Robust automated reading of the skin prick test via 3D imaging and parametric surface fitting

The conventional reading of the skin prick test (SPT) for diagnosing allergies is prone to inter- and intra-observer variations. Drawing the contours of the skin wheals from the SPT and scanning them for computer processing is cumbersome. However, 3D scanning technology promises the best results in terms of accuracy, fast acquisition, and processing. In this work, we present a wide-field 3D imaging system for the 3D reconstruction of the SPT, and we propose an automated method for the measurement of the skin wheals. The automated measurement is based on pyramidal decomposition and parametric 3D surface fitting for estimating the sizes of the wheals directly. We proposed two parametric models for the diameter estimation. Model 1 is based on an inverted Elliptical Paraboloid function, and model 2 on a super-Gaussian function. The accuracy of the 3D imaging system was evaluated with validation objects obtaining transversal and depth accuracies within ± 0.1 mm and ± 0.01 mm, respectively. We tested the method on 80 SPTs conducted in volunteer subjects, which resulted in 61 detected wheals. We analyzed the accuracy of the models against manual reference measurements from a physician and obtained that the parametric model 2 on average yields diameters closer to the reference measurements (model 1: -0.398 mm vs. model 2: -0.339 mm) with narrower 95% limits of agreement (model 1: [-1.58, 0.78] mm vs. model 2: [-1.39, 0.71] mm) in a Bland-Altman analysis. In one subject, we tested the reproducibility of the method by registering the forearm under five different poses obtaining a maximum coefficient of variation of 5.24% in the estimated wheal diameters. The proposed method delivers accurate and reproducible measurements of the SPT. © 2019 Pineda et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.Departamento Administrativo de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación (COLCIENCIAS), COLCIENCIAS: 538871552485 C2018P018, C2018P005This study was supported by Colciencias (www.colciencias.gov.co, Grant 538871552485) and by Universidad Tecnol?gica de Bolivar (www.utb.edu.co, Grants C2018P005 and C2018P018), Colombia

Developing a Robust Acquisition System for Fringe Projection Profilometry

Since Fringe Projection Profilometry (FPP) is an intensity-based coding strategy, it is prone to improper optical setup arrangement, surface texture and reflectance, uneven illumination distribution, among others. These conditions introduce errors in phase retrieval which lead to an inaccurate 3-D reconstruction. In this paper, we describe a dynamic approach toward a robust FPP acquisition in challenging scenes and objects. Our aim is to acquire the best possible fringe pattern image by adjusting the object closer to an ideal system-object setup. We describe the software implementation of our method and the interface design using LabVIEW. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method greatly reduces sources of error in 3-D reconstruction. © Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd.Universidad Tecnológica de Pereira, UTP: C2018P018, C2018P005 538871552485 Departamento Administrativo de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación, COLCIENCIASThis work has been partly funded by Colciencias (Fondo Nacional de Financiamiento para la Ciencia, la Tecnología y la Innovación Francisco José de Caldas) project 538871552485, and by Universidad Tecnológica de Bolívar projects C2018P005 and C2018P018. Authors thank Dirección de Investigaciones, Universidad Tecnológica de Bolívar for the support. J. Pineda thanks Universidad Tecnológica de Bolívar for a Masters degree scholarship

Fringe quality map for fringe projection profilometry in LabVIEW

The phase retrieval process is mainly affected by local shadows, irregular surface brightness and fringe discontinuities. To overcome these problems, image-processing strategies are carried out such as binary masks, interpolation techniques, and filtering. Similarly, many unwrapping algorithms have been developed to handle phase unwrapping errors in two-dimensional regions. The presence of error-prone areas can be visualized during the acquisition stage avoiding the use of image processing strategies and sophisticated phase unwrapping algorithms, which in many cases represent high computational costs and long execution times. To help overcome these problems, we propose a Fringe Quality Map based on a phase residue analysis to estimate error-prone areas during acquisition. The software was fully implemented in LabVIEW, and we provide the software as supplementary material. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method estimates areas with poor contrast, which lead to unwrapping errors, as well as phase errors in a more complex 3D shape. © Sociedad Española de Óptica

