In patients on mechanical ventilation, the endotracheal aspiration procedure (“operation”) requires temporary disconnection from the ventilator; therefore, the operation needs to be completed skillfully within a short period of time, so as to avoid prolonging the duration of apnea in the patients. In addition, the operation requires a clean environment to prevent possible infections. The Clinical Engineering Department provides a one-time practical training to students in our campus using a simulator. The visual guidance, which may be insufficient because the instructors need to train a large number of students within a limited period of time. Therefore, we attempted to record the motions of the students to improve the efficiency of the instructions. Wrist-wearable motion sensors were used for the recording. Preliminary observations were conducted with measures of acceleration and images. The images were used to establish the time needed for each step of the operation procedure, and each period was separately observed. Furthermore, the volume of the aspirated sputum was also measured. The results showed significant differences between the skilled and unskilled operators in the volume of aspirated sputum, in the derivative of the low-frequency component of right-hand acceleration during the preparation, and in the power from 3 to 5 Hz upon tube insertion.

Currently, in the field of regenerative medicine, cell processing is being manually performed. Such a process is labor intensive and expensive, and its efficiency needs to be enhanced. Recently, automatic cell culture apparatus equipped with a vertical articulated robot have been proposed. However, automation of all cell processing tasks complicates the system. This study develops a simple and rational cell processing system by combining the tasks performed by a robot and human. In a previous study, we improved the efficiency of discarding and injecting tasks using a robot arm in the media changing process. In this study, we report the results of the validation of the cell culture assisting robot that facilitates the improvement of the efficiency of discarding and injecting tasks. Our experimental results revealed the feasibility of a cell culture assisting robot that can be used in a safety cabinet. By installing the apparatus, discarding and injecting processes can be performed in parallel, which takes less than half the time compared with the manual process. The total time of the discarding and injecting processes for 40 flasks was 17 min 26 s. In addition, the risk of dripping can be reduced using this apparatus.

Aim: To evaluate the accuracy and swiftness of screen tapping-based heart rate (HR) assessment using the neonatal resuscitation decision support software (tool B) the author had previously reported, by comparing with a mobile app NeoTapLS (tool A).

Methods: Twenty-one participants were enrolled to evaluate HR assessment using auscultation plus tool B comparing with auscultation plus tool A. Each participant determined a set of 15 randomly selected HRs simulated in a Laerdal SimNewB^® manikin. Tool A and B calculated and displayed the HR based on the user’s last 3 taps on their screens.

Results: A total of 315 measurements were recorded. A high correlation was found between estimated and simulated values by tool B (r=0.993) with error of 2.4 bpm as well as by tool A (r=0.996) with error of 2.0 bpm.The mean HR acquisition time for tool A and B was 8.9 and 9.1 seconds respectively. Tool A and B showed 100% sensitivity and 94.8% and 95.7% specificity respectively in detecting HRs below 100 bpm.

Conclusions: Tool B the author had been involved showed a good accuracy and swiftness in estimating HR as NeoTapLS did. Screen tapping-based HR assessment could be an important resource especially in settings with limited availability of monitoring equipment.

リザーバ付き酸素マスクの患者呼気時はリザーババッグ（以下リザーバ）に酸素ガスが貯留し，患者吸気時にはリザーバから酸素ガスが排出される．これにより，吸入気酸素濃度は60～80％に増加する．吸気時にリザーバが虚脱した異常状態では，吸入気酸素濃度が低下する．このような異常状態を回避するため，リザーバは常時30～50％以上に膨張するように酸素投与量を調整する必要がある．臨床現場において，リザーバの虚脱・膨張状態は医療従事者による目視にて監視している．このような状況下では，ヒューマンエラーなどにより，患者に適切な濃度の酸素を投与できない危険性がある．本研究では，リードスイッチを用いてリザーバの虚脱・膨張状態を定量的・客観的に監視し，異常状態時には周囲にLEDの発光，アラームの発報などで通知するシステムを開発し，その基礎的評価をおこなった．