Objective:To investigate the effect of conventional coronary CT angiography (CCTA) bolus injection of contrast agent on the diameter and angle of the left main coronary artery (LMA) bifurcation area, and to provide a basis for the application of CCTA to accurately measure the coronary artery.Methods:In Cangzhou Central Hospital of Hebei Province from January to December 2020, the clinical data of 54 patients with suspected coronary heart disease who underwent coronary artery calcification score (CACS) and CCTA with conventional bolus injection of contrast agent were retrospectively analyzed. Two physicians measured middle lumen diameter of LMA (d1), proximal lumen diameter of left anterior descending (LAD) (d2), proximal lumen diameter of left circumflex (LCX) (d3) and bifurcation angle between LAD and LCX (∠1). The consistency of 2 physicians was compared, and the results of CACS and CCTA were compared.Results:The consistency analysis result showed that only d3 measured by CCTA had a moderate consistency (intra-group correlation coefficient = 0.717), and the remaining indexes were in good agreement (intra-group correlation coefficient >0.75). There were no statistical differences in indexes measured results between CACS and CCTA ( P>0.05). According to the degree of left coronary artery stenosis, 54 patients were divided into 2 groups: LMA and branches normal or stenosis degree < 50% group (25 cases) and LMA and branches 1 or more branches stenosis degree≥50% group (29 cases). There were no statistical differences in indexes measured results between CACS and CCTA in patients with different disease severity ( P>0.05). Conclusions:In the CCTA examination, the conventional bolus injection of contrast agent does not affect the diameter and angle of the lumen of the LMA bifurcation area of the coronary artery.

Objective:To explore the anxiety level, influencing factors among surrogate decision-makers of patients with acute ischemic stroke during thrombolysis decision-making, and their correlation with decision-making duration.Methods:Acute ischemic stroke patients and their surrogate decision-makers who visited the Emergency Department of the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University from September 2019 to December 2021 were selected as the research subjects.Sociodemographic data and disease related data of patients and surrogate decision-makers were collected.Surrogate decision-makers were evaluated with the state-trait anxiety inventory, decision participation expectation scale, Wake Forest physician trust scale, and perceived social support scale.SPSS 26.0 software was used for data processing.Pearson correlation analysis, Spearman correlation analysis and ridge regression analysis were used for statistical analysis.Results:The score of state anxiety of decision-makers was (49.47±9.04), and 18.2% (70/383) of decision-makers had a decision duration exceeding 15 minutes.The score of state anxiety of decision-makers was positively correlated with decision duration ( r=0.189, P<0.001). The influencing factors of state anxiety level of decision-makers included sociodemographic factors (age of decision-makers and patients, relationship between payers and patients, whether decision-makers bear the current medical expenses, type of medical insurance for patients), psychological factors (trust level in physicians, perceived social support), factors related to patient disease (numbers of stroke relapses, National Institutes of Health stroke scale scores for patients), characteristics of the decision-making process (whether patients participate in the decision-making process, and the role of decision-makers in the decision-making process) (all P<0.05). Conclusion:Most surrogate decision-makers experience anxiety.Medical staff should pay attention to the emotions of decision-makers and adopt appropriate communication skills when communicating with informed consent for thrombolysis, alleviate the anxiety of surrogate decision-makers, so as so reduce the decision-making duration.

The paper describes how to develop a digital heart sound signal detection device based on high gain MEMS MIC that can accurately collect and store human heart sounds. According to the method of collecting heart sound signal by traditional stethoscope, the system improves the traditional stethoscope, and a composite probe equipped with a MEMS microphone sensor is designed. The MEMS microphone sensor converts the sound pressure signal into a voltage signal, and then amplifies, converts with Sigma Delta, extracts and filters the collected signal. After the heart sound signal is uploaded to the PC, the Empirical Mode Decomposition (EMD) is carried out to reconstruct the signal, and then the Independent Component Analysis (ICA) method is used for blind source separation and finally the heart rate is calculated by autocorrelation analysis. At the end of the paper, a preliminary comparative analysis of the performance of the system was carried out, and the accuracy of the heart sound signal was verified.
Heart ; Heart Sounds ; Humans ; Micro-Electrical-Mechanical Systems ; Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted ; Stethoscopes