Métodos de calibración cámara-proyector con compensación de distorsiones geométricas en perfilometría por proyección de franjas: Un estudio comparativo

The calibration methods most used in fringe projection profilometry are based on models of least squares adjustment and stereo vision techniques. However, the geometric distortions of the projector and camera lenses introduce imprecision in certain regions of the 3D reconstruction. In this paper, we perform a comparative study between the second order polynomial adjustment method and the stereo calibration method applying lens distortion compensation. The experimental results show that in the stereo calibration the incidence of the distortions in the 3D reconstruction is significant. In contrast, in the proposed polynomial calibration, reconstruction errors are associated with the calibrated volume, typically low within the calibration volume. © Sociedad Española de óptica.Los métodos de calibración más usados en perfilometría por proyección de franjas están basados en modelos de ajustes por mínimos cuadrados y técnicas de visión estéreo. Sin embargo, las distorsiones geométricas de los lentes del proyector y de la cámara introducen imprecisión en ciertas regiones de la reconstrucción 3D. En este trabajo realizamos un estudio comparativo entre el método de ajuste polinomial de segundo orden y el método de calibración estéreo aplicando compensación de distorsiones. Los resultados experimentales muestran que en la calibración estéreo la incidencia de las distorsiones en la reconstrucción 3D es significativa. En cambio, en la calibración polinomial propuesta, los errores de reconstrucción están asociados al volumen calibrado. © Sociedad Española de óptica

A Structure-from-Motion Pipeline for Generating Digital Elevation Models for Surface-Runoff Analysis

Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) are used to derive information from the morphology of a land. The topographic attributes obtained from the DEM data allow the construction of watershed delineation useful for predicting the behavior of systems and for studying hydrological processes. Imagery acquired from Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and 3D photogrammetry techniques offer cost-effective advantages over other remote sensing methods such as LIDAR or RADAR. In particular, a high spatial resolution for measuring the terrain microtopography. In this work, we propose a Structure from Motion (SfM) pipeline using UAVs for generating high-resolution, high-quality DEMs for developing a rainfall-runoff model to study flood areas. SfM is a computer vision technique that simultaneously estimates the 3D coordinates of a scene and the pose of a camera that moves around it. The result is a 3D point cloud which we process to obtain a georeference model from the GPS information of the camera and ground control points. The pipeline is based on open source software OpenSfM and OpenDroneMap. Encouraging experimental results on a test land show that the produced DEMs meet the metrological requirements for developing a surface-runoff model. © Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd.This work has been partly funded by Universidad Tecnológica de Bolívar project (FI2006T2001). The authors thank Direccion de Investigaciones Universidad Tecnologica de Bolivar for their support

Desarrollo e implementación de un perfilómetro óptico por triangulación láser

Profilometers are instruments commonly used in surface metrology tasks. These instruments play a key role in the industry, such as in manufacturing and quality assurance. However, conventional profilometry techniques require direct contact with the object. In this work, we developed a practical and low-cost optical profilometer for contactless profilometry. The proposed profilometer is based on a laser triangulation system. A laser spot is projected onto the surface of an object, which is captured by a camera. The images are processed to detect the laser spot's location and obtain the object's surface height through calibration. We designed and built the translation stage to process the object's surface. Finally, encouraging results show that the profilometer provides high accuracy with fast acquisition. © 2020 IEEE

Modeling a Structured Light System with Open-Source Software

We propose modeling a structured light system with open-source computer graphics software to perform experimental verifications independently of the physical system. Encouraging experimental results show the capabilities of the digital twin. © 2022 The Author(s

