PhD Studentship: Managing Information in Medical Emergencies, Developing Reasoning to Support Clinical Decision Making in Pre-Hospital Care, UK

August 28, 2010

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PhD Studentship, Managing Information in Medical Emergencies, Developing Reasoning to Support Clinical Decision Making in Pre-Hospital Care, UK

Job Description: The first person on scene at a rural road traffic accident may be a “first responder” (lay person with basic training), a nurse, paramedic or doctor. From the moment that person arrives on scene, an information stream is being developed and decisions made which affect outcome.

The MIME project, funded by the RCUK-funded rural digital economy research hub, (www.dotrural.ac.uk) will investigate how technology could support these individuals. It will explore the development of a hand-held device with two main objectives: to provide decision support appropriate to the training and knowledge of the carer and to develop and conserve an information stream relating to the condition of the casualty.

The MIME system will synthesise historical and observational data together with information derived from sensors applied to the casualty, to develop a robust and coherent management plan for the user. Several related pieces of work will be required to deliver the MIME system. These include: 1) Characterisation of the patterns in the sensor signals. 2) An ontology which provides the basic concepts with which the system reasons. 3) Characterising information to be collected from the user 4) Development of a reasoning system which is able to generate relevant information that could be communicated (e.g. situations that have been recognised, decisions to be made, interventions) 5) A system that selects which information to communicate, formulating it in language for the current user. The focus of this PhD project will be on the development of the reasoning system. The work will explore methods for sensor data annotation, integration of observations and higher-level reasoning about events and actions; both rule-based and Bayesian inference will be employed. The student will work as part of the MIME team and will gain an in-depth understanding of the accident scenario and factors affecting decision making in this setting.

Application Procedure:

Formal applications can be completed online: http://www.abdn.ac.uk/postgraduate/apply. You should apply for MSc with a view to transfer to PhD in Computing Science, to ensure that your application is passed to the correct College for processing. Please note, you should apply at least 4 days before the deadline to allow us to contact you for further information, if required. All applications received up to, and including the closing date, will be processed.

Informal academic enquiries should be directed to Professor C Mellish (c.mellish@abdn.ac.uk), with a copy of your current CV. All general enquiries should be directed to the Graduate School Admissions Unit.

Application Deadline: 17 September 2010

For further Scholarship information:

Scholarship Tags: Emergencies, Information, Managing, medical, Scholarship, UK