International Conference on Digital Health 24-25 April,2019 Houston, Texas

Biography:

Dr. Deborah Won completed her PhD at Duke University in Biomedical Engineering and worked as a postdoctoral associate in the Biomimetic MicroElectronic Systems Engineering Reserch Center at the University of Southern California. She established her Neural Engineering Technology Laboratory at California State University, Los Angeles, where she has taught and mentored students in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department since 2009. There, she has conducted research on deep brain stimulation for Parkinson’s disease, neuromusuclar electrical stimulation for spinal cord injury rehabilitation and now mobile health technology for individuals in wheelchairs.

Abstract:

Through the use of wireless sensing technology, the exergaming industry has produced exciting entertainment systems help people to get and stay fit. The commercial systems known to the authors which would help improve cardiovascular fitness require users to position themselves appropriately with respect to cameras and sensors, to step on mats, and/or move their lower limbs for physical activities ranging from dancing to climbing. These systems are not accessible for individuals who use wheelchairs. Individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI) often experience long-term decline in cardiovascular health because of the barriers that lower limb mobility impairment creates to cardiovascularly conditioning physical activity. In a previous article, we presented the feasiblity of wireless EMG (electromyography) sensors to enable a mobile fitness system for people in wheelchairs. Here, we present games developed for the Android mobile app platform which facilitate exercises that are known to be feasible and appropriate for individuals with SCI to maintain and even improve cardiovascular fitness in the comfort and convenience of their own homes. We developed three app activities which each gamify exercises that are targeted for people with SCI and use wheelchairs: 1) stationary spinning on a stationary wheelchair trainer (the Invictus Active Trainer, Wolverhampton, UK); 2) strength training using resistance arm bands (Theraband, Akron, OH); and 3) air boxing to implement a repetetive high frequency “exchange” exercise. Each exercise utilizes EMG wireless sensors to drive game play and provide feedback to the user.

Biography:

Ezekiel Chinyio has his expertise in construction management issues. One of his current endeavours is harnessing the knowledge of psychology to improve construction management (www.psycon.info). An ongoing project, known as INSTINCT, is mapping stress and coping behaviours on personality dimensions. The quest is to pre-empt and thus block the onset of stress which is currently very high amongst construction workers. INSTINCT brings together psychology, construction, IT, AI and other managerial considerations in the development of a solution that can improve health and wellbeing

Abstract:

The negative effects of stress at work in terms of emotional disorders and organisational difficulties have pressed the need for new solutions and especially direct-to-user tools such as mobile applications. While new technology can support the architecture of such tools, adaptive coping behaviours have also been identified as an important factor for promoting new strategies for coping effectively with stress at work. A study being reported in this paper investigates how technology can be used to influence adaptive coping behaviours. The study is synthesizing the key aspects of personality and behavior into a conceptual model for creating a new mobile application. The overall goal of this application (aka Streblo) is to detect: 1) Early signs of stress; that is the mental (personality) and physical state resulting when the resources of the individual are inadequate to cope with the demands and pressures of the situation, 2) Stress consequences that can undermine the achievement of goals; and 3) Propose innovative solutions to cope with stress. A literature review concerning coping behaviours and use of technology was conducted to gather evidence for the foundation of the conceptual model. Primary data is being collected and the empirical findings of the research will be tested and verified using the WEKA software (fig. 1) against the theoretical framework consisting of the ‘Big 5 Theory of Personality, ‘Stress & Coping Theory’ and the concept of ‘Gamification’. Particularly, the following aspects of the theoretical framework are being used to design Streblo: customization to the user, use of relevant and tailored information and feedback and, uses of positive reinforcement and indirect suggestions. Meanwhile, the conceptual model provides further knowledge of key aspects to be considered when developing persuasive tools that aim to encourage more efficient ways of coping with stressful events.

Biography:

Dr. Silvia Riva is currently a Marie Curie Research Fellow at the University of Wolverhampton working on a European project (Marie Curie Individual Fellowship, Horizon 2020, European Commission) about stress management using digital health supports. She is Italian and she studied at the Catholic University of Sacred Heart of Milan (Faculty of Psychology).

Dr. Riva area of expertise is Cognitive Psychology, particularly decision making processes in different contexts (e.g. health, organisations) and under different conditions (e.g. uncertainty, risk and stress)

Her research interests examine the application of Cognitive Psychology (judgment, heuristics, bias, and decision making processes). At a theoretical level she is interested in the issue of how people make good decisions to improve individual performance and how do they cope with the environment. At a practical level, she is interested in studying potential environmental or educational interventions designed to promote healthier and safety environment with the goal improving individual performance and general wellness. More generally, she is interested in how we can use our knowledge of human cognition to design interventions in practical settings.

