Rapidly quantifying the relative distention of a human bladder

A device and method of rapidly quantifying the relative distention of the bladder in a human subject are disclosed. The ultrasonic transducer which is positioned on the subject in proximity to the bladder is excited by a pulser under the command of a microprocessor to launch an acoustic wave into the patient. This wave interacts with the bladder walls and is reflected back to the ultrasonic transducer, when it is received, amplified and processed by the receiver. The resulting signal is digitized by an analog-to-digital converter under the command of the microprocessor and is stored in the data memory. The software in the microprocessor determines the relative distention of the bladder as a function of the propagated ultrasonic energy; and based on programmed scientific measurements and individual, anatomical, and behavioral characterists of the specific subject as contained in the program memory, sends out a signal to turn on any or all of the audible alarm, the visible alarm, the tactile alarm, and the remote wireless alarm

Rapidly quantifying the relative distention of a human bladder

A device and method was developed to rapidly quantify the relative distention of the bladder of a human subject. An ultrasonic transducer is positioned on the human subject near the bladder. A microprocessor controlled pulser excites the transducer by sending an acoustic wave into the human subject. This wave interacts with the bladder walls and is reflected back to the ultrasonic transducer where it is received, amplified, and processed by the receiver. The resulting signal is digitized by an analog to digital converter, controlled by the microprocessor again, and is stored in data memory. The software in the microprocessor determines the relative distention of the bladder as a function of the propagated ultrasonic energy. Based on programmed scientific measurements and the human subject's past history as contained in program memory, the microprocessor sends out a signal to turn on any or all of the available alarms. The alarm system includes and audible alarm, the visible alarm, the tactile alarm, and the remote wireless alarm

A Review of Smart Materials in Tactile Actuators for Information Delivery

As the largest organ in the human body, the skin provides the important sensory channel for humans to receive external stimulations based on touch. By the information perceived through touch, people can feel and guess the properties of objects, like weight, temperature, textures, and motion, etc. In fact, those properties are nerve stimuli to our brain received by different kinds of receptors in the skin. Mechanical, electrical, and thermal stimuli can stimulate these receptors and cause different information to be conveyed through the nerves. Technologies for actuators to provide mechanical, electrical or thermal stimuli have been developed. These include static or vibrational actuation, electrostatic stimulation, focused ultrasound, and more. Smart materials, such as piezoelectric materials, carbon nanotubes, and shape memory alloys, play important roles in providing actuation for tactile sensation. This paper aims to review the background biological knowledge of human tactile sensing, to give an understanding of how we sense and interact with the world through the sense of touch, as well as the conventional and state-of-the-art technologies of tactile actuators for tactile feedback delivery

Textured Surfaces for Ultrasound Haptic Displays

We demonstrate a technique for rendering textured haptic surfaces in mid-air, using an ultrasound haptic display. Our technique renders tessellated 3D `haptic' shapes with different waveform properties, creating surfaces with distinct perceptions

Engineering data compendium. Human perception and performance. User's guide

The concept underlying the Engineering Data Compendium was the product of a research and development program (Integrated Perceptual Information for Designers project) aimed at facilitating the application of basic research findings in human performance to the design and military crew systems. The principal objective was to develop a workable strategy for: (1) identifying and distilling information of potential value to system design from the existing research literature, and (2) presenting this technical information in a way that would aid its accessibility, interpretability, and applicability by systems designers. The present four volumes of the Engineering Data Compendium represent the first implementation of this strategy. This is the first volume, the User's Guide, containing a description of the program and instructions for its use