Multi-Source Data Sensing in Mobile Personalized Healthcare Systems: Semantic Linking and Data Mining

The paper introduces an approach to collecting and mining health-related information on the patient based on sensed data from various medical devices as well as from other digitallyenabled sources. The regularly sensed data are semantically linked thus creating an additional information space-semantic layer. On the latter, a linked knowledge-rich structure-semantic network-is maintained and used to construct mobile services. The use of various medical devices and other data sources makes it possible to remotely monitor patients' vital physiological parameters and other important health-related events. It includes sensing the context of the physical environment, which is then coupled with the health state of the patient. Several patients and interested people can be virtually integrated into a group. Consequently, social methods can be used for enhancing the treatment adherence and for motivating the healthcare goals. As such, the healthcare services would have became more focused on the patients and their needs. Ultimately, the mobile healthcare moves towards the vision of At-Home Laboratory (AHL) that diminishes the necessity to visit the hospital and to directly use its facility

Towards a personal at-home lab for motion video tracking in patients with Parkinson's disease

Many digital healthcare services now employ the opportunities of mobile and smart Internet technologies. The Internet is used to deliver such services as medical consultations, diagnosis, and prescriptions. The services are constructed and delivered in the ubiquitous style - anywhere, anytime, and using surrounding devices of our everyday life. In this paper, we discuss the opportunities of motion video tracking in at-home settings for a patient. Parkinson's disease (PD) serves as a case study. First, we define the problem of motion video tracking in PD patients. Then, we consider Internet-enabled methods for motion video tracking, which are essentially restricted with professional settings of a medical environment. Finally, we propose to create a personal at-home lab based on such cheap home-based cameras as any smartphone has. Our early experiment shows that such cameras provide reliable capture quality for the practical use in PD patient motion video tracking

Analysis of Human Gait Based on Smartphone Inertial Measurement Unit: A Feasibility Study

In that feasibility study we report on the capability of the inertial measurement units embedded in a smartphone to adequately reconstruct the spatio-temporal trajectory of human head during a widely used the Timed Up and Go (TUG) motor test. The data obtained with the help of a commercially available motion stereo video capture system served as the reference. We found that the trajectories reconstructed from the signals of 3-axial accelerometer and gyroscope of a smartphone matched well with those obtained by a conventional video system. In the time domain this matching was clearly high, while in the spatial domain there were inconsistencies between two methods seen at the “sit-to-stand” and “stand-to-sit” phases. In conclusion, the smartphone's sensor system efficiently reconstructed the spatio-temporal trajectories. Therefore, even relatively cheap MEMS sensors can be used for the purpose of reliable motion analysis, especially in the condition when the body effectively damps mechanical shocks and vibrations during the TUG test. Vertical human movements during walking can be measured even by inertial sensors in smartphones with rather low cut-off frequencies (15-25 Hz)

Nonlinear parameters of surface EMG in schizophrenia patients depend on kind of antipsychotic therapy

ArticleWe compared a set of surface EMG (sEMG) parameters in several groups of schizophrenia (SZ, n = 74) patients and healthy controls (n = 11) and coupled them with the clinical data. sEMG records were quantified with spectral, mutual information (MI) based and recurrence quantification analysis (RQA) parameters, and with approximate and sample entropies (ApEn and SampEn). Psychotic deterioration was estimated with Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) and with the positive subscale of PANSS. Neuroleptic-induced parkinsonism (NIP) motor symptoms were estimated with Simpson-Angus Scale (SAS). Dyskinesia was measured with Abnormal Involuntary Movement Scale (AIMS). We found that there was no difference in values of sEMG parameters between healthy controls and drug-naïve SZ patients. The most specific group was formed of SZ patients who were administered both typical and atypical antipsychotics (AP). Their sEMG parameters were significantly different from those of SZ patients taking either typical or atypical AP or taking no AP. This may represent a kind of synergistic effect of these two classes of AP. For the clinical data we found that PANSS, SAS, and AIMS were not correlated to any of the sEMG parameters. Conclusion: with nonlinear parameters of sEMG it is possible to reveal NIP in SZ patients, and it may help to discriminate between different clinical groups of SZ patients. Combined typical and atypical AP therapy has stronger effect on sEMG than a therapy with AP of only one class.Publisher's pdfhttp://purl.org/eprint/status/PeerReviewe

