1,034 research outputs found

    Relationship between Mathematical Parameters of Modified Van der Pol Oscillator Model and ECG Morphological Features

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    The mathematical model describes the electrical and mechanical activity of the cardiac conduction system thought set of differential equations. By changing the value of parameters included in these equations, it is possible to change the amplitude and the period of ECG waves. Although this model is a powerful tool for modeling the electrical activity of the heart, its use is often limited to those familiar with the differential equations that describe the system. The purpose of this work is to provide a system that allows generating an ECG signal using Ryzhii model without knowing the details of differential equations. First, we provide the relationships between the ECG wave features and the model parameters; then we generalize them through fitting neural networks. Finally, putting in series fitting neural network and heart model, we provide a system that allows generating a synthetic signal by setting as input only the morphological ECG feature. We computed numerical simulation in Simulink environment and implemented the fitting neural networks in Matlab. Results show that non-linear trends characterize the correlation functions between ECG morphological features and model parameters and that the fitting neural networks can generalized this trend by providing the model parameters given in input the respectively ECG feature

    A multiscale model for collagen alignment in wound healing

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    It is thought that collagen alignment plays a significant part in scar tissue formation during dermal wound healing. We present a multiscale model for collagen deposition and alignment during this process. We consider fibroblasts as discrete units moving within an extracellular matrix of collagen and fibrin modelled as continua. Our model includes flux induced alignment of collagen by fibroblasts, and contact guidance of fibroblasts by collagen fibres. We can use the model to predict the effects of certain manipulations, such as varying fibroblast speed, or placing an aligned piece of tissue in the wound. We also simulate experiments which alter the TGF-β concentrations in a healing dermal wound and use the model to offer an explanation of the observed influence of this growth factor on scarring

    A Reconfigurable Readout Integrated Circuit for Heterogeneous Display-Based Multi-Sensor Systems

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    This paper presents a reconfigurable multi-sensor interface and its readout integrated circuit (ROIC) for display-based multi-sensor systems, which builds up multi-sensor functions by utilizing touch screen panels. In addition to inherent touch detection, physiological and environmental sensor interfaces are incorporated. The reconfigurable feature is effectively implemented by proposing two basis readout topologies of amplifier-based and oscillator-based circuits. For noise-immune design against various noises from inherent human-touch operations, an alternate-sampling error-correction scheme is proposed and integrated inside the ROIC, achieving a 12-bit resolution of successive approximation register (SAR) of analog-to-digital conversion without additional calibrations. A ROIC prototype that includes the whole proposed functions and data converters was fabricated in a 0.18 ??m complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) process, and its feasibility was experimentally verified to support multiple heterogeneous sensing functions of touch, electrocardiogram, body impedance, and environmental sensors.ope

