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Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Technology in medicine'
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Carley, Simon. "Technology enhanced learning in emergency medicine." Thesis, Manchester Metropolitan University, 2018. http://e-space.mmu.ac.uk/621509/.
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Education is integral to the practice and delivery of Emergency Medicine in the UK. The staffing structures, the complexity of the workload and the need to deliver a service 24-hours a day require a high-quality learning environment. This thesis describes my work in using web-based technologies to enhance the learning experience of emergency medicine trainees and consultants. It describes three overlapping themes of innovation. Theme 1 describes the development of the BestBets approach to evidence-based medicine in emergency care. The papers and websites presented describe how the principles of evidence-based medicine were adapted, developed and published to provide a practical and pragmatic approach suitable for the acute care environment. Theme 2 describes how Virtual Learning Environments provided a solution to the challenges of teaching and learning with a chronologically and geographically distributed workforce. Theme 3 describes how I have used the latest social media technologies to enhance learning on a global scale. It describes how local learning can be shared amongst a diverse range of learners using social media tools. This theme charts how my projects on the St. Emlyn's platform have advocated for the Free Open Access Medical Education movement. It also describes how I have created a symbiotic relationship between modern and traditional publishing mechanisms to promote the academic outputs of local and international publishing collaborations. In this thesis I describe the narrative of educational development alongside and in some cases in the mutual support of technological innovation. I reflect on the strengths and weaknesses of the learning narrative and also on the methodological approach to the analysis of the three main themes. Central to my work is how I have developed my skills to now lead the social media projects for the St. Emlyn's group and in the establishment of my recognition as a leader in the area of technologically enhanced emergency medical education.
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Götze, Sarah, Daniella Ekström, Forssén Tore Larsson, Eric Sjöö, Frisinger Emma Svanberg, and Linnea Wikström. "Personalized Medicine." Thesis, Uppsala universitet, Institutionen för biologisk grundutbildning, 2021. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-444200.
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The aim of this project was to present several therapies and possible applications of these in the field of personalized medicine along with the production techniques and workflows surrounding them. There are two main categories; cell therapies and non-cell therapies. Cell therapies utilize the body's own T cells and immune system, and non-cell therapies are mostly based on proteins and nucleotides. All of these applications face different challenges that need to be overcome to be considered effective treatments and they all have a high production cost. The report also presents differences and similarities of manufacturing models that are specifically used in the production of cell therapies. It could be argued that these manufacturing models can be adjusted and work for both cell therapies and non-cell therapies. Three different workflows for three different personalized medicines, antibody drug conjugates (ADCs), tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) and mRNA vaccines, are presented in this report. Technologies and processes valuable to the manufacturing process were also presented, including bioreactors, interleukin 2 media and cell dissociation technologies. In conclusion, there are methods and techniques that are frequently used in production that are, or possibly could be useful for manufacturing personalized drug components. Production of products used in personalized medicine is possible if the right resources are available. Personalized therapies are presently most commonly applied to cancer diseases but there are developments for these therapies that could benefit several other diseases. To fully apply personalized therapies to these diseases further studies on suitable biomarkers and targets in drugs are needed. Overall, personalized medicine has promising possibilities in treatments for many types of complex diseases. This project was assigned by Cytiva which is a global life science company and the product order can be seen in the appendix.
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Harris, Heather. "Constructing colonialism : medicine, technology, and the frontier nursing service /." Thesis, This resource online, 1995. http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/available/etd-06102009-063404/.
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Schreiner, Terri, and Frances Jackson. "Learning via Paradox: Less / More, Communications / Technology Nursing / Medicine." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2005. https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu-works/8475.
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Polaha, Jodi, J. Correll, and J. Ellison. "Bringing Technology to Integrated Care." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2010. https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu-works/6604.
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Jones, Willie F. "Development of a cellular fiber spinning technology for regenerative medicine." Connect to this title online, 2006. http://etd.lib.clemson.edu/documents/1173995215/.
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Liljedahl, Ulrika. "Microarray Technology for Genotyping in Pharmacogenetics." Doctoral thesis, Uppsala : Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis : Univ.-bibl. [distributör], 2004. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-4222.
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Manrai, Arjun Kumar. "Statistical foundations for precision medicine." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/97826.
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Thesis: Ph. D., Harvard-MIT Program in Health Sciences and Technology, 2015.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.
Includes bibliographical references.
Physicians must often diagnose their patients using disease archetypes that are based on symptoms as opposed to underlying pathophysiology. The growing concept of "precision medicine" addresses this challenge by recognizing the vast yet fractured state of biomedical data, and calls for a patient-centered view of data in which molecular, clinical, and environmental measurements are stored in large shareable databases. Such efforts have already enabled large-scale knowledge advancement, but they also risk enabling large-scale misuse. In this thesis, I explore several statistical opportunities and challenges central to clinical decision-making and knowledge advancement with these resources. I use the inherited heart disease hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) to illustrate these concepts. HCM has proven tractable to genomic sequencing, which guides risk stratification for family members and tailors therapy for some patients. However, these benefits carry risks. I show how genomic misclassifications can disproportionately affect African Americans, amplifying healthcare disparities. These findings highlight the value of diverse population sequencing data, which can prevent variant misclassifications by identifying ancestry informative yet clinically uninformative markers. As decision-making for the individual patient follows from knowledge discovery by the community, I introduce a new quantity called the "dataset positive predictive value" (dPPV) to quantify reproducibility when many research teams separately mine a shared dataset, a growing practice that mirrors genomic testing in scale but not synchrony. I address only a few of the many challenges of delivering sound interpretation of genetic variation in the clinic and the challenges of knowledge discovery with shared "big data." These examples nonetheless serve to illustrate the need for grounded statistical approaches to reliably use these powerful new resources.
by Arjun Kumar Manrai.
Ph. D.
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Bia, Jesse. "Sunshine technology and dream biology : perceptions of regenerative medicine in Japan." Thesis, University College London (University of London), 2018. http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/10043354/.
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Regenerative medicine is enthusiastically celebrated in Japan. Cutting edge stem cell research and new translatable treatments are closely followed and championed: by individuals, the government, and media alike. This thesis will demonstrate how process occurs in Japan, and then explain why. Two critical reasons are posited for regenerative medicine’s extensive public endorsement. The first reason is regenerative medicine’s role in combating the effects of Japan’s demographic shift: an ongoing crisis in which the national population is both aging and shrinking at distressing rates. The demographic shift puts immense strains on healthcare infrastructure, the economy, and family dynamics, while also precipitating a rise in the prevalence of degenerative diseases. Regenerative medicine is perceived as a multivalent antidote for these demographic concerns. The second reason is regenerative medicine’s many points of continuity and symbiotic overlaps with the philosophies and methodological applications of kampo (traditional Japanese medicine). Within both regenerative medicine and kampo treatment contexts, healing is reflexive and internally oriented: medicine does not heal the body so much as small medical catalysts influence the body to heal itself – to regenerate. Participants viewed regenerative medicine and kampo as analogous, and in some cases, interchangeable. With data gathered over two consecutive years of multi-sited participant observation fieldwork in Japan, the story of regenerative medicine is deliberately told here through personal narratives, ethnography, and individual perceptions: the words and insights of participants. As a series of subjective biovalues, potentials, and imaginaries, regenerative medicine has become a malleable concept that extends far beyond just cellular therapies. In Japan, regenerative medicine manifests as hope for the immediate future, and as individuals project their optimism onto it, regenerative medicine can and does become whatever they want it to be.
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Butte, Atul J. "Exploring genomic medicine using integrative biology." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2004. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/33680.
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Thesis (Ph. D.)--Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, 2004.Includes bibliographical references (p. 215-227).
Instead of focusing on the cell, or the genotype, or on any single measurement modality, using integrative biology allows us to think holistically and horizontally. A disease like diabetes can lead to myocardial infarction, nephropathy, and neuropathy; to study diabetes in genomic medicine would require reasoning from a disease to all its various complications to the genome and back. I am studying the process of intersecting nearly-comprehensive data sets in molecular biology, across three representative modalities (microarrays, RNAi and quantitative trait loci) out of the more than 30 available today. This is difficult because the semantics and context of each experiment performed becomes more important, necessitating a detailed knowledge about the biological domain. I addressed this problem by using all public microarray data from NIH, unifying 50 million expression measurements with standard gene identifiers and representing the experimental context of each using the Unified Medical Language System, a vocabulary of over 1 million concepts. I created an automated system to join data sets related by experimental context.
(cont.) I evaluated this system by finding genes significantly involved in multiple experiments directly and indirectly related to diabetes and adipogenesis and found genes known to be involved in these diseases and processes. As a model first step into integrative biology, I then took known quantitative trait loci in the rat involved in glucose metabolism and build an expert system to explain possible biological mechanisms for these genetic data using the modeled genomic data. The system I have created can link diseases from the ICD-9 billing code level down to the genetic, genomic, and molecular level. In a sense, this is the first automated system built to study the new field of genomic medicine.
by Atul Janardhan Butte.
Ph.D.
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Sun, Lizhe. "Value creation through modernizing Chinese medicine." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/42217.
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Thesis (S.M.)--Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, 2007.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 110-114).
