Good news for those who are using Papers instead of EndNote for their scientific bibliography and (since the latest version) also as citation manager. We already have an EndNote style for SNI which can be downloaded in the Author Instructions. Now we are working and testing an SNI style for Papers.

In my personal experience (nothing to disclose!) it is a wonderful Mac-application that really facilitaties handling your bibliography and now also citations.

To read more about the upcoming style and a reference to the underlying Citation Style Language, you can continue reading this post at DigitalNeurosurgeon.com. You can also download the beta version of the corresponding CSL file for testing purposes.

Pieter Kubben
IT editor Surgical Neurology International

Chapter 4 out of 5: posterior fossa mass lesions! After implementing the Brain Trauma Foundation surgical guidelines on epidural hematoma, acute subdural hematoma, and traumatic parenchymal lesions, now it is time for posterior fossa mass lesions. As usual, I take my “three-step-approach”:

Step 1: the original text-version of the guideline’s recommendations

Step 2: create a flowchart

(click to enlarge)

Step 3: convert into an app!

More screenshots are available from DigitalNeurosurgeon.com

Pieter Kubben
Information Technology editor
Surgical Neurology International

Part 3 of the BTF Surgical Guidelines: traumatic parenchymal lesions. By now you will be familiar with the three steps I also used for the decision support systems on epidural hematoma and acute subdural hematoma:

Step 1: the original text-version of the guideline’s recommendations

Step 2: create a flowchart

(click to enlarge)

Step 3: convert into an app!

Here is one picture, more images are available at DigitalNeurosurgeon.com

(click to enlarge)

Pieter Kubben
Information Technology editor
Surgical Neurology International

After my previous post on epidural hematoma, I now converted the BTF surgical guideline on acute subdural hematoma into a decision supporting system. Following the same steps as described previously, here we go:

Step 1: the original text-version of the guideline’s recommendations

Step 2: create a flowchart

(click to enlarge)

Step 3: convert into an app!

Here is one picture, more images are available at DigitalNeurosurgeon.com

Although emulator screenshots are running at iOS4, the app has been tested successfully at iOS5 as well!

Pieter Kubben
Information Technology editor
Surgical Neurology International

(this is a guest post from DigitalNeurosurgeon.com, slightly modified for Surgical Neurology International)

The Brain Trauma Foundation has created and published guidelines on the treatment of brain trauma a few years ago. The Guidelines for the Surgical Management of Traumatic Brain Injury are available as PDF and in a searchable online format. What lacks, is the availability on a mobile platform, preferably as an interactive decision support system (like their Head Injury Prognosis calculator). Seems an excellent topic for NeuroMind 2 (appears in Q1-2012).

Approach

The guidelines are text-based, no flowcharts have been provided. This makes direct implementation of the guidelines in an app difficult, as I think I need to make clear what algorithm is used in the app. In the end, if you intend to use it to make decisions, you need to be able to check the algorithm in case you want to. So here is the 1-2-3 of converting a text-based guideline into an application:

1. Read the text of the guidelines (or in this case: the Recommendations)
2. Create a flowchart from the text
3. Build the app based on the flowchart

I will explain more about the symbols that are used in the flowchart in a separate topic. Until then, this Open Course Ware tutorial gives you a nice introduction.

Epidural hematoma

Now here is the flowchart I created:

And here is a screenshot of the app:

For some more details and screenshots, click here.

Pieter Kubben
Information Technology editor
Surgical Neurology International

Our menu has been updated to reflect a new direction that we’re heading towards: decision support for your neurosurgical practice.

We currently offer two types of decision support: mobile apps and web-based. More interactive features are currently being developed and will be released in 2012.

Our SNI Mobile app of the journal can now be found under the menu-entry “The Journal”.

Pieter Kubben, Information Technology editor for Surgical Neurology International, recently spoke on TEDxMaastricht on knowledge management in medicine, in particular on clinical decision supporting systems. His presentation is now available online on the official TEDxTalks YouTube channel.

And that’s three in a row! After the updates for iPhone and Android, the new version of SNI Mobile for iPad is now available in the App Store as well!

Screenshots:

[Show as slideshow]

The update for our iPhone application is now available as a free download from the App Store.

Here are some screenshots:

[Show as slideshow]

The update for SNI Mobile (version 1.1) is now available as a free download from the Android Market!

The deprecated Forum category has been replaced by the new Societies category. Updates for iPhone and iPad have been submitted to the App Store, and are expected to be available within 1 week.

Here are some Android screenshots:

[Show as slideshow]