Towards a mobile system for hypertensive outpatients' treatment adherence improvement

Covering more than a third of the population, arterial hypertension is a debilitating disease resulting in the adverse effect on the physical and emotional state of the patient and, hence, exerting the negative influence on the patient health- related quality of life. Treatment of hypertension involves the use of specific drug therapy along with a modification of a lifestyle and a diet over a long-term period. This, in turn, leads to the low adherence to the treatment among the ambulatory patients and, as a consequence, increases the chances of the hypertension-related complications, including the risk of sudden cardiac death. To address the problem of low adherence, we have previously proposed the mobile personal monitoring and assisting system constructed on the principles of smart spaces. The system relies on joint processing of both objective and subjective health measures accumulated in semantic ontology-driven storage enabling the construction of the personalized assisting services. In this paper, we extend the approach putting into consideration behaviour activities and interventions. Moreover, we propose the adherence assessment method based on the variety of user engagement measures, which also can be divided into subjective questionnaire-based measures, and objective metrics based on behaviour analysis and mobile app analytics

Isometric thermogenesis at rest and during movement: a neglected variable in energy expenditure and obesity predisposition

Isometric thermogenesis as applied to human energy expenditure refers to heat production resulting from increased muscle tension. While most physical activities consist of both dynamic and static (isometric) muscle actions, the isometric component is very often essential for the optimal performance of dynamic work given its role in coordinating posture during standing, walking and most physical activities of everyday life. Over the past 75 years, there has been sporadic interest into the relevance of isometric work to thermoregulatory thermogenesis and to adaptive thermogenesis pertaining to body-weight regulation. This has been in relation to (i) a role for skeletal muscle minor tremor or microvibration – nowadays referred to as ‘resting muscle mechanical activity’ – in maintaining body temperature in response to mild cooling; (ii) a role for slowed skeletal muscle isometric contraction–relaxation cycle as a mechanism for energy conservation in response to caloric restriction and weight loss and (iii) a role for spontaneous physical activity (which is contributed importantly by isometric work for posture maintenance and fidgeting behaviours) in adaptive thermogenesis pertaining to weight regulation. This paper reviews the evidence underlying these proposed roles for isometric work in adaptive thermogenesis and highlights the contention that variability in this neglected component of energy expenditure could contribute to human predisposition to obesity

Ambient Intelligence Based Vision to At-Home Laboratory for Personalized Monitoring and Assessment of Motion-Cognitive State in Elderly

Humans loose functionality of many physiological systems and, hence, the social adaptation, after the age of 60. 65 years. The motor, cognitive, and circulation systems are the most essential for personal social adaptation. The human brain adapts to these age-related dysfunctions by means of natural reorganization and modification of its activity, though non-sufficiently. In this paper we review possible “external” interventions based on the Ambient Intelligence (AmI) technology. Interventions aim at compensation for growing social de-adaptation of the elderly that takes place due to cognitive and motor impairments. We propose and discuss a novel concept of AmI-based “supplemen-tary neocortex” (neo-neocortex) or “augmented intelligence” that in a close-to-natural form would partly substitute declining own cognition and mobility. We introduce our design vision of At-Home Laboratory (AHL) assisting the elder person posted on the real state of his/her functionality in everyday life

Развитие периферического отдела двигательной системы ребенка первых трех лет жизни по данным накожной электромиографии