My first hypothesis in this thesis is that there is significant value vested in traditional Chinese medicine that can be captured by converting them into ethical drugs through scientific analysis, screening and validation. Further, holistic treatment is a key difference between traditional Chinese medicine and western-type chemical drugs, which makes Chinese medicine a very valuable category of knowledge. Using mixed formula is a primary method of treatment in Chinese medicine. It is the application of distinctive medical philosophies of Chinese herbal medicines in practices, reflecting the uniqueness and advantages of Chinese medicine. For example, there are 96,592 mixed formula recorded by "Dictionary of Chinese Medicine Mixed Formula" published in 1997. My second hypothesis in this thesis is that value can be created and captured, under the globalization context, from mixed herbal formulas for the mainstream world market with the aid of fingerprint technologies. To enter western markets as officially approved drugs through critical pathways, both scientific and regulatory, Chinese herb drugs must demonstrate sound evidence for safety and efficacy. I address in this thesis one of the central concerns of the pharmaceutical companies and FDA, that is, how quality control and material consistency is assured and how toxicity and drug kinetics of Chinese herbal medicines, either in its raw form, its purified form, its composite extract form or its mixed formula form, may be measured with reasonable scientific certainty and what would be the likely trajectory of further research.
(cont.) My thesis research involves the following aspects: firstly, I characterize, by and through historical review and analysis, the formation of unique Chinese holistic medical philosophy to apply herbal medicines, particularly mixed herbal formulas, to systematically modulate the human body to prevent illnesses, to combat health problems and to restore balanced health; secondly, I performed a comparative study on the regulatory systems between Chinese SFDA and US FDA to provide insights on the trend of harmonic convergence of laws and regulations and challenges going forward, including collection and extrapolation of relevant statistical data; thirdly, I researched emerging fingerprint technologies to address the central issues of standardization, quality control, material consistency, safety and efficacy measurements of Chinese herbal medicines; fourthly, I performed data collection on major Chinese sources of published literatures and patent applications/grants for public and private medicinal knowledge formation, which may be viewed as a surrogate indicator for embedded economic value in the system, to compare trend and gaps between China and developed countries; and lastly, I presented three case studies of development of an-diabetic drugs from herbal sources, to illustrate how value may be created and captured through using modern technologies to tap into the accumulative knowledge base in herbal medicine. The thesis concludes that there are significant values to be captured, by and through cross-border collaborations under the globalization context, from Chinese herbal medicine. Both ethical single molecular entity (singleton) herb-derived drugs and mixed formula herb-derived drugs may be created going forward.
by Lizhe Sun.
S.M.
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Flash, Gregory Henry. "Feasibility of using an industrial robot with the LODOX technology." Master's thesis, University of Cape Town, 2002. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/3385.
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Bibliography: leaves 107-110.DebTech Pty(LTD), a subsidiary of De Beers South Africa, has designed a low dosage digital X-ray machine called LODOX. This innovative machine has been commissioned in Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa. It is capable of performing standard radiological scans, producing high quality images quickly and in a digital form.
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Zuiderent-Jerak, Teun. "Standardization healthcare practices; experimental interventions in medicine and science and technology studies." [S.l.] : Rotterdam : [The Author] ; Erasmus University [Host], 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/1765/10605.
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Carmel, Simon Harry Michael. "High technology medicine in practice : the organisation of work in intensive care." Thesis, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (University of London), 2003. http://researchonline.lshtm.ac.uk/682319/.
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The aim of this thesis is to develop a grounded understanding of the practice of high technology clinical work and how it is organised. It combines systematic empirical analysis of the clinical locale of intensive care with scholarly work in medical sociology and the related fields of health services research, medicine, nursing and social studies of science and technology. The empirical data were obtained through fieldwork on three intensive care units (ICUs). The methods comprised periods of detailed observation, informal conversational interviews in the field and tape-recorded semi-structured interviews. The substantive contribution of the thesis is an analysis of contemporary and traditional themes in medical sociology: medical uncertainty; clinical knowledge in practice; inter- occupational relationships; the material and social character of medical and nursing work; and the organisational 'reality' of one clinical site within the modem hospital. In particular, the thesis demonstrates the utility of 'craft' as a metaphor for understanding medical work in ICU; provides a critical empirical review and reformulation of nursing theory as it has been applied to ICU; and proposes a new conception of the relationship between medicine and nursing in the grounded situation of clinical work. Two subsidiary contributions are also made: one methodological and one theoretical. In terms of methodology, I provide concrete examples of how ethnographic analysis can explain findings which have been derived from other health services research methods and thereby inform the future direction of such research. In terms of theory, I illuminate current debates at the interface of medical sociology and social studies of science and technology about the appropriateness of a post-structural style of analysis. In conclusion, I specify in what ways our understanding of health care work is - and is not - enhanced by the adoption of Actor-Network Theory.
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Kachnowski, Stanislaw. "A history of medical technology in post-colonial India : the development of technology in medicine from 1947-1991." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2015. https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:a98170a0-f494-401e-9ad3-4483e89f6359.
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Over the past 60 years, India has undergone immense political, economic, and social changes, which have led to its emergence as a global economic power and regional military power. During this period, the population has surged, growing from 233 million to 1.2 billion people, making India the second most populous nation in the world. In the course of this change, there have been key indicators of medical progress, such as rising life expectancy and a falling infant mortality rate. Another striking indicator, specifically in the area of medical technology, is the fact that India in 2006 was a net exporter of HIV medications to dozens of countries around the globe, earning a reputation as the pharmacist of the developing world. Although many books and papers have been written about the emergence of the country's economy and military, little has been written on how it has been able to achieve its leadership in medical technology. This thesis, 'A History of Medical Technology in Postcolonial India: 1947-1991', is the first major study examining the development of medical technology in India in the period directly following colonial rule. The period covered in this research is crucial because it highlights the evolution and impact of medical technology in postcolonial India, leading up to, but excluding, the free-market reforms enacted by the Indian government in 1991. This thesis will also illustrate the impact diffusion had on the evolution of medical technology. Most importantly, this thesis introduces a new concept appropriate to understanding India's trajectory in this period: the medical technology complex. It will be shown that this complex consists of different groups working toward an aligned objective. It is not the point of this thesis to characterize the medical technology complex in a positive light or a negative one. Its primary concern is to demonstrate through historical evidence that this construct grew throughout the twentieth century and still exists today.
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Chang, Ming-lai Lily. "Innovation and technology development in Hong Kong : infrastructure support for Chinese medicine based industry /." Hong Kong : University of Hong Kong, 2000. http://sunzi.lib.hku.hk/hkuto/record.jsp?B2228493X.
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Goren, Amir S. M. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "Assessing the economic case for stratified medicine." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/42207.
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Thesis (S.M.)--Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, 2007.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 36-39).
The goal of this study is to explore the economic conditions that favor the joint development of therapeutics and companion diagnostics. I hypothesize that predictive biomarkers can generate economic value in drug development by increasing success rates. I construct an economic model of the development of a hypothetical new therapy, and devote particular attention to parameters regarding safety, efficacy, cost, and market size, within a decision-theoretic framework. The results include a characterization of the dynamic net present value trade-offs between stratum size and biomarker success, as well as the identification of two complementary concepts of stratified medicine, namely, disease reclassification and value-based reimbursement. I also identify a strong potential incentive mechanism in the hands of public policy makers that could facilitate a resolution of the tension between patient interests and the interests of pharmaceutical sponsors. The conclusion is that a biomarker can compensate for smaller stratum by increasing success probabilities. However, the effects of longer development time due to biomarker inclusion counter the effects of improved success probabilities. Longer exclusivity periods for stratified medicine may be required in order to resolve the tension between patient interests and the interests of pharmaceutical sponsors.
by Amir Goren.
S.M.
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Polaha, Jodi, J. Shore, C. Turvey, E. Nelson, M. Mishkind, and R. Ciulla. "Transformations in Telemental Health Technology and Policy: Implications for Practice." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2012. https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu-works/6687.
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Lizama, Natalia. "Afterlife, but not as we know it : medicine, technology and the body resurrected." University of Western Australia. School of Social and Cultural Studies, 2008. http://theses.library.uwa.edu.au/adt-WU2008.0186.
