Beyond Healing: The Transformative Role of Customer Experience in Healthcare and Its Contribution to Patient Well-Being

Customer Experience (CX) and transformative service research (TSR) are current academic priorities. Healthcare is a prime example of a service inherently transformative, with patient experience (PX) playing a critical role. However, the literature lacks a comprehensive understanding of PX and its effects on patients' well-being. To bridge this research gap, semi-structured interviews were conducted, involving healthcare managers, providers and patients, revealing nine key dimensions of PX, cr...

3D vocal tract reconstruction using magnetic resonance imaging data to study fricative consonant production

The development of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) has grown rapidly in clinical practice. Currently, the use of MRI in speech research provides useful and accurate qualitative and quantitative data of speech articulation. The aim of this work was to describe an effective method to extract vocal tract and compute their volumes during speech production from MRI images. Using a 3.0 Tesla MRI system, 2D and 3D images of the vocal tract were collected and used to analyze the vocal tract during t...

Patient-Specific Study of a Stenosed Carotid Artery Bifurcation Using Fluid-Structure Interactive Simulation

Atherosclerosis at the carotid bifurcation is a major risk factor for stroke. A computational model incorporating transient wall deformation of carotid arteries was developed to assess the influence of artery compliance on wall shear stress (WSS). Clinical data was obtained from ultrasound technique. Two patients were studied, one presenting a mild-graded carotid stenosis along internal carotid artery (ICA) and the other with no visible stenosis. It is hoped that patient-specific biomechanica...

Emotional, inflammatory, and genetic factors of resilience and vulnerability to depression in patients with premenopausal breast cancer: a longitudinal study protocol