Thesis (Ph.D.)--Bowling Green State University, 2006. / Document formatted into pages; contains xviii, 174 p. Includes bibliographical references.

This thesis presents research and development in registration of images containing rigid structures using deformable models. In the existing methods of deformable image registration, the feature based methods using purely interpolation are often used under the assumption that all parts of the image can be deformed non-linearly. However, it is not applicable for some images, such as medical images which contain some bony structures. Therefore, it is more reasonable in image registration to treat the parts representing rigid structures differently from the remaining parts. A novel method is proposed in this thesis that uses a flexible spring-mass system to provide a good representation of image information. Anatomical structures are represented by spring masses and their interconnecting springs located along the structure boundaries. Hence, the system can treat some pre-selected parts of an image as rigid structures, whilst it is possible to elastically deform the rest of the image. The deformation caused by the displacement of the features is modelled by the spring-mass system via the motion equation. To ensure high quality registration, the image content is introduced as external forces acting on the masses and is iteratively employed into the motion equation to achieve a better and better registration result (It should be noted that the improvement in registration quality is limited by the quality and content of original images). The performance of the proposed method is shown using simulated data, and is validated using real Computed Tomography (CT) images. Objective measures and images that enable subjective evaluation of the new technique are provided. The proposed method is fast, robust and offers high registration accuracy. This is due to the following developments: • Innovatory approach based on the spring-mass system for image registration. • A new spring force formula to support the new method. • External forces based on image content are employed and applied via an iterative approach to ensure the high quality registration. • A fast initialisation method for the spring-mass system generation. • A fast interpolation technique to reduce the computation time in the iterative registration stage.

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The problem of this study concerned the factors involved in the selection of medical technology as a major. The purposes of the study were to determine (a) the most influential factors in the selection of medical technology as a career, (b) which sources of career information were the most frequently utilized and most influential in the choice of medical technology as a major, (c) the most common misperceptions of the field at the time of selection of the major, and (d) the relationship between accurate perceptions of the field at the time of major selection and satisfaction with the choice of major after employment.

<p>Detta examensarbete har genomförts i samarbete med ALMI Företagspartner AB</p><p>som arbetar med att främja utveckling av företag och nyföretagande. Tillsammans med Landstinget i Jönköpings län driver de projektet P.U.M.A, Produktutveckling med Medicinsk Anknytning</p><p>Examensarbetet omfattar utveckling av ett skydd till en trevägskran.</p><p>Skyddets syfte är att förhindra ofrivillig justering av de kranar som används vid intravenös infusion av cytostatika, då patienten behandlas i hemmet.</p><p>Vid behandling flödar cytostatikan genom en trevägskran. Kranen monteras på patienten, som har hudkontakt med denna under hela behandlingen.</p><p>I den teoretiska bakgrunden beskrivs metoder för produktutveckling och en rad återkommande begrepp i rapporten.</p><p>Vid genomförandet gjordes inledningsvis en marknadsundersökning, vilken utgjorde underlag för produktkraven.</p><p>Efter idégenerering genomfördes sållning i två faser för att sortera bort koncept som ej uppfyllde ställda krav.</p><p>Sållningen följdes upp med tillverkning av enkla prototyper, vilka utvärderades och låg till grund för val av slutgiltigt koncept.</p><p>Examensarbetet resulterade i ett färdigt koncept som uppfyller de krav som ställdes med avseende på funktion, säkerhet, pris och miljö. Vid eventuell massproduktion av produkten kommer ytterligare tester och finjustering av konstruktionen krävas.</p>

Detta examensarbete har genomförts i samarbete med ALMI Företagspartner AB som arbetar med att främja utveckling av företag och nyföretagande. Tillsammans med Landstinget i Jönköpings län driver de projektet P.U.M.A, Produktutveckling med Medicinsk Anknytning Examensarbetet omfattar utveckling av ett skydd till en trevägskran. Skyddets syfte är att förhindra ofrivillig justering av de kranar som används vid intravenös infusion av cytostatika, då patienten behandlas i hemmet. Vid behandling flödar cytostatikan genom en trevägskran. Kranen monteras på patienten, som har hudkontakt med denna under hela behandlingen. I den teoretiska bakgrunden beskrivs metoder för produktutveckling och en rad återkommande begrepp i rapporten. Vid genomförandet gjordes inledningsvis en marknadsundersökning, vilken utgjorde underlag för produktkraven. Efter idégenerering genomfördes sållning i två faser för att sortera bort koncept som ej uppfyllde ställda krav. Sållningen följdes upp med tillverkning av enkla prototyper, vilka utvärderades och låg till grund för val av slutgiltigt koncept. Examensarbetet resulterade i ett färdigt koncept som uppfyller de krav som ställdes med avseende på funktion, säkerhet, pris och miljö. Vid eventuell massproduktion av produkten kommer ytterligare tester och finjustering av konstruktionen krävas.

