Christian Elsner *, Susanne Menz*, Tobias Went +, Christine Richter *, Gerd Hindricks#, Hans Kottkamp #,
Dieter Ehrenberg @, Francis S. Nuthalapaty ~, Michael Altman ~, Kurt Schimmelpfennig +

* = University of Leipzig, Workgroups Elchsoft & Medkonsult, + = FU Berlin, Med. Faculty
# = University of Leipzig, Heart Center Leipzig, Rhythmolgic Department, @ = University of
Leipzig, Dept. for Business Management ~ = North-Western-University Chicago, Dept. for Medical Informatics
Click a link below to get to the section of Your Interest on this Page
1. Project Description ..2. Project Links...3. Demos ..4. Other Resources
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1. Project Description .......Back to top of Page

Problem-Oriented-Learning Groups (POL-Groups / PBL-Groups) have become part of the optional curriculum at several German Universities and are part of the curriculum of many US-Universities. Benefits of this learning strategy are to foster active student inquiry and independent learning with focus on clinical problems.

The Kasus Project is an approach to put the POL/PBL format into a CBT- and Webbased Application. The project consists of different approaches that took/take part at the FU Berlin, at the Northwestern University and the University of Leipzig.


Screenshot of the "Kasus online" Application
A first Evaluation of the Project was done with a stand-alone Prototype. 248 Medical students across Germany could be evaluated via the internet. The Prototype was revised 2 times and significant increases in user-friendlyness and students productivity for the PBL-Software could be achieved. Democases of the first standalone-protopype can be downloaded in the Section Demos & Publications.

The next Step was the migration of the Software to the Web. Multi-User & Discussion abilities had to be added. In two independent projects "iePBL" and "Kasus online" this idea was realized first for the American PBL-System and later on for the German PBL-Format. The "iePBL" System was realized at the Northwestern University (Chicago) and could be evaluated with 146 American Students. Demos of these applications can be downloaded in the Section Demos & Publications.

The Kasus-Platform consists of three modules: One module is intended for case presentation and case-workup (KASUS ONLINE / iePBL). A second module is intended as library consisting of different case-specific publications and media dowloads like Heart / Lungsounds (Examples see Section Demos & Publications). A third module is intended for case sharing, POL-group author/preceptor discussion and general information exchange on POL (Studentencafe @ FU Berlin/ Forums are under construction). Both modules use static/dynamic HTML and can be used local or over a TCP/IP network (right now only intranet).

For the Recording of a Case we use a PalmPilot V for fast tracking of relevant casedata, a Stethos Stethoscope from Agilent Technologies and a digital Videocamera from Canon. Please view demos of the Devices in the Demosection.

To establish a quick and simple solution for special case acquirement a normal Palm Pilot II and a digital camera where used to document case histories and case findings. The Palm Pilot II was equipped with a simple Jfile database which can be synchronized with the local KASUS- Access and Excel Database.

At the Heart Center Leipzig (Germany) and at the Spital Menziken (Switzerland) Material for single internal cases could be acquired and the material could be presented in students´ seminars and case-lectures successfully using the system. For the digital case-documentation and the adequate case-authoring for POL-groups guidelines were put up. With the simple combination of a palmcomputer and digital camera case documentation and database implementation is very fast and effective. The advantages of the established platform lie in its utilization of the universal accessibility and network capabilities of the World Wide Web. The use of an Internet web-browser interface provides platform-independent access and the opportunity to share and discuss case information from different remote locations all over the world.

The "Studentencafe" was launched in the internet. Existing POL groups at the University of Leipzig and the FU Berlin start using this module for information exchange and serve as content providers for case material. A close cooperation with the German GMA Society is planned.

We believe that those applications can support POL groups in establishing intensive communication and can supplement their traditional POL learning approach by using the internet-support. Cases can be exchanged more easily, including complex multimedia case-related data such as X-rays and recorded heart sounds. Facilitated information exchange on an inter-university level offers an opportunity to discuss POL-material with students coming from different backgrounds.

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2. Project WWW Links.......Back to top of Page
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1. This Site serves as portal Site and will link the single project approaches. The Site gives a detailed project description and provides Publications and Demos to Download.

http://www.KASUS.de

2. The "iePBL-Platform" at the NWU Chicago was in use from 1997-1998 in the curriculum. A German Prototyp "Kasus Online" will be the German adequate for an interactiv Caseworkup:

http://www.wmitc.nwu.edu/

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3. The Workgroup "MedKonsult" arose from & works together with the Elchsoft-Group and tries to use the results of the Kasusproject to implement Concepts and Applications for Managed-Care & Teleconsultation:

http://www.medkonsult.de / . http://www.medkonsult.com ...

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3. Selected Demos ......Back to top of Page

 Please choose from the Pulldown Menus - an information window will pop up before download. If You choose another item from this Mainwindow it will open in the second window again. If You have any problems with downloading please contact the webmaster@kasus.de

View Demos of our Recording-Devices (See the Stethos from Agilent and a Screenshot from the Palm-Application)

View Screenshots of the different KASUS Applications iePBL, Kasus Online and Kasus interaktiv.

Download and solve a democase of the standalone-Application Kasus interaktiv. Only available in German language.

Application Demos iePBL and Kasus Online - provided as Lotus ScreenCamDemo with sound, everything included in the Downloads.

Demos from the Library. You need a MP3 Player and Acrobat Reader to view and hear some of the files (e.g. "Lungsounds")
4.Other Resources.......Back to top of Page
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Different resources related to the topic of the KASUS Project:
 
 
 
 

Questions or Comments to: webmaster@kasus.de