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This thesis contends that technologically-derived resurrections of human bodies and bodily fragments can be viewed as indicative of a 'post-biological' ontology. Drawing from examples in which human bodies are resurrected, both figuratively and actually, this thesis puts forward the term 'post-biological subject' as an ideological framework for conceptualising the reconfiguration of human ontology that results from various medical technologies that 'resurrect' the human body. In this instance, the term 'postbiological', borrowed from Hans Moravec who uses it denote a future in which human being is radically disembodied and resurrected within a digital realm, is used somewhat ironically: where Moravec imagines an afterlife in which the body is discarded as so much 'meat', the post-biological afterlife of the body in this thesis centres around a form of corporeal resurrection. Corpses, living organs and excreta may all be resurrected, some of them in digital format, yet this kind of resurrection departs radically from the disembodied spiritual bliss imagined in many conceptualisations of resurrection. The post-biological subject resists ontological delineation and problematises boundaries defining self and other, living and dead, and human and nonhuman and is fraught with a number of cultural anxieties about its unique ontological status. These concerns are analysed in the context of a number of phenomena, including melancholy, horror, monstrosity and the uncanny, all of which similarly indicate an anxious fixation with human ontology. The purpose of discussing post-biological bodies in relation to phenomena such as melancholy or the uncanny is not to reinstate as ideological frameworks the psychoanalytic models from which these concepts are derived, but rather to use them as starting points for more complex analyses of postbiological ontology. The first and second chapters of this thesis discuss instances in which the human body is posthumously modified, drawing on Gunther von Hagens's Body Worlds exhibition and the Visible Human Project. The Body Worlds plastinates are situated in a liminal and ambiguous ontological space between life and death, and it is argued that their extraordinary ontological status evokes a form of imagined melancholy, wherein the longed-for and lost melancholic object is a complete process of death. In the case of the Visible Human Project, it is argued that the gruesome and highly technologised process of creating the Visible Male, wherein the corpse is effectively dehumanised and iv rendered geometric, evokes the trope of horror, while at the same time being fraught with a nostalgic longing for a pre-technological, anatomically 'authentic' body. The third and fourth chapters of this thesis discuss instances in which the living human body is reconfigured, focusing on immortal cell lines and organ transplantation, and on medical imaging technologies such as computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging. In the third chapter it is argued that organ transplantation and the creation of immortal cell lines give rise to profound anxieties about ontological contamination through their capacity to render permeable the imagined boundaries defining self, and in this way invoke the monstrous. The fourth chapter interrogates the representation of medical imaging in Don DeLillo?s novel White Noise, arguing that the medical representation of the body functions as a form of double, a digital doppelganger that elicits an uncanny anxiety through its capacity to presage death.
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Chang, Ming-lai Lily, and 張明麗. "Innovation and technology development in Hong Kong: infrastructure support for Chinese medicine basedindustry." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 2000. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B31260202.
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Cheah, Boon Chong. "Metabolomic sensing system for personalised medicine using an integrated CMOS sensor array technology." Thesis, University of Glasgow, 2017. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/8115/.
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Precision healthcare, also known as personalised medicine, is based on our understanding of the fundamental building blocks of biological systems, with the ultimate aim to clinically identify the best therapeutic strategy for each individual. Genomics and sequencing technologies have brought this to the foreground by enabling an individual’s entire genome to be mapped for less than a thousand dollar in just one day. Recently, metabolomics, the quantitative measurement of small molecules, has emerged as a field to understand an individual’s molecular profile in terms of both genetics and environmental factors. This is crucial because a genome could only indicate an individual’s susceptibility to a particular disease, whereas a metabolome provides an immediate measurement of body function, enabling a means of diagnosis. However, the current approach of measurements depends on large-scale and expensive equipment such as mass spectroscopy and NMR instrumentation, which does not offer a single analytical platform to detect the entire metabolome. This thesis describes the development of an integrated CMOS sensor array technology as a single platform to quantify different metabolites using specific enzymes. The key stages in the work were: to construct instrumentation systems to perform enzyme assays on the CMOS sensor array; to establish techniques to package the CMOS sensor array for an aqueous environment; to implement and develop a room temperature Ta2O5 sputtering process on CMOS sensor array for hydrogen ion detection; to collaborate with a chemist and investigate an inorganic layer on top of the CMOS ISFET sensor to show an improvement of sensitivity towards potassium ion; to test several different enzyme assays electrochemically and optically and show the functionalities of the sensors; to devise microfluidic channels for segregation of the sensor array into different compartments and perform enzyme immobilisation techniques on CMOS chips; and integrate the packaged chip with microfluidic channels and enzyme immobilisation using 2D inkjet printer into a complete system that has the potential to be used as a multi-enzyme platform for detection of different metabolites. Two CMOS sensor array chips (1) a 256×256-pixel ISFET array chip and (2) a 16×16-pixel Multi-Corder chip were fully understood. Therefore, a high-speed instrumentation system was constructed for the ISFET array chip with a maximum readout speed of 500 frames per second, with 2D and 3D imaging capability, as well as single pixel analysis. Follow by that, a miniaturised measurement platform was implemented for the Multi-Corder chip that has three different sensor arrays, which are ISFET, PD and SPAD. All the sensor arrays can be operated independently or together (ionic sensor and one of the optical sensors). Several post-processing steps were investigated to allow suitable fabrication process on small 4×4 mm2 CMOS chips. Post-processing of the CMOS chips was first established using room temperature sputtering process for Ta2O5 layer, achieving Ta:O ratio of 1:1.77 and a surface roughness of 0.42 nm. This Ta2O5 layer was then fabricated on top of CMOS ISFETs, which improves the ISFET pH sensitivity to 45 mV/pH, with an average drift of 6.5 ± 8.6 mV/hour from chip to chip and a working pH range of 2 to 12. Furthermore, a layer of POMs was drop casted on top of Ta2O5 ISFET to make ISFET sensitive to potassium ions. This was investigated in terms of potassium ions sensitivity, hydrogen ions sensitivity and sodium ions as interfering background ions. The POMs Ta2O5 ISFET was found to have a net potassium sensitivity of 75 mV/pK, with a linear range between pH 1.5 to 3. Moreover, the POMs ISFET has -5 mV/pH in pH sensitivity, showing that it is selectivity towards potassium ions and not hydrogen ions. However, sodium ions were found to produce a large interference towards the pK sensitivity of POMs ISFET and reduced the pK sensitivity of POMs ISFET. Hence, further work is still required to modify POMs layer for better selectivity and sensitivity. Besides that, microfluidic channels were fabricated on top of the CMOS chips that could provide segregation for multiple enzyme assays on a single chip. In addition, a PDMS and a manual dam and fill method were developed to encapsulate the CMOS chips for wet biochemistry measurements. The CMOS sensor array was found to have the ensemble averaging capability to reduce noise as a function of √N , where N is the number of sensors used for averaging. Several enzyme assays that include: hexokinase, lactate dehydrogenase, urease and lipase were tested on the ISFET sensor array. Moreover, using an optical sensor array, namely a PD on the Multi-Corder chip and using LED illumination, quantification of cholesterol levels in human blood serum was demonstrated. Enzyme kinetics calculations were performed for hexokinase and cholesterol oxidase assays and the results were comparable to that obtained from a bench top spectrophotometer. This shows the CMOS sensor array can be used as a low cost portable diagnostic device. Several enzyme immobilisation techniques were explored but were unsuccessful. Alginate enzyme gel immobilisation with a 2D inkjet printer was found to be the best candidate to bio-functionalise the CMOS sensor array. The packaged chip was integrated with microfluidic channels and alginate enzyme gel immobilisation into a complete system, in order to perform an enzyme assay with its control experiments simultaneously on a single chip. As a proof-of-concept, this complete system has the potential to be used as a multiple metabolite quantification platform.
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McKay, Terri L. "A CFD Model of Mixing in a Microfluidic Device for Space Medicine Technology." Cleveland State University / OhioLINK, 2011. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=csu1305563573.
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Hunter, Morris. "The development of a baccalaureate degree program in medical imaging technology." CSUSB ScholarWorks, 1999. https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd-project/1857.
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Fredriksson, Mona. "Using Minisequencing Technology for Analysing Genetic Variation in DNA and RNA." Doctoral thesis, Uppsala University, Department of Medical Sciences, 2005. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-4789.
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In this thesis, the four-color fluorescence tag-microarray minisequencing system pioneered by our group was further developed and applied for analysing genetic variation in human DNA and RNA. A SNP marker panel representing different chromosomal regions was established and used for identification of informative SNP markers for monitoring chimerism after stem cell transplantation (SCT). The success of SCT was monitored by measuring the allelic ratios of informative SNPs in follow-up samples from nine patients with leukaemia. The results agreed with data obtained using microsatellite markers. Further the same SNP marker panel was used for evaluation of two whole genome amplification methods, primer extension preamplification (PEP) and multiple displacement amplification (MDA) in comparison with genomic DNA with respect to SNP genotyping success and accuracy in tag-array minisequencing. Identical results were obtained from MDA products and genomic DNA.
The tag-microarray minisequencing system was also established for multiplexed quantification of imbalanced expression of SNP alleles. Two endothelial cell lines and a panel of ten coding SNPs in five genes were used as model system. Six heterozygous SNPs were genotyped in RNA (cDNA) from the cell lines. Comparison of the relative amounts of the SNPs alleles in cDNA to heterozygote SNPs in genomic DNA displayed four SNPs with significant imbalanced expression between the SNP alleles. Finally, the tag-array minisequencing system was modified for detection of splice variants in mRNA from five leukaemia cell lines. A panel of 20 cancer-related genes with 74 alternatively splice variants was screened. Over half of the splice variants were detected in the cell lines, and similar alternative splicing patterns were observed in each cell line. The results were verified by size analysis of the PCR product subjected to the minisequencing primer extension reaction. The data from both methods agreed well, evidencing for a high sensitivity of our system.
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Harvey, Janet. "Behind the medical mask : medical technology and medical power." Thesis, University of Warwick, 1992. http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/36139/.