Software development and implementation failure is perceived by developers and users as a serious problem. Of every six new software development projects, 2 are abandoned, the average project lasts 50% longer than expected, and 75% of large systems are "operating failures" that are rejected or perform poorly. Design failure contributes to the productivity paradox, where increased investment in information technology (IT) has not correlated with improvements in productivity. Many IS researchers state that further research examining the interaction between technology and context during information system development (ISD) is required. This current study is motivated by these calls for research. The marrying of information systems and health research also raises a second motivation. The deployment and diffusion of IT can contribute to the effective utilization of health resources. Another motivation of the thesis is to explore the effect of information systems on disease prevention, and provide an opportunity to develop and diffuse IT tools that promote health. To address these two motivations, two case studies of ISD in two health studies are described. The first case study involved the initiation and development of an electronic patient record in two outpatient clinics specializing in heart disease prevention and rehabilitation (SoftHeart). The second case study involved the development of a windows-based multimedia software that assists the planning of breast cancer educational and policy programs in communities. The first case study covered four years (Summer of 1992 to Spring of 1996) and the second case covered 1 year (Spring of 1995 to Spring of 1996). The purpose of the thesis is to generate hypotheses for future research in ISD. Both studies employed an "action research" approach where the researcher was directly involved with software design and programming. Data from interviews, meeting minutes, field notes, design and programming notes, and other documentation were collected from both studies and triangulated to provide valid interpretations. Important and illustrative technology-context events are extracted from the cases to uncover processes between technology and context during stages of development. Processes are compared with four theories linking technology and context: technological imperative and organizational imperative (unidirectional), and emergent perspective and social technology (bi-directional). These processes are then combined to reach tentative conclusions about the ISD process. Key findings indicate an interplay between a small number unidirectional processes (organizational and technology imperative) and a large number of bi-directional theories (social technology and emergence). Overall, the emergent perspective described or participated in describing a majority of the processes, given the developer's perspective, extraction and interpretation of these key processes. In both cases, the ISD trajectory was best described as emergent. The result of within case and cross-case analysis is a model integrating the four technology-context theories depending on stakeholder agreement and the adaptability of technology during development and use. Dynamics and change in task, technology, and stakeholder configurations are explained by the deliberate or accidental interaction of new and old stakeholders, technology, ideas, agreements and/or tasks over time. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

Thesis (MTech( Education)) -- Cape Technikon, Cape Town, 1996 / Clinical technology as a profession has been part of the rapid development of modem medical technology in South Africa. From the start the training of clinical technologists consisted of practical in-service training at an academic hospital and a theoretical component completed at a technikon. Questions about the standard of training of clinical technologists have often been raised by members of the profession. An initial opinion pole amongst recently qualified clinical technologists about the evaluation of their theoretical knowledge and practical skills showed that they were not certain what they were tested for in the examinations, or what the practical year mark was awarded for at the end of their experiential training. The question thus arose whether the evaluation of theoretical knowledge and practical skills were really appropriate and relevant. In order to investigate validity of the training process, namely the 'evaluation of clinical technology students, three literature studies were conducted. The first was to determine what acceptable evaluation practice is as regards the evaluation of theoretical content and practical skills. It was apparent from the literature that the inclusion of learning objectives should be the norm for effective goal orientated training and evaluation. The second literature study was conducted to determine the validity of the evaluation of clinical technology students. As a result of this literature study a description was made of the task of professions in the USA similar to clinical technology, the health worker in general and the profession of clinical technology specifically. From this task description it was apparent that the evaluation of clinical technologists' skills should not just include knowledge, comprehension and application, but that one should also test for analysis, synthesis and evaluation. The third literature study conducted was to determine whether Bloom's taxonomy for cognitive objectives could be used to provide a measure of the validity of test items. As a result of this literature study a classification of test items from final year papers was done to determine the cognitive level on which questions were formulated. v This analysis of test items showed that questions were mainly formulated on the knowledge level and did not provide for higher order skills as demanded by the task analysis of the clinical technologist. Referring to the evaluation of practical skills an analysis of the methods used by trainers to award the practical yearmark showed that training and evaluation are not being performed in an effective goal orientated manner. The reason is that trainers do not use training objectives for the development of cognitive, psychomotor and affective skills of students. The conclusion is made that performance evaluation of the theoretical content and practical skills of clinical technology students do not satisfy the criteria of validity. To improve the training and evaluation practice, it is recommended that training objectives for theoretical content and practical skills are formulated, that practical performance tests are designed, and that attention is given to the improvement of the training and evaluation skills of trainers and examiners.

