Positive end-expiratory pressure and surfactant administration mode influence function in ex-vivo premature sheep lungs.

Aim: Respiratory distress syndrome often necessitates endotracheal surfactant administration in extremely preterm infants. Our study aimed to explore a multi-modal simulation tool for investigating treatment strategies in ex vivo sheep lungs during spontaneous breathing.

Methods: An electromechanical lung simulator (xPULM) mimicking spontaneous breathing was coupled with a non-aerated premature sheep lung, replicating a premature respiratory system.

Extended Reality Solutions in Medical Context and Educational Approaches.

The healthcare sector is growing in importance as people continue to age and pandemics complicate the boundary conditions of such systems. The number of innovative approaches to solve singular tasks and problems in this area is only slowly increasing. This is particularly evident when looking at medical technology planning, medical training and process simulation.

Immersive Spatial Planning in Healthcare: Developing a Pipeline to Automatically Convert Computer Aided DesignData to Virtual Reality.

Equipping rooms used for medical purposes, like e.g., intensive care units, is an expensive and time-consuming task.

Experimental Evaluation of Dry Powder Inhalers during Inhalation and Exhalation Using a Model of the Human Respiratory System (xPULM™).

Dry powder inhalers are used by a large number of patients worldwide to treat respiratory diseases. The objective of this work is to experimentally investigate changes in aerosol particle diameter and particle number concentration of pharmaceutical aerosols generated by four dry powder inhalers under realistic inhalation and exhalation conditions. To simulate patients undergoing inhalation therapy, the active respiratory system model (xPULM™) was used.

Changes of particle deposition caused by different breathing patterns during active lung simulation.

Aerosols are an integral part of everyday life and as such are inhaled under various conditions and circumstances. These may vary based on the health and activity status of an individual. The aim of this work is to analyse the particle deposition mechanisms during the simulation of three different breathing patterns using an aerosol representing the PM1 fraction of fine particles.

Electro-mechanical Lung Simulator Using Polymer and Organic Human Lung Equivalents for Realistic Breathing Simulation.

Simulation models in respiratory research are increasingly used for medical product development and testing, especially because in-vivo models are coupled with a high degree of complexity and ethical concerns. This work introduces a respiratory simulation system, which is bridging the gap between the complex, real anatomical environment and the safe, cost-effective simulation methods. The presented electro-mechanical lung simulator, xPULM, combines in-silico, ex-vivo and mechanical respiratory approaches by realistically replicating an actively breathing human lung.

Development of a Multidisciplinary and Telemedicine Focused System Database.

Background: Tele-rehabilitation at home is one of the promising approaches in increasing rehabilitative success and simultaneously decreasing the financial burden on the healthcare system.

Objectives: Novel and mostly mobile devices are already in use, but shall be used in the future to a higher extent for allowing at home rehabilitation processes at a high quality level. The combination of exercises, assessments and available equipment is the basic objective of the presented database.

Development of a virtual lab for practical eLearning in eHealth.

In recent years an ongoing development in educational offers for professionals working in the field of eHealth has been observed. This education is increasingly offered in the form of eLearning courses. Furthermore, it can be seen that simulations are a valuable part to support the knowledge transfer.

Development of Knowledge Profiles for International eHealth eLearning Courses.

Professionals working in the multidisciplinary field of eHealth vary in their educational background. However, knowledge in the areas of medicine, engineering and management is required to fulfil the tasks associated with eHealth sufficiently. Based on the results of an analysis of national and international educational offers a survey gathering user requirements for the development of knowledge profiles in eHealth was conducted (n=75) by professionals and students.

Education for eHealth--a status analysis.

eHealth is not only a growing market, but also an important factor for new healthcare systems. National and European initiatives implicitly demand a higher level of knowledge in the areas of healthcare, engineering and management. As part of the eLearning4eHealth project an initial web based study was performed concentrating on European and global eHealth related educational programs.

Certification programs for eHealth--status quo.

The skills of the workforce are a core factor for the quality of healthcare systems. On top of the basic education, postgraduate training is an important factor for continuously maintaining as well as improving the workforce qualification level. Advanced training often provides certification of the acquired skills.

LUMOR: an app for standardized control and monitoring of a porcine lung and its nutrient cycle.

The outcome of the EU-funded project ElBik has been the lung simulator 'iLung', which imitates an actively breathing human lung with a porcine lung. In order to keep the explanted lung in a nearly physiological state during transportation from the slaughterhouse to the ventilation laboratory the tissue needs to be nourished and temperature controlled. The Project AlveoPic designs a mobile transport vehicle implementing an ISO/IEEE 11073-20601 compliant communication interface for the exchange of the physical parameters, alert messages and setpoint-values.

Bedside patient data viewer using RFID and e-Ink technology.

In the daily routine of hospitals, which work with paper based medical records, the staff has to find the appropriate patient file if it needs information about the patient. With the introduction of ELGA the Austrian hospitals have to use specific standards for their clinical documentation. These structured documents can be used to feed an e-Ink reader with information about every patient in a hospital.

Applicability of IHE/Continua components for PHR systems: learning from experiences.

Capturing personal health data using smartphones, PCs or other devices, and the reuse of the data in personal health records (PHR) is becoming more and more attractive for modern health-conscious populations. This paper analyses interoperability specifications targeting standards-based communication of computer systems and personal health devices (e.g.