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This thesis explores the role of technology as a resource in the structure of medical domination of birth and death, stressing technology's pivotal position at the intersection of control and uncertainty. Based in Intensive Care and Obstetrics (between which the health status of patients diverges sharply), it notes the convergence of technology used and examines the contest for control within the labour process. This includes using technology to facilitate a 'standardized' birth or death; a more retrospectively defensible event. In general, the 'burden of proof' is concluded to lie with those wishing not to intervene rather than the reverse. Given the (cognitively male) biomedical model, mind-body dualism is an assumption embedded in medical technology: this is especially significant in childbirth, where it fractures the woman's ontological experience of giving birth. Its positivistic and pathological emphasis is associated with a reification of processes and a commodification of their 'solution': which becomes located in technology. It is argued that commodification in health provision will increase with the further application of market principles to the NHS. It is concluded that 'uncertainty', endemic to medicine and a possible challenge to control, is proactively manipulated and pressed into the service of medical domination. Technology is used to mask uncertainty and aid the medical profession's control of patients/relatives, and subordinate work groups. A technological fix may be viewed as the opposite to re-discovering societal dreams and myths, however, more paradoxically, it is concluded that dreams and myths have become attached to technology. Thus, the symbolic role of technology is: to provide hope of continued survival (or cure), the veiling of existential uncertainty and the offer of 'absolution' - should all efforts fail (a freedom from guilt in the assurance that "everything possible was tried"). Its 'heroic' project is viewed as an existentially 'masculine' health provision and 'feminized' health care is posited as an alternative.
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Arafat, Basel. "Proliposome technology for protein delivery." Thesis, University of Central Lancashire, 2013. http://clok.uclan.ac.uk/9633/.
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Growing attention has been given to the potential of the respiratory tract for systemic delivery of macromolecules, particularly proteins and peptides. However, limitations such as short transit time and loss of activity of some proteins and peptides in the respiratory tract need to be overcome. Consequently, the utility of controlled drug delivery systems such as liposomes as protein carriers appear promising. Unfortunately, liposomes are unstable in aqueous dispersions. Additionally, conventional liposome preparation methods such as the thin film hydration are difficult to scale-up, and also demonstrate low entrapment efficiencies for hydrophilic materials. The aim of this work was to develop novel submicron mucoadhesive liposomes entrapping the protein immunoglobulin g (IgG) using the proliposome method. Additionally, this work explored the potential of the generated liposomes for respiratory tract delivery via medical nebulisers and nasal sprays with different operating principles. Liposomes generated from the proliposome technology were multilamellar as cryo-TEM studies revealed. The generated liposomes were capable of entrapping considerable concentrations of salbutamol sulfate (59.1%), ovalbumin (43.3 %) and IgG (29.9 %). Also, the generated liposomes demonstrated superior entrapment efficiency of IgG to other liposome preparation methods (thin film and particulate- based proliposome technology). Reduction of liposome size to 400 nm and the incorporation of the mucoadhesive agent sodium alginate markedly enhanced the entrapment of IgG in liposomes (up to 50 %). The secondary structure and immunological reactivity of IgG were also maintained following its incorporation in liposomes as demonstrated by circular dichroism and microagglutination assay, respectively. Nebulisation was found to fragment liposomes as well as reduce the activity of the entrapped IgG. The degree of liposome fragmentation and loss of activity of IgG varied markedly among different medical nebulisers. Liposome size distribution and IgG immune reactivity studies elucidated that vibrating-mesh nebuliser was least disruptive to liposome structure and the immunoreactivity of the incorporated IgG was least affected following its use (retained activity of 83% versus 24% and 39% for the ultrasonic and air-jet nebulisers, respectively). Contrary to medical nebulizers, this work illustrated that all studied nasal devices preserved both the integrity of liposomes and the incorporated IgG. In conclusion, the findings of this study demonstrate potential benefits in drug delivery employing both intranasal administration and proliposome technology offer with great promise in using proliposome formulations for intranasal protein delivery.
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Gonzales, Dominic V. "An analysis of automated solutions for the Certification and Accreditation of navy medicine information assets." Thesis, Monterey, Calif. : Springfield, Va. : Naval Postgraduate School ; Available from National Technical Information Service, 2005. http://library.nps.navy.mil/uhtbin/hyperion/05Sep%5FGonzales.pdf.
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Webber, Nicholas R. "Technology and Commercial Assessment of a Tissue Regenerating Drug in the Regenerative Medicine Market." Case Western Reserve University School of Graduate Studies / OhioLINK, 2014. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1402249985.
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Wick, Livia. "Making lives under closure : birth and medicine in Palestine's waiting zones." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/38205.
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Thesis (Ph. D. in History, Anthropology, and Science, Technology and Society (HASTS))--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Program in Science, Technology and Society, 2006.Includes bibliographical references (p. 254-262).
Reproduction is a site for understanding the ways in which people reconceptualize and re-organize the world in which they live. This dissertation tries to understand the world of birth under the regime of closures and fragmentation that governs the lives of Palestinians. It describes how checkpoints, closures, curfews have come to characterize childbirth in Palestine. It illustrates how the changing infrastructure, economy and discourse around birth produce new experiences of life in the medical sphere and in a family. Oral histories, life histories, doctors', midwives' and mothers' accounts, news reports and literature speak of these new conditions and experiences of birth and life. The meanings and structures of medicine, family and motherhood are thus remade. Oral histories focus on a history of the health infrastructure and movements in medicine, in particular the sumud (steadfastness) movement and the popular health movement. They illustrate how the figure of the doctor overlaps with that of the political leader. They identify the new health infrastructures built to assist birth during the closure which have different politics than the earlier movements, marking the post-socialist age, but show remarkable continuities with them in their emergence, mobilization and hierarchies. These new infrastructures, economies and discourses produce changing stories about birth and changing subjects. I identify two genres of birth stories, the first, narrated by mothers and the second, collected from newspapers. The former is in the register of the ordinary. The mothers remember the space of the hospital, a socio-economic space signaling class, as well as the trip from home to hospital and back. The stories seem uncanny. Occupation, closures and warfare are simply part of the ordinary. By contrast, the newspaper birth stories are sensational. They tell of checkpoint and prison births, occupation, suffering and resistance. They speak of miraculous redemption but in opposition to mothers' narrations, they are familiar. Finally, listening to the inner worlds of birth-mothers under the impress of economic, political and domestic pressures this dissertation distinguishes "enclosure" as a worldview caused by occupation and family relations, thus re-evaluating meanings of family, motherhood and life.
by Livia Wick.
Ph.D.in History, Anthropology, and Science, Technology and Society (HASTS
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Govender, Katya. "A pharmacokinetic and efficacy study of Lumefantrine in mice: evaluating the application of Pheroid™ technology." Master's thesis, University of Cape Town, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/3393.
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Kegley, John K. "Understanding the Use of Online Health Information Technology byPeople with and without Visual Disabilities." Wright State University / OhioLINK, 2016. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=wright1470918391.
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Holland, Chad D. (Chad Darrel). "Personalized medicine, population genetics and privacy : an empirical study of international gene banks." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2005. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/33089.
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Thesis (S.M.)--Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology; and, (S.M.M.O.T.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, Management of Technology Program, 2005.Includes bibliographical references.
The promise of personalized medicine lies in its potential to fundamentally change healthcare. In the past, pharmaceuticals were prescribed on a "one size fits all" basis-patients with certain disease phenotypes were given what were thought to be appropriate drugs. There is growing evidence however that the effectiveness of these drugs may differ by individual and by sub-group; presumably due to fundamental genetic differences in disease and metabolic pathways. Drugs like Herceptin, Gleevec and Iressa are part of an emerging trend in the biopharmaceutical arena of drugs that are accompanied by genetic diagnostic tests and prescribed only for patients with genotypes in which the agents are most effective.
by Chad D. Holland.
S.M.M.O.T.
S.M.
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Arwady, M. Allison. "The uses of rickets race, technology, and the politics of preventive medicine in the early twentieth century /." [New Haven, Conn. : s.n.], 2008. http://ymtdl.med.yale.edu/theses/available/etd-11172008-140502/.
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Singh, Pawanbir. "Enabling late-stage translation of regenerative medicine based products." Thesis, Loughborough University, 2010. https://dspace.lboro.ac.uk/2134/6060.
