A personalized rehabilitation system based on wireless motion capture sensors

We live in an aging society, an issue that will be exacerbated in the coming decades, due to low birth rates and increasing life expectancy. With the decline in physical and cognitive functions with age, it is of the utmost importance to maintain regular physical activity,in order to preserve an individual’s mobility, motor capabilities and coordination. Within this context, thispaper describes the development of a wireless sensor network and its application in a human motion capturesystem based on wearable inertial and magnetic sensors. The goal is to enable, through continuous real-time monitoring, the creation of a personalized home-based rehabilitation system for the elderly population and/or injured people. Within this system, the user can benefit from an assisted mode, in which their movements can be compared to a reference motion model of the same movements, resulting in visual feedback alerts given by the application. This motion model can be created previously, in a ‘learning phase’, under supervision of a caregiver.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT

Programa GOAL - Going for the Goal / Lutar pelos objectivos: um programa de competências de vida no ensino básico

O principal objectivo deste estudo consistiu em caracterizar e analisar diferenças entre dois grupos (um grupo experimental e um grupo controlo) de crianças que frequentavam o 4.º ano de escolaridade no ano lectivo 2001/2002 em Leiria. O grupo experimental foi sujeito à aplicação de um programa de competências de vida (Programa GOAL – Going for the Goal / Lutar pelos Objectivos) e o grupo controlo apenas participou nos momentos do pré e do pós-teste. Os sujeitos de ambos os grupos fizeram uma auto-avaliação (Escala de auto-conceito de Piers-Harris para crianças); foram avaliados pelos pares (teste sociométrico) e pelos professores (inquérito por questionário) em dois momentos distintos, antes e após o tratamento. Os resultados da auto-avaliação e da avaliação pelos pares sugerem não existir diferenças estatisticamente significativas entre os dois grupos. Relativamente aos momentos de avaliação (pré-teste e pós-teste), os resultados sugerem diferenças estatisticamente significativas na variável auto-conceito. No que concerne à avaliação por parte dos professores, verifica-se um maior número de respostas por parte dos docentes do GE, tanto no momento do pré como do pós-teste. No pré-teste, as respostas relativas ao GE mostram uma diferença de médias e de dispersão de resultados face ao GC. A maior parte das questões apresenta uma média superior no GE e uma maior dispersão no GC. No pós-teste, a média das respostas é superior no GC e a dispersão é menor no GE

Vital signs monitoring and management using mobile devices

Constant breakthroughs in medical sensor technology and mobile devices fields, combined with growing wireless communication capabilities, have made possible the emergence of new health monitoring paradigms. The ever-increasing features of PDAs and smartphones make them a vital component in innovative health monitoring systems. In this paper, we introduce a handset mobile monitoring and management system, developed as complement to a complete vital signs monitoring project (MOHLL). The main purpose of this system is to provide physicians with real-time visualization of the patients’ vital parameters, namely the ECG trace, heart rate, and body temperature, through an Internet-connected PDA.Clinical and financial support for the case-study has been provided by Grupo AMI - Assistencia Medica Integral (Casa de Saude de Guimaraes, SA), Portugal, under the partnership established between this healthcare company and the University of Minho

A telerehabilitation system based on wireless motion capture sensors

The constant growth of the elderly population in the world creates new challenges and opportunities in health care systems. New technological solutions have to be found in order to meet the needs and demands of our aging society. The welfare and quality of life of the elderly population must be a priority. Continuous physical activity will play an important role, due to the increase of the retirement age. However, physiotherapy can be expensive, even when the desire movements are autonomous and simple, also requires people to move to rehabilitation centres. Within this context, this paper describes the development and preliminary tests of a wireless sensor network, based on wearable inertial and magnetic sensors, applied to the capture of human motion. This will enable a personalized home-based rehabilitation system for the elderly or people in remote physical locations.Project “AAL4ALL”, co-financed by the European Community Fund FEDER through COMPETE – Programa Operacional Factores de Competitividade (POFC).FCT – Foundation for Science and Technology – Lisbon, Portugal, through project PEst-C/CTM/LA0025/2013

Sistema de fabrico rápido de implantes ortopédicos

Este estudo teve como objectivo o desenvolvimento uma metodologia de fabrico rápido de implantes ortopédicos, em simultaneidade com a intervenção cirúrgica, considerando duas potenciais aplicações na área ortopédica: o fabrico de implantes anatomicamente adaptados e o fabrico de implantes para substituição de perdas ósseas. A inovação do trabalho desenvolvido consiste na obtenção in situ da geometria do implante, através da impressão directa de um material elastomérico (polivinilsiloxano) que permite obter com grande exactidão a geometria pretendida. Após digitalização do modelo obtido em material elastomérico, o implante final é fabricado por maquinagem recorrendo a um sistema de CAD/CAM dedicado. O implante após esterilização, pode ser colocado no paciente. O conceito foi desenvolvido com recurso a tecnologias disponíveis comercialmente e de baixo custo. O mesmo foi testado sob a forma de uma artroplastia da anca realizada in vivo numa ovelha. O acréscimo de tempo de cirurgia foi de 80 minutos sendo 40 directamente resultantes do processo de fabrico do implante. O sistema desenvolvido revelou-se eficiente no alcance dos objectivos propostos, possibilitando o fabrico de um implante durante um período de tempo perfeitamente compatível com o tempo de cirurgia.This study, aimed the development of a methodology for rapid manufacture of orthopedic implants simultaneously with the surgical intervention, considering two potential applications in the fields of orthopedics: the manufacture of anatomically adapted implants and implants for bone loss replacement. This work innovation consists on the capitation of the in situ geometry of the implant by direct capture of the shape using an elastomeric material (polyvinylsiloxane) which allows fine detail and great accuracy of the geometry. After scanning the elastomeric specimen, the implant is obtained by machining using a CNC milling machine programmed with a dedicated CAD/CAM system. After sterilization, the implant is able to be placed on the patient. The concept was developed using low cost technology and commercially available. The system has been tested in an in vivo hip arthroplasty performed on a sheep. The time increase of surgery was 80 minutes being 40 minutes the time of implant manufacturing. The system developed has been tested and the goals defined of the study achieved enabling the rapid manufacture of an implant in a time period compatible with the surgery time

