The process of resolving cost-requirements conflicts is difficult because of incompatibilities among stakeholders’ interests and priorities, complex costrequirements dependencies, and an exponentially increasing option space for larger systems. This paper describes an exploratory knowledge-based tool, the Software Cost Option Strategy Tool (S-COST), for assisting stakeholders to surface appropr...

Low cost, portable sensors can transform health care by bringing easily available diagnostic devices to low and middle income population, particularly in developing countries. Sample preparation, analyte handling and labeling are primary cost concerns for traditional lab-based diagnostic systems. Lab-on-a-chip (LoC) platforms based on droplet-based microfluidics promise to integrate and automat...

Introduction : Diagnosis of peripheral pulmonary nodules is confusing; therefore, an accurate and safe lung biopsy can prevent unnecessary invasive diagnostic procedures. This study soughtto study the diagnostic yield, sensitivity, specificity, and negative and positive predictive values (NPV and PPV) of radial probe endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS)-guided biopsy for peripheral pulmonary lesions...

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES Pneumolysin, a toxin produced by Streptococcus pneumoniae is associated with virulence and is found in all invasive isolates. Its role as a diagnostic tool has recently been exploited. Most of the methods used are based on molecular techniques and are not cost-effective. The present study was undertaken to evaluate a simple, rapid and cost-effective method to detect pneu...

The expansion of HIV antiretroviral therapy into decentralized rural settings will increasingly require simple point-of-care (POC) diagnostic tests that can be used without laboratory infrastructure and technical skills. New POC test devices are becoming available but decisions around which technologies to deploy may be biased without systematic assessment of their suitability for decentralized...

of smear-negative PTB” is very interesting [1]. As Nakiyingi et al. noted, the concern on cost effectiveness on this new TB diagnostic tool is needed [1]. In fact, the cost effectiveness of the test is still controversial issue [2]. The value seems dependent to the setting [2 3]. Also, Nakiyingi et al. raised an important point that GeneXpert can help fasten diagnosis. However, it is questionab...