    Cancer modelling: Getting to the heart of the problem

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    Paradoxically, improvements in healthcare that have enhanced the life expectancy of humans in the Western world have, indirectly, increased the prevalence of certain types of cancer such as prostate and breast. It remains unclear whether this phenomenon should be attributed to the ageing process itself or the cumulative effect of prolonged exposure to harmful environmental stimuli such as ultraviolet light, radiation and carcinogens (Franks and Teich, 1988). Equally, there is also compelling evidence that certain genetic abnormalities can predispose individuals to specific cancers (Ilyas et al., 1999). The variety of factors that have been implicated in the development of solid tumours stems, to a large extent, from the fact that ‘cancer’ is a generic term, often used to characterize a series of disorders that share common features. At this generic level of description, cancer may be viewed as a cellular disease in which controls that usually regulate growth and maintain homeostasis are disrupted. Cancer is typically initiated by genetic mutations that lead to enhanced mitosis of a cell lineage and the formation of an avascular tumour. Since it receives nutrients by diffusion from the surrounding tissue, the size of an avascular tumour is limited to several millimeters in diameter. Further growth relies on the tumour acquiring the ability to stimulate the ingrowth of a new, circulating blood supply from the host vasculature via a process termed angiogenesis (Folkman, 1974). Once vascularised, the tumour has access to a vast nutrient source and rapid growth ensues. Further, tumour fragments that break away from the primary tumour, on entering the vasculature, may be transported to other organs in which they may establish secondary tumours or metastases that further compromise the host. Invasion is another key feature of solid tumours whereby contact with the tissue stimulates the production of enzymes that digest the tissue, liberating space into which the tumour cells migrate. Thus, cancer is a complex, multiscale process. The spatial scales of interest range from the subcellular level, to the cellular and macroscopic (or tissue) levels while the timescales may vary from seconds (or less) for signal transduction pathways to months for tumour doubling times The variety of phenomena involved, the range of spatial and temporal scales over which they act and the complex way in which they are inter-related mean that the development of realistic theoretical models of solid tumour growth is extremely challenging. While there is now a large literature focused on modelling solid tumour growth (for a review, see, for example, Preziosi, 2003), existing models typically focus on a single spatial scale and, as a result, are unable to address the fundamental problem of how phenomena at different scales are coupled or to combine, in a systematic manner, data from the various scales. In this article, a theoretical framework will be presented that is capable of integrating a hierarchy of processes occurring at different scales into a detailed model of solid tumour growth (Alarcon et al., 2004). The model is formulated as a hybrid cellular automaton and contains interlinked elements that describe processes at each spatial scale: progress through the cell cycle and the production of proteins that stimulate angiogenesis are accounted for at the subcellular level; cell-cell interactions are treated at the cellular level; and, at the tissue scale, attention focuses on the vascular network whose structure adapts in response to blood flow and angiogenic factors produced at the subcellular level. Further coupling between the different spatial scales arises from the transport of blood-borne oxygen into the tissue and its uptake at the cellular level. Model simulations will be presented to illustrate the effect that spatial heterogeneity induced by blood flow through the vascular network has on the tumour’s growth dynamics and explain how the model may be used to compare the efficacy of different anti-cancer treatment protocols

    Relationship between Mathematical Parameters of Modified Van der Pol Oscillator Model and ECG Morphological Features

    Get PDF
    The mathematical model describes the electrical and mechanical activity of the cardiac conduction system thought set of differential equations. By changing the value of parameters included in these equations, it is possible to change the amplitude and the period of ECG waves. Although this model is a powerful tool for modeling the electrical activity of the heart, its use is often limited to those familiar with the differential equations that describe the system. The purpose of this work is to provide a system that allows generating an ECG signal using Ryzhii model without knowing the details of differential equations. First, we provide the relationships between the ECG wave features and the model parameters; then we generalize them through fitting neural networks. Finally, putting in series fitting neural network and heart model, we provide a system that allows generating a synthetic signal by setting as input only the morphological ECG feature. We computed numerical simulation in Simulink environment and implemented the fitting neural networks in Matlab. Results show that non-linear trends characterize the correlation functions between ECG morphological features and model parameters and that the fitting neural networks can generalized this trend by providing the model parameters given in input the respectively ECG feature

    Robust neuromorphic coupled oscillators for adaptive pacemakers

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    Neural coupled oscillators are a useful building block in numerous models and applications. They were analyzed extensively in theoretical studies and more recently, in biologically realistic simulations of spiking neural networks. The advent of mixed-signal analog/digital neuromorphic electronic circuits provides new means for implementing neural coupled oscillators on compact low-power spiking neural network hardware platforms. However, their implementation on this noisy, low-precision and inhomogeneous computing substrate raises new challenges with regards to stability and controllability. In this work, we present a robust, spiking neural network model of neural coupled oscillators and validate it with an implementation on a mixed-signal neuromorphic processor. We demonstrate its robustness showing how to reliably control and modulate the oscillator's frequency and phase shift, despite the variability of the silicon synapse and neuron properties. We show how this ultra-low power neural processing system can be used to build an adaptive cardiac pacemaker modulating the heart rate with respect to the respiration phases and compare it with surface ECG and respiratory signal recordings of dogs at rest. The implementation of our model in neuromorphic electronic hardware shows its robustness on a highly variable substrate and extends the toolbox for applications requiring rhythmic outputs such as pacemakers.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figure

    Aerospace medicine and biology: A continuing bibliography with indexes, supplement 197, September 1979

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    This bibliography lists 193 reports, articles, and other documents introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system in August 1979
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