In relation with her clinical activity, Dr. Riva is a Cognitive Behavioural psychotherapist. She has experience of working with individual cases (particularly, the enhancement of individual performance, coping with stress and anxiety disorders) and with complex cases (e.g. interventions with frail population, interventions to improve organizational wellness at work). Her approach is grounded in the Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and in the Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy, specifically.

Abstract:

The negative effects of stress at work in terms of emotional disorders and organisational difficulties have pressed the need for new solutions and especially direct-to-user tools such as mobile applications. While new technology can support the architecture of such tools, adaptive coping behaviours have also been identified as an important factor for promoting new strategies for coping effectively with stress at work. A study being reported in this paper investigates how technology can be used to influence adaptive coping behaviours. The study is synthesizing the key aspects of personality and behavior into a conceptual model for creating a new mobile application. The overall goal of this application (aka Streblo) is to detect: 1) Early signs of stress; that is the mental (personality) and physical state resulting when the resources of the individual are inadequate to cope with the demands and pressures of the situation, 2) Stress consequences that can undermine the achievement of goals; and 3) Propose innovative solutions to cope with stress. A literature review concerning coping behaviours and use of technology was conducted to gather evidence for the foundation of the conceptual model. Primary data is being collected and the empirical findings of the research will be tested and verified using the WEKA software (fig. 1) against the theoretical framework consisting of the ‘Big 5 Theory of Personality, ‘Stress & Coping Theory’ and the concept of ‘Gamification’. Particularly, the following aspects of the theoretical framework are being used to design Streblo: customization to the user, use of relevant and tailored information and feedback and, uses of positive reinforcement and indirect suggestions. Meanwhile, the conceptual model provides further knowledge of key aspects to be considered when developing persuasive tools that aim to encourage more efficient ways of coping with stressful events.

Biography:

Elizabeth Berryman, is the founder and director of Chnnl Ltd, a disruptive eMental Health startup. She is advisor to many other tech startup companies, including telehealth and e-mentoring. Elizabeth has a wealth of experience in the health sector with a career as a Registered Nurse before starting Medical School. She has over 10 years of business and governance experience in private, community-based boards and charities. These have included New Zealand Medical Association, Chair of the New Zealand Medical Benevolent Fund, Howick Baptist Healthcare Trust, Wāhine Connect Charity and Health Informatics New Zealand. Elizabeth is focused on solutions that help the workforce combat issues such as bullying, depression and sexual harassment and is a researcher at the Bioethics Centre, University of Otago on positive workplace culture. She is a sought after speaker and communicator especially on topics such as advocacy, wellbeing, digital health, eMental health and leadership development. 

Abstract:

With access to the internet now available on roaming networks, data plans that are ‘unlimited’ and cities that provide free WiFi, being connected has never been easier; it is no wonder that we are witnessing an impressive proliferation of mHealth ventures- metaphorically referred to as the startup bubble. Easy access to potential markets and low cost of service distribution are appealing conditions for modern entrepreneurs. Inspired by success stories such as, Spotify, Uber, Facebook, Tesla, a large number of software businesses are created daily. However, the great majority of these companies fail within two years from their creation. As their time and resources are extremely scarce, and one failed project can put them out of business, startups need effective practices to face with those unique challenges. Only a few scientific studies attempt to address characteristics of failure, especially during the early start up stage. By raising our understanding of the failure of early-stage tech based startup companies, we can learn from them, and avoid them. Effective leadership, and execution of strategy are two aspects that are vital to success. An investigation, through qualitative methods, interviewing start-up founders and CEOs revealed key lessons that can be learnt for future mHealth entrepreneurs and advisors. Thematic analysis using grounded theory methodology was conducted from the interviews and through the stories of failures and successes, we distilled key themes and concepts. These have been developed into a practical framework that enables leaders to implement into their own practice, and ‘stand on the shoulders of giants’.

Biography:

Joshua Wies has been a physical therapist and consultant to industry for over 25 years, working both in the USA and UK. He has extensive experience in research and has lectured at the university level. Joshua was inspired, through his work with older adults, to address the issue of injurious falls in older 

Abstract:

