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Control aspects of Prosthetics and Orthotics
~O~-l~VASlV~ Eds
F.B.
Hershey,
DIAGNOSIS
OF VASCULAR DISEASE
R.W. Barnes, D.S. Sumner
Appleton Davies Inc./Butterworth Pn.su&na ISA, 19K3, E:65.00
& Co (Publishers) LtL1:
The need to assess the ciinicai state of the cardiovascular system without resorting to invasive, and possibly hazardous, procedures is ever present. Over the yiarars methods have been devised to satisfy this need but ttlost have lin~itatiot~s of one kind or another. It is therefore not surprising that chcre are mattv varied non-invasive techniques which have been developed in an attempt to ov(~rconic the liniitations present in previous methods. This American book brings together, under one cover, a large selection of techniques and dtxrittcs how thcv can be applied to aid the diagnosis of vascular ciistasr. The, Editors havr presented the inforntariott in a particularl!~ well laid out, logical fashion. The book is broadlv divided into four parts: Arterial occlusive disease, Venous disease, Carotid occlusi\-c disease and Technological considerations. At the beginning of each part relevant pathophysiolop and attaroni!’ is presented in an easily understood tttattttpr. The authors have attempted to cater for a wide ratigc of readers resulting in a strange mixture of’ the x’cr!r fitttdanter~tal and quite advanced r~l~~siologtcal principles. Each chapter adheres to a fi)rntar which aflotvs ready refercttce and ends with conclusions and rvfcx-ettces. However, in sottte cases the coticlusions impart no itifortnatioti whatsoever and in nlost the authors are not sufficientlv critic-al of the techniques they have described: Some tl~)t~-itl~,asi~~e ntethods are controversial as far as their vatidity is concerned but this is definitely not the itttpressiotr gained on reading the book. This trtay be due to the fact that the book is American and that the procedures are now considered routine in their countr\but the Brirish medical student should be wary when ttt~,titiottittg some of the techniques 011 a consultant ward-round.
The Editors suggest that the book is suitable reading for a variety of people rattgittg front surgeons and phystcians to technicianL CertainI! the technician or nurse working in a \rascular laboratory would find the book valuable. Its well written text and good explanation of underlving principles leads the reader through some dii‘ficuit areas. The text is well supported bv illustrations but sottie are rather too futidartieti~al IO be of much value to even the most junior of laboraton personnt1. The physician or surgeon would aInt&t certainlv take offence to sections- headed ’ Nemous Techni&att’ or ‘Pttln~onarv Patients’ and would not find a diagratnmaric repr&entatictn of‘ thr, examination process terrihlv itiforniativc~. Nevertheless, if such sections could be tolerated, a useful itttroduction to the field would bc gained b\ the newcomer. A ‘Self Assessment Post-test’ is included as an appendix to the book. The questions cottvenicttth~ summarize the salient points of each chapter and give a good indication of’ the level for \vltich tttc. book is w~rittcrt. Again the Antrricart origin of the book must be home in tttind when considering these quf3tions. 111summary, this book is well writrett and wc41 presented with good coverage of basic physioloq and pathology nccessarv for undersrartding the techniques described. 1; is ideal for the technician or nurse activclv involved in clinical vascular assessment but ‘care must be taken to avoid gaining the impression that rtt? techniques co\~ercd are rourinelv used in British hospitals.
CONTROL ASPECTS OF PROSTHETICS AND ORTHOTICS Ed. R.M.
Campbell
Ttrr application of‘ Corttrol iti a variety of Biontrsdical Engineering areas is of increasing intcrcst. Thcrcf&rc AJIV text or compilatiott 01‘ up-todates ittli)rniatioti is tG be wclcotned in general. apparently itntditcxi, of This bor)k is a c-ctntpilatiori, t‘cccnt papers and as suctl is of mixed quality. The scientific value frcquentl~ tttaskcd
of
the
papers
bv the poor
prcsentc~d is quality of the
English itr \vhich thy are written. This fault is not restricted to those papers frotii c‘etrttx3 in ~~liictt English is not the main latiguagc (111attv of tttc, Atllcricatl pqwrs arc c~~udly bad) atrd ‘is cx~rttpletttentcd bv poor production qualit!; including riurt~~~r~)us tv~)~)gt.a~~t~ical f‘rrors. However, these are th>%problems to btx cxpec-ted in such a collection of papers, written anti put~lisht*tl without Itie bcaticfit of editorial review.
