PyTHang: an open-source wearable sensor system for real-time monitoring of head-torso angle for ambulatory applications

This article presents the realization of a low-cost wearable sensor system and its Python-based software that can measure and record relative head-torso angle, especially in sagittal plane. The system is mainly developed to track head-torso angle during walk in a clinical study. The open-hardware part of the system is composed of a pair of triaxial digital accelerometers, a microprocessor, a Bluetooth module and a rechargeable battery unit. The reception of the transmitted acceleration data, visualization, interactive sensor alignment, angle estimation and data-logging are realized by the developed open-source graphical user interface. The system is tested on a tripod for verification and on a subject for practical demonstration. Developed system can be constructed and used for ambulatory monitoring and analysis of relative head-torso angle. Open-source user interface can be downloaded and developed for further (different) algorithms and device hardware

An Open-Source User Interface Development for Widely Used Low-cost Spectrometer Designs

In this paper, the development and test stages of an open-source user interface are presented. The developed user interface is compatible with most of the low-cost camera-based spectrometer designs in the literature. The spectrum image of the light source that is acquired with the camera is cropped and analyzed in a real-time thread after interactive calibration which is a special feature of the user interface. Camera controls (such as brightness, contrast, saturation, exposure and etc.) are also available through the user interface. For user interface testing, a common spectrometer design that is composed of a light-guide tube with a narrow entrance slit in one end and an image sensor on the other is constructed. Various compact fluorescent lamps and light emitting diodes are applied as light source and the results are presented. Developed cross-platform user interface can be used with lowcost spectrometer designs especially involving a web camera

Incu-Stream 1.0: An Open-Hardware Live-Cell Imaging System Based on Inverted Bright-Field Microscopy and Automated Mechanical Scanning for Real-Time and Long-Term Imaging of Microplates in Incubator

Microplate (i.e. microwell plate) is a flat plate that has a specific number of wells to be used as small test tubes in cell-culture studies. In most of the low-budget mammalian cell study laboratories, highly skilled laboratory personnel should determine microscopic changes in microplate well media by taking the microplate outside the incubator and by imaging each well medium under a microscope, with the risk of contamination and reliability degrading. An alternative solution is to use an in-incubator operated live-cell imaging device, which, however, cannot be afforded by low-cost laboratories. In this paper, we present the design, realization, and test stages of a microplate compatible inverted bright-field microscope system that can be used in incubators. The developed system enables real-time and long-term in-incubator imaging of any user-selectable microplate type. The device can capture bright-field microscopic images by using a low-cost CMOS image sensor, an inverted varifocal CCTV lens and an array of light emitting diodes. In addition, by developed two-axial movement stage and image augmenting algorithms, the whole area of a user selectable well (e.g. area of a 6.5 mm diameter well in a 96-well plate) can be automatically imaged without using any other third party software. The long-term performance of the system is tested in incubators with human embryonic kidney and breast cancer cell lines

An Arduino UNO application: GPS guided unmanned ground vehicle

This paper presents an application of Arduino UNO to GPS guided unmanned vehicle. The four-wheeled small scale (55 cm x 25 cm) vehicle is capable of moving forward, rotating and consists of a GPS sensor, a magnetometer, a motor driver and four DC motors. The target coordinates (key points) are manually entered as a part of the control algorithm script (.ino file). The developed control algorithm makes a blind calculation of the distance and required rotation between consecutive key points. The initial coordinates of the vehicle, however, requires the only field-dependent calculation of the distance and target heading between the initial and the first key point. The whole target route is achieved by consecutive "rotation" and "forward movements (straight path)" between key points. The GPS sensor is used to determine the initial coordinates whereas magnetometer is used to determine the heading (and rotation) before (and during) each key point movement. When taxiing through blind-calculated route, the acquired GPS data is transmitted via Bluetooth for offline monitoring

A novel EOG-based wireless rapid communication device for people with motor neuron diseases

© 2018, © 2018 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.In this study, a new electrooculography (EOG) based system that provides efficient communication for people suffered from motor neuron diseases is presented. The system consists of two distinct devices. The first device operates as a main unit that is activated by the subject’s eye movements. This unit is capable of transmitting 10 different command/state messages. These messages enable subject to choose his/her situation such as “I’m fine”, “I feel bad”, “I’m hungry” and “I’m thirsty”. Commands such as “Come”, “Go”. The number of messages can be increased. The main unit acquires the EOG signal from the subject. Newly developed analogue and digital signal conditioning interprets the eye movements as specific messages and transmits them to the second unit (receiver) using radio frequency transmitter. The messages related to the subject’s demands and situation can be heard from both main and receiver unit speakers. The wireless receiver unit is capable of notifying the patient’s command by auditory and visual indicators. The realised device was tested by 2 healthy and 2 ALS patients and confirmed to be successful with 100% performance for sending correct messages

Wireless dual accelerometer wearable system for torso-head angle measurement during walking

In the literature, there exists no study examining the effects of looking down gait on gait parameters and foot pressure. This study presents a system that is able to measure head-torso angle during walking. The hardware part of the system is composed of; two 3-axial digital accelerometers that are located in occipital and dorsal regions, a microprocessor, a Bluetooth module and a battery. The acceleration data that is acquired by the microprocessor via I2C protocol is sent to the client computer through Bluetooth module. The reception, angle estimation and visualization are realized by the graphical user interface which is the software part of the system and developed under Python language. Developed system is tested both on a 2 degree-of-freedom arm and during walk on a subject

Wireless 3-Axis Accelerometer System for Measurement of Structural Displacement

In this study, we present the design of a 3-axis acceleration measurement system that is capable of UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) time-stamping captured from a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver module. With this achievement, the system is able to monitor and record the 3-axis vibrations with respect to an absolute time rather than the local sensor (and computer) time. Acquired 3-axis acceleration data and UTC are transferred via Bluetooth (R) protocol and developed software which enables monitoring and recording of UTC and acceleration data on a PC, respectively. For verification and synchronization quality test of acceleration data, shake-table tests were conducted for simulation of structural displacement and the calculated displacements were compared with a displacement sensor of a commercially available shake table system

Detection of the differences in the apparent diffusion coefficient values in different histopathological types of malignant breast lesions and comparison of cellular region/stroma ratio and histopathological results

Background/aim: This study aimed to compare the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values of malignant breast lesions with different histopathological types on diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) and the cellular region/stroma (CR/S) ratio and histopathological results