• Journal of The Korea Institute of Healthcare Architecture
• /
• v.26 no.3
• /
• pp.17-26
• /
• 2020

Purpose: This paper presents research evidence that the environmental design of the doffing area in a biocontainment unit (BCU) can have a measurable impact on increasing the safety of frontline healthcare workers (HCW) during doffing of high-level personal protective equipment (PPE), and proposes optimized biocontainment unit design. Methods: From 2016 to 2019, The SimTigrate Design Lab conducted 3 consecutive studies, focusing on ways in which the built environment may support or hinder safe doffing. In the first study, to identify the risky behaviors, we observed 56 simulation exercises with HCWs in 4 BCUs and 1 high-fidelity BCU mockup. In the second study, we tested the effectiveness of a redesigned doffing area on improving the HCWs performance and used simulation, observation, and rapid prototyping in 1 high-fidelity mockup of a doffing area. In a follow-up study, we used simulation and co-design with HCWs to optimize the design of a safer doffing area in a full-size pediatric BCU mock-up. Results: We identified 11 specific risky behaviors potentially leading to occupational injury, or contamination of the PPE, or of the environment. We developed design strategies to create a space for safer doffing. In the second study, in a redesigned doffing area, the overall performance of HCW improved, and we observed a significant decrease in the number of risky behaviors; some risky behaviors were eliminated. There was a significant decrease in physical and cognitive load for the HCWs. Finally, we propose an optimized layout of a BCU for a safer process of PPE doffing. Implications: The proposed BCU design supports better staff communication, efficiency, and automates safer behaviors. Our findings can be used to develop design guidelines for spaces where patients with other highly infectious diseases are treated when the safety of the patient-facing HCWs is of critical importance.

• Journal of The Korea Institute of Healthcare Architecture
• /
• v.26 no.1
• /
• pp.73-84
• /
• 2020

Purpose: Though Korean healthcare services have been upgraded, infection and fire had been broken out in general hospitals. And higher concerns about quality assessment made it to clinical laboratory design guideline studies. So, this study investigates the facilities, equipment and personnel of laboratory medicine focusing on more than five hundred fifty bed hospital, and contributes to make guidelines for safety and efficiency in lab. Methods: Questionnaires to supervisor technologist and field surveys to medical laboratories in korean hospitals have been conducted for the data collection. 16 answers have been analysed statistically by MS Excel program. Results: Most of the sample tests such as hematology, clinical chemistry, immunology, transfusion, urinalysis, microbiology and molecular diagnosis are performed by more than 80% in large sized general hospital laboratory. In the test methods, automatic analyzers are used up to 80%, total laboratory automation up to 43% in clinical chemistry and immunology, and manual tests in all sorts of the test. There are placed in single lab or two and three labs above the ground, which are all in semi-open lab. There is some correlation with the number of specimens and the number of lab people depending on the number of hospital beds. Laboratory environment shows that work distance is good, but evacuation path width, visibility, separation of staff area from automatic analyzer, and equipment installations are needed to have more spaces and gears. Most of the infection controls are equipped with mechanical ventilation, air-conditioning, washbasin and wastewater separation, BSC installation and negative pressure lab room. Implications: Although the laboratory space area is calculated considering the number of hospital beds, type of tests and number of staff, hospital's expertise and the samples numbers per year should be taken into account in the planning of the hospital.

• Korean Institute of Interior Design Journal
• /
• v.21 no.2
• /
• pp.223-230
• /
• 2012

These days, hospitals in Korea have great interests in healthcare accreditation. The criteria of this accreditation has been established by management, but development of the management system without facility improvement has limits. Therefore this study reclassified domestic and foreign healthcare accreditation focusing on facilities and has purpose on proposing facility elements that can be adopted in hospitals. Also, the study is relevant to the study on architecture planning of hospital according to 'Patient safety' which will be suggested in the future and has significance for establishing basis of healthcare facility planning and for improving the existing facilities. The study selected facility lists from 'healthcare accreditation' and reclassified them based on departments in the hospital. Using these lists, the study divided the hospital that has obtained 'healthcare accreditation' into departments and investigated and analyzed them. On the basis of the analysis, the study suggested facility lists involved in hand washing, waste disposal, equipment washing, quarantine, goods-movement, establishing clean/polluted area, emergency exit-way, and restricted zone.

• The Korean Society of Law and Medicine
• /
• v.10 no.1
• /
• pp.171-211
• /
• 2009

Because Korea has the excellent informational technology, it was expected to be able to improve the accessibility to healthcare and compete with other nations in excellence through u-Healthcare. But we can't complete the excellent u-Healthcare because of the law to be able to use only the tele-counselling between doctor to doctor or doctor to nurse. First of all, we must complete the law to be able to use the improved u-Health containing of telemedicine between doctor to patient. Though other factors, the procurement of safe IT, the credibility to healthcare service provider containing of nutritionist and occupational therapist etc. are prepared for erecting u-Healthcare, we can get the final and decisive u-Health policy only by means of Law for supporting u-Healthcare's Activation. The important sections of Law for supporting u-Healthcare's Activation are as follows. Sec. 4 The Minister for Health, Welfare and Family Affairs and the dean of associated administrative division have to erect the combined plan for u-Healthcare's Activation. Sec. 11 Government and local autonomous entity can support the facility and equipment to be necessitated for using u-Healthcare to improve the medical accessibility of person in the region with poor medicine. Sec. 13 Doctor can support other doctor's medical action through IT and if there are not medical risk, doctor can give medical act directly to the special patients. Sec. 21 If pharmaceuticals is necessitated in u-Healthcare, remote doctor has to send the patient the electronic prescription and the pharmaceutist to receive the electronic prescription has to delivery the pharmaceuticals in accordance with patient's demand.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics Engineers of Korea CI
• /
• v.45 no.6
• /
• pp.1-10
• /
• 2008