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The primary aim of the thesis is to contribute to demonstrating how established and emerging science in the regenerative medicine (RM) domain can be translated into profitable commercial practice, and generate clinically- and cost-effective therapies. It achieves this by exploring and assessing underlying economics, including investment readiness and economic assessment, exploring regulatory and reimbursement frameworks, developing stem cell culture systems and assessing fit with clinical practice. The thesis is the first public domain wide-ranging analysis of business trends in the production, manufacturing and supply segments of the RM industry. It analyses the clinical potential of the domain as well as the translational and commercial challenges facing the industry. The industry is at a turning point as big pharmaceutical companies engage with RM in order to explore technologies as potential therapeutics and discovery tools. This unlocks the industry by confirming an exit path for RM based small- and medium-sized enterprises. Translation has come to be recognised as a core issue in the overall space and translation of regenerative therapies into the clinic is presently challenging, high-risk and expensive. This research addresses the question what are the mechanisms required to enable translation of emerging scientific knowledge into commercially viable clinical RM products? These mechanisms are particularly important as their creation involves and requires major investment decisions, which can determine the success or failure of RM developments and indeed of the companies concerned. The lack of well-established business models and the complexity of the domain suggested a conceptual approach drawing upon relevant literature from product and process development, applied business and revenue models, technological evolution and capital market ingenuity. The research was carried out in two phases. The first phase was concerned with identification of key challenges and mapping the overall industry emergence including emergence of related regulations to provide a context and framework for understanding the domain. Based on the emergence mapping a timeline of key parallel factors was identified, and their inherent connections explored to identify transforming events affecting and influencing multiple factors on the journey to clinical success within a business environment. This creates the reference model. The second phase was concerned with manufacturing a stem cell based therapeutic and applying health economic principles to determine available headroom for investment, cost of goods and return on investment, taking hearing disorders as a case exemplar, and exploring the behaviour of the net present value curve to identify key parameters affecting the economic positioning of this novel regime. A key output of the research is the investment readiness reference model. It integrates key RM business issues against reducing uncertainty and increasing value. The model argues that the complex nature of RM products means that the issues affecting industry emergence and development go well beyond the primarily scientific and technological concerns on which much current research focuses. The performance of RM firms ultimately hinges upon the successful clinical application of their developed products, the key step for creating and realising value, and their ability to deal with the fundamental business issues specific to the area. The framework deals with these business issues, which are investment & technology readiness, business models, organisational challenges, public policy and industry emergence. This thesis explores ideas that may bridge the chasm between the promise and reality of RM i.e. mechanisms to enable late stage translation of RM products. It links technological capability and business models for firms in the domain. Furthermore, it offers a unique perspective on the nature and characteristics of investment readiness and financial assessment, specifically identifying key parameters affecting economic positioning. The key contributions are therefore: New insights into the key challenges involved in realising the commercial potential of cell based therapeutics. Technology road mapping to link fundamental enabling technological capability for developing RM products with robust business plans integrating strategy, technology development and the regulatory and reimbursement framework. A generic investment readiness reference model generated from the enabling technology, value and supply chain structures to identify key indicators and characteristics of industry readiness. A novel experimental programme demonstrating expansion, maintenance and differentiation of human embryonic stem cells by manual and automated methods. New insights into economic positioning by mapping net present value, and economic analysis by estimating available headroom, cost of goods and return on investment for a putative hearing therapeutic.
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Sampalis, Fotini. "Microinvasive technology for the diagnosis and staging of breast cancer." Thesis, McGill University, 2006. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=102723.
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The purpose of this thesis was to evaluate microinvasive technology for the management of non-palpable mammographic findings with high risk for breast cancer. The specific objectives were, for the first part, to evaluate the Advanced Breast Biopsy Instrumentation System (ABBI) as a diagnostic and therapeutic tool for breast disease. For the second part, the objective was to evaluate lymphoscintigraphy with a malignancy specific radioactive agent (99m Technetium Sestamibi) as a non-surgical staging tool for breast cancer.Design. The thesis consists of two observational studies. The first study was partially retrospective and partially prospective. The second study was prospective. The research was conducted between September 1997 and December 2001.
Methods. For the first study 262 women with non-palpable mammographic abnormalities were enrolled. Of these, 260 women underwent an ABBI. The ABBI procedure was performed by 3 surgeons in two hospitals in Montreal. The files of 531 women with similar findings who underwent a wire localization excisional biopsy in the same hospitals by the same surgeons were retrospectively reviewed. Data obtained included technical success, macroscopic and microscopic clarity of margins, need for supplemental surgery and residual cancer, volume of breast tissue excised, patient satisfaction, surgeon volume-performance association and health care costs.
For the second study, 110 women with confirmed operable primary breast cancer who required axillary lymph node dissection were enrolled. All the patients underwent two lymphoscintigraphies. The first (preliminary) lymphoscintigraphy took place at least 2 weeks before surgery and the second (preoperative) took place 2-24 hours before surgery. For the preliminary lymphoscintigraphy, 47 (42.7%) of the 110 women were tested with 99mTechnetium Sestamibi and 63 (57.3%) were tested with 99mTechnetium Sulphur Colloid. For the preoperative lymphoscintigraphy all patients were tested with 99mTechnetium Sulphur Colloid. All patients underwent axillary lymph nodes dissection. The data reviewed was the presence of metastasis in the axillary lymph nodes excised and the lymphoscintigraphy gamma camera imaging and gamma probe digital outcomes. The ROC curve was used to define the most probable cut-off points for the distinction between gamma counts representing positive and negative for metastasis axillary lymph nodes.
Results. For the first study, diagnostic effectiveness of the ABBI was 99.6% and the mean volume of excised breast tissue was 40cc. No serious complications were reported. For wire localization, the diagnostic effectiveness was 98.0% and the mean volume of excised breast tissue was 102cc. severity of complications was similar between the two techniques. The therapeutic effectiveness of the ABBI was 76.3%, supplementary surgery was required in 27.6% of the patients, and residual cancer was detected in 23.8%. The therapeutic effectiveness of wire localization biopsy was 47.0%, 53% of the patients underwent supplementary surgery and residual tumor was found in 48.0%. Of the 260 patients who underwent an ABBI, 51% reported a good level of satisfaction and 23% reported excellent. A significant association was shown between volume and therapeutic effectiveness for all 3 surgeons. On the average, the ABBI resulted in a cost reduction of $5,352 CAD (2000).
For the second study, the sensitivity of 99mTechnetium Sestamibi lymphoscintigraphy imaging was 50%, the negative predictive value was 83.8% and the proportion of false negative results was 17.1%. Logistic regression showed a statistically significant (p<0.001) association between the gamma probe counts and axillary lymph node metastasis. Using 3,080 counts as cut-off point on the ROC curve the sensitivity and false negative rate were 100%, the specificity was 94.3%, and the positive predictive value was 83.3%.
Conclusion. The results of the first study show that the ABBI offers a safe and well tolerated microinvasive surgical technique, with superior therapeutic effectiveness, less invasiveness, and better cost effectiveness than wire localization excisional biopsy. The strong volume-performance association shows that the therapeutic effectiveness of the ABBI can improve with proper training and experience.
The results of the second study show that 99mTechnetium Sestamibi lymphoscintigraphy imaging was 50% the negative predictive value was 83.8% and the proportion of false negative results was 17.1%. A significant association was shown between the intensity of radioactivity in the hot node as measured by the gamma-probe counts and the presence of axillary lymph node metastasis.
In conclusion, this thesis demonstrates that both the ABBI and lymphoscintigraphy with 99mTechnetium Sestamibi are superior to conventional techniques used for the management of mammographic abnormalities and specifically breast cancer. Proper training of surgeons in highly qualified training centers with a high volume of cases can help further improve the effectiveness and increase the practise of these techniques in Canadian hospitals. This may in turn increase the benefits for the patients and reduce the healthcare costs for the management of breast disease and specifically breast cancer in Canada.
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Lindroos, Katarina. "Accessing Genetic Variation by Microarray Technology." Doctoral thesis, Uppsala : Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis : Univ.-bibl. [distributör], 2002. http://publications.uu.se/theses/91-554-5251-5/.
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Eljaaidi, Abdalla Agila. "2D & 3D ultrasound systems in development of medical imaging technology." Thesis, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11838/2193.
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Thesis (MTech (Electrical Engineering))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2016.Ultrasound is widely used in most medical clinics, especially obstetrical clinics. It is a way of imaging methods that has important diagnostic value. Although useful in many different applications, diagnostic ultrasound is especially useful in antenatal (before delivery) diagnosis. The use of two-dimensional ultrasound (2DUS) in obstetrics has been established. However, there are many disadvantages of 2DUS imaging. Several researchers have published information on the significance of patients being shown the ultrasound screen during examination, especially during three- and four-dimensional (3D/4D) scanning. In addition, a form of ultrasound, called keepsake or entertainment ultrasound, has boomed, particularly in the United States. However, long-term epidemiological studies have failed to show the adverse effects of ultrasound in human tissues. Until now, there is no proof that diagnostic ultrasound causes harm in a human body or the developing foetus when used correctly. While ultrasound is supposed to be absolutely safe, it is a form of energy and, as such, has effects on tissues it traverses (bio-effects). The two most important mechanisms for effects are thermal and non-thermal. These two mechanisms are indicated on the screen of ultrasound devices by two indices: The thermal index (TI) and the mechanical index (MI). These are the purposes of this thesis: • evaluate end-users’ knowledge regarding the safety of ultrasound; • evaluate and make a comparison between acoustic output indices (AOI) in B-mode (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) ultrasound – those measured by thermal (TI) and mechanical (MI) indices; • assess the acoustic output indices (AOI) to benchmark current practice with a survey conducted by the British Medical Ultrasound Society (BMUS); and • review how to design 2D and 3D arrays for medical ultrasound imaging
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Ramsey, Michael W. "Physiological Technology for Coaches." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2012. https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu-works/4105.
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Matanzima, Yonela. "Quantitative and qualitative optimization of antimicrobial bioactive constituents of Helichrysum cymosum using hydroponics technology." Thesis, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11838/849.
