Browsing by Author "Saarakkala, Simo"

Now showing 1 - 10 of 10

Closing the Loop for Controlled Substances Surveillance : A Field Study of the Usability and User Experience of an Integrated Electronic Narcotic Consumption
(2024-05-05) Häkkinen, Annika; Viitanen, Johanna; Savolainen, Kaisa; Mäkinen, Ville-Matti; Siven, Mia; Tolonen, Hanna; Lääveri, Tinja
A3 Kirjan tai muun kokoomateoksen osa
The distribution and handling of controlled substances (CSs), i.e., narcotics, is strictly regulated to decrease the risk of abuse and drug diversion. In Finland, hospital pharmacies are mandated to keep records of CS distribution and consumption in healthcare through a labor-intensive paper-based process. After implementing a new electronic health record (EHR) system, a large university hospital started to streamline the process by transferring the CS documentation process from paper to digital format. Although the benefits of digital archiving, surveillance, and consumption monitoring are self-evident from the hospital pharmacy’s perspective the advantages at wards remain less explored. Therefore, our goal was to explore the usability and user experience (UX) of the recently implemented electronic narcotic consumption card (eNCC) solution built into the EHR system, and the related workflows of nurses, pharmacists, and physicians. The field study consisted of two parts and was conducted using observation, interviews, and survey methods in two wards. Our findings suggest that the digitalized process enables reliable real-time documentation of CSs and improves process efficiency, particularly for oral tablets and capsules. Considering diverse end-users’ perspectives is crucial when assessing the practical benefits of newly implemented digital solutions targeted at several healthcare professional groups. This approach enables a broader understanding of UX; supports development efforts, including usability improvements; and facilitates broader implementation. More research is needed to analyze the long-term impacts of the digital CSs’ consumption documentation workflow and surveillance at different healthcare units.
A customizable wireless potentiostat for assessing Ni(OH)2 decorated vertically aligned MoS2 thin films for electrochemical sensing of dopamine
(2025-01-08) Järvinen, Topias; Pitkänen, Olli; Laurila, Tomi; Mannerkorpi, Minna; Saarakkala, Simo; Kordas, Krisztian
A1 Alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä
In this study, we show that on-chip grown, vertically aligned MoS2 films that are decorated with Ni(OH)2 catalyst are suitable materials to be applied as working electrodes in electrochemical sensing. The constructed sensors display a highly repeatable response to dopamine, used as a model analyte, in a large dynamic range from 1 μM to 1 mM with a theoretical detection limit of 0.1 μM. In addition, to facilitate practical implementation of the sensor chips, we also demonstrate a low power wireless cyber-physical system that we designed and accommodated for cyclic voltammetry measurements. The developed cost-effective and portable instrument enables straightforward data acquisition, transfer and visualization through an Android mobile interface, and has an accuracy comparable to reference analysis of our sensors using a commercial table-top laboratory potentiostat.
Delivery of agents into articular cartilage with electric spark-induced sound waves
(2018-10-16) Pérez, Alejandro García; Nieminen, Heikki J.; Finnilä, Mikko; Salmi, Ari; Pritzker, Kenneth P.H.; Lampsijärvi, Eetu; Paulin, Tor; Airaksinen, Anu J.; Saarakkala, Simo; Hæggström, Edward
A1 Alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä
Localized delivery of drugs into articular cartilage (AC) may facilitate the development of novel therapies to treat osteoarthritis (OA). We investigated the potential of spark-gap-generated sound to deliver a drug surrogate, i.e., methylene blue (MB), into AC. In vitro experiments exposed bovine AC samples to either simultaneous sonication and immersion in MB (Treatment 1; n = 10), immersion in MB after sonication (Control 1; n = 10), solely immersion in MB (Control 2; n = 10), or neither sonication nor immersion in MB (Control 3; n = 10). The sonication protocol consisted of 1,000 spark-gap -generated pulses. Delivery of MB into AC was estimated from optical absorbance in transmission light microscopy. Optical absorbance was significantly greater in the treatment group up to 900 μm depth from AC surface as compared to all controls. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), histological analysis, and digital densitometry (DD) of sonicated (n = 6) and non-sonicated (n = 6) samples showed no evidence of sonication-induced changes in proteoglycan content or collagen structure. Consequently, spark-gap -generated sound may offer a solution for localized drug delivery into AC in a non-destructive fashion. Further research on this method may contribute to OA drug therapies.