The nature of the work reported is similarly variable. There are reports of preliminary results and work-in-progress, statements of theoretical and practical design methodology, and mathematical and conceptual models. Some are highly esoteric, while others are aimed at a more general engineering audience. However, the collection is not to be totally disregarded; it includes papers of value both to newcomers to the field and to those already with research interests in the areas covered, sometimes despite severe linguistic shortcomings. A few in particular are worth mentioning. vossius: ‘Control procedures of functional stimulation is a well thought out and structured paper, setting out an analytical framework for the design of FES systems. The ideas come across despite the English. Tomovic et al.: ‘Bioengineering actuator with non-numerical control’ again presents some useful ideas.
The paper by Goodenough-Trepagnier and Rosen sets out useful criteria by which to judge and optimize communication aids. Although it is long and detailed it is still readable. Grange et al. coherently report interesting preliminary results on FES control by EMG signature discrimination. In the paper by Koozekanani et al.a model is presented and its conclusions tested by fitting of experimental results to the model. It cannot be recommended for purchase by a large cross-section of those involved in Prosthetic and Orthotic activities, but is a useful source for those with a specialized interest and critical ability.
S. A. Barton S. Hughes University of Surrey
TECHNICAL ADVANCES IN BIOMEDICAL PHYSICS Eds: P.P. Dendy, D. W Ernst and S. Sengun Martinus
NijhoJ
1983,
f38.00
pp 41 R
This book is a compilation of papers presented at the NATO Advanced Study Institute Meeting held in Istanbul in 1982. It contains 26 contributions: four are general lectures, ten deal with techniques for in vitro studies and twelve with methods for non-invasive, in viuo, investigations. In that last section there is an impressive series of contributions from the University of Aberdeen; those papers, and indeed the majority of the papers, are informative, well presented and accompanied by generous reference lists. My only real criticism of the book is its title; it led me to expect a greater breadth of subject matter than that which I actually encountered, and conversely it failed to suggest the presence of good papers which were neither biomedical physics nor technical advances. The contents deal predominantly with either optical methods and investigations at the cellular level, or imaging and clinical diagnosis. The meeting that begat this book attracted a rather specific range of papers; consequently ‘Physicists who wish to become involved in biomedical applications’, the professed primary target for the book, are presented with a less than comprehensive introduction to the subject. Even lasers merit but one brief idiosyncratic mention. There are several chapters which deserve a wider audience than that indicated by the summary on the back cover. For example, the review paper presented by Constantinides deals with medical technology in the context of considerations such as
80
J. Biorned.
Eng.
1986,
Vol.
8, January
expected benefit, cost and national economies; it is highly thought provoking and could with benefit be read by anyone responsible for spending healthcare money. The chapter by Bremer (one of those not suggested by the title) on the planning and running of a hospital radiopharmacy, must surely be of interest to any administrator or architect faced with the provision of such a facility. Imaging techniques are generously treated; ten of the twelve papers in the section entitled ‘Technical advances applicable mainly in vivo’ examine several facets of these modern diagnostic aids. There is a comprehensive explanation of the mechanism and use of nuclear magnetic resonance, and also elsewhere some suggestions for the improvement of nuclear imaging by the extended use of convolution and deconvolution methods. Ultrasonics is represented by a single short review paper. A welcome contribution would have introduced acoustic scanning microscopy, but there was none. Although I camrot imagine that manv individuals would be prepared to pay E38 for private ownership, I can recommend the book for the departmental/university library. Its contents are rather confined but within that limitation there is much that constitutes an excellent introduction to many of the main preoccupations of present-day Biomedical Physics. R W Hartley Glaxo Laboratories, Ware
F.B.