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Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree
Master of Technology: Horticulture
in the Faculty of Applied Sciences
at the Cape Peninsula University of TechnologyThe high demand for medicinal plants has favoured over-exploitation of wild plants. The search for alternative and sustainable methods of medicinal plant cultivation is imperative and desirable. Biotechnological approaches particularly hydroponic technology has the potential for large scale plant cultivation and production of secondary metabolites. The current study aims at optimizing the production of antimicrobial secondary metabolites by an indigenous South African medicinal plant species (Helichrysum cymosum) through hydroponics N and K fertilization. In Chapter 1, the conceptual framework and justifications of the study are presented. In Chapter 2 the research objective was to discern the optimal potassium (K) supplement level for H. cymosum by evaluating the effects of different hydroponic K levels on growth, K-leaf content, and anti-Fusarium oxysporum f.sp.glycines (Ascomycota: Hypocreales) and total activities. Six weeks old seedlings of H. cymosum were treated with varied concentrations of K in the form of potassium chloride, potassium nitrate and monopotassium phosphate (58.75, 117.5, 235 and 470 ppm). These concentrations were based on a modification of Hoagland’s hydroponic nutrient formula. Plants were maintained under greenhouse conditions and growth parameters (plant height and number of leaves) were recorded weekly. At 8 weeks post treatment, plants were harvested and fresh weights were recorded and tissue nutrient content analysed. Sub-samples of the aerial parts of plants grown in the different treatments were air dried, extracted with acetone and tested against F. oxysporum. Plants exposed to 235 ppm K showed a marked increase in leaf number, plant height and fresh weight. Overall there was no significant difference (P > 0.05) among the treatments with respect to tissue nutrient content; K ranged from 3.56 ± 0.198 to 4.67 ± 0.29 %. The acetone extraction yield increased with increasing K fertilization: 58.75 ppm (16.67 ± 2.35 mg), 117.5 ppm (22.5 ± 4.79 mg), 235 ppm (210 ± 38.5 mg) but dropped to 40 ± 4.08 mg at 470 ppm K. Results from the anti-F. oxysporum bioassay showed that 58.75 and 235 ppm K treatments produced the most bioactive acetone extracts; MIC values of 0.49 and 0.645 mg/l, respectively. Acetone extracts obtained from plants exposed to 235 ppm K yielded the highest total activity, comparatively (P < 0.05). In conclusion, the optimum nutrient K level for growing H. cymosum hydroponically was 235 ppm. Chapter 3 focused on another important macro nutrient N and the objective was to determine the optimum nutrient requirements for growing the medicinal plant, Helichrysum cymosum (L.) (Asteraceae), hydroponically. Experiments were conducted to assess the effects of varied nitrogen (N) concentrations supplied as nitrate and ammonium on growth, tissue nutrient content, antimicrobial and total activities of acetone extracts of aerial parts. Treatments were based on a modified Hoagland’s nutrient formula. Six week old rooted cuttings were treated with 52.5 ppm, 105 ppm, 210 ppm and 420 ppm of N. Leaf number and stem height (cm) were recorded at weekly intervals and leaf analysis conducted. The effects of N treatments on plant growth parameters varied significantly among treatments; 52.5 ppm of N yielded the tallest plants (height) [19.4 ± 0.7 cm], while 105 ppm N yielded the maximum leaf number (68.1 ± 6.2) as well as maximum fresh weight of aerial parts was obtained with 105 ppm (15.12 ± 1.68 g). Nitrogen content of plant tissue ranged between 0.53 ± 0.03 and 4.74 ± 0.29% (d, f, 3, 12; f=14; P ≤ 0.002) depending on treatments. Powdered aerial parts (5 g) of H. cymosum obtained from the different N treatments were extracted with 100 ml of acetone. N treatment significantly affected the yield of crude extracts, which ranged from 87.5 ± 15.5 (52.5 ppm) to 230 ± 23.5 mg (105 ppm). Acetone extracts of plants that were exposed to varied N treatments were screened for anti-Fusarium oxysporum activity using minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) method. The MIC value (0.073 ± 0.014 mg/ml) obtained with acetone extracts of plants exposed to 52.5 ppm N was significantly lower compared to the MICs of the other N treatments (105 [0.47 ± 0 and 0.705 ± 0.135 mg/ml], 210 [0.234 and 0.47 mg/ml] and 420 ppm [0.29 ± 0.101 mg/ml]) at 24 and 48 hours respectively. However, the total activities of extracts obtained among the four N treatments, which ranged from 0.062 ± 0.02 to 0.26 ± 0.06 ml/g was not statistically different at 24 or 48 hours (P > 0.05). LC-MS analysis of acetone extracts of H. cymosum plants obtained from the four treatments hinted that known anti-microbial agents such as apigenin, quercetin, kaempferol, helihumulone and quinic acids were present in the extracts and the quantity of helihumulone increased with increased nutrient N level. These results suggest that H. cymosum may be cultivated hydroponically and that the antimicrobial activity and/or the phytochemical profile of the crude acetone extracts is affected by nutrient nitrogen levels. Hydroponic cultivation of plants may be able to alleviate to an extent the pressure on wild medicinal plants.
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胡元佳. "Pharmaceutical patent valuation based on technology innovation and applications in the industry." Thesis, University of Macau, 2009. http://umaclib3.umac.mo/record=b2150641.
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Peavler, Cheyenne, and Jodi Polaha. "Nature Connectivity in Young Adults: Relationships Between Well-Being, Technology, and the Natural Environment." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2011. https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu-works/6635.
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Past research has demonstrated that people who engage in more frequent contact with nature report higher levels of well-being. However, apathy towards environmental issues has been detected in national samples of adolescents in research spanning over three decades. Previous studies have provided evidence of the relationship between nature relatedness and well-being , but have not fully explored types of factors which contribute to the enhancement of nature connectivity. This study attempts to examine various dimensions of nature connectivity and well-being. Participants were 846 college students between the ages of 18 and 30.Participants responded to an online survey which analyzed environmental attitudes oriented towards environmental concern, pro-environmental behaviors, knowledge of sustainability, nature relatedness, level of technology use, attitudes towards technology, and well-being. Correlations between these variables were examined to determine if the presence or absence of each factor is related to an individual’s relationship with the natural environment. Results were consistent with past research with correlations between nature relatedness and life satisfaction at .082 and between nature relatedness and hopelessness at -.090. These were significant at the .05 and .01 levels, respectively. Pro-environmental behaviors were negatively correlated with technology use and technology attitudes with technology use at -.125 and technology attitudes at -.131. Both were significant at the .01 level. Nature relatedness was positively correlated with pro-environmental behaviors, sustainability knowledge, and positive environmental attitudes at .526, .311, and .510, respectively. These were significant at the .01 level.
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Moss, R. "Using assistive technology software to compensate for writing and reading impairments in aphasia." Thesis, City, University of London, 2017. http://openaccess.city.ac.uk/17926/.
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Background: Aphasia is a language impairment affecting approximately one third of people after stroke. It can disrupt speaking, comprehension, reading and writing. This thesis concerned people with aphasia (PWA) with spelling and writing impairments (some also had reading difficulties) but relatively preserved speech and comprehension. Aims: 1. Consider the evidence for writing treatment interventions with a systematic review of the literature; 2. Conduct a pilot study testing the acceptability of a compensatory narrative writing treatment intervention using assistive technology (AT) software; 3. Report an empirical study which designed, delivered and evaluated a program to train ten PWA to operate two mainstream AT packages (Dragon NaturallySpeaking™, a voice recognition software (VRS) to support writing via dictation, and ClaroRead™, supporting reading via auditory processing). The study tested whether: a) AT could be used to produce functional narrative writing, b) reading support promoted writing success c) the intervention could be customised to suit individual goals. Methods: 1. Systematic literature review Electronic databases were searched; 53 papers meeting inclusion criteria were identified. Data were extracted, papers were critically appraised and their findings described. 2. Pilot Ten week AT training with two PWA to test acceptability of the intervention, design training schedule and materials, and test quantitative assessments and qualitative data collection methods for the main study 3. Main study Design and setting: Small group study with mixed methods, repeated measures design. Assessments and AT training in participants’ homes or at City, University of London. Participants: Ten participants meeting eligibility criteria (over 18 years old, medically stable, no significant cognitive impairment, aphasia due to stroke, presenting with acquired dysgraphia) were recruited via convenience sampling. They were not receiving speech and language therapy, had no marked evidence of neuromuscular, structural or motor-speech impairments, nor self-reported history of developmental dyslexia. Measures and procedure. Participants received 7-10 one-hour individual training sessions. Screening (language, cognition) and diagnostic (single word writing, single word reading) assessments took place at T1 (first baseline). Outcome measures (narrative writing, reading comprehension, quality of life, mood) were taken at T1 and repeated at T2 (second baseline), T3 (end of intervention) and T4 (three month follow up). Participant observation occurred throughout training; qualitative semi-structured interviews, a social participation assessment and cognitive monitoring took place at T2, T3 and T4. Results: 1. Systematic literature review Writing treatments were effective but often focused on single word production and seldom tested functional generalisation. Most were single case or small case series studies with remediatory goals; few used qualitative methodologies or investigated the impact of reading deficits. All narrative writing therapies were delivered via technology. 2. Pilot The intervention was acceptable to participants. Training schedule and materials were created and refined; quantitative outcome measures were finalised; emphasis on participant observation was increased. 3. Main study: Keyboard narrative writing was significantly improved by AT (Friedman’s χ² (3) = 8.27, p = .041), as was keyboard reading comprehension (Friedman’s χ² (3) = 21.07, p < .001), indicating compensatory effects of both AT. There was no change over time in pen and paper assessments of writing or reading, indicating no remediatory effect. A wide range of written genres were produced. Social network size significantly increased. There were no significant changes in mood or quality of life. Individual success rates varied; diagnostic and observation data suggested contributing factors were attitude, creativity, preserved speech production skills, spectrum of other aphasic traits, therapeutic goals, and cognition. Conclusion: The compensatory customisable AT training was acceptable to eight of ten participants, and resulted in significantly improved narrative writing performance. Implications: Compensatory AT interventions serve as a useful adjunct to remediatory spelling interventions, and are particularly useful for supporting functional narrative writing.
