Kvantitativna analiza pokreta u rehabilitaciji neuroloških poremećaja korišćenjem vizuelnih i nosivih senzora.

Neuroloska oboljenja, kao sto su Parkinsonova bolest i slog, dovode do ozbiljnih motornih poremecaja, smanjuju kvalitet zivota pacijenata i mogu da uzrokuju smrt. Rana dijagnoza i adekvatno lecenje su krucijalni faktori za drzanje bolesti pod kontrolom, kako bi se omogucio normalan svakodnevni zivot pacijenata. Lecenje neurolo skih bolesti obicno ukljucuje rehabilitacionu terapiju i terapiju lekovima, koje se prilagodavaju u skladu sa stanjem pacijenta tokom vremena. Tradicionalne tehnike evaluacije u dijagnozi i monitoringu neuroloskih bolesti oslanjaju se na klinicke evaluacione alate, tacnije specijalno dizajnirane klinicke testove i skale. Medutim, iako su korisne i najcesce koriscene, klinicke skale su sklone subjektivnim ocenama i nepreciznoj interpretaciji performanse pacijenta...Neurological disorders, such as Parkinson's disease (PD) and stroke, lead to serious motor disabilities, decrease the patients' quality of life and can cause the mortality. Early diagnosis and adequate disease treatment are thus crucial factors towards keeping the disease under control in order to enable the normal every-day life of patients. The treatment of neurological disorders usually includes the rehabilitation therapy and drug treatment, that are adapted based on the evaluation of the patient state over time. Conventional evaluation techniques for diagnosis and monitoring in neurological disorders rely on the clinical assessment tools i.e. specially designed clinical tests and scales. However, although benecial and commonly used, those scales are descriptive (qualitative), primarily intended to be carried out by a trained neurologist, and are prone to subjective rating and imprecise interpretation of patient's performance..

Application of Kinect-type sensor in acquisition of hand joint trajectories

Rad prikazuje jedan pristup u merenju 3D pozicija karakterističnih zglobova ljudske šake korišćenjem senzora tipa Kinect, kao jeftine alternative skupim vizuelnim sistemima. Navedene su osnovne karakteristike ovog senzora i ukratko je opisan kalibracioni model i način integracije parametara kalibracije u proces izračunavanja 3D koordinata izabranih tačaka u prostoru. Analizirana je ostvarena tačnost u merenju 3D koordinata zglobova duž primera trajektorije hvatanja cilindra. Analiza je sprovedena posmatranjem devijacija izmerenih dužina pojedinih segmenata prstiju. Uočene su značajne razlike grešaka merenja u zavisnosti od pozicije zgloba\ud na šaci.This paper presents one approach for measurement of 3D positions of characteristic joints of human hand using a Kinect-type sensor as a low-cost alternative to expensive visual systems. Main properties of the sensor are indicated and a brief description of the calibration model and integration of calibration parameters in the process of calculating the 3D coordinates of selected points in space is given. Achieved accuracy in measurement of 3D coordinates of joints along sample cylinder grasping trajectory was analysed. The analysis was conducted by observing deviations in measured lengths of finger segments. Significant differences in measurement errors were found for different joints, depending on their position on the hand

3D data acquisition and practical calibration of Microsoft Kinect camera

The paper presents introductory results on analyzing effectiveness of using Kinect camera in realization of robotic manipulation tasks. Two available communication interfaces, Kinect for Windows and OpenNI are considered and compared from the standpoint of 3D data acquisition. A practical method for calibration of Kinect camera is implemented. The method involves identification of internal parameters of Kinect RGB and depth camera and external parametars in the form of relative transformation between the cameras.U radu su prikazani uvodni rezultati analize efikasnosti upotrebe Kinect kamere u realizaciji robotskih zadataka koji se odnose na manipulaciju. Razmotreni su i uporeðeni softverski paketi Kinect for Windows i OpenNI sa stanovišta 3D akvizicije podataka. Implementirana je praktična metoda za kalibraciju Kinect kamere. Metoda uključuje identifikaciju unutrašnjih parametara RGB i dubinske kamere, kao i spoljašnjih parametara u vidu relativne transformacije između kamera