The smart phone is now a ubiquitous and commoditized device and has achieved high levels of market penetration amongst those over 65¹. Studies have demonstrated that it is possible to use the smart phone to assess physical function^2,3. Methods: In the current study, a group of stroke survivors attending a support group were assessed by a non-medically trained person, using Equilibrium Pro™ - a smart phone application. Study participants gave informed consent and IRB approval for the study was given by the Ventura County Healthcare Agency IRB. Eight stroke survivors (mean age = 69, sd=13y.) and fourteen people without a history of stroke (mean age = 74, sd=12y.) completed the study. A short medical history was taken, and the participants then completed three tests of physical function that a physical therapist would normally conduct in an assessment, using a stopwatch: the Five times Sit to Stand Test⁴; the Timed Up and Go Test⁵; and, a timed 10-meter walk⁶. Analysis & Results: Groups were compared using a 2-tailed Student’s T-Test. For all tests, the Stroke group performed significantly worse, taking more time to complete tests and walking more slowly. Discussion & Conclusions: The three tests performed related to the risk of future falls in older adults and as such, showed elevated fall risk in the Stroke group. In the study, at risk individuals were advised of preventative exercises to undertake to reduce their fall risk.  It was shown that it is feasible to accurately assess physical function in stroke survivors and that participants respond well to real time feedback and advice on their physical function and fall risk. The Equilibrium Pro™ smart phone application was easy to administer and did not require any extensive training or medical background. Using Equilibrium Pro™ may allow for the early detection and prevention of falls⁷ risk and further work should be conducted to determine the predictive validity of the application.

Biography:

Stephen Ayre is the Chief Executive Metro South Hospital and Health Services and was previously the Executive Director Princess Alexandra Hospital, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia leading the Hospital through the go live of the electronic medical record.  As a Specialist Medical Administrator he has worked in Executive roles in a number of Queensland and Tasmanian Hospitals.  He has an interest in clinical and corporate governance and in leveraging the digital environment to provide improved patient outcomes

Abstract:

The Princess Alexandra Hospital is a 1,000 bed tertiary hospital providing health services to a community of 1.2m people in the local catchment with a number of tertiary services (liver and kidney transplantation, spinal injury) to the whole state of Queensland. The Hospital introduced an electronic medical record system (Cerner Corporation) in 2015-17. The benefits of an electronic medical record have been closely followed by a benefits realization steering group including operations managers and clinicians.  A number of benefits outlined in the original business case have been added to by the steering group.  Statistically significant reductions have occurred in length of inpatient stay, 28 day readmission rates, pressure injury occurrence, and healthcare associated SAB infections per 10,000 bed days. Recommendations are made to assist hospitals in maximizing the benefits resulting from the introduction of an electronic medical record.

Biography:

Nick Desai, CEO of Heal, is an entrepreneur who has started and led four successful startups over the last 18 years. To reboot America’s broken healthcare system, Nick founded Heal, a technology-enabled healthcare experience with comprehensive & timely doctor house calls at its foundation. At the touch of a button, a licensed physician can arrive at your door in two hours or less to conduct a comprehensive primary, preventive, pediatric or urgent care visit. In three years, Heal has raised over $65 million in investment capital, delivered over 60,000 house calls and driven over $41 million in healthcare savings.

Nick earned his BS in Electrical and Computer Engineering from UC Irvine, where he earned the 2018 Lauds and Laurels Distinguished Alumni Award, and an MS in Electrical Engineering from UCLA.  Nick is a speaker and author with credits including Consumer Electronics Show, Harvard Business School, the Huffington Post and other publications.  

Abstract:

America’s $4 trillion healthcare system is a paradox of extreme spending, worse outcomes; exciting digital healthcare technology, low adoption rates, and more scientific advances than ever before while environmental and social factors are leading health predictors. Our country’s health costs will continue to rise with increased chronic disease expected to cost over $42 trillion over the next decade.  

More money, devices, and studies won’t solve this crisis. Care that fosters relationships between doctors and patients to drive primary, preventive care is the only solution to lowering costs and improving outcomes. Over 70% of ER visits are avoidable and more than 40 million chronic disease cases can be eliminated with timely access to care.  Patients need to be motivated to participate and see outcomes. Doctors want to deal with less bureaucracy and lower adoption friction. Payers want to see improved costs.

Nick Desai will lay out how technology-enabled doctor house calls are lowering costs and improving outcomes. Over the past three years, Heal delivered over 60,000 house calls, realizing $41 million in healthcare savings. Doctors enjoy the ability to do what they do best, spending 400% more time with patients and enjoying automation of 65% of operations of a typical doctor’s office.

Heal house calls will soon be complemented with a first-of-its-kind remote monitoring system, the Heal WellBe, securely collecting data from over 120 disparate sources and puts it into the hands of doctors delivering more personalized and precise medicine than ever before, especially for the chronically ill. When doctors are alerted of an issue, they can respond to the patient through a doctor house call, telemedicine, or in-app messaging. The responsiveness, data integration, and development of a strong doctor-patient relationship moves us toward a healthcare system where patients spend more time being well and less time getting well.

Biography:

Bluetooth, Share data in a SnApp

Abstract:

The  Problem HealthCare Interoperability is a Complex-Patients having difficulty in securing their medical reports in a simple way from multiple providers’ vendor platforms to form their comprehensive medical record.  