Biomechanical behaviour of cancellous bone on patellofemoral arthroplasty with journey prosthesis : a finite element study

Isolated patellofemoral (PF) arthritis of the knee is a common cause of anterior knee pain and disability. Patellofemoral arthroplasty (PFA) is a bone conserving solution for patients with PF degeneration. Failure mechanisms of PFA include growing tibiofemoral arthritis and loosening of components. The implant loosening can be associated with bone resorption, or fatigue-failure of bone by overload. This research work aims at determining the structural effects of the implantation of PF prosthesis Journey PFJ (Smith&Nephew, USA) on femur cancellous bone. For this purpose, the finite element (FE) method is considered to perform computational simulations for different conditions, such as well-fixed and loosening scenarios. From the global results obtained, in the well-fixed scenario, a strain decrease on cancellous bone was noticed, which can be related to bone resorption. In the loosening scenario, when the cement layer becomes inefficient, a significant increase of cancellous bone strain was observed, which can be associated with bone fatigue-failure. These strain changes suggest a weakness of the femur after PFA.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT

A wireless posture monitoring system for personalized home-based rehabilitation

We live in an aging society, an issue that will be exacerbated in the coming decades, due to low birth rates and increasing life expectancy. With the decline in physical and cognitive functions with age, it is of the utmost importance to maintain regular physical activity, in order to preserve an individual’s mobility, motor capabilities and coordination. Within this context, this paper describes the development of a wireless sensor network and its application in a human motion capture system based on wearable inertial and magnetic sensors. The goal is to enable, through continuous real-time monitoring, the creation of a personalized home-based rehabilitation system for the elderly population and/or injured people. Within this system, the user can benefit from an assisted mode, in which their movements can be compared to a reference motion model of the same movements, resulting in visual feedback alerts given by the application. This motion model can be created previously, in a ‘learning phase’, under supervision of a caregiver.Project “AAL4ALL”, co-financed by the European Community Fund FEDER through COMPETE – Programa Operacional Factores de Competitividade (POFC). This work is funded by FEDER funds through the COMPETE 2020 Programme and National Funds through FCT - Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology under the projects UID/CTM/50025/2013 and UID/EEA/04436/2013.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Review of fiber-optic pressure sensors for biomedical and biomechanical applications

As optical fibers revolutionize the way data is carried in telecommunications, the same is happening in the world of sensing. Fiber-optic sensors (FOS) rely on the principle of changing the properties of light that propagate in the fiber due to the effect of a specific physical or chemical parameter. We demonstrate the potentialities of this sensing concept to assess pressure in biomedical and biomechanical applications. FOSs are introduced after an overview of conventional sensors that are being used in the field. Pointing out their limitations, particularly as minimally invasive sensors, is also the starting point to argue FOSs are an alternative or a substitution technology. Even so, this technology will be more or less effective depending on the efforts to present more affordable turnkey solutions and peer-reviewed papers reporting in vivo experiments and clinical trials.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Design of laminated structures using piezoelectric materials

Composite structures incorporating piezoelectric sensors and actuators are increasingly becoming important due to the offer of potential benefits in a wide range of engineering applications such as vibration and noise supression, shape control and precisition positioning. This paper presents a finit element formulation based on classical laminated plate theory for laminated structures with integrated piezoelectric layers or patches, acting as actuators. The finite element model is a single layer triangular nonconforming plate/shell element with 18 degrees of freedom for the generalized displacements, and one electrical potential degree of freedom for each piezsoelectric elementlayer or patch, witch are surface bonded on the laminate. An optimization of the patches position is performed to maximize the piezoelectric actuators efficiency as well as, the electric potential distribuition is search to reach the specified structure transverse displacement distribuition (shape control). A gradient based algorithm is used for this purpose. The model is applied in the optimization of illustrative laminated plate cases, and the results are presented and discussed

Shape control of laminated panels using piezoelectric actuators

This paper presents a finite element formulation based on the classical laminated plate theory for laminated structures with integrated piezoelectric layers or patches, acting as actuators.The finite element model is a single layer trinaguular nonconforming plate/shell element with 18 degrees of fredom for the generalized displacements, and one electrical potential degree of freedom for each piezoelectric element elemenet layer or patch. An optimization of the patches position is perfomed to maximize the piezoelectric actuators efficiency as well as,the electric potential distribution is serach to reach the specified strusctura transverse displacement distribution is search to reach the specified structures trsnsverse displacement distribution (shape control). A gradient based algorithm is used for this purpose.Results are presented and discussed