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Lilly, C., and Jodi Polaha. "Technology Use in Rural Appalachia: A Pilot Study of the Implications for Pediatric Behavioral Health." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2013. https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu-works/6591.
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Getz, Linn. "Sustainable and responsible preventive medicine : Conceptualising ethical dilemmas arising from clinical implementation of advancing medical technology." Doctoral thesis, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Faculty of Medicine, 2006. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:no:ntnu:diva-750.
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Background and setting Health care has become one of the most expansive activities in contemporary societies, and technology is one of its most influential factors. The modern medical-technological enterprise is however facing unprecedented practical, ethical and epistemic challenges. This thesis arises from a well-founded concern that medicine in general, and individually targeted preventive medicine in particular, may be about to become technified and dehumanised to an extent where its integrity and therapeutic as well as preventive potential may deteriorate.
Aims The paramount objective of this project is to contribute to critical reflection and theory building in medicine by performing a systematic documentation, analysis and conceptualisation of possible unacknowledged ethical dilemmas arising from implementation of advancing, preventive, individually targeted medical technology in clinical practice. A secondary aim is to present “sustainable and responsible development” as a potential framework for addressing ethical and practical challenges of this kind.
Theory, methods, and material Medicine is a moral enterprise. Thisrenders all medical research and practice basically value-laden activities. The important implications of this fact are currently not fully recognised among medical researchers and clinicians. This thesis represents an integration of five different studies into a theoretical reflection concerning the inevitable and partly neglected value-ladenness of medicine. According to this position and following the tradition of the humanities, the researcher’s frame of references is presented first, indicating the perspectives from where she wants her work to be regarded. The argument departs from the definitions and goals of medicine and comprises six fields of knowledge relevant for a theoretical exploration of the these goals: the concept of ‘health’; the nature of medical knowledge and ‘evidence’; the notion of ‘medical ethics’; the characteristics of medical technology; and finally, the topics ‘professional responsibility’ and ‘sustainable development’. The studies together address three distinct areas of clinical practice: ultrasound screening for chromosomal aberrations in the fetus, cardiovascular disease prevention in clinical practice, and the consultation in primary health care.
Results All five studies in this thesis demonstrate that implementation of new, preventive medical technology at the interface between individually and population-oriented care can bring forth important and complex ethical dilemmas and even harmful consequences. The results of the papers can be condensed under the following headings: 1. issues related to the theoretical foundation of contemporary, individually based, preventive medicine; 2. topics inherent to applying evidence-based medicine to individual patients; 3. issues related to practical sustainability and the carrying capacity of the healthcare system; and 4. issues of professional responsibility for both knowledge production and implementation of research findings in clinical practice, – the latter heading representing a meta-perspective.
Discussion The results of the five papers are introduced and discussed with reference to teachings and concepts originating from philosophers and medical scholars, such as Martin Heidegger, Hans Jonas, Michel Foucault, Charles Taylor, John Rawls, Arthur Frank, Drew Leder, Ian McWhinney and Eric Cassell. Furthermore, the findings are discussed within a framework that outlines a series of prerequisites for a sustainable and responsible preventive medicine:
- A balanced theoretical approach to medical practice implies that a comprehensive body of medical knowledge about the human condition must build upon both the natural sciences and the humanities.
- Environmental precaution means, in this context, that potential detrimental side-effects of medical activities must be systematically anticipated, supervised and kept at a minimum.
- Equity addresses, in this context, the importance of keeping a sound balance between doctor-initiated, technological preventive activities aiming at ‘population care’ and medical activities that are directed by the expressed problems, concerns or wishes of people seeking care or advice.
- Democratic goal-setting, participation and policy integration mean that all relevant stakeholders should be involved in defining, coordinating and evaluating the overall vision, philosophy and strategies of preventive medicine. Preventive recommendations in particular areas need to be harmonised and prioritised in accordance with an overall vision, and the expected impact of new recommendations on clinical practice should be estimated before guidelines are issued.
- Planning for the future means, in the current context, that we should remember that our priorities and actions ought to appear justifiable and reasonable, not only from the point of view of evidence-based medicine as it appears here and now, but also as regarded from a more distant or even global perspective, or by the generations that will follow us who are making medical reality today. To achieve this, we need to continuously consider to what extent the scientific questions we ask and the decisions we make as professionals are concordant with what rings true and is important to us as fellow human beings.
Key messages and implications The knowledge foundation of modern preventive medicine, targeting individual persons/patients in the context of the traditional clinical encounter, is currently too limited and thus an inadequate basis for clinical action. Ethical deliberation regarding the medical activities explored in this thesis has also been deficient.Despite the medical profession’s explicit intention of doing good, these two fundamental shortcomings imply a potential for inflicting medical harm. This inherent danger imposes the imperative of a paramount responsibility on medical researchers, administrators and practitioners. The practical and ethical impact of technological innovations in preventive medicine should be subjected to systematic and comprehensive analysis. Each particular new technology ought to be evaluated as for its own characteristics and consequences. It should also be measured against the overall goals, means and priorities of preventive medicine. These ought to be clearly defined and made accessible to critical scrutiny and open debate.
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Ahmed, Shehnaz. "Self-reporting scaffolds for in situ monitoring for regenerative medicine and tissue engineering applications." Thesis, University of Nottingham, 2018. http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/49511/.
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This thesis describes the development and utilisation of a self-reporting scaffold to improve current monitoring methods of the cellular microenvironment. In vitro tissue models hold a lot of promise for regenerative medicine and tissue engineering. However, many models lack the ability to non-invasively monitor in situ cellular responses in a physiologically relevant environment. By development of electrospun self-reporting scaffolds and incorporation of flow culture conditions, this limitation can be overcome. Electrospun matrices have been shown to mimic the structural architecture of the native extracellular matrix, whilst flow conditions have been shown to regulate cellular processes, and enhance mass transport and nutrient exchange throughout polymeric scaffolds. Here we show the development of optically transparent self-reporting electrospun scaffolds that incorporate ratiometric pH-sensitive nanosensors and respond to biological and mechanical cues of the native extracellular matrix through exposure to shear stress. Optically transparent self-reporting scaffolds were fabricated by directly electrospinning pH responsive, ratiometric nanosensors within a gelatin biopolymer matrix. The sensors consist of a porous polyacrylamide matrix which encapsulates pH-sensitive fluorophores that exhibit an additive fluorescent response across the full physiological range between pH 3-8, and a pH-insensitive reference fluorophore. The self-reporting scaffold was able to support cell growth whilst being able to simultaneously monitor local pH changes in real time. A Quasi-Vivo® bioreactor system was also used to generate a flow of cell culture medium and expose cell-seeded scaffolds to a continual shear stress. This novel diagnostic scaffold and the use of flow conditions can help simulate enhance the understanding of in vitro conditions, and generate advanced simulations in vivo to facilitate tissue engineering and regenerative medicine applications.
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Macleod, Marion. "The role of science and technology in the process of medical specialisation." Thesis, University of Edinburgh, 1985. http://hdl.handle.net/1842/19964.
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Maitland, Julie. "From persuasion to negotiation in health promoting technology." Thesis, University of Glasgow, 2009. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/808/.
Full textAbstract:
Over recent years, designing technologies to promote health-related behavioural change has been an area of growing interest in HCI. Given the prevalence of self-monitoring and social facilitation in emerging designs, the assumption appears to be that increasing an individual’s awareness of his or her behaviour and the behaviour of others will promote behavioural change. This thesis argues that while this is true to some extent, this represents a somewhat naive view of how individuals come to make decisions regarding their health-related behaviours. Three qualitative studies within distinct health domains illustrate the complex nature of health-related behavioural change. Weight Management was an inherently social activity, albeit subject to selective disclosure and incremental participation. Individuals were generally motivated by appearance rather than health, implementing change based on exposure and orientation to alternative strategies. In Families at Risk, caregivers were highly motivated by a desire to safeguard the health of their children but were restricted by a lack of financial and strategic resources. Lack of trust and a transient community contributed to social isolation, thus inhibiting opportunities for collaboration. In Cardiac Rehabilitation, behavioural change efforts were prompted by an acute health crisis and guided by health professionals. However, behavioural change efforts were sometimes restricted by a desire to return to normal, tensions arising when what was considered normal was composed of risk behaviours. Family involvement varied greatly, ranging from disregard to facilitating change, and a desire for independence and ownership of the rehabilitation sometimes restricted the active involvement of peers. Informed by the findings of these studies this thesis highlights the strengths and limitations of current technological approaches to promoting behavioural change, provides implications for design, and supported by the sociomedical literature, identifies alternative avenues of technological innovation. The thesis reflects on technology’s role in health-related behavioural change and considers associated ethical implications. Overall, the main contribution of this thesis is a reframing of the problem of promoting health-related behavioural change as more than a matter of behavioural awareness and personal motivation. While it is understandable that technologists would look to the clinical domain to inform initial investigations in this area, this thesis argues that technologists should be cautious about blindly adopting its prescriptive paradigm. As an alternative to persuasion, this thesis offers negotiation as a potential model for future innovations in this area.
