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BMJ Open Aug 2023To compare teledermatology and face-to-face (F2F) agreement in primary diagnoses of dermatological conditions. (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis
OBJECTIVES
To compare teledermatology and face-to-face (F2F) agreement in primary diagnoses of dermatological conditions.
DESIGN
Systematic review and meta-analysis METHODS: MEDLINE, Embase, Cochrane Library (Wiley), CINAHL and medRxiv were searched between January 2010 and May 2022. Observational studies and randomised clinical trials that reported percentage agreement or kappa concordance for primary diagnoses between teledermatology and F2F physicians were included. Titles, abstracts and full-text articles were screened in duplicate. From 7173 citations, 44 articles were included. A random-effects meta-analysis was conducted to estimate pooled estimates. Primary outcome measures were mean percentage and kappa concordance for assessing diagnostic matches between teledermatology and F2F physicians. Secondary outcome measures included the agreement between teledermatologists, F2F dermatologists, and teledermatology and histopathology results.
RESULTS
44 studies were extracted and reviewed. The pooled agreement rate was 68.9%, and kappa concordance was 0.67. When dermatologists conducted F2F and teledermatology consults, the overall diagnostic agreement was significantly higher at 71% compared with 44% for non-specialists. Kappa concordance was 0.69 for teledermatologist versus specialist and 0.52 for non-specialists. Higher diagnostic agreements were also noted with image acquisition training and digital photography. The agreement rate was 76.4% between teledermatologists, 82.4% between F2F physicians and 55.7% between teledermatology and histopathology.
CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE
Teledermatology can be an attractive option particularly in resource-poor settings. Future efforts should be placed on incorporating image acquisition training and access to high-quality imaging technologies.
TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER
10.17605/OSF.IO/FJDVG.
Topics: Humans; Dermatology; Telemedicine; Reproducibility of Results; Referral and Consultation; Physicians; Skin Diseases
PubMed: 37567745
DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2022-068207 -
JAMA Network Open Nov 2023Clinical interpretation of complex biomarkers for precision oncology currently requires manual investigations of previous studies and databases. Conversational large...
IMPORTANCE
Clinical interpretation of complex biomarkers for precision oncology currently requires manual investigations of previous studies and databases. Conversational large language models (LLMs) might be beneficial as automated tools for assisting clinical decision-making.
OBJECTIVE
To assess performance and define their role using 4 recent LLMs as support tools for precision oncology.
DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS
This diagnostic study examined 10 fictional cases of patients with advanced cancer with genetic alterations. Each case was submitted to 4 different LLMs (ChatGPT, Galactica, Perplexity, and BioMedLM) and 1 expert physician to identify personalized treatment options in 2023. Treatment options were masked and presented to a molecular tumor board (MTB), whose members rated the likelihood of a treatment option coming from an LLM on a scale from 0 to 10 (0, extremely unlikely; 10, extremely likely) and decided whether the treatment option was clinically useful.
MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES
Number of treatment options, precision, recall, F1 score of LLMs compared with human experts, recognizability, and usefulness of recommendations.
RESULTS
For 10 fictional cancer patients (4 with lung cancer, 6 with other; median [IQR] 3.5 [3.0-4.8] molecular alterations per patient), a median (IQR) number of 4.0 (4.0-4.0) compared with 3.0 (3.0-5.0), 7.5 (4.3-9.8), 11.5 (7.8-13.0), and 13.0 (11.3-21.5) treatment options each was identified by the human expert and 4 LLMs, respectively. When considering the expert as a criterion standard, LLM-proposed treatment options reached F1 scores of 0.04, 0.17, 0.14, and 0.19 across all patients combined. Combining treatment options from different LLMs allowed a precision of 0.29 and a recall of 0.29 for an F1 score of 0.29. LLM-generated treatment options were recognized as AI-generated with a median (IQR) 7.5 (5.3-9.0) points in contrast to 2.0 (1.0-3.0) points for manually annotated cases. A crucial reason for identifying AI-generated treatment options was insufficient accompanying evidence. For each patient, at least 1 LLM generated a treatment option that was considered helpful by MTB members. Two unique useful treatment options (including 1 unique treatment strategy) were identified only by LLM.
CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE
In this diagnostic study, treatment options of LLMs in precision oncology did not reach the quality and credibility of human experts; however, they generated helpful ideas that might have complemented established procedures. Considering technological progress, LLMs could play an increasingly important role in assisting with screening and selecting relevant biomedical literature to support evidence-based, personalized treatment decisions.
