• Journal of The Korea Institute of Healthcare Architecture
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.15-23
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• 2019

Purpose: As the medical laboratories in general hospitals have made an efforts on quality management and employee health, they recognized the need of design guideline for clinical laboratory. As laboratories are prohibited to patients, their environments are becoming more congested and deteriorated as time goes by. So, this study investigates the current status of facility and equipment of laboratory medicine focusing on less than three hundred patient bed hospitals, and searches the improving matters. Methods: Questionnaires to technologist captains and field surveys to medical laboratories in korean hospitals have been conducted for the data collection. 18 answers have been analysed statistically by MS Excel program. Results: The result of this study can be summarized into followings. Clinical laboratory functions are all hematology, clinical chemistry, immunology, transfusion and urine microscopy, and except for three including microbiology for infection and bio safety level. Average man power of lab are 12.3 man including lab director and captain. Patient bed number, space area and total specimen numbers are not correlated with each other, but specimen numbers and employee number are correlated with. Work space distances are usually good, but exit distances are not adequate for escape owing to obstacles. Specimen delivery system by courier, test method by automatic analyzer, access floor for exposed plumbing and electricities are more practical. Open lab layed out in the center and lab support layed peripheral in space diagram. Lab space configuration by SD method showed that lab support area and employee support area are dissatisfied. Implications: Specialized hospital and yearly total specimen numbers are related to the space area and organization for laboratory planning and design.

• Journal of The Korea Institute of Healthcare Architecture
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.49-61
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• 2020

Purpose: With particular focus on the analysis of elderly community space in local communities, this study aims to propose policies and points to consider in the planning and management of community space that can encourage the elderly to actively participate in community activities. Methods: The study explores five different Japanese community spaces that have been utilized as platforms for intergenerational interactions; the research was carried out by literature review, field work and interviews. Results: The results are as follows. First, the planning of the community space for the elderly must be combined with the space that the locals often use. Community space should not be seen as a place for a specific generation, but for everyone to interact with each other at any time; hence it must be fostered to be accessible for anyone regardless of age. Second, community space for the elderly requires to be planned as an accessible place for everyone such as cafes and restaurants. The adjacent areas require social infrastructure like libraries and public baths which are frequently used by people from various age groups. Third, in order to spark off the intergenerational community space as the stronghold of local communities, it needs to be a place where the elderly is given sufficient role and meaning as a member of the community. To achieve this, it is essential to support the locals to take active measures in creating job opportunities for the elderly and the disabled, and to develop voluntary self-sufficiency and volunteering programs.

• Journal of The Korea Institute of Healthcare Architecture
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.71-77
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• 2009

This study is to understand the situations of special education classroom layout, find differences according to school levels and summarize the findings in order to build up the indicators for special classroom layout. As for elementary school level, special classrooms are using multi-purposes desk or group desk for diverse activities such as basic learning and formation of basic life practice. The most frequent type in classroom layout is Type E which is for diverse coner-learning and play activities and the next is Type C which secures activity space. Because security of dynamic activity which most teachers find problematic is important, it needs more research to secure dynamic activity space within classroom. As for middle school level, the most frequent type in classroom layout is Type B which is equiped for computer aided learning and the next is Type C which secures activity space. Research for systematic layout of activity space is needed in order to secure the spaces of dynamic activity and basic job training. As for high school levels, mostly Type B which emphasizes computer activities is adopted and next is Type F which is capable for job training. The survey about the size of special education classroom proves that most teachers want one and half size classroom which in not such a large classroom. It is expected that more systematic research of special classroom layout according to school levels may reach for rational space layout.

• Journal of The Korea Institute of Healthcare Architecture
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.39-49
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• 2021

Purpose: The negative pressure isolation ward is a key facility in preparedness and response to infectious diseases. For the sustainable operation of the facility, appropriate facility improvement is required. The experience of medical staff responding to infectious diseases in the COVID-19 pandemic provides effective informations for facility planning. Methods: The post occupancy evaluation (POE) was conducted by interviewing medical staff who is working on Nationally designated negative pressure isolation ward in general hospital. Floor plan analysis was conducted before field surveys for identifying facility characteristic and spatial composition. After that, field surveys were conducted at 3 hospitals, and interviews and fieldwork were conducted together. Results: It is necessary to increase the standard size of ward area from 15m² to 20m². The size of the doffing room has to be planned for accommodation of two or more people. Equipment storage, clean storage and waste storage also should be properly planned. There were almost no problems with the circulation in the ward. There was not enough space for medical staff. Implications: For a sustainable and safe negative pressure isolation ward planning, it is necessary to exploit learning from the medical staffs who have many experiences of coping with infectious diseases.

• Journal of The Korea Institute of Healthcare Architecture
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.89-97
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• 2022

Purpose: Because of the recent COVID-19 pandemic, there have been many cases of using portable negative pressure unit to convert general wards into temporary negative pressure isolation wards. The purpose of this study is to analyze the indoor environment of the switching type wards. Methods: Field measurements and experiments were conducted in a medical facility. Air volume, wind speed and pressure difference were measured in non-occupant state. Dispersion tests were performed with gas and particle matter. Results: The pressure difference between the wards and the corridor was higher than -2.5 Pa in normal situation. However, in the gas and particle dispersion tests, it was found that there were concerns about the spread through leakages in low-airtight walls or ceilings. In addition, it was confirmed that the pressure imbalance in ducts through the non-sealed diffusers could cause back flow during portable unit operation. Furthermore, when there was a pressure difference between adjacent wards planned to be at same pressure level, the possibility of the spread through the leakages was found. Implications: When using portable units for making switching type wards, it is necessary to create airtight space and seal the non-operation diffusers. In case of operating the air handling unit, T.A.B must be performed to adjust the duct balancing.