The clinical assessment of the motor system’s condition of a growing infant is often complicated due to the volatility of neurological symptoms.Aim. The study was aimed to follow the ontogenesis of the motor function from the 33rd week of postconceptual life to the 36th week of postnatal life using linear and nonlinear parameters of the surface electromyography (sEMG).Methods. The study was longitudinal by its design, selective, stratified and randomized. Premature (31/32 week of gestation) and term (38/39 weeks of gestation) infants were studied. Stratified by gestational and postnatal age, sex and neurological status.Results. In the premature infants the sEMG had an appearance of that of the first day term newborn seen as «simplified pattern», low amplitude and spectral frequency. The temporal dynamics of sEMG parameters were slower in premature infants. In contrast, a fast increase of nonlinear sEMG parameters in term newborns within the first year of life may be an evidence for a complication of the sEMG signal. The linear sEMG parameters increased monotonously across the first life year. Maximal values of both linear and nonlinear parameters were characteristic for the 6th month of life. That might reflect the critical period of formation of the cortico-spinal pathways and manipulative motion.Conclusion. The findings suggest the importance of the first two weeks of life in the development of musculoskeletal term infants, which is formed during the «adult» type of the motoneuron pool organization. At the same time, quantitative changes in sEMG (increase of amplitude) continued during all 36 months of the study, which indicates a continuing growth of skeletal muscles. sEMG in preterm infants features a more simple temporal organization. This suggests the continuing «intrauterine» pattern of the motor neuron pool work.Актуальность. Клиническая оценка состояния двигательной системы растущего организма на практике может быть затруднительна в связи с лабильностью и непостоянством многих неврологических симптомов.Цель. Изучить развитие периферического отдела двигательной системы ребенка, начиная с 33-й нед гестационного возраста и заканчивая 3 годами (36 мес) постнатальной жизни.Пациенты и методы. Обследованы недоношенные (31/32 нед гестации) и доношенные (38/39 нед гестации) дети. Проведено лонгитудинальное выборочное исследование с соблюдением принципов стратифицированной рандомизации. Стратификация проводилась по гестационному и постнатальному возрасту, полу и неврологическому статусу.Результаты. У недоношенных детей в первые 6 нед жизни интерференционная электромиограмма (иЭМГ) имела сходство с таковой доношенного новорожденного первых суток и характеризовалась «упрощенной» временной структурой, низкой амплитудой и частотой. У недоношенного ребенка динамика параметров иЭМГ была замедлена. У доношенных детей временная структура иЭМГ к концу 2-й недели жизни уже достигает показателей, аналогичных взрослым. Быстрое увеличение нелинейных параметров иЭМГ у доношенных детей в течение первого года жизни отражалось на усложнении сигнала иЭМГ. Линейные параметры иЭМГ монотонно нарастали в течение года. Максимальные изменения показателей нелинейного и линейного анализа были в возрасте 6 мес — критического периода формирования кортикоспинальных проводников и появления произвольных, манипулятивных движений.Выводы. Полученные данные свидетельствуют о важности первых 2 нед жизни в развитии скелетно-мышечной системы доношенных детей, в течение которых формируется «взрослый» тип организации мотонейронного пула. В то же время количественные изменения на иЭМГ (рост амплитуды) продолжаются в течение всех 36 мес обследования, что указывает на продолжающийся рост скелетных мышц. Особенностью иЭМГ недоношенных детей является более простая временная организация, что говорит о сохраняющемся «внутриутробном» паттерне работы мотонейронного пула

The potential role of irisin in the thermoregulatory responses to mild cold exposure in adults

Objectives: To determine the acute effect of a mild cold exposure on thermoregulatory thermogenesis and the role of circulating irisin in the process. Methods: We studied 22 adults (9 males, 13 females) aged 57.7 ± 10.07 years and body mass index 27.8 ± 4.52 kg/m2. Participants experienced a 90-min exposure to 20°C and 25°C in a randomized cross-over design. Resting metabolic rate (RMR), forearm to finger-tip gradient (FFG), blood pressure (BP), in-the-ear temperature (IET), and fasting bloods were measured on each occasion. Results: There were significant increases in FFG [mean ± SD: +3.8 ± 3.0°C, P < 0.001], systolic blood pressure (SBP) [+8 ± 13 mm Hg, P = 0.015], and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) [+4 ± 6 mm Hg, P = 0.005] and decreases in IET [−0.24 ± 0.29°C, P = 0.001]. Overall, RMR [+190 ± 570 kJ/d, P = 0.135], irisin, glucose or insulin did not differ between temperatures. There were no significant between-gender differences, but males significantly increased SBP (+12 ± 16, P = 0.02) and DBP (+6 ± 7, P = 0.02) with decreases in heart rate (−4 ± 3, P = 0.002), while females did not. Moreover men had approximately 50% higher thermogenic response while women had approximately 25% greater vasoconstrictor response. Adjusted for age, gender, insulin sensitivity, and body composition, fold changes in irisin were inversely related to respiratory quotient (r= −0.54, P = 0.048), while IET was related to FFG (r= −0.55, P = 0.043). Conclusions: Mild cold exposure increased vasoconstriction with a drop in IET and these were related. Greater irisin was related to a greater fasting fat oxidation in the absence of shivering. A potential gender bias in thermoregulation was noted