Topics: Humans; Precision Medicine; Medical Oncology; Language; Lung Neoplasms; Communication
PubMed: 37976064
DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.43689 -
Virchows Archiv : An International... Apr 2024One of the goals of pathology is to standardize laboratory practices to increase the precision and effectiveness of diagnostic testing, which will ultimately enhance... (Review)
Review
One of the goals of pathology is to standardize laboratory practices to increase the precision and effectiveness of diagnostic testing, which will ultimately enhance patient care and results. Standardization is crucial in the domains of tissue processing, analysis, and reporting. To enhance diagnostic testing, innovative technologies are also being created and put into use. Furthermore, although problems like algorithm training and data privacy issues still need to be resolved, digital pathology and artificial intelligence are emerging in a structured manner. Overall, for the field of pathology to advance and for patient care to be improved, standard laboratory practices and innovative technologies must be adopted. In this paper, we describe the state-of-the-art of automation in pathology laboratories in order to lead technological progress and evolution. By anticipating laboratory needs and demands, the aim is to inspire innovation tools and processes as positively transformative support for operators, organizations, and patients.
Topics: Humans; Automation, Laboratory; Pathology, Clinical; Artificial Intelligence; Laboratories, Clinical; Pathology; Automation
PubMed: 37930477
DOI: 10.1007/s00428-023-03637-z -
International Journal of Molecular... May 2024Information generated via next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies is often termed multi-omics data [...].
Information generated via next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies is often termed multi-omics data [...].
Topics: Precision Medicine; Humans; Medical Oncology; High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing; Neoplasms; Data Science; Genomics
PubMed: 38891982
DOI: 10.3390/ijms25115797 -
Molecular Diagnosis & Therapy Nov 2023Precision medicine is an old concept, but it is not widely applied across human health conditions as yet. Numerous attempts have been made to apply precision medicine...
Precision medicine is an old concept, but it is not widely applied across human health conditions as yet. Numerous attempts have been made to apply precision medicine in epilepsy, this has been based on a better understanding of aetiological mechanisms and deconstructing disease into multiple biological subsets. The scope of precision medicine is to provide effective strategies for treating individual patients with specific agent(s) that are likely to work best based on the causal biological make-up. We provide an overview of the main applications of precision medicine in epilepsy, including the current limitations and pitfalls, and propose potential strategies for implementation and to achieve a higher rate of success in patient care. Such strategies include establishing a definition of precision medicine and its outcomes; learning from past experiences, from failures and from other fields (e.g. oncology); using appropriate precision medicine strategies (e.g. drug repurposing versus traditional drug discovery process); and using adequate methods to assess efficacy (e.g. randomised controlled trials versus alternative trial designs). Although the progress of diagnostic techniques now allows comprehensive characterisation of each individual epilepsy condition from a molecular, biological, structural and clinical perspective, there remain challenges in the integration of individual data in clinical practice to achieve effective applications of precision medicine in this domain.
Topics: Humans; Precision Medicine; Medical Oncology
PubMed: 37755653
DOI: 10.1007/s40291-023-00676-9 -
The Journal of Headache and Pain Oct 2023The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development sets out, through 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a path for the prosperity of people and the planet. SDG 3 in... (Review)
Review
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development sets out, through 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a path for the prosperity of people and the planet. SDG 3 in particular aims to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages and includes several targets to enhance health. This review presents a "headache-tailored" perspective on how to achieve SDG 3 by focusing on six specific actions: targeting chronic headaches; reducing the overuse of acute pain-relieving medications; promoting the education of healthcare professionals; granting access to medication in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC); implementing training and educational opportunities for healthcare professionals in low and middle income countries; building a global alliance against headache disorders. Addressing the burden of headache disorders directly impacts on populations' health, as well as on the possibility to improve the productivity of people aged below 50, women in particular. Our analysis pointed out several elements, and included: moving forward from frequency-based parameters to define headache severity; recognizing and managing comorbid diseases and risk factors; implementing a disease management multi-modal management model that incorporates pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatments; early recognizing and managing the overuse of acute pain-relieving medications; promoting undergraduate, postgraduate, and continuing medical education of healthcare professionals with specific training on headache; and promoting a culture that favors the recognition of headaches as diseases with a neurobiological basis, where this is not yet recognized. Making headache care more sustainable is an achievable objective, which will require multi-stakeholder collaborations across all sectors of society, both health-related and not health-related. Robust investments will be needed; however, considering the high prevalence of headache disorders and the associated disability, these investments will surely improve multiple health outcomes and lift development and well-being globally.
