• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.3357-3362
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• 2013

The human skeleton is the most common organ to be affected by metastatic cancer and bone metastases are a major cause of cancer morbidity. The five most frequent cancers in Malaysia among males includes prostate whereas breast cancer is among those in females, both being associated with skeletal lesions. Bone metastases weaken bone structure, causing a range of symptoms and complications thus developing skeletal-related events (SRE). Patients with SRE may require palliative radiotherapy or surgery to bone for pain, having hypercalcaemia, pathologic fractures, and spinal cord compression. These complications contribute to a decline in patient healthrelated quality of life. The multidimensional assessment of health-related quality of life for those patients is important other than considering a beneficial treatment impact on patient survival, since the side effects of treatment and disease symptoms can significantly impact health-related quality of life. Cancer treatment could contribute to significant financial implications for the healthcare system. Therefore, it is essential to assess the health-related quality of life and treatment cost, among prostate and breast cancer patients in countries like Malaysia to rationalized cost-effective way for budget allocation or utilization of health care resources, hence helping in providing more personalized treatment for cancer patients.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.201-209
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• 2020

In this study, issues related to changes in base year, which have controversial effects on fees in service contracts, were reviewed. In this regard, sensitivity analysis was conducted on the effects of changes in base year on conversion factor by type. The benefits and disadvantages of each specific type of medical institution were examined. Main conclusions are as follows. First, changing the base year to be closer to the present time had a beneficial effect on the conversion factor of hospitals. Second, changing the base year to be closer to the current point of time had an adverse effect on the conversion factor of pharmacies and clinics and had a significant adverse effect on clinics. Third, assuming that a single conversion factor is collectively applied to all types, a favorable effect occurred in all cases when the base year was changed to be closer to the present time. Base year changes can bring about conflicts of interest between insurer and providers, and within providers. Therefore, changing the base year should be pursued upon mutual agreement on a reasonable basis for resource allocation. In addition, it is necessary to provide incentives for temporary compensation for the types of losses incurred.

• Journal of Appropriate Technology
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.238-255
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• 2020

As COVID-19, which occurred at the end of 2019, has become a global pandemic, it has emerged as an unprecedented event that quickly destroys a nation's medical and healthcare system in both developed and developing countries. In the 21st century, most of the civil society that aimed for hyperconnected society is facing a new crisis that has not been experienced so far. Indeed, lack of personal protective equipment, isolation of clustered communities, disruption of medical systems necessary for diagnosis and treatment, and disruption of educational and economic activities due to social isolation are emerging. Since the COVID-19 has occurred, many of the difficulties that have occurred in the past six months indicate the basic infrastructure a society should have particularly in a pandemic. These include personal protective equipment (PPE), decontamination and quarantine tools essential for effective response, rapid and precise large-scale diagnosis, medical devices required for patient care, and identification and fast and wide on-line networks that can be used in social isolation. In this first part, we would like to introduce some representative examples of 1) personal protective equipment, 2) prevention of personal and community health, 3) social response through big data and networks within the framework of appropriate technology.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.52-58
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• 2014

Purpose : To establish a pH measurement system for a mouse tumor study using a clinical scanner, to develop the $^1H$ and 31P radio frequency (RF) coil system and to test pH accuracy with phantoms. Materials and Methods: The $^1H$ and the $^{31}P$ surface coils were designed to acquire signals from mouse tumors. Two coils were positioned orthogonally for geometric decoupling. The pH values of various pH phantoms were calculated using the $^1H$ decoupled $^{31}P$ MR spectrum with the Henderson-Hasselbalch equation. The calculated pH value was compared to that of a pH meter. Results: The mutual coil coupling was shown in a standard $S_{12}$. Coil coupling ($S_{12}$) were -73.0 and -62.3 dB respectively. The signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) obtained from the homogeneous phantom $^1H$ image was greater than 300. The high resolution in vivo mice images were acquired using a $^{31}P$-decoupled $^1H$ coil. The pH values calculated from the $^1H$-decoupled $^{31}P$ spectrum correlated well with the values measured by pH meter ($R^2$=0.97). Conclusion: Accurate pH values can be acquired using a $^1H$-decoupled $^{31}P$ RF coil with a clinical scanner. This two-surface coil system could be applied to other nuclear MRS or MRI.