Remote sensing technologies for physiotherapy assessment

The paper presents a set of remote, unobtrusive sensing technologies that can be used in upper and lower limbs rehabilitation monitoring. The advantages of using sensors based on microwave Doppler radar or infrared technologies for physiotherapy assessment are discussed. These technologies allow motion sensing at distance from monitored subject, reducing thus the discomfort produced by some wearable technologies for limbs movement assessment. The microwave radar that may be easily hidden into environment by nonmetallic parts allows remote sensing of human motion, providing information on user movements characteristics and patterns. The infrared technologies - infrared LEDs from Leap-Motion, infrared laser from Kinect depth sensor, and infrared thermography can be used for different movements' parameters evaluation. Visible for users, Leap-motion and Kinect sensors assure higher accuracy on body parts movements' detection at low computation load. These technologies are commonly used for virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) scenarios, in which the user motion patterns and the muscular activity might be analyzed. Thermography can be employed to evaluate the muscular loading. Muscular activity during movements training in physiotherapy can be estimated through skin temperature measurement before and after physical training. Issues related to the considered remote sensing technologies such as VR serious game for motor rehabilitation, signal processing and experimental results associated with microwave radar, infrared sensors and thermography for physiotherapy sensing are included in the paper.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Smart Walker Solutions for Physical Rehabilitation

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Emotion Recognition using Wireless Signals

This paper demonstrates a new technology that can infer a person's emotions from RF signals reflected off his body. EQ-Radio transmits an RF signal and analyzes its reflections off a person's body to recognize his emotional state (happy, sad, etc.). The key enabler underlying EQ-Radio is a new algorithm for extracting the individual heartbeats from the wireless signal at an accuracy comparable to on-body ECG monitors. The resulting beats are then used to compute emotion-dependent features which feed a machine-learning emotion classifier. We describe the design and implementation of EQ-Radio, and demonstrate through a user study that its emotion recognition accuracy is on par with state-of-the-art emotion recognition systems that require a person to be hooked to an ECG monitor. Keywords: Wireless Signals; Wireless Sensing; Emotion Recognition; Affective Computing; Heart Rate VariabilityNational Science Foundation (U.S.)United States. Air Forc

Application of force and inertial sensors to monitor gait on legacy walkers

Walker assistive devices play an important role in extending the autonomy of elderly people and in recovering the mobility of people affected by locomotion disabilities. The next generation of walkers are hoped to include embedded sensors and data processing capabilities that will allow for the extraction of objective metrics (about gait and body posture) to assist the work of physiotherapists and to enable the self-control nature of walker usage. The paper presents the Andante, our latest proposal of a smart walker intended to monitor and analyze gait in real time. The system makes use of e-textile electrodes to sense the heart rate of the user, load cells to measure the forces applied on the walker legs, and an inertial measurement unit to sense motion and orientation. These signals are sampled locally and transferred over a Bluetooth link to a remote host, where they are processed in real time. Data processing includes the detection, classification, and characterization of the steps. A rich set of parameters is presented for each step, including estimates of balance and motor coordination, step length and azimuth, and lift of the walker frame. This information can be used by physiotherapist to objectively assess the physical condition of the user and tune rehabilitation therapy if needed. The proposed solution can be easily integrated into any commercial walker without any loss of functionality.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