Hershey,
DIAGNOSIS
OF VASCULAR DISEASE
R.W. Barnes, D.S. Sumner
Appleton Davies Inc./Butterworth Pn.su&na ISA, 19K3, E:65.00
& Co (Publishers) LtL1:
The need to assess the ciinicai state of the cardiovascular system without resorting to invasive, and possibly hazardous, procedures is ever present. Over the yiarars methods have been devised to satisfy this need but ttlost have lin~itatiot~s of one kind or another. It is therefore not surprising that chcre are mattv varied non-invasive techniques which have been developed in an attempt to ov(~rconic the liniitations present in previous methods. This American book brings together, under one cover, a large selection of techniques and dtxrittcs how thcv can be applied to aid the diagnosis of vascular ciistasr. The, Editors havr presented the inforntariott in a particularl!~ well laid out, logical fashion. The book is broadlv divided into four parts: Arterial occlusive disease, Venous disease, Carotid occlusi\-c disease and Technological considerations. At the beginning of each part relevant pathophysiolop and attaroni!’ is presented in an easily understood tttattttpr. The authors have attempted to cater for a wide ratigc of readers resulting in a strange mixture of’ the x’cr!r fitttdanter~tal and quite advanced r~l~~siologtcal principles. Each chapter adheres to a fi)rntar which aflotvs ready refercttce and ends with conclusions and rvfcx-ettces. However, in sottte cases the coticlusions impart no itifortnatioti whatsoever and in nlost the authors are not sufficientlv critic-al of the techniques they have described: Some tl~)t~-itl~,asi~~e ntethods are controversial as far as their vatidity is concerned but this is definitely not the itttpressiotr gained on reading the book. This trtay be due to the fact that the book is American and that the procedures are now considered routine in their countr\but the Brirish medical student should be wary when ttt~,titiottittg some of the techniques 011 a consultant ward-round.
The Editors suggest that the book is suitable reading for a variety of people rattgittg front surgeons and phystcians to technicianL CertainI! the technician or nurse working in a \rascular laboratory would find the book valuable. Its well written text and good explanation of underlving principles leads the reader through some dii‘ficuit areas. The text is well supported bv illustrations but sottie are rather too futidartieti~al IO be of much value to even the most junior of laboraton personnt1. The physician or surgeon would aInt&t certainlv take offence to sections- headed ’ Nemous Techni&att’ or ‘Pttln~onarv Patients’ and would not find a diagratnmaric repr&entatictn of‘ thr, examination process terrihlv itiforniativc~. Nevertheless, if such sections could be tolerated, a useful itttroduction to the field would bc gained b\ the newcomer. A ‘Self Assessment Post-test’ is included as an appendix to the book. The questions cottvenicttth~ summarize the salient points of each chapter and give a good indication of’ the level for \vltich tttc. book is w~rittcrt. Again the Antrricart origin of the book must be home in tttind when considering these quf3tions. 111summary, this book is well writrett and wc41 presented with good coverage of basic physioloq and pathology nccessarv for undersrartding the techniques described. 1; is ideal for the technician or nurse activclv involved in clinical vascular assessment but ‘care must be taken to avoid gaining the impression that rtt? techniques co\~ercd are rourinelv used in British hospitals.
CONTROL ASPECTS OF PROSTHETICS AND ORTHOTICS Ed. R.M.
Campbell
Ttrr application of‘ Corttrol iti a variety of Biontrsdical Engineering areas is of increasing intcrcst. Thcrcf&rc AJIV text or compilatiott 01‘ up-todates ittli)rniatioti is tG be wclcotned in general. apparently itntditcxi, of This bor)k is a c-ctntpilatiori, t‘cccnt papers and as suctl is of mixed quality. The scientific value frcquentl~ tttaskcd
of
the
papers
bv the poor
prcsentc~d is quality of the
English itr \vhich thy are written. This fault is not restricted to those papers frotii c‘etrttx3 in ~~liictt English is not the main latiguagc (111attv of tttc, Atllcricatl pqwrs arc c~~udly bad) atrd ‘is cx~rttpletttentcd bv poor production qualit!; including riurt~~~r~)us tv~)~)gt.a~~t~ical f‘rrors. However, these are th>%problems to btx cxpec-ted in such a collection of papers, written anti put~lisht*tl without Itie bcaticfit of editorial review.