Dual-Perspective Modeling of Patient Pathways: A Case Study on Kidney Cancer
(2024) Grøndahl Larsen, Anna; Halvorsrud, Ragnhild; Berg, Rolf Eigil; Vesinurm, Märt
A4 Artikkeli konferenssijulkaisussa
Patient pathway has become a key concept in the organization of healthcare. However, the materialization and operationalization of pathways often focus on work processes of health personnel, clinical decision-making, and deadlines, contradicting the strong patient-oriented perspective that is inherent in their definition. In this paper, we introduce a patient-centered perspective of kidney cancer pathways, reporting on a dual-perspective strategy to map and model patient pathways. Utilizing a multi-method approach, we map and model pathways from the perspectives of both healthcare personnel and patients and investigate the feasibility of the Customer Journey Modeling Language (CJML) for modeling patient pathways. To prevent confusion, the planned pathway as seen from the hospital perspective and the actual pathway experienced by the patient are referred to as ‘pathway’ and ‘journey’, respectively. In the paper, we describe methods to engage with healthcare professionals and patients to collect the necessary information to create precise models, and we show how precise modeling of patient pathways requires the integration of several information sources. Moreover, the study underlines the value of examining pathways from a dual perspective, as the two perspectives corroborate and supplement each other, illustrating the complexity of patient journeys. Finally, the findings provide insights into the feasibility of CJML, firstly underlining that the usefulness of visual models is context-dependent, and secondly, suggesting that the methods and subsequent visualizations may be useful as organizational, instructional, and communicative tools.
Localized delivery of compounds into articular cartilage by using high-intensity focused ultrasound
(2019-12-01) Nieminen, Heikki J.; Lampsijärvi, Eetu; Barreto, Gonçalo; Finnilä, Mikko A.J.; Salmi, Ari; Airaksinen, Anu J.; Eklund, Kari K.; Saarakkala, Simo; Pritzker, Kenneth P.H.; Hæggström, Edward
A1 Alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä
Localized delivery of drugs into an osteoarthritic cartilaginous lesion does not yet exist, which limits pharmaceutical management of osteoarthritis (OA). High-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) provides a means to actuate matter from a distance in a non-destructive way. In this study, we aimed to deliver methylene blue locally into bovine articular cartilage in vitro. HIFU-treated samples (n = 10) were immersed in a methylene blue (MB) solution during sonication (f = 2.16 MHz, peak-positive-pressure = 3.5 MPa, mechanical index = 1.8, pulse repetition frequency = 3.0 kHz, cycles per burst: 50, duty cycle: 7%). Adjacent control 1 tissue (n = 10) was first pre-treated with HIFU followed by immersion into MB; adjacent control 2 tissue (n = 10) was immersed in MB without ultrasound exposure. The MB content was higher (p < 0.05) in HIFU-treated samples all the way to a depth of 600 µm from AC surface when compared to controls. Chondrocyte viability and RNA expression levels associated with cartilage degeneration were not different in HIFU-treated samples when compared to controls (p > 0.05). To conclude, HIFU delivers molecules into articular cartilage without major short-term concerns about safety. The method is a candidate for a future approach for managing OA.
Micro-scale distribution of CA4+ in ex vivo human articular cartilage detected with contrast-enhanced micro-computed tomography imaging
(2017-08-31) Karhula, Sakari S.; Finnilä, Mikko A.; Freedman, Jonathan D.; Kauppinen, Sami; Valkealahti, Maarit; Lehenkari, Petri; Pritzker, Kenneth P.H.; Nieminen, Heikki J.; Snyder, Brian D.; Grinstaff, Mark W.; Saarakkala, Simo
A1 Alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä
Contrast-enhanced micro-computed tomography (CEμCT) with cationic and anionic contrast agents reveals glycosaminoglycan (GAG) content and distribution in articular cartilage (AC). The advantage of using cationic stains (e.g., CA4+) compared to anionic stains (e.g., Hexabrix®), is that it distributes proportionally with GAGs, while anionic stain distribution in AC is inversely proportional to the GAG content. To date, studies using cationic stains have been conducted with sufficient resolution to study its distributions on the macro-scale, but with insufficient resolution to study its distributions on the micro-scale. Therefore, it is not known whether the cationic contrast agents accumulate in extra/pericellular matrix and if they interact with chondrocytes. The insufficient resolution has also prevented to answer the question whether CA4+ accumulation in chondrons could lead to an erroneous quantification of GAG distribution with low-resolution μCT setups. In this study, we use high-resolution μCT to investigate whether CA4+ accumulates in chondrocytes, and further, to determine whether it affects the low-resolution ex vivo μCT studies of CA4+ stained human AC with varying degree of osteoarthritis. Human osteochondral samples were immersed in three different concentrations of CA4+ (3 mgI/ml, 6 mgI/ml, and 24 mgI/ml) and imaged with high-resolution μCT at several timepoints. Different uptake diffusion profiles of CA4+ were observed between the segmented chondrons and the rest of the tissue. While the X-ray -detected CA4+ concentration in chondrons was greater than in the rest of the AC, its contribution to the uptake into the whole tissue was negligible and in line with macro-scale GAG content detected from histology. The efficient uptake of CA4+ into chondrons and surrounding territorial matrix can be explained by the micro-scale distribution of GAG content. CA4+ uptake in chondrons occurred regardless of the progression stage of osteoarthritis in the samples and the relative difference between the interterritorial matrix and segmented chondron area was less than 4%. To conclude, our results suggest that GAG quantification with CEμCT is not affected by the chondron uptake of CA4+. This further confirms the use of CA4+ for macro-scale assessment of GAG throughout the AC, and highlight the capability of studying chondron properties in 3D at the micro scale.