Development of Modular Compliant Anthropomorphic Robot Hand

The chapter presents the development of a modular compliant robotic hand characterized by the anthropomorphic structure and functionality. The prototype is made based on experience in development of contemporary advanced artificial hands and taking into account the complementary aspects of human bio-mechanics. The robot hand developed in the Institute Mihailo Pupin is called “Pupin hand”. The Pupin hand is developed for research purposes as well as for implementation with service and medical robot devices as an advance robot end-effector. Mechanical design, system identification, modeling and simulation and acquisition of the biological skill of grasping adopted from humans are considered in the chapter. Mechanical structure of the tendon-driven, multi-finger, 23 degrees of freedom compliant robot hand is presented in the chapter. Model of the hand is represented by corresponding multi-body rigid system with the complementary structural elasticity inserted between the particular finger modules. Some characteristic simulation results are given in the chapter in order to validate the chosen design concept. For the purpose of motion capture of human grasping skill, an appropriate experimental setup is prepared. It includes an infrared Kinect camera that combines visual and depth information about objects from the environment. The aim of using the Kinect sensor is to acquire human grasping skill and to map this natural motion to the robotic device. The novelties of the robot hand prototyping beyond to the state-of-the-art are stressed out in the conclusion

Quantitative Assessment of the Arm/Hand Movements in Parkinson’s Disease Using a Wireless Armband Device

We present an approach for quantitative assessment of the arm/hand movements in patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD), from sensor data acquired with a wearable, wireless armband device (Myo sensor). We propose new Movement Performance Indicators that can be adopted by practitioners for the quantitative evaluation of motor performance and support their clinical evaluations. In addition, specific Movement Performance Indicators can indicate the presence of the bradykinesia symptom. The study includes seventeen PD patients and sixteen age-matched controls. A set of representative arm/hand movements is defined under the supervision of movement disorder specialist. In order to assist the evaluations, and for progress monitoring purposes, as well as for assessing the amount of bradykinesia in PD, a total set of 84 Movement Performance Indicators are computed from the sensor readings. Subsequently, we investigate whether wireless armband device, with the use of the proposed Movement Performance Indicators can be utilized: (1) for objective and precise quantitative evaluation of the arm/hand movements of Parkinson’s patients, (2) for assessment of the bradykinesia motor symptom, and (3) as an adequate low-cost alternative for the sensor glove. We conducted extensive analysis of proposed Movement Performance Indicators and results are indicating following clinically relevant characteristics: (i) adequate reliability as measured by ICC; (ii) high accuracy in discrimination between the patients and controls, and between the disease stages (support to disease diagnosis and progress monitoring, respectively); (iii) substantial difference in comparison between the left-hand and the right-hand movements across controls and patients, as well as between disease stage groups; (iv) statistically significant correlation with clinical scales (tapping test and UPDRS-III Motor Score); and (v) quantitative evaluation of bradykinesia symptom. Results suggest that the proposed approach has a potential to be adopted by physicians, to afford them with quantitative, objective and precise methods and data during clinical evaluations and support the assessment of bradykinesia

Influence of magnetic behavior of cathodic surface on deuterium separation factor

The influence of magnetic properties of cathodes on the separation factor and hydrogen evolution process was investigated. The cathodes used in standard electrolyte and in activated one were pure Ni and the electrocatalytic coatings with definite compositions of transition metals on Ni substrate. The obtained correlations between electrocatalytic activity and magnetic properties of the investigated cathode materials issue from their d-electronic configuration. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

A Vision-Based System for Movement Analysis in Medical Applications: The Example of Parkinson Disease

