Caracterización electromagnética de materiales RAM mediante medidas en espacio libre

A free-space measurement system in the 2-JBGHz frequency range is used to measure the reflection and transmission coefficients of planar samples. The complex electric permittivity and the magnetic permeability are calculated from the measured values of S11 and S21. The measurement system consists of broadband transmit and receive antennas, a network analyzer, mode transitions, and a computer. Error due to multiple reflections between antennas via the swjace of the sample are corrected by using a free space T.R.L. calibration technique.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Bench-to-bedside review: Brain-lung interaction in the critically ill – a pending issue revisited

Brain and/or lung injury is the most frequent cause of admission to critical care units and patients in this setting frequently develop multiple organ dysfunction with high rates of morbidity and mortality. Mechanical ventilation is commonly used in the management of these critically ill patients and the consequent inflammatory response, together with other physiological factors, is also thought to be involved in distal organ dysfunction. This peripheral imbalance is based on a multiple-pathway cross-talk between the lungs and other organs, including the brain. Interestingly, acute respiratory distress syndrome survivors frequently present some cognitive deterioration at discharge. Such neurological dysfunction might be a secondary marker of injury and the neuroanatomical substrate for downstream impairment of other organs. Brain-lung interactions have received little attention in the literature, but recent evidence suggests that both the lungs and brain are promoters of inflammation through common mediators. This review addresses the current status of evidence regarding brain-lung interactions, their pathways and current interventions in critically ill patients receiving mechanical ventilation

Volumetric capnography and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease staging

Spirometry is difficult for some COPD patient to perform. Volumetric capnography could be a second choice test to evaluate the severity of functional disturbances. The aim of this work is to test this hypothesis. A total number of 98 subjects were classified either as normal ex-smokers (N=14) or COPD patients. The latter were staged following GOLD recommendations. Spirometry and volumetric capnography recordings were obtained from each patient. Spirometry parameters, Bohr Dead Space (V(D)Bohr), Airways Dead Space from the pre-interface expirate corrected curve (V(D)aw), Phase III slope (Sl(III)) and Volume of alveolar ejection (V(AE)) were measured. Index of Ventilatory Efficiency (IVE), and Index of Airways Heterogeneity (IAH) were calculated as: IVE = V(AE)/(V(T) - V(D)aw) and IAH = 1-[(V(T)-V(D)Bohr)/(V(T) - V(D)aw)]. In ANOCOVA analysis IAH showed the greatest association with stage (F >40), with no significant covariant dependence on V(T). A receiver operating characteristics curve analysis showed values of the area under the curve greater than 0.9 for IAH and IVE at all stage levels, with a sensitivity = specificity value greater than 80%. We conclude that IAH and IVE can be used when spirometry cannot be reliably performed, as an alternative test to evaluate the degree of functional involvement in COPD patients

3D UWB magnitude-combined tomographic imaging for biomedical applications. Algorithm validation

Biomedical microwave imaging is a topic of continuous research for its potential in different areas especially in breast cancer detection. In this paper, 3D UWB Magnitude-Combined tomographic algorithm is assessed for this recurrent application, but also for a more challenging one such as brain stroke detection. With the UWB Magnitude-Combined concept, the algorithm can take advantage of both the efficiency of Fourier Diffraction Theorem-based tomographic formulation and the robustness and image quality improvement provided by a multi-frequency combination.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Optimization of linear multielement antennas for selection combining by means of a Butler matrix in different MIMO environments

An optimized linear multielement antenna (MEA) is presented for selection combining schemes that improves the selection diversity gain and selection diversity capacity in medium and low multipath environments, with respect to the performance achieved with a simple uniform linear array (ULA) using omnidirectional antennas, while it performs equally as well as a ULA in highly scattered environments. An analytical investigation based on the analysis of the correlation coefficients, together with simulations and extensive measurements, have been carried out for different fading multiple-input multiple-output environments ranging from line of sight (LOS) to non-LOS. Two MEAs are compared: a simple ULA with omnidirectional antennas and a MEA combining a ULA and a Butler matrix. The measurement results show that the nature of the proposed MEA is such that it is adaptive to any propagation scenario by simultaneously taking advantage of beamforming gain and signal diversity gain.Peer Reviewe

Toward 3D UWB tomographie imaging system for breast tumor detection

A novel 3D tomographic algorithm for short range cylindrical geometries using UWB frequency range is presented. The algorithm has been applied to breast tumor detection, nevertheless, its non application-specific character permits the use in other applications. The detection capability of the tomographic algorithm is proved through numerical simulations and experimental measurements of canonical and more realistic bodyattached breast phantoms. For the acquisition of the experimental data, a virtual array-based cylindrical measurement setup has been built. At the current stage of development 3 degrees of freedom are available allowing the scanning of bodies with revolution symmetry.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

UWB High-contrast robust tomographic imaging for medical applications

In this paper a complete UWB Circular Tomographic System robust to high contrast or large objects, applied to Breast Tumor Detection, is presented. The main contribution of this paper is to focus on the implementation of a two degrees of freedom imaging setup in order to deal with non-symmetric objects and to demonstrate its functionality with realistic breast phantoms.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version