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Cassa, Christopher A. "Privacy and identifiability in clinical research, personalized medicine, and public health surveillance." Thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/45624.
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Thesis (Ph. D.)--Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, 2008.This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.
Includes bibliographical references (p. 191-200).
Electronic transmission of protected health information has become pervasive in research, clinical, and public health investigations, posing substantial risk to patient privacy. From clinical genetic screenings to publication of data in research studies, these activities have the potential to disclose identity, medical conditions, and hereditary data. To enable an era of personalized medicine, many research studies are attempting to correlate individual clinical outcomes with genomic data, leading to thousands of new investigations. Critical to the success of many of these studies is research participation by individuals who are willing to share their genotypic and clinical data with investigators, necessitating methods and policies that preserve privacy with such disclosures. We explore quantitative models that allow research participants, patients and investigators to fully understand these complex privacy risks when disclosing medical data. This modeling will improve the informed consent and risk assessment process, for both demographic and medical data, each with distinct domain-specific scenarios. We first discuss the disclosure risk for genomic data, investigating both the risk of re-identification for SNPs and mutations, as well as the disclosure impact on family members. Next, the deidentification and anonymization of geospatial datasets containing information about patient home addresses will be examined, using mathematical skewing algorithms as well as a linear programming approach. Finally, we consider the re-identification potential of geospatial data, commonly shared in both textual form and in printed maps in journals and public health practice. We also explore methods to quantify the anonymity afforded when using these anonymization techniques.
by Christopher A. Cassa.
Ph.D.
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Chakravorty, Indranil. "Health technology assessment of continuous positive airway pressure devices in sleep apnoea hypopnoea syndrome." Thesis, University of Warwick, 2005. http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/38056/.
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A. 1 Background The need to assess safety as well as clinical and economic effectiveness of health care innovations and thus prioritise health care provision, created the need for structured health technology assessment (HTA) programs [Gafni et al. 1993b; Henshall et al. 1997; Stevens et al. 20041. Sleep apnoea hypopnoea syndrome (SAHS) affects 2-4% of the adult population [Young et al. 1993] who are disabled by daytime dysfunction [Hardinge et al. 1995; Johns 1993b; Mitler 1993; Sauter et al. 200l and a heightened mortality and morbidity [Greenberg et al. 1995; Kiely et al. 2000; Peker et al. 1999; Sanner et al. 1997; Tremel et al. 1999; Wilcox et al. 1998; Moruzzi et al 1999; Malone et al. 1991]. The advent of continuous positive airway pressure devices (CPAP) [Sullivan et al 1981] made it possible to treat safely, patients over a wider spectrum of disease severity [Borak et al. 1996; Mar et al. 2003; Engleman et al 1997a], yet its diffusion and adoption appears to follow a heterogenous pattern. A. 2 Study design A retrospective case-control study of 603 SAHS patients was followed by a prospective, randomised, parallel group trial (RCT) of CPAP compared to lifestyle intervention (including weight reduction and sleep hygiene strategy) comparing clinical, health related quality of life (HRQL) and cost-utility ratios (CUR). The final study is a qualitative survey assessing the factors influencing the diffusion and adoption of CPAP among 303 Primary care trusts (PCT) and 261 Respiratory physicians in the UYA. 3 Results SAHS patients had a (5x) higher risk of death and (2x) of hypertension, compared to controls. Among 71 SAHS patients in the RCT, those on CPAP demonstrated greater clinical effectiveness (sleep latency, apnoea hypopnoea index, excessive daytime sleepiness & neuropsychiatriefunction) and HRQL (social functioning, mental health & energylvitality) compared to lifestyle intervention. Utilities improved on CPAP and the CUR were lower (E'716-E2027 vs. F-326444243). The diffusion survey demonstrated that the characteristics of CPAP as an innovation, would favour its adoption compared to alternative therapies, except in patient tolerability (PCT respondents). However there appeared to be no regular system for the diffusion of innovation knowledge within the NHS and hindrances in SAHS management due to deficiencies in resources, specialists and facilities. A. 4 Conclusions The results presented in this thesis provide a logical framework for the assessment of the progression of an innovation from the stage of establishing the clinical burden of disease and treatment needs, to its adoption and may help identify potentially modifiable factors in slow diffusion scenarios.
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Demopoulos, Pantelis. "Optimising the use of GPS technology to quantify biomechanical load in elite level soccer." Thesis, Edge Hill University, 2016. http://repository.edgehill.ac.uk/8292/.
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Application of GPS technology in elite level soccer is a growing area of research. This thesis comprises an examination of current practice in elite youth level soccer, and a critical examination of the potential applications in the PlayerLoadTM measure to quantify the biomechanical demands of match play. The thesis comprises four experimental studies that consider the development of monitoring biomechanical intensity in training and/or competitive matches. The first experimental study provides a critical examination of the biomechanical specificity of training drills relative to competitive match play. This study utilised the performance metrics as collated on a daily basis by the football club. Specifically, in relation to tri-axial accelerometry the measurement of PlayerLoad was restricted to total accumulated loading. Additional parameters related to distance and velocity parameters were also examined. ‘Small-Sided Games’ generated similar values to 90-min matches for PlayerLoad (standardised for duration) and total distance covered. However, these drills failed to provide a valid demand in terms of high-intensity running, which was most valid in ‘Movement Pattern’ drills. Drills described as ‘Possession’ and ‘Game-Related’ failed to match the mechanical demands of match play. The implications of these findings relate directly to the micro-design of the training week, and the monitoring of player performance. The correlation between PlayerLoad and distance covered was stronger in small-sided games (r=0.92) than in regulation 11 vs 11 match play (r=0.37), highlighting mechanical issues in the calculation of PlayerLoad. The smaller pitch size is likely to promote a greater frequency of speed and or directional change, and as such the summation principle applied to generate a “total” or 3- dimensional loading value is limited. 6 In the second experimental study the analysis of tri-axial accelerometry was extended to provide a uni-axial consideration of PlayerLoad. Biomechanically, this is analogous to analysing each force vector rather than the development of a “total” kinetic parameter based on a summation principle. This uni-axial analysis of mechanical loading was first applied to the influence of playing age via a comparison of the U16, U18 and U21 squads within the same club. The U16s performed the greatest total distance, primarily in the lower speed zones. Correlation between PlayerLoad and total distance ranged from r=0.26-0.56, for the three age groups, with evidence of higher coefficients in the U16 group. The U18s exhibited the greatest PlayerLoad, evident in each movement plane. Uni-axial analysis highlighted a higher contribution from medio-lateral loading in the U18s, indicative of greater lateral movement. This finding might also relate to the higher injury incidence observed in this U18 age group. The practical applications of this study relate to the transition of players through the academy structure and into senior football. The unique movement patterns identified by a uni-axial analysis of PlayerLoad highlights potential in the greater analysis of movement. This uni-axial analysis was extended in the third experimental study to further examine issues in the movement profile with a consideration of the influence of playing position on mechanical loading. Whilst not generalisable beyond this team and playing strategy, attackers covered the greatest (total and high speed) distance, whilst midfielders exhibited the greatest load across all movement planes. Correlation between PlayerLoad and total distance was position specific, forwards and midfielders recorded values of r=0.74 and r=0.16 respectively. Playing position categorising defenders, midfielders and attackers failed to identify the impact of positional width on the biomechanical demands of match play. The traditional grouping of playing units might therefore be considered in terms of individualising training programmes. The distinction between distance covered and PlayerLoad is consistent throughout the first three experimental studies, with a low correlation in part explained by the calculation used to 7 quantify PlayerLoad. In the final experimental study the PlayerLoad calculation is critically examined beyond the uni-axial nature of acceleration. Having previously examined the summation principle, the failure of the PlayerLoad calculation to consider magnitude of acceleration is examined. The instantaneous change in acceleration is not influenced by the magnitude of acceleration, and in the final study a novel iLoad parameter is introduced which is analogous to the iEMG parameter utilised widely in electromyography. This parameter considers the integral of the acceleration-time curve. Further, the sign principle is critically examined, with the PlayerLoad calculation negating all negative values and thus making all movements forward, to the right, and upward. By considering both positive and negative values the tri-axial accelerometer has the capacity to differentiate between medial and lateral movement for example, with clear implications for the monitoring of performance and injury risk. This novel biomechanical analysis was applied to an examination of fatigue during match play, which has implications for both performance and injury. Over 15min segments of match play, fatigue did not influence the anterio-posterior or medio-lateral loading but there was a significant decrease in vertical load. There was also evidence of movement asymmetry in each plane, favouring movements forward and to the left. Correlation between iLoad and total distance was r=0.19. In conclusion, the thesis evaluated PlayerLoad and critically discussed the mechanical specificity of training activities. Furthermore, use of uni-axial load highlighted differences in positional demands and the influence of age group on GPS variables. Critical evaluation of PlayerLoad calculation aimed to highlight the deficiency of tri-axial acceleration of the formula. Thus, iLoad further developed calculation to refine movement quality data to examine fatigue. By adopting principles analogous to kinetic analyses in force platform and electromyography, additional analysis parameters may be defined which provide greater depth 8 of information in movement quality. The implications in movement asymmetry also have implications for the monitoring of injury risk.