bases defines whether an organism is a person, an ear

of corn or a golden retriever

– Powerful computers were used in the project to sort through the billions of DNA bases and identify the approximately 30,000 genes

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Data Classification and Analysis, cont.• SETI (search for extraterrestrial intelligence)

@home project– Involves the search for radio or light signals from

other civilizations in the universe– Relies on the concept of distributed computing

• Collective processing power of several computers is used to analyze vast amounts of colleted data

• Radio telescopes located in Puerto Rico capture data• The data is sent to thousands of small computers for

processing by a home server in Berkley• The results are sent back and stored in a database

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Data Modeling and Simulation

• A theory can be tested by building a model and and testing that model with realistic data

• A computer model can be created to represent just about any object, organism, or process

• Models and simulations are useful when it is physically impossible to view the data– Weather forecasts, impact of pollution, global

warming

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Forecasting the Weather

• Weather forecasts collect data from observations of the sky and computer based devices

• The data is fed into a supercomputer that uses mathematical models of the atmosphere to make predictions

• The National Weather Service manages and continuously refines these models

• New models are being developed to forecast hurricanes, thunderstorms, and other severe weather

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Environmental Impact Modeling

• Computers are used to model the impact of various occurrences (hurricanes, human actions) on the environment

• The Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL) has pioneered computer models used for the analysis of weather phenomena:– Model of the progress of ozone depletion and global

warming– Simulation of the effect of greenhouse gases on crops– Simulation of how the increase in ocean heat will

impact the earth

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Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

• A GIS is a computer system which assembles, stores, manipulates, ad displays data for its location – Can present several layers of description information

for a geographical region (ex. map of the area, fish population, temperature levels, etc.)

• Applications include mapping software, business strategies, and geographical analysis of health or environmental issues

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Layers in a GIS map

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Summary• Computers have added great value to data collection,

analysis, and communication

• Computer based technologies are used in medicine to maintain patient records, manage a practice, acquire health information, diagnose and monitor patients, perform operations, and treat patients remotely

• Specialized software is used in science to observe, collect, and analyze data, and to determine potential effects based on models and simulations