Provider’s not having complete medical history when a patient present which can lead to over utilization of some tests and procedures, fragmented healthcare and delay in treatment path.

Electronic Health Records’ different and various platforms prohibit universal sharing of usable health reports with patients and each other, the same for Insurance and Social service Platform.

Payers-Current healthcare spending is not sustainable; payers are interested in decreasing cost and improved health outcomes.

Opportunity: Smart devices usage projected to be in the billions by 2027, health reports moved from paper to electronic

Market Trends Leading to Opportunity: HITECH ACT and 21st Century Cures Law, 2016-Health IT Interoperability space. Healthcare Delivery is fragmented and cost is unsustainable--Bluetooth PPX paired in proximity allow data to be exchanged on an appointment’s entry and exit. Provider’s app provides 8 digit self-generating token, given to patient to connect. PPX’s Share Screen unique features exchanges data-Bluetooth, Email, Print, Import, Export and Host App (currently hosting a website) to embed other mHealth Apps to SHARE as PPX and exchange health and insurance data beyond the internet portal and silos. PPX is FHIR and HL7 compliant. PPX outputs via PDF, Numbers, HTML, XML, CSV, Cloud ready, fully scalable, ingests multiple large structured datasets and identifies and manages the relationship between disparate datasets.  

Biography:

Meenalosini Vimal Cruz has completed her PhD in 2014 from Veltech University. She is working as an assistant professor at Keene State College, Computer Science departement,USNH, USA. She has published more than 7 papers in reputed international journals and has google index 4. Her research focus is in Digital Image processing, Machine learning and Computer aided Diagnosis in medical images. she has been serving as an editorial board member in many reputed international conferences and journals.

Sibi Chakkaravarthi has completed his PhD in 2018 from Madras Instititute of Technology, India. He is working as associate professor at Vellore Institute of Technology,Computer Science Engineering department, India. He is Skilled in Python, Network Security, Computer Vision, Machine learning& Deep Learning and has worked as Junioer research Fellow in many funded porjects. He has published more than 17 papers in reputed international journals.

Anupama Namburu has completed her PhD in 2017 from Jawaharlal Nehru Technical University. She has worked as software engineer for 3 years. Currently she is working as associate professor at Vellore Institute of Technology,Computer Science Engineering department, India. Her research focus is in Digital Image processing, Machine learning and medical Image analysis. She has published more than 9 papers in reputed international journals.

Abstract:

Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM) is a fast growing aggressive cancer type which forms on the supportive tissue of the brain.  The key treatment for this type of cancers is very important and early detection is desirable to extend the life expectancy of oncological patients. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is a common and popular technique widely used to scan for these tumors and the MRI produces a large amount of 3D data which is usually a challenging problem. Moreover, the large spatial and structural variability in the tumors also increases the complexity of automatic segmentation. Automated segmentation is an essential condition in tumor segmentation for various quantitative analyses and still it remains to be a challenging problem due to the complex nature of MRI images.  Hence in this research, a novel Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) framework called Niftynet is used to perform a robust segmentation. Niftynet, generally uses a smaller kernel of size 3x3 which is the base for a deeper architecture and involves the positive effects against overfitting problem. Further, this research contributes an additional pre-processing step which use intensity normalization for an effective tumor segmentation. The proposed framework is validated in the UCI primary tumor dataset and BIOGPS brain cancer dataset. The experimental results confirm that the proposed framework using Niftynet is more robust to segment the previously unseen tumors in MRI images, image-specific fine tuning and weight updation significantly improves the segmentation accuracy.

Biography:

eading adoption of Blockchain for patient data ownership at Embleema, former Withings head of B2B, at one point Nokia Digital Health. There, I worked on :
-Creation of B2B department to promote sales & use of smart devices into preventative services for employers, distance health for providers and real-word evidence studies for life sciences, including growing network of 150+ platform partners
-Product Management: release of Nokia Care HIPAA SaaS platform for chronic care management in 2017 and Withings Corporate Wellness Solution SaaS service in 2015
-Marketing: Launched Nokia Healthcare Solutions pages & Withings Health Institute, to promote digital health innovation in B2B & academia; authored peer-reviewed publications (NEJM, JMIR), White Papers etc.
-Digital Health evangelist: keynote speaker (Connected Health, HIMSS, AHA, ATA, OECD etc.), member of GDPR Working Group on eHealth for EU commission, authored book ("The revolution of eHealth"), digital health blog, columns in Les Echos & Le Monde

Now active with patient blockchain company Embleema (www.embleema.com) leading its consortium bringing together patients, life sciences and providers to disintermediate clinical research and real-world evidence.

Abstract: