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Introduction: Recent patent foramen ovale (PFO) closure trials have demonstrated efficacy in secondary stroke prevention. Transcranial Doppler (TCD) can reliably detect the presence of PFO, with sensitivity comparable to echocardiography. We sought to compare the sensitivity of TCD in detecting right to left shunt (RLS) using transesophageal echocardiogram (TEE) criteria as described in the CLOSE and REDUCE trials. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed all TCD studies at our institution who also had TEE studies. We excluded patients who had their PFO closed prior to one of these studies being performed. We classified the size of the PFO based on both REDUCE and CLOSE criteria (large was defined as greater than 25 microbubbles and greater than 30 microbubbles, respectively) and compared to the size based on the Spencer grade. Results: A total of 525 TCD bubble studies were performed at our institution from May 2013 to June 2018, 220 of which also underwent TEE. Using TEE as the gold standard, TCD detected 97.61% (41/42) of any moderate-large RLS and 100% (10/10) of any large RLS. The single patient who had a moderate RLS on TEE, but not TCD had a poor Valsalva during the TCD study. TCD detected 33 patients with RLS not detected on TEE [33% (33/100)], 33.3% of which were considered significant (Spencer grades 3-5). Conclusion: TCD is comparable to TEE in detecting moderate-to-large RLS based on REDUCE/CLOSE criteria. TCD detected an appreciable amount of RLS (a third of which were Spencer grades 3-5) not detected by TEE. Further study is needed to clarify the role of PFO closure in patients with significant RLS on TCD, but no RLS on TEE. TCD is a good alternative screening tool for RLS as compared with TEE methods from recent positive trials.

Objective: To determine normal ranges for traditional transcranial Doppler (TCD) measurements for two age groups (14–19 and 20–29 years) and compare to existing literature results. The development of a normal range for TCD measurements will be required for the development of diagnostic and prognostic tests in the future.

This paper presents the design, implementation, and evaluation of an interactive tabletop system that supports co-located meeting capture and asynchronous search and review of past meetings. The goal of the project is to evaluate the design of a conference table that augments the everyday work patterns of small collaborative groups by incorporating an integrated annotation system. We present a holistic design that values hardware ergonomics, supports heterogeneous input modalities, generates a memory of all user interactions, and provides access to historical data on and off the table. We present a user evaluation that assesses the usefulness of the input modalities and software features, and validates the effectiveness of the MemTable system as a tool for assisting memory recall.

Current technological solutions that enable content creation and sharing during group discussion meetings are often cumbersome to use, and are commonly abandoned for traditional paper-based tools, which provide flexibility in supporting a wide range of working styles and task activities that may occur in a given meeting. Paper-based tools, however, have their own drawbacks; paper-based content is difficult to modify or replicate. We introduce a novel digital meeting room design, the NiCE Discussion Room, which integrates digital and paper tools into a cohesive system with an intuitive pen-based interface. The combination of digital and paper media provides groups with a flexible design solution that enables them to create, access, and share information and media from a variety of sources to facilitate group discussions. This paper describes the design solution, along with results from a user study conducted to evaluate the usability and utility of the system.

Tangible interactions on horizontal surfaces are increasingly relevant for collaborative applications, embodied interaction, musical performance, and interaction with 3D information. This unique studio opportunity introduces approaches to developing applications on four related platforms: the Reactable: a musical tabletop, and its companion fiducial tracking system reacTIVision, Microsoft Surface: a commercial multi-touch table, MemTable: a large interactive tabletop, and Relief: a responsive 3D surface. It will focus on the unique affordances of multi-input and multi-user event handling shared and afforded by each of the four platforms. Participants will work in small groups within some simplified code templates to develop a small applications focused on co-located input by multiple people, combining the use of tangible objects and touch input.