The nature of the work reported is similarly variable. There are reports of preliminary results and work-in-progress, statements of theoretical and practical design methodology, and mathematical and conceptual models. Some are highly esoteric, while others are aimed at a more general engineering audience. However, the collection is not to be totally disregarded; it includes papers of value both to newcomers to the field and to those already with research interests in the areas covered, sometimes despite severe linguistic shortcomings. A few in particular are worth mentioning. vossius: ‘Control procedures of functional stimulation is a well thought out and structured paper, setting out an analytical framework for the design of FES systems. The ideas come across despite the English. Tomovic et al.: ‘Bioengineering actuator with non-numerical control’ again presents some useful ideas.
The paper by Goodenough-Trepagnier and Rosen sets out useful criteria by which to judge and optimize communication aids. Although it is long and detailed it is still readable. Grange et al. coherently report interesting preliminary results on FES control by EMG signature discrimination. In the paper by Koozekanani et al.a model is presented and its conclusions tested by fitting of experimental results to the model. It cannot be recommended for purchase by a large cross-section of those involved in Prosthetic and Orthotic activities, but is a useful source for those with a specialized interest and critical ability.
S. A. Barton S. Hughes University of Surrey
TECHNICAL ADVANCES IN BIOMEDICAL PHYSICS Eds: P.P. Dendy, D. W Ernst and S. Sengun Martinus
NijhoJ
1983,
f38.00
pp 41 R
This book is a compilation of papers presented at the NATO Advanced Study Institute Meeting held in Istanbul in 1982. It contains 26 contributions: four are general lectures, ten deal with techniques for in vitro studies and twelve with methods for non-invasive, in viuo, investigations. In that last section there is an impressive series of contributions from the University of Aberdeen; those papers, and indeed the majority of the papers, are informative, well presented and accompanied by generous reference lists. My only real criticism of the book is its title; it led me to expect a greater breadth of subject matter than that which I actually encountered, and conversely it failed to suggest the presence of good papers which were neither biomedical physics nor technical advances. The contents deal predominantly with either optical methods and investigations at the cellular level, or imaging and clinical diagnosis. The meeting that begat this book attracted a rather specific range of papers; consequently ‘Physicists who wish to become involved in biomedical applications’, the professed primary target for the book, are presented with a less than comprehensive introduction to the subject. Even lasers merit but one brief idiosyncratic mention. There are several chapters which deserve a wider audience than that indicated by the summary on the back cover. For example, the review paper presented by Constantinides deals with medical technology in the context of considerations such as
80
J. Biorned.
Eng.
1986,
Vol.
8, January
expected benefit, cost and national economies; it is highly thought provoking and could with benefit be read by anyone responsible for spending healthcare money. The chapter by Bremer (one of those not suggested by the title) on the planning and running of a hospital radiopharmacy, must surely be of interest to any administrator or architect faced with the provision of such a facility. Imaging techniques are generously treated; ten of the twelve papers in the section entitled ‘Technical advances applicable mainly in vivo’ examine several facets of these modern diagnostic aids. There is a comprehensive explanation of the mechanism and use of nuclear magnetic resonance, and also elsewhere some suggestions for the improvement of nuclear imaging by the extended use of convolution and deconvolution methods. Ultrasonics is represented by a single short review paper. A welcome contribution would have introduced acoustic scanning microscopy, but there was none. Although I camrot imagine that manv individuals would be prepared to pay E38 for private ownership, I can recommend the book for the departmental/university library. Its contents are rather confined but within that limitation there is much that constitutes an excellent introduction to many of the main preoccupations of present-day Biomedical Physics. R W Hartley Glaxo Laboratories, Ware