计算机技术能使需要轮椅的人士选择一款最合适的轮椅
2012-05-28 11:59:10   来源： 丁香园   作者：  评论：0 点击：

A Wayne State University researcher has introduced computer technology that makes it easier for people who need wheelchairs to select one that best suits their needs.

韦恩州立大学研究者介绍：计算机技术能使需要轮椅的人士选择一款最合适的轮椅变得容易起来。

In "Remote Decision Support for Wheeled Mobility and Seating Devices," recently published online and set to appear in the June edition of Expert Systems with Applications, Kyoung-Yun Kim, Ph.D., associate professor of industrial and systems engineering in WSU's College of Engineering, introduces a Web-based decision support system for remotely selecting wheelchairs.

最近上线的“远程选择轮椅和其他坐具”网站推出了专家申请系统６月版本。来自WSU机械工程大学的工业和系统工程副教授Kyoung-Yun Kim博士介绍了一款远程选择轮椅的网站支持系统。

According to the 2010 U.S. Census, 3.3 million people age 15 and older use wheelchairs; 10 million use walking aids, such as canes, crutches or walkers. Eleven million people age 6 and older need personal assistance with everyday activities, including such tasks as getting around inside the home, taking a bath or shower, preparing meals and performing light housework.

根据2010年美国人口普查，约330万15岁以上的人口使用轮椅。1000万人口使用步行辅助工具，如手杖或拐杖等。1100万６岁以上儿童日常活动需要他人帮助，包括家中的活动，洗澡或淋浴，进餐或做简单家务事。

Many people with disabilities live outside large metropolitan areas and lack access to experienced clinicians who can help them decide what kind of device is best for them. Such help has become more necessary with changes implemented by the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in the Healthcare Common Procedures Coding System (HCPCS) for wheeled mobility devices. Those changes included expanding the number of device identification codes from four to 64, making it difficult to understand where a product falls within the new structure.

很多残疾人 士居住大都市市中心以外，无法在有丰富经验的医师那里得到建议以决定选择什么样的轮椅。随着美国HCPCS中心改变了轮椅某些应用模式，这些来自有经验的 医师的建议更为急迫。这些改变包括使轮椅装置识别码由４位数增加到６４位数。从而使得理解这些产品如何操作更为困难。

"Disabled patients almost always have a unique situation, so for something that looks like a simple device, making an optimal decision is not that simple," Kim said. "It requires doctors' and clinicians' assessments, as well as those of patients and their families. Combined with testing time, these are significant factors that lead to an increasingly expensive selection process."

Kim 说：“残疾人士都有些特殊情况。有些看起来很简单的装置能使选择变得不那么简单”。“需要医生和患者以及患者的家庭一起评估。还需要试用。这显而易见增加了选择过程的费用”。

In a study supported by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research of the U.S. Department of Education, Kim's team reviewed current research in telerehabilitation, an emerging field that aims to deliver rehabilitation services over telecommunication networks and the Internet, and complements in-person clinical assessment and therapy in underserved areas.

在一项美国教育部支持的国家残疾和康复计划研究中，Kim的研究小组回顾了当前在电子康复系统中的研究。这是一项新出现的，旨在通过电子系统和网络传递康复装置的领域，用以弥补边远地区临床评估和治疗的不足。

His system improves the selection and evaluation processes by enabling remote assessment of appropriate wheelchair alternatives with advanced queries and selection criteria. It also provides a reusable information repository and enables systematic evaluation.

这一系统改进了评估和选择过程，用先进的问卷调查和选择标准使得远距离选择合适的轮椅成为现实。这个系统还提供了可重复使用的信息库，能够评估系统。

HCPCS coding changes have increased the gap in decision-making abilities of less experienced clinicians in underserved areas and their more experienced peers in larger population centers, Kim said. In an effort to minimize that gap, the teleconsultation model gives the former group access to the latter, ultimately allowing clinicians to make better selections.

HCPCS编码的改变也使得边远地区不那么有经验的医师作决定更困难。而有经验的同行往往在大城市。为了缩小这一差距，电子咨询系统使前者咨询后者成为可能，最终使得医师们能够作出最佳选择。

A study based on the Technology Acceptance Model was conducted with three groups of clinicians: just graduated, moderately experienced and senior level, via the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center. The model is a formal research tool for evaluating technological support of a given task.

一项基于技术接受模式的研究由三个医师群体作出：刚毕业的，中级的，有经验的，和高级的。这个模式是为评估技术支持系统的正式研究工具。

As a control, Kim's team tested face-to-face patient-clinician interactions. It also set up remote assessments using webcams so that patients and less experienced clinicians in one location could consult with more expert clinicians in another location.

作为对照，Kim的研究小组测试了面对面的患者和医师的沟通。他们也测试了患者和当地相对较少经验的医师和另一地专家用网络摄像头咨询以便建立远程评估的效果。

Subjects said the remote wheelchair selection system generally was very user friendly and made it easy to find quality information, but they were neutral on whether they wanted to use it in their clinical decision making. Kim and his team plan to work with other medical facilities, such as U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals, to encourage wider use of the teleconsultation model with this remote wheelchair selection system.

课题组说，远程轮椅选择系统通常使得使用者很友好，从而更容易发现有用的信息。但对临床决策来说，这个系统又是中性的。Kim和他的团队计划和其他医疗机构合作，以鼓励远程咨询系统能得到更广泛的使用。

"The goal of this study is to create a portal that gives clinicians easy and timely access to the information they need to make the best decisions for their patients," Kim said. "We also aim to reduce the gaps in knowledge and human bias between experienced and inexperienced clinicians.

Kim说，“这个研究的目的是建起一扇门，使得医师更容易、更有效的得到他们想要的信息，以便为他们的病人作出最佳选择”。“我们的目标也包括减少有经验的医师和缺乏经验的医师之间的知识上和认识上的差距”。

"We believe these improvements can also reduce the time needed to select a wheeled mobility device and eventually reduce the cost of the process as well."

“我们相信这个改进也能节约时间，最终降低选择轮椅费用。”