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Objectives To compare relapse and failure rates of computer-aided design/computer-aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM) and standard fixed retainers. Materials and Methods This single-center, single-blinded, prospective randomized clinical trial included 46 patients who completed active orthodontic treatment and complied with retention visits. The patients were randomly assigned to three groups: CAD/CAM group with multistranded stainless steel wires (CAD/CAM, n = 16), Lab group with the same multistranded wires (lab, n = 16), and control group with stainless steel Ortho-FlexTech wires (traditional, n = 14). Intraoral scans were obtained at placement of fixed retainers (T1), 3-month visit (T2), and 6-month visit (T3) and measured for intercanine width and Little's Irregularity Index. Failures were recorded. Results The CAD/CAM group experienced less intercanine width decrease than the traditional group at 3 months (mean difference, 0.83 ± 0.16 mm; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.44–1.22; P < .001) and 6 months (mean difference, 1.23 ± 0.40 mm; 95% CI, 0.19–2.27; P < .05). The CAD/CAM group experienced less increase in Little's Irregularity Index compared with the lab group within 3 months (mean difference, 0.81 ± 0.27 mm; 95% CI, 0.12–1.49; P < .05). Failures from greatest to least were experienced by the lab group (43.8%), the CAD/CAM group (25%), and the traditional group (14.3%). Conclusions Within 6 months of bonding fixed retainers, CAD/CAM fixed retainers showed less relapse than lab-based and traditional chairside retainers and less failures than lab-based retainers.

The specimen management system with barcode needs to be improved in order to solve inherent problems in work performance. This study describes the application of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) which is the solution for the problems associated with specimen labeling and management. A new specimen management system and architecture with RFID technology for clinical laboratory was designed. The suggested system was tested in various conditions such as durability to temperature and aspect of effective utilization of new work flow under a virtual hospital clinical laboratory environment. This system demonstrates its potential application in clinical laboratories for improving work flow and specimen management. The suggested specimen management system with RFID technology has advantages in comparison to the traditional specimen management system with barcode in the aspect of mass specimen processing, robust durability of temperature, humidity changes, and effective specimen tracking.

-The point of this study is on the development of wireless patient monitoring system that can monitor heart rates in real time environments. The entire system consists of a portable photoplethysmography device, a healthcare server and a Smartphone for healthcare information reports. The portable device collects heart rate information from the patients and sends the data to home healthcare server. This device is designed to be easily worn and have low power consumption. The role of the healthcare server is to analyze the collected biomedical signals. The result of the analysis is displayed on the Smartphone through the CDMA networks. The application program on Smartphone gives the healthcare information to patients and doctors. This system would be useful for patients who have chronic heart disease.

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