Search

This paper provides the preliminary findings of a newly granted two-year project investigating the adoption of disruptive technologies, by focusing on the case of additive manufacturing (AM) in the medical technology (MedTech) industry, particularly implant applications. This is done by (I) stakeholder mapping of the industry in Australia. This included members of industry, researchers, academics, regulatory experts and MedTech consultants. (II) Identifying the top four major opportunity areas in which innovation can foster the adoption of AM implants, them being developments in Materials Science, Technology, Business Models, and Regulation & Quality Management. (III) Identifying and discussing the barriers in realizing such opportunity areas in practice, and finally (IV) recommending solutions based on the discussion and understanding of the proposed barriers that are hindering the widespread adoption and diffusion of 3-D printed medical implants. The impact of the project will be to unlock the potential of AM applications in the medical technology, which will benefit potential new entrants to the industry, incumbent firms, health care system, and patients in Australia. (Less)

The utilization of Regenerative Anti-lock Braking System (RABS) for saving energy in electric and hybrid vehicles has been previously studied, but to the best of our knowledge this study is the first to assess enhancing regenerative braking performance at low speeds. The proposed system detects the type of the road condition and adapts braking performance with road condition. RABS comprehensive model is constructed using Matlab/Simulink simulation for optimization of the the control system performance during braking on different terrains. Additionally, an experimental test rig is constructed on a hybrid golf cart where two modes of control are tested on different road conditions; the speed reducing mode and the stopping mode. Efficiency of converting lost braking energy to useful charge to the batteries reaches up to 30% at speeds lower than 10 km/hr.

Background Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is the most common nerve entrapment syndrome. It is caused by compression of the median nerve as it passes through the carpal tunnel in the wrist. The diagnosis of CTS is based on a combination of characteristic symptoms and electrophysiologic abnormalities. Electrodiagnostic testing (EDT) is uncomfortable for patients, time consuming and expensive. Objective To evaluate the role of greyscale and strain elastography ultrasound imaging in diagnosing patients with CTS and controls in comparison with nerve conductive studies. Patients and Methods Type of Study: Descriptive, prospective study. Study Setting: The study will be conducted at Ain Shams University Hospitals, Radiodiagnosis department. Study Period: 6 months. Study Population: Patients with carpal tunnel syndrome diagnosed clinically and underwent nerve conduction velocity study. Results In this study 7 wrists were diagnosed with mild CTS, 5 wrists demonstrated moderate CT, whereas only 3 wrists revealed severe CTS. The mean CSA would have increased if the number of cases with severe CTS had been higher. CSA of the median nerve has been reported to increase with the severity of entrapment. The cut off point of the average CSA to differentiate between cases and controls was found > 8 with sensitivity of 93.33%, specificity of 80% and area under curve (AUC) of 91.3% while the best cut off point for Elasto score was found > 1 with sensitivity of 86.6%, specificity of 80% and area under curve (AUC) of 93.3%. Conclusion We concluded that sonoelastography is a sensitive tool for prediction of CTS and it’s severity in correlation to NCV.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is the most challenging public health problem in Egypt where the prevalence is the highest in the world and its history, epidemiology, risk factors, genotype and model of care are unique. On World Hepatitis Day (July 28, 2016), the World Hepatitis Alliance (WHA) launched NO hep, the first global movement aimed at galvanizing support toward the elimination of viral hepatitis (i.e. 90% reduction in new chronic infections, 65% reduction in mortality compared with a scenario in which interventions would continue at the current level), by 2030. In the same context, Egypt has established the plan of action for the prevention, care and treatment of viral hepatitis 2014-2018. In order to achieve the elimination target in Egypt by 2030, political, community and health care system cooperation and commitments must be met. Understanding and accurately describing the magnitude of the problem, its determinants and barriers to control are crucial to achieve the target. This article reviews the problem in Egypt from a present and future perspective elucidating the current situation and future prediction adopting different scenarios.

BACKGROUND The novel virus COVID-19, also known as SARS-CoV 2, is currently rapidly spreading around the globe and pushing healthcare systems to the limits of their capacity. One of the functions of predictive models is to timely act for epidemic preparedness including hospital preparedness. In Egypt, like many other countries in the world, the epidemic situation and forecasting have not yet sufficiently studied. OBJECTIVE The study was carried out to develop a short-term forecast scenario for the COVID-19 epidemic situation in Egypt and predict the hospital needs to accommodate the growing number of cases. METHODS Secondary data from the COVID-2019 daily reports and the report issued 8th of April by the Egyptian Ministry of Health and Population were used. Due to the daily changing level of knowledge and data, the article reflects the status up to 18 April 2020. The prediction was based on the exponential growth rate model. For the depiction of the situation, the full length of the epidemic timeline was analyzed (from February 14th till April 18th). The growth rates and their rates of decline during the period from the 22nd of March till the 18th of April were calculated and extrapolated in the coming 7 weeks. The predicted hospital needs were assessed against the announced allocated resources. RESULTS The epidemic curve in Egypt is on the ascending arm as of April, 18. The active cases showed exponential growth from the start of the epidemic till April, 18. At the end of this period time, the recovery rate was 23.12% and the case fatality rate (CFR) was7.39. The case fatality rate median level during the last four weeks was 6.64. The active cases are expected to reach more than 20,000 by late May then starts to decline. The allocated regular hospital beds are predicted to show shortage by the time of the release of the paper. The intensive care units (ICU) beds and ventilators are predicted to show insufficiency on May 6. CONCLUSIONS The COVID-19 epidemic in Egypt is expected to continue on the rise for the next few weeks and expected to start to decline late in May, 2020. Our estimates should be useful in preparedness planning. Serious actions should be taken to provide ICU beds and ventilators enough for the predicted number of cases that would need them, not later than the end of April. Mitigation actions have to continue for the coming 6 weeks or until the epidemic situation is more clearly seen.