Topics: Humans; Female; Aged; Sustainable Development; Public Health; Acute Pain; Headache; Headache Disorders; Global Health
PubMed: 37884869
DOI: 10.1186/s10194-023-01666-2 -
Frontiers in Endocrinology 2023
Topics: Urology; Endocrinology; Cell Physiological Phenomena
PubMed: 37670875
DOI: 10.3389/fendo.2023.1269484 -
Systematic Reviews Aug 2023More than 1.7 billion people are affected by neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) worldwide. Forty percent of the NTD-affected people live in Africa with the poorest, most... (Review)
Review
BACKGROUND
More than 1.7 billion people are affected by neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) worldwide. Forty percent of the NTD-affected people live in Africa with the poorest, most vulnerable, and hard to reach geographical areas. The NTDs cause significant social and economic burden and deepen marginalization and stigmatization. The World Health Organization's current roadmap for NTD aims to prevent, control, eliminate, or eradicate 20 tropical diseases. Ethiopia experiences a high burden of these diseases, but current access to diagnostics, medicine, and/or care has been little explored to inform the country's NTD strategic plan. The overall purpose of the scoping review was to map and characterize the burden of NTDs and challenges in access to diagnostics, medicine, and/or care in Ethiopia.
METHODS
A systematic search of evidence was conducted in PubMed, Cochrane Library, and Google Scholar from January 2000 until May 2022, without restrictions of language or study design. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Extension for Scoping Review was followed for screening of studies. Key findings were extracted and narrated qualitatively.
RESULTS
The search resulted in 4532 articles, of which 105 met the inclusion criteria and were included in the scoping review under three themes: burden of NTDs, access to diagnostics, medicine and/or care, and key barriers. Although gains have been made in the prevention and control of NTDs in Ethiopia, the burden remains high, and progress in access to diagnostics, medicine/drugs, and/or care is very slow. Poverty, poor quality of life, and underfunding of NTD programs decelerate the process of NTD elimination program in the country.
CONCLUSIONS
The scoping review identified a considerable number of studies on the burden of NTDs in Ethiopia and strategies for diagnosis, treatment, and/or care; however, there is a paucity of evidence on the suitability and potential benefits of novel diagnostic technologies and medicines in the country. A regular review and analysis of such country-level evidence is important to inform the country NTDs roadmap and local implementation strategies.
Topics: Humans; Ethiopia; Quality of Life; Tropical Medicine; Global Health; Neglected Diseases; Health Services Accessibility
PubMed: 37580784
DOI: 10.1186/s13643-023-02302-5 -
Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews Sep 2023Quantum dots (QDs) have attracted attention for their application and commercialization in all industrial fields, including communications, displays, and solar cells,... (Review)
Review
Quantum dots (QDs) have attracted attention for their application and commercialization in all industrial fields, including communications, displays, and solar cells, due to their excellent optical properties based on the quantum size effect. In recent years, the development of QDs that do not contain cadmium which is toxic to cells and living organisms, has progressed, and they have attracted considerable attention in the bio-imaging field for targeting molecules and cells. Furthermore, recently, the need for diagnostics and treatment at the single molecule and single cell level in the medical field has been increasing, and the application of QDs in the medical field is also accelerating. Therefore, this paper outlines the frontiers of diagnostic and therapeutic applications (theranostics) of QDs, especially in advanced medical fields such as regenerative medicine, oncology, and infectious diseases.
Topics: Humans; Quantum Dots; Regenerative Medicine; Precision Medicine; Neoplasms; Communicable Diseases
PubMed: 37156265
DOI: 10.1016/j.addr.2023.114863 -
BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies Aug 2023Telemedicine includes the delivery of health-care services and sharing of health information across distances. Past research has found that telemedicine can play a role... (Review)
Review
BACKGROUND
Telemedicine includes the delivery of health-care services and sharing of health information across distances. Past research has found that telemedicine can play a role in enhancing complementary, alternative, and integrative medicine (CAIM) while allowing the maintenance of cultural values and ancestral knowledge. This scoping review synthesized evidence regarding the use of telemedicine in the context of CAIM.
METHODS
Following Arksey and O'Malley's scoping review framework, CINAHL, PsycINFO, MEDLINE, EMBASE and AMED databases were searched systematically. The CADTH website was also searched for grey literature. Eligible articles included a CAIM practice or therapy offered through telemedicine, with no restrictions placed on the type of telemedicine technology used. Inductive thematic analysis was conducted to synthesise common themes among the included studies.
RESULTS
Sixty-two articles were included in this synthesis. The following themes emerged: 1) the practitioner view of CAIM delivered through telemedicine, 2) the patient view of CAIM delivered through telemedicine, and 3) the technological impacts of telemedicine delivery of CAIM.
CONCLUSIONS
Studies have shown that telemedicine delivery of CAIM is feasible, acceptable, and results in positive health outcomes. Some barriers remain such as the presence of chronic illness and morbidity, inability to form strong patient-provider relationships relative to face-to-face approaches, and technological difficulties. Future intervention research should focus on reducing such barriers, as well as explore which patient population would realize the greatest benefit from CAIM delivered via telemedicine, and the impact of interventions on providers and caregivers.
Topics: Humans; Integrative Medicine; Telemedicine
PubMed: 37533042
DOI: 10.1186/s12906-023-04100-x