Volume 8, Issue 3

In this article two groups of technologies based on connecting a medical device to the human brain are presented. The first group exploits the existing nerves, like the cochlear implant where ear prosthesis is connected to the auditory nerve. Another group is based on a direct connection between an electronic device and the human brain and it is called Brain-Computer Interfaces. The article contains the description of these technologies, points out their current capabilities and limitations and the main barriers to further development. The authors indicate possible directions of future expansion of the discussed technologies.

Background Enhanced diagnostic reasoning by medical students has a positive effect on learning diagnostic procedures. Decision support systems (DSS) are intended to support this process in the clinical phase of medical education. The aim was to explore both the use and usefulness of such a system, as well as adjustments needed for an optimal implementation in undergraduate medical training. Methods Using a dispersive implementation strategy, fourth-year medical students (n=130) were given access to a DSS (DXplain) during the two-semester course in internal medicine. The students were asked to participate in an internet-based questionnaire survey at the end. Results A majority (61.8%) of the users found the system more or less useful, 41.8% found it relatively easy to use, and a majority (54.9%) would like to have future access to the system. However, the usage was limited, and several issues needed for an optimal implementation were found related to interface, logic, usefulness, accessibility and motivation. Conclusions The DXplain system were more or less useful and relatively easy to use in undergraduate medical training, and the usage was limited using an dispersive implementation. An optimal implementation needs to be stricter including taking several aspects of usefulness into account, and a pronounced integration in theoretical and clinical phases of the education is needed to take advantage of its full potential in undergraduate medical training.

A curriculum map gives an overall overview about a curriculum and what is taught where, when and how. At the medical faculty of the Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich (LMU) a curriculum mapping tool based on learning objectives was introduced some years ago. Since that time teachers could document the learning objectives of their courses in a standardised way. In this article we describe the status quo of our efforts and the challenges to implement such learning-objective-based curriculum map that reflects the overall curriculum at our faculty.

Problem of formation the risk groups of the congenital pathologies needs in a close collaboration between medicine and IT technologies. Article reviews the formal apparatus based on the set-theoretical approach to the information systems, which allow assessment of their integration methods and prediction features. One of these integration methods was implemented on practice by authors during the creation of the medical integrated IS, designed for the Moscow district genetic center in Zelenograd.

The cluster analysis is applied to the analysis of the data describing the status of protein structure in respect to hydrophobic core characteristics. The analysis revealed presence of two clusters distinguishing the proteins accordant with the “fuzzy oil drop” model and those which appear as discordant in respect to this model. The analysis was performed separately for chains treated as structural unit and for units defined according to IV-order (taking the functional protein complex). The characteristics of these two classification system appeared to differ in respect to number of proteins belonging to each of two clusters as well as relation between them.