SAGA: Smart gateway for adaptive environments

The development of adaptive environments has the main objective of providing well-being to an individual, improving the environmental conditions of indoor environments and facilitating/automating any activity. In order to implement such systems, the use of devices capable of intercommunication and acquisition of environment-related parameters around the user is essential. Using wireless sensor networks, it is possible to monitor the various quality indices of indoor environments that can be used to develop strategies to improve quality of life of the users in personalized way. In this dissertation, a system based on a wireless sensor network that analyses and improves the environmental quality of indoor spaces, as well as evaluating the health status of an individual is presented. The system acquires and acts upon air quality and illumination quality-related parameters, as well as physiological data of a user, using sensor nodes and actuators distributed throughout the environment. Several wireless communication protocols have been implemented to enable intercommunication between the several elements present in the sensor network, such as actuators, sensor nodes and a coordinating / gateway node. Several warning mechanisms have been configured to alert the user to the presence of factors that may endanger their health, namely the presence of pollutants and thermal conditions that may trigger respiratory distress. In order to provide real-time system control including additional warning mechanisms, data analysis, a dedicated web application has been developed for this system. The user can control the environment according with his own needs and preferences through profiles configuration. The whole process of system development, hardware, software, experimental tests and contributions are included in this dissertation.A criação de ambientes adaptativos tem o principal objetivo de providenciar o bem-estar a um indivíduo, melhorar as condições do ambiente em seu redor e de facilitar/automatizar qualquer atividade. De forma a implementar tais sistemas, a utilização de dispositivos com capacidade de intercomunicação e de recolha de parâmetros relacionados com o ambiente em redor do utilizador é essencial. Com a utilização de redes de sensores sem fios, é possível monitorizar os diversos índices de qualidade de um ambiente interior e dessa forma melhorar a qualidade de vida. Nesta dissertação será apresentado um sistema baseado numa rede de sensores sem fios que permite analisar e melhorar a qualidade ambiental de espaços interiores e avaliar o estado de saúde de um indivíduo. O sistema adquire e atua sobre parâmetros relacionados com a qualidade do ar e qualidade de iluminação, assim como dados fisiológicos de um utilizador, através da utilização de nós de sensores e atuadores distribuídos pelo ambiente. Foram implementados diversos protocolos de comunicação sem fios para possibilitar a intercomunicação com outros elementos da rede, nomeadamente o nó coordenador/gateway. Foram configurados diversos mecanismos de alerta de forma a avisar o utilizador para a presença de fatores que possam colocar em risco a sua saúde, nomeadamente a presença de poluentes e condições térmicas que possam desencadear desconforto respiratório. De forma a proporcionar uma análise de dados em tempo real, controlo do sistema e dispor de mecanismos de alerta adicionais, foi desenvolvida uma aplicação Web dedicada a este sistema. Através desta, o utilizador poderá tornar o ambiente adaptável às suas características e de acordo com as suas preferências, através da configuração de perfis. Todo o processo de desenvolvimento do sistema, hardware, software, testes experimentais e contribuições serão incluídos nesta dissertação

Monitoring Walker Assistive Devices: A Novel Approach Based on Load Cells and Optical Distance Measurements

This paper presents a measurement system intended to monitor the usage of walker assistive devices. The goal is to guide the user in the correct use of the device in order to prevent risky situations and maximize comfort. Two risk indicators are defined: one related to force unbalance and the other related to motor incoordination. Force unbalance is measured by load cells attached to the walker legs, while motor incoordination is estimated by synchronizing force measurements with distance data provided by an optical sensor. The measurement system is equipped with a Bluetooth link that enables local supervision on a computer or tablet. Calibration and experimental results are included in the paper.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Sensing Systems for Respiration Monitoring: A Technical Systematic Review

Respiratory monitoring is essential in sleep studies, sport training, patient monitoring, or health at work, among other applications. This paper presents a comprehensive systematic review of respiration sensing systems. After several systematic searches in scientific repositories, the 198 most relevant papers in this field were analyzed in detail. Different items were examined: sensing technique and sensor, respiration parameter, sensor location and size, general system setup, communication protocol, processing station, energy autonomy and power consumption, sensor validation, processing algorithm, performance evaluation, and analysis software. As a result, several trends and the remaining research challenges of respiration sensors were identified. Long-term evaluations and usability tests should be performed. Researchers designed custom experiments to validate the sensing systems, making it difficult to compare results. Therefore, another challenge is to have a common validation framework to fairly compare sensor performance. The implementation of energy-saving strategies, the incorporation of energy harvesting techniques, the calculation of volume parameters of breathing, or the effective integration of respiration sensors into clothing are other remaining research efforts. Addressing these and other challenges outlined in the paper is a required step to obtain a feasible, robust, affordable, and unobtrusive respiration sensing system

Contribución al diseño de sensores vestibles y ambientales para medir la respiración y el salto vertical en adultos mayores y frágiles.