Searching for the roots of the first free African American community

San Basilio de Palenque is an Afro-descendant community near Cartagena, Colombia, founded in the sixteenth century. The recognition of the historical and cultural importance of Palenque has promoted several studies, namely concerning the African roots of its first inhabitants. To deepen the knowledge of the origin and diversity of the Palenque parental lineages, we analysed a sample of 81 individuals for the entire mtDNA Control Region as well as 92 individuals for 27 Y-STRs and 95 for 51 Y-SNPs. The results confirmed the strong isolation of the Palenque, with some degree of influx of Native American maternal lineages, and a European admixture exclusively mediated by men. Due to the high genetic drift observed, a pairwise FST analysis with available data on African populations proved to be inadequate for determining population affinities. In contrast, when a phylogenetic approach was used, it was possible to infer the phylogeographic origin of some lineages in Palenque. Contradicting previous studies indicating a single African origin, our results evidence parental genetic contributions from widely different African regions.We thank all sample donors for their contribution to this work and all the people who helped with sample collection, namely, Regina Miranda from the Community of San Basilio de Palenque, the personnel of the Benkos Biojó Rural school, and Miguel Obeso from the etnoeducación program. This work was supported by the University of Cartagena and FPIT—Fundación para la promoción de la investigación y la tecnología del Banco de la República, Colombia (FPIT-388) and partially financed by FEDER—Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional funds through the COMPETE 2020—Operacional Programme for Competitiveness and Internationalization (POCI), Portugal 2020, and by Portuguese funds through FCT—Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia/Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovação in the framework of the projects “Institute for Research and Innovation in Health Sciences” (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007274). FS was supported by Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro—FAPERJ (E-26/202.275/2019). LG was supported by Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico—CNPq (ref. 306342/2019-7), and Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro—FAPERJ (CNE-2018). VG was supported by FCT, under the program contract provided in Decree-Law no.57/2016 of August 29. The IPATIMUP integrates the i3S research unit, which is partially supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology

Cognition and its relationship with endogenous and exogenous factors in engineering students

In this research, a relational study was carried out between student cognition with endogenous factors (student attitude and age) and exogenous (collegiate origin) in engineering students of the University of Cartagena. The project was carried out in three (3) phases where the survey allowed the desired information to be obtained from an estimated nine hundred sixty (960) students between 2014 and 2016. In the second phase, the instrument was used to collect the information, which was constituted the cognitive scale of the Self-Regulation Inventory for Learning (SRLI) and in the third phase, the independent endogenous and exogenous variables were crossed with the dependent one (student cognition), constructing the bar diagram of the relationship analysis; being possible to determine statistical significance with the attitude of the student to a level of confidence of 95% while with the age and collegial origin was not relevant

Manejo de potencia para un vehículo con acople fotovoltaico en motor híbrido

Nowadays, the vision of the industries around the world is focused in developing and presenting new solutions that are ecofriendly, being one of this solutions, hybrid and electric motors. This paper presents the simulation of an algorithm for the management of power for a hybrid motor, which electric part is being supplied using a photovoltaic system, allowing the analysis of the car battery, in terms of acceleration and deceleration of the vehicle. Obtaining as a result, a study of the behavior of the photovoltaic system along with the hybrid motor, and the battery according to the meteorological conditions affecting the system.Actualmente, la visión de la industria en todo el mundo se está enfocando en desarrollar y realizar soluciones nuevas que sean amigables con el medio ambiente; una de estas son los motores híbridos y eléctricos. Este artículo propone realizar la simulacón de un algoritmo de manejo de potencias para un motor híbrido, cuya parte eléctrica será abastecida mediante un sistema fotovoltaico; con ello se busca analizar la batería del carro en función de la aceleración y desaceleración de este. Se obtiene como resultado un estudio del comportamiento de un sistema fotovoltaico en conjunto con un motor híbrido, donde se analiza el comportamiento de la batería según las condiciones meteorológicas que afecten al sistema