IBM how to use the data to track the world\'s most deadly infectious disease?

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) figures, South Africa population of about 80% people with latent tuberculosis, 450,000 cases of positive pulmonary tuberculosis patients in 2013 alone. Fatality rates in the last year, more than AIDS, tuberculosis, became the world's most deadly infectious disease.About 37.5% of pulmonary tuberculosis patients in the world have not been confirmed, has not been confirmed which means there is no response to treatment. Can be said that this is a test link, or treatment of defects on the link. These patients will continue to infect new patients, resulting in a vicious circle of disease spread in the crowd. And diagnosis of these patients would help to promote progress in tuberculosis treatment, this is the reason IBM supports the WHO tuberculosis termination strategy. IBM provides data-driven Internet system for WHO to diagnosis and prediction of tuberculosis and, ultimately, to curb the spread of tuberculosis. VR Box virtual realityLink tracking infectious diseases, the largest problem is that disease reporting information management system is monitored by the various health agencies. The findings still need to be manually entered into the system, which appears inevitable omissions, typos, and so on. In addition, South Africa country suffered from tuberculosis will be stigmatized as social prejudices, many tuberculosis patients are reluctant to provide information.Researcher Toby Kurien is a small radio in his hand tuberculosis tracking deviceDeveloped by the IBM Institute for Africa manufacture laboratoryIn Johannesburg, recently put into use, the lab, IBM researchers are trying to solve a difficulty to the data-driven approach, to design a more effective TB prevention and control strategies. Through the use of inexpensive radio tags, the research team plans to put in specific areas of the Johannesburg dozens of radio tags, to anonymously track the spread of tuberculosis.Toby Kurien and Darlington Shingirirai Braamfontein, a researcher at the headquarters of the lab, they tried to radio tags commercialized, is used in places such as hospitals, clinics, and eventually used in the community. Kurien was a very famous local manufacturing engineer, joined the Tracker development process. Darlington is a PhD bioinformatics, IBM was appointed eight months ago the African Institute, he joined the research on health amounted to icing on the cake.How to more effectively track tuberculosisGenerally speaking, RFID tracking device use is limited, can only work in a particular area, such as shopping malls. But radio frequency tracking devices send and receive limited distance, monitors to decide in the context of monitoring who is, who is just entering the scope. So like shopping malls or other special places, wireless RF tracking effect will be greatly reduced.However Kurien and Shingirirai radio tags will solve the problem of tracking devices to send and receive from.Kurien said: "we can communicate with radio tags, so when two radio tags interconnected, and records their interaction will be recorded. "For example, a patients may carry labels separately entered and another ten carries a label the patient's communication range, 22 tags would address one by one (eight people on the bus, three of them at home). If every patient were carrying the radio tags, then every communication between 22 tags will be individually recorded.Data visualization helps researchers and who determines "Super co-ordinators",This design a targeted immunization strategyData collected from radio tags will be rendered in a display of three dimensional dynamic monitoring, scientists and researchers can use this data to analyze the distribution of disease, and even track the spread of the disease. Also, because vaccinations cost too much, these data can also help to identify priority vaccination patient.Kurien said: "these labels are responsible for data collection, and we will visualize the data collected in order to determine the distribution of diseases. When we find a disease when you intensively, which has meant a patient with a label in the scope of this most intensively mailing, we called such people ' focal point ' or a high concentration of people. These data suggest that, if we choose the Super co-ordinators for the inoculation treatment, which means that we can break out of this dense network, preventing further spread of the disease. ”Shingirirai said: "through the use of these labels, we can analyze the pattern of diseases in different populations, this information plays a crucial role not only to prevent the spread of disease, and in the analysis of the spread of disease mechanisms and susceptible populations in different environments plays an essential role. This will allow us to develop more effective interventions, such as targeted immunization (isoniazid preventive therapy), strengthening tuberculosis detection methods, infection control and other measures to prevent the spread of disease. ”In addition to improper operation of data extracted from the outside, and another that causes tuberculosis tracking difficult because traditional tools such as the GPS sensor is not only expensive, and more importantly, patients are not willing to carry. These trackers are usually for health data collection will be considered a violation of personal privacy. There is also a more subtle problem is that wearing a tracking device is tantamount to declaring to others they are TB patients.Aware of these problems, the technical team designed the third generation Tracker, which is the least of this version. Kurien told us: "each chip contains a small sensor, storage devices and batteries. We chip bracelet size and accompanied by stylish casing, so that others don't see the wearer is TB patients. " Shingirirai pointed out that, in order to reduce the legibility of trackers, they can also be made with (female) or wristband (male) form.After a technical team with these design ideas, SiGNL in cooperation with local start-up technology companies, manufacturing the Tracker. They plan within a controlled environment (such as hospitals) to this group of trackers for the first test, meet the requirements, and then into large-scale use. The tracker can also be used to track other types of infectious diseases. VR box 3D glasses"We learn more knowledge, our understanding is deeper. When our understanding of things began to deepen, we take action will naturally be more active. And in this case, we have had a huge impact in the fight against TB. ”Terminated in support of the WHO tuberculosis strategy, IBM research and development of infectious disease Trackers is an innovative invention not only, but also a practical tool. It not only contributes to valuable data for improving human health and safety, eliminating existing disadvantages of tracker at the social level, and cost issues have been resolved.via IBMRecommended reading:IBM to help their employees to fight cancer, regain the good lifeBaidu Baidu issued medical brain, you want the floor to align IBM, Google and so easily?