Con el avance de la tecnología, se ha popularizado entre la población el uso de dispositivos para medir su estado de salud. Para lograr esto, se suelen utilizar dispositivos vestibles como los smartwatch y smartbands, dispositivos ambientales embebidos en los alrededores, e incluso dispositivos conectados a aplicaciones móviles. El uso de estas tecnologías también se ha popularizado entre los profesionales de la salud.Esta tesis se centra en el desarrollo de dispositivos para monitorizar la salud de adultos mayores y adultos frágiles. Se desarrollaron dos líneas de trabajo: en la primera se diseñó e implementó un sistema vestible para monitorizar en tiempo real la respiración de los usuarios; en la segunda se desarrolló un sistema ambiental capaz de medir la altura del salto vertical efectuado por los usuarios sobre él.Sistema vestible para monitorizar la respiración:- Dentro de esta línea de trabajo se investigó un nuevo sensor de respiración que venía a cubrir algunas lagunas existentes en el estado de la técnica: la integración de todos los elementos electrónicos del sistema en un encapsulado compacto, la liberación del diseño para su reutilización y mejora por parte de otros investigadores y el bajo coste de los elementos que componen el sistema, entre otros. El sistema vestible consiste en un dispositivo que se coloca alrededor del pecho mediante una cinta ajustable. Este sistema funciona mediante un sensor piezoresistivo que detecta las variaciones en el diámetro del pecho ocasionadas al inhalar y exhalar; las variaciones detectadas son enviadas de forma inalámbrica mediante Bluetooth a una estación de visualización elegida por el usuario (PC, Tablet o Smartphone). El sistema se encuentra embebido en un armazón impreso en 3D. Para validar el funcionamiento de este sistema, se realizaron pruebas con 21 voluntarios que efectuaron diferentes ritmos de respiración. Para obtener los ritmos respiratorios de cada señal generada, se utilizaron dos algoritmos. Estos algoritmos calculan el ritmo respiratorio al segmentar la señal original en ventanas de tiempo desde 6 hasta 30 segundos. Los resultados obtenidos muestran que, con una ventana de tiempo de 27 segundos, se obtiene el menor error para cada algoritmo (4,02% y 3,40 %).Sistema ambiental para medir el salto vertical:- Dentro de esta segunda línea de trabajo se investigó en un novedoso sistema ambiental para medir la altura del salto, lo que supuso una innovación respecto a los sensores utilizados actualmente para este fin. El sistema ambiental consiste en una plataforma que detecta objetos sobre ella mediante la presión, y mide el tiempo transcurrido desde que un objeto se retira y se coloca de nuevo. El sistema detecta los objetos mediante una matriz de sensores piezoresitivos (Force Sensitive Resistors - FSR realizados con velostat). Las dimensiones de la plataforma son 30 cm x 30 cm, área sobre la cual se distribuyen un total de 256 sensores FSR. El salto vertical se calcula mediante la fórmula de tiempo de vuelo, y el resultado es enviado mediante Bluetooth a un PC o Smartphone. Se realizaron dos experimentos: en el primero participaron un total de 38 voluntarios, con el objetivo de validar el funcionamiento del sistema con una cámara de alta velocidad como referencia (120 fps); en el segundo experimento se capturaron los datos en crudo de 15 voluntarios, con estos datos se emularon 10 frecuencias de muestreo (desde 20 Hz hasta 200 Hz) y se analizaron los efectos de utilizar frecuencias más bajas. Del primer experimento se obtuvo un error relativo medio de 1.98% con un coeficiente de determinación r2= 0,996. Del segundo experimento se determinó que las frecuencias de muestreo de 200 Hz y 100 Hz muestran un desempeño similar al mantener un error relativo por debajo del 5% en el 95% de las mediciones.Finalmente, este trabajo de tesis concluye indicando las principales aportaciones realizadas para cada una de las dos líneas de trabajo, así como el trabajo futuro que podría desarrollarse en cada una de ellas.<br /

Shortest Route at Dynamic Location with Node Combination-Dijkstra Algorithm

Abstract— Online transportation has become a basic requirement of the general public in support of all activities to go to work, school or vacation to the sights. Public transportation services compete to provide the best service so that consumers feel comfortable using the services offered, so that all activities are noticed, one of them is the search for the shortest route in picking the buyer or delivering to the destination. Node Combination method can minimize memory usage and this methode is more optimal when compared to A* and Ant Colony in the shortest route search like Dijkstra algorithm, but can’t store the history node that has been passed. Therefore, using node combination algorithm is very good in searching the shortest distance is not the shortest route. This paper is structured to modify the node combination algorithm to solve the problem of finding the shortest route at the dynamic location obtained from the transport fleet by displaying the nodes that have the shortest distance and will be implemented in the geographic information system in the form of map to facilitate the use of the system. Keywords— Shortest Path, Algorithm Dijkstra, Node Combination, Dynamic Location (key words