Health medical service is passes with u-Healthcare and it promote health medical service environment change to the citizen center in the hospital center, and all methods of diagnosis, treatment, after management are forecasted in prevention because a balance develops. It is necessary for an u-Healthcare terminal is devoted to becoming an ubiquitous terminal of consciousness when in where and the following technology to result in implementation. Information communication equipment and an appliance technical data transfer technology Precision and how mobile gateway implementation, Bluetooth wireless appliance function is various with mobile communication and radio communication network and an appliance function are necessary. therefore, in this paper, we did a study on the implementation of bio signal measuring system for the u-healthcare based on mobile.

• Health Policy and Management
• /
• v.22 no.1
• /
• pp.65-84
• /
• 2012

Because of the rising healthcare costs, there is a growing need for developing efficiency indicators for medical resources use and measuring efficiency of healthcare providers and healthcare systems using them. In this study, we aimed to develop efficiency indicators for medical resources use by means of Delphi technique. We systematically reviewed the existing measures of medical resource use. Thirty nine indicators were selected as a candidates across the six domains: medical personnel, medical equipment, medical facilities, ethical management, resource efficiency, and drug use. To develop efficiency indicators with professional consensus, a 2-round Delphi survey was conducted among 29 professional experts. The following indicators were selected based on the Delphi survey results: adjusted number of the patient per day and level of the nurse number medical personnel in medical personnel domain; the number of the scan a professional physician and the quality of the scan in medical equipment domain; bed utilization rate in medical facility domain; drug price reported pharmaceutical price by medical institutions, medical fee billing transparency, and medical care appropriateness in ethical management domain; costliness index in resource efficiency domain; and utilization of high cost drug and items per prescription in drug use domain. The efficiency indicators could provide valid information about efficiency of healthcare providers and healthcare systems with respect to their resources use and facilitate policies to improve their efficiency.

• KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Systems (TIIS)
• /
• v.17 no.4
• /
• pp.1080-1099
• /
• 2023

Digital healthcare combined with telemedicine services in the form of convergence with digital technology and AI is developing rapidly. Digital healthcare research is being conducted on many conditions including shock. However, the causes of shock are diverse, and the treatment is very complicated, requiring a high level of medical knowledge. In this paper, we propose a shock detection method based on the correlation between shock and data extracted from hemodynamic monitoring equipment. From the various parameters expressed by this equipment, four parameters closely related to patient shock were used as the input data for a machine learning model in order to detect the shock. Using the four parameters as input data, that is, feature values, a random forest-based ensemble machine learning model was constructed. The value of the mean arterial pressure was used as the correct answer value, the so called label value, to detect the patient's shock state. The performance was then compared with the decision tree and logistic regression model using a confusion matrix. The average accuracy of the random forest model was 92.80%, which shows superior performance compared to other models. We look forward to our work playing a role in helping medical staff by making recommendations for the diagnosis and treatment of complex and difficult cases of shock.

• Journal of Information Technology Services
• /
• v.12 no.4
• /
• pp.435-447
• /
• 2013

If we use a smartphone to analyze and detect falling, it is a huge advantage that the person with a sensor attached to one's body is free from awareness of difference and limitation of space, unlike attaching sensors on certain fixed areas. In this paper, we suggested effective posture analysis of smartphone users, and fall detecting system. Suggested algorithm enables to detect falling accurately by using the fact that instantaneous change of acceleration sensor is different according to user's posture. Since mobile applications working on smart phones are low in compatibility according to mobile platforms, it is a constraint that new development is needed which is suitable for sensor equipment's characteristics. In this paper, we suggested posture analysis algorithm using smartphones to solve the problems related to user's inconvenience and limitation of development according to sensor equipment's characteristics. Also, we developed fall detection system with the suggested algorithm, using hybrid mobile application which is not limited to platform.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
• /
• v.79 no.4
• /
• pp.234-240
• /
• 2016

Transmission of tuberculosis (TB) is a recognized risk to patients and healthcare workers in healthcare settings. The literature review suggests that implementation of combination control measures reduces the risk of TB transmission. Guidelines suggest a three-level hierarchy of controls including administrative, environmental, and respiratory protection. Among environmental controls, installation of ventilation systems is a priority because ventilation reduces the number of infectious particles in the air. Natural ventilation is cost-effective but depends on climatic conditions. Supplemented intervention such as air-cleaning methods including high efficiency particulate air filtration and ultraviolet germicidal irradiation should be considered in areas where adequate ventilation is difficult to achieve. Personal protective equipment including particulate respirators provides additional benefit when administrative and environmental controls cannot assure protection.

• Applied Microscopy
• /
• v.47 no.1
• /
• pp.3-7
• /
• 2017

The automatic equipment for three-dimensional electron microscopy (3DEM) can acquire serial sections of a large sample in a relatively short time, and is especially suitable for the connectomics, which is a field related to understanding the brain structure as a whole. As many results obtained through 3DEM using automatic serial sections have been published in the field of brain research, many researchers continue to apply this technique to various samples. We reviewed the equipment for automatic serial sectioning, the block preparation method, the limitations of 3DEM, and future directions.