Software development and implementation failure is perceived by developers and users as a serious problem. Of every six new software development projects, 2 are abandoned, the average project lasts 50% longer than expected, and 75% of large systems are "operating failures" that are rejected or perform poorly. Design failure contributes to the productivity paradox, where increased investment in information technology (IT) has not correlated with improvements in productivity. Many IS researchers state that further research examining the interaction between technology and context during information system development (ISD) is required. This current study is motivated by these calls for research. The marrying of information systems and health research also raises a second motivation. The deployment and diffusion of IT can contribute to the effective utilization of health resources. Another motivation of the thesis is to explore the effect of information systems on disease prevention, and provide an opportunity to develop and diffuse IT tools that promote health. To address these two motivations, two case studies of ISD in two health studies are described. The first case study involved the initiation and development of an electronic patient record in two outpatient clinics specializing in heart disease prevention and rehabilitation (SoftHeart). The second case study involved the development of a windows-based multimedia software that assists the planning of breast cancer educational and policy programs in communities. The first case study covered four years (Summer of 1992 to Spring of 1996) and the second case covered 1 year (Spring of 1995 to Spring of 1996). The purpose of the thesis is to generate hypotheses for future research in ISD. Both studies employed an "action research" approach where the researcher was directly involved with software design and programming. Data from interviews, meeting minutes, field notes, design and programming notes, and other documentation were collected from both studies and triangulated to provide valid interpretations. Important and illustrative technology-context events are extracted from the cases to uncover processes between technology and context during stages of development. Processes are compared with four theories linking technology and context: technological imperative and organizational imperative (unidirectional), and emergent perspective and social technology (bi-directional). These processes are then combined to reach tentative conclusions about the ISD process. Key findings indicate an interplay between a small number unidirectional processes (organizational and technology imperative) and a large number of bi-directional theories (social technology and emergence). Overall, the emergent perspective described or participated in describing a majority of the processes, given the developer's perspective, extraction and interpretation of these key processes. In both cases, the ISD trajectory was best described as emergent. The result of within case and cross-case analysis is a model integrating the four technology-context theories depending on stakeholder agreement and the adaptability of technology during development and use. Dynamics and change in task, technology, and stakeholder configurations are explained by the deliberate or accidental interaction of new and old stakeholders, technology, ideas, agreements and/or tasks over time. Implications for research and practice are discussed. / Business, Sauder School of / Management Information Systems, Division of / Graduate

The field of nanotechnology is growing vastly, both as a field of research and in commercial applications. This rapid growth calls for synthesis methods which can produce high quality nanomaterials, while being scalable. This thesis describes an investigation into the use of a continuous hydrothermal reactor for the synthesis of nanomaterials, with potential use in three different biomedical applications – bone scaffolds, fluorescent biomarkers, and MRI contrast agents. The first chapter of this thesis provides an overview of nanotechnology: the advantages of nanoscale, the commercial industries which can benefit, and the predominant methods currently used to produce nanomaterials. Some advantages and drawbacks of each synthesis route are given, concluding with a description of the Nozzle reactor – the patented technology used for nanomaterial synthesis in this Thesis. Chapter 2 then focusses on the characterisation techniques used in this thesis, detailing the principles of how data is obtained, as well as highlighting the limitations of each method. With the background information in place, chapters 3, 4 and 5 describe more specific nanomaterials and how they can be applied to each of the aforementioned biomedical fields. These chapters provide the technical details of how various nanomaterials can be synthesised using the Nozzle reactor, and the structural data (crystallinity, particle size) obtained from these samples. Furthermore, the functional properties of these nanomaterials are tested and the results, along with a discussion of any trends, are presented. Finally, this thesis concludes with a summary of the results described and emphasises the key areas where further work can be conducted.