• Journal of The Korea Institute of Healthcare Architecture
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.43-51
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• 2011

The mobility and accessibility enhancement is gradually becoming a global interest due to the growth in the aging population and concerns about people with disabilities. The main purpose of this study is to know the current situation in barrier-free level in railroad facilities in order to allow the mobility handicapped to travel in a safe and convenient manner. The research has started with investigating current situation for the mobility handicapped people and explores the needs of barrier-free facilities. 84 domestic railroad facilities were evaluated based on assessment tool developed from the mobility handicapped act. As a result, the fact that the mobility handicapped experienced limited accessibility due to various types of obstacles in the facilities was discovered. Based on the evaluation, obstacles in the facilities were analyzed and categorized by specific dimensions, users' accessibility, mobility, usability, and clarity (way-finding). This study suggests barrier-free design for passenger facilities focused on train station. Because mobility and accessibility are emphasized in current society, improvement of the mobility handicapped' movement should be considered. Barrier-free design for passenger facilities should be realized throughout comprehending the reasons why these obstacles occur in the facilities not using installation convenience facilities. This study has meaning in finding out the obstacles in each cause of occurrence(accessibility, mobility, usability, and clarity (way-finding)).

• Journal of The Korea Institute of Healthcare Architecture
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.15-22
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• 2024

Purpose: In general, cross-infection caused by bacteria occurs more in hospitals than in local communities. In most cases, infectious diseases spread through contact transmission (direct contact, indirect contact). This study tries to examine which places are most likely to detect infections bacteria and what materials should be used to effectively suppress the spread of infectious bacteria. Methods: Domestic and international literature have been reviewed to determine which bacteria are common and spread in which places. At the same time, antibacterial experiments for several finishing materials are performed to determine the survival period of bacteria for each material. The experiment is conducted mainly on antibiotic-resistant bacteria (MRSA, CRE, etc.) that have a high mortality rate and are very contagious. Results: MRSA has a high incidence in many hospital departments with surgery or immunocompromised patients, such as the elderly, organ transplant patients, and hemodialysis patients. There are experimental results that MRSA dies early in ceramics or silk wallpaper. CRE has a high incidence in hospital departments where there are many patients who are prone to bacteria entering the body directly, such as ventilator patients or critically ill patients with surgical wounds. There are experimental results that CRE dies early in silk wallpaper. In addition, bacteria die on the surface for a variety of reasons. Most MRSA and CRE develop in patients with impaired immunity or surgery, and rapidly die in copper or materials with antibacterial properties. Implications: If finishing materials surface with the ability to kill specific bacteria is used in the place where a large number of specific bacteria are detected, the spread of infectious diseases can be effectively controlled.

• KIEAE Journal
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.23-29
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• 2014

It is essential to investigate the structure and the main characteristics of BSN (Bio-Sensor Network) platform in built smart healthcare environment while designing healthy housing facilities. For this study, WSN (Wireless Sensor Network) data transmission technologies have been employed with medical sensors, and optimal medical devices would provide various Web 2.0 services by connecting to the WiBro network. The BSN platform normally recognizes in surroundings of WBAN (Wireless Body Area Network) or WPAN (Wireless Personal Area Network), and it is possible to manage sensor nodes by utilizing SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) and REST (REpresentational State Transfer). In addition, the feature of SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) for mobile gateway is also included for being adapted to huge network structure. Finally, BSN platform will play a role as important clues for developing personal WSN service models for smart healthy housing properties.

• Journal of The Korea Institute of Healthcare Architecture
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.37-45
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• 2016

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyze a sample of single corridor, pod type and composite type of ICUs in terms of patient visibility, spatial configurations and nurse walking distance focused on Korean cases. Methods: The measures of static visibility were used to quantify the patient visibility (upper third part of the patient bed) from the nurse station. The measure of space programme and area distribution (patient zone percentage, staff zone percentage, circulation zone percentage, corridor length per bed, distance from nurse station (NS) to patient bed and departmental gross square meter (DGSM) per patient bed) were calculated by using AutoCAD and MS Excel programs. In the second step of analysis the values of space distribution were compared among the three type of ICUs as well as the nurse walking distance, DGSM per bed and gross factor. in the third step of analysis regression analysis was conducted for the possible correlation between visibility and space programme and area distribution factors as well as nurse walking distance factors. Results: (1) It was found that on average composite type unit offer highest value of patient visibility followed by pod type, while single corridor type unit offers the minimum value of patient visibility among the three plan typologies. (2) Average patient visibility and DGSM per bed shows a strong positive correlation ($r^2=0.75$) and p=0.026. (3) Average patient visibility and average distance from NS has a strong negative correlation ($r^2=0.78$), and P=0.02. (4) On average composite type unit offer the minimum walking distance from NS (7.22 meter) followed by pod type unit (8.35 meter) and single corridor (9.76 meter). (5) Maximum distance from NS was noted in single corridor (18.19 meter) followed by pod type unit (15.14 meter) and Composite type unit (11.1 meter). Implications: This study may contribute to the visibility analysis of existing and future ICU design in Korea to achieve maximum patient visibility and reduced nurse walking distance.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Information and Commucation Sciences Conference
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• 2017.10a
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• pp.65-67
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• 2017

Due to the development of mobile computing and wearable technology, various wearable devices for measuring bio-signals in everyday life have been developed and popularized, and healthcare services utilizing bio-signals are attracting attention. In recent years, healthcare services have been developed and studied using various bio-signal analysis tools. Most bio-signal analysis studies utilize Matlab. However, in order to apply the algorithm developed in Matlab to the system, it is necessary to convert the source. We want to provide a smart interface that can skip source conversion. In this paper, we develop an interface to run the source file itself in the system by omitting the conversion technique for applying the algorithm developed in Matlab to the system.