We present a vision-based approach for analyzing a Parkinson patient's movements during rehabilitation treatments. We describe therapeutic movements using relevant quantitative measurements, which can be applied both for diagnosis and monitoring of the disease progress. Since our long-term goal is to develop an affordable and portable system, suitable for home usage, we use the Kinect device for data acquisition. All recorded exercises are approved by neurologists and therapists and designed to examine the presence of characteristic symptoms caused by neurological disorders. In this study, we focus on Parkinson's patients in the early stages of the disease. Our approach underlines relevant rehabilitation measurements and allows to determine which ones are more informative for separating healthy from non-healthy subjects. Finally, we propose the symmetry ratio, well known in motor control, as a novel feature that can be extracted from rehabilitation exercises and used in the decision-making (diagnosis support) and monitoring procedures

Combined Vision and Wearable Sensors-based System for Movement Analysis in Rehabilitation

Background: Traditional rehabilitation sessions are often a slow, tedious, disempowering and non-motivational process, supported by clinical assessment tools, i.e. evaluation scales that are prone to subjective rating and imprecise interpretation of patient's performance. Poor patient motivation and insufficient accuracy are thus critical factors that can be improved by new sensing/processing technologies. Objectives: We aim to develop a portable and affordable system, suitable for home re-habilitation, which combines vision-based and wearable sensors. We introduce a novel approach for examining and characterizing the rehabilitation movements, using quantitative descriptors. We propose new Movement Performance Indicators (MPIs) that are extracted directly from sensor data and quantify the symmetry, velocity, and acceleration of the movement of different body/hand parts, and that can potentially be used by therapists for diagnosis and progress assessment. Methods: First, a set of rehabilitation exercises is defined, with the supervision of neurologists and therapists for the specific case of Parkinson's disease. It comprises full-body movements measured with a Kinect device and fine hand movements, acquired with a data glove. Then, the sensor data is used to compute 25 Movement Performance Indicators, to assist the diagnosis and progress monitoring (assessing the disease stage) in Parkinson's disease. A kinematic hand model is developed for data verification and as an additional resource for extracting supplementary movement information. Results: Our results show that the proposed Movement Performance Indicators are relevant for the Parkinson's disease assessment. This is further confirmed by correlation of the proposed indicators with clinical tapping test and UPDRS clinical scale. Classification results showed the potential of these indicators to discriminate between the patients and controls, as well as between the stages that characterize the evolution of the disease. Conclusions: The proposed sensor system, along with the developed approach for rehabilitation movement analysis have a significant potential to support and advance traditional rehabilitation therapy. The main impact of our work is two-fold: (i) the proposition of an approach for supporting the therapists during the diagnosis and monitoring evaluations by reducing subjectivity and imprecision, and (ii) offering the possibility of the system to be used at home for rehabilitation exercises in between sessions with doctors and therapists

Slow release tramadol in the initial treatment of moderate to severe cancer pain: Open, multicentric clinical trial

Introduction The analgesic efficacy of slow release tramadol in the titration phase of treatment of moderate to severe cancer pain has been demonstrated in clinical trials. Objective The aim of the study was to evaluate this treatment strategy in routine daily practice. Method This was a prospective, non-randomized, open, multicentric, phase IV two-week study. Each patient received 100 mg slow release tramadol orally, twice a day. Patients were allowed to take 20 drops (50 mg) of tramadol as needed for breakthrough pain. The pain intensity and tramadol tolerability were recorded every day for the previous 24 hours, in the first week and at the end of the study. Pain relief and the impact of pain on sleep were evaluated on the 8th and 15th day. Results The study included 46 patients with metastatic malignant disease. The total of 46 patients completed the first week of treatment, and 33 patients completed the whole study. At the end of study, the intensity of pain was significantly reduced from 6.75 to 3.03 on numerical scale (NS 0-10) (p<0.001). At the end of study, 60.6% of patients graded the severity of pain as maximally mild on a verbal scale. The pain relief significantly improved from 25.75 to 71.81 on a numerical scale (NS 0-100) (p<0.001). The impact of pain on sleep was significantly reduced from 51.51% to 10.61% on a numerical scale (NS 0-100) (p<0.001). There were no differences in the drowsiness/confusion, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, loss of appetite and constipation, from the beginning to the end of treatment. Conclusion Tramadol slow release was effective in the titration phase of treatment of moderate to severe cancer pain with good tolerability