Older Adults' Emotional User Experiences with Digital Health Services
(2024) Valkonen, Paula; Kujala, Sari
A4 Artikkeli konferenssijulkaisussa
Older adults are at risk of being excluded from digital society. They do not always find digital health services appealing, or they may have challenges with them. We investigated older adults´ emotional user experiences with digital health services and aimed to give designers tools to make digital health services more appealing for older adults. We interviewed 16 older adults about their experiences with digital health services. The use of digital health services brought joy and increased self-confidence. On the other hand, older adults had many negative emotional user experiences, including fear of pressing buttons and embarrassment of incompetence. In the future, designers should actively look for solutions that alleviate older adults´ fears and further encourage them to use digital health services. To enable that, proposals are made for designing digital health services.
Quantifying Complex Micro-Topography of Degenerated Articular Cartilage Surface by Contrast-Enhanced Micro-Computed Tomography and Parametric Analyses
(2019-04-01) Ylitalo, Tuomo; Finnilä, Mikko A.J.; Gahunia, Harpal K.; Karhula, Sakari S.; Suhonen, Heikki; Valkealahti, Maarit; Lehenkari, Petri; Hæggström, Edward; Pritzker, Kenneth P.H.; Saarakkala, Simo; Nieminen, Heikki J.
A1 Alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä
One of the earliest changes in osteoarthritis (OA) is a surface discontinuity of the articular cartilage (AC), and these surface changes become gradually more complex with OA progression. We recently developed a contrast enhanced micro-computed tomography (μCT) method for visualizing AC surface in detail. The present study aims to introduce a μCT analysis technique to parameterize these complex AC surface features and to demonstrate the feasibility of using these parameters to quantify degenerated AC surface. Osteochondral plugs (n = 35) extracted from 19 patients undergoing joint surgery were stained with phosphotungstic acid and imaged using μCT. The surface micro-topography of AC was analyzed with developed method. Standard root mean square roughness (R q ) was calculated as a reference, and the Area Under Curve (AUC) for receiver operating characteristic analysis was used to compare the acquired quantitative parameters with semi-quantitative visual grading of μCT image stacks. The parameters quantifying the complex micro-topography of AC surface exhibited good sensitivity and specificity in identifying surface continuity (AUC: 0.93, [0.80 0.99]), fissures (AUC: 0.94, [0.83 0.99]) and fibrillation (AUC: 0.98, [0.88 1.0]). Standard R q was significantly smaller compared with the complex roughness (CR q ) already with mild surface changes with all surface reference parameters − continuity, fibrillation, and fissure sum. Furthermore, only CR q showed a significant difference when comparing the intact surface with lowest fissure sum score. These results indicate that the presented method for evaluating complex AC surfaces exhibit potential to identify early OA changes in superficial AC and is dynamic throughout OA progression.
Virtual Reality in Rehabilitation of Executive Functions in Children (VREALFUN) – Study Protocols for Randomized Control Trials
(2024-05-05) Nikula, Merja; Mäntymaa, Mirjami; LaValle, Steven M.; Pouttu, Ari; Jaekel, Julia; Aronen, Eeva T.; Pokka, Tytti; Salmi, Juha; Uusimaa, Johanna
A4 Artikkeli konferenssijulkaisussa
Children with attention and executive function disabilities often have a long-lasting need for rehabilitation to support their functional ability. Yet the availability of rehabilitation services is insufficient, regionally unevenly distributed, and unequal in terms of access to rehabilitation. There is a need for easily accessible services. In this paper, we present the VREALFUN project where the major aim is to develop a novel Virtual Reality (VR) rehabilitation method for children with deficits in attention and executive functions. This ongoing Randomized Control Study (RCT) includes two arms, one in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and the other in children with mild to moderate traumatic brain injury (TBI).
Wearable Motion Sensors in the Detection of ADHD : A Critical Review
(2024) Basic, Jakov; Uusimaa, Johanna; Salmi, Juha
A4 Artikkeli konferenssijulkaisussa
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder with inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity as core symptoms. Current diagnostic methods of ADHD consisting of interviews and self-ratings come with a risk of subjective bias and are dependent on the limited availability of healthcare professionals. However, recent technological advances have opened new opportunities to develop objective and scalable methods for precision diagnostics. The present critical review covers the current literature concerning one of the promising technologies, the use of motion sensors or accelometers for detecting ADHD, particularly evaluating the related clinical potential. Several studies in this field, especially recent studies with advanced computational methods, have demonstrated excellent accuracy in detecting individual participants with ADHD. Machine learning methods provide several benefits in the analysis of rich sensor data, but the existing studies still have critical limitations in explaining the underlying cognitive functions and demonstrating the capacity for differential diagnostics is still underway. Clinical utility of sensor-based diagnostic methods could be improved by conducting rigorous cross-validation against other methods in representative samples and employing multi-sensor solutions with sophisticated analysis methods to improve interpretation of the symptom manifestation. We conclude that motion sensors provide cost-effective and easy-to-use solutions with strong potential to increase the precision and availability of ADHD diagnostics. Nevertheless, these methods should be employed with caution, as only a fraction of ADHD symptoms relate to hyperactivity captured by motion sensors. At best, this technique could complement the existing assessment methods or be used along with other digital tools such as virtual reality.