Wearable Sensors and Smart Devices to Monitor Rehabilitation Parameters and Sports Performance: An Overview

A quantitative evaluation of kinetic parameters, the joint’s range of motion, heart rate, and breathing rate, can be employed in sports performance tracking and rehabilitation monitoring following injuries or surgical operations. However, many of the current detection systems are expensive and designed for clinical use, requiring the presence of a physician and medical staff to assist users in the device’s positioning and measurements. The goal of wearable sensors is to overcome the limitations of current devices, enabling the acquisition of a user’s vital signs directly from the body in an accurate and non–invasive way. In sports activities, wearable sensors allow athletes to monitor performance and body movements objectively, going beyond the coach’s subjective evaluation limits. The main goal of this review paper is to provide a comprehensive overview of wearable technologies and sensing systems to detect and monitor the physiological parameters of patients during post–operative rehabilitation and athletes’ training, and to present evidence that supports the efficacy of this technology for healthcare applications. First, a classification of the human physiological parameters acquired from the human body by sensors attached to sensitive skin locations or worn as a part of garments is introduced, carrying important feedback on the user’s health status. Then, a detailed description of the electromechanical transduction mechanisms allows a comparison of the technologies used in wearable applications to monitor sports and rehabilitation activities. This paves the way for an analysis of wearable technologies, providing a comprehensive comparison of the current state of the art of available sensors and systems. Comparative and statistical analyses are provided to point out useful insights for defining the best technologies and solutions for monitoring body movements. Lastly, the presented review is compared with similar ones reported in the literature to highlight its strengths and novelties

Wearable piezoelectric mass sensor based on pH sensitive hydrogels for sweat pH monitoring

Colorimetric and electrochemical (bio)sensors are commonly employed in wearable platforms for sweat monitoring; nevertheless, they suffer from low stability of the sensitive element. In contrast, mass-(bio)sensors are commonly used for analyte detection at laboratory level only, due to their rigidity. To overcome these limitations, a flexible mass-(bio)sensor for sweat pH sensing is proposed. The device exploits the flexibility of piezoelectric AlN membranes fabricated on a polyimide substrate combined to the sensitive properties of a pH responsive hydrogel based on PEG-DA/CEA molecules. A resonant frequency shift is recorded due to the hydrogel swelling/shrinking at several pH. Our device shows a responsivity of about 12 kHz/pH unit when measured in artificial sweat formulation in the pH range 3-8. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that hydrogel mass variations are sensed by a flexible resonator, fostering the development of a new class of compliant and wearable devices

Can the onset of orbital cancer be the result of a prosthetic eye?

Lexenteratio orbitae è un intervento deturpante che si pratica in caso di infezioni orbitarie non responsive a terapia medica e in caso di tumori benigni ricorrenti e tumori maligni che insorgono dalle palpebre (carcinoma basocellulare, carcinoma squamocellulare, melanoma maligno della congiuntiva), dalle ghiandole lacrimali (carcinoma adenoideo cistico) o dalle strutture circostanti. In casi estremamente rari luso di protesi oculari dopo lenucleazione può causare linsorgenza di tumori orbitari. In questo articolo riportiamo il caso di un uomo di 54 anni che è stato sottoposto ad enucleazione dellocchio sinistro in seguito a ricorrenti distacchi di retina e che ha sviluppato, solo 30 anni dopo, un carcinoma epidermoidale infiltrante a rapida crescita. Abbiamo esaminato gli articoli in letteratura per valutare la rarità di tale occorrenza, i tempi dinsorgenza in seguito allenucleazione, i trattamenti e i risultati. Il nostro caso illustra il trattamento della patologia ed enfatizza la necessità di un attento esame della cavità orbitaria e della protesi oculare per identificare anche le irregolarità e i primi danni sulla superficie orbitaria anche nei casi in cui lexenteratio orbitae è stata eseguita per patologie benigne. Il nostro caso dimostra che il follow-up a lungo termine è fondamentale perché il tumore può insorgere a lunga distanza dopo lenucleazione

A fast algorithm for subspace state-space system identification via exploitation of the displacement structure

Two recent approaches (Van Overschee, De Moor, N4SID, Automatica 30 (1) (1994) 75; Verhaegen, Int. J. Control 58(3) (1993) 555) in subspace identification problems require the computation of the R factor of the QR factorization of a block-Hankel matrix H, which, in general has a huge number of rows. Since the data are perturbed by noise, the involved matrix H is, in general, full rank. It is well known that, from a theoretical point of view. the R factor of the PR factorization of H is equivalent to the Cholesky factor of the correlation matrix HTH, apart from a multiplication by a sign matrix. In Sima (Proceedings Second NICONET Workshop, Paris-Versailles, December 3, 1999, p. 75), a fast Cholesky factorization of the correlation matrix, exploiting the block-Hankel structure of H, is described. In this paper we consider a fast algorithm to compute the R factor based on the generalized Schur algorithm. The proposed algorithm allows to handle the rank-deficient case. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.ANCH

Comparison of perioperative outcomes between standard laparoscopic and robot-assisted approach in patients with rectosigmoid endometriosis

Introduction: Robot-assisted laparoscopic surgery (RALS) has gained widespread application in several surgical specialties. Previous studies on the feasibility and safety of RALS vs standard laparoscopy (S-LPS) for rectosigmoid endometriosis are limited and reported conflicting data. This study aims to compare S-LPS and RALS in patients with rectosigmoid endometriosis in terms of perioperative surgical and clinical data. Material and methods: This is a multicentric, observational, prospective cohort study including 44 patients affected by rectosigmoid endometriosis referred to two tertiary referral centers for endometriosis from September 2018 to September 2019. Patients were divided into two groups: 22 patients underwent S-LPS, and 22 underwent RALS. Our primary outcome was to compare operative time (from skin incision to suture) between the two groups. Secondary outcomes included: operative room time (patient entry into operative room and patient out), estimated blood loss, laparotomic conversion rate, length of hospital stay, perioperative complications, and evaluation of endometriosis-related symptoms at 12-month follow up. Results: The two groups were comparable regarding preoperative and surgical data, except for higher rates of hysterectomies and bilateral uterosacral ligament removal procedures in the RALS group. Also after adjusting for these discrepancies, operative time was similar between S-LPS and RALS. Operative room time was statistically longer in the RALS group compared with that of S-LPS. No statistically significant difference was found concerning other study outcomes. Pain and bowel symptoms improved in both groups at 12-month follow up. Conclusions: If performed by expert teams, RALS provides similar perioperative outcomes compared with S-LPS in rectosigmoid endometriosis surgical treatment, except for longer operative room time

Lipopolysaccharide-induced leptin release is neurally controlled

Our hypothesis is that leptin release is controlled neurohormonally. Conscious, male rats bearing indwelling, external, jugular catheters were injected with the test drug or 0.9% NaCl (saline), and blood samples were drawn thereafter to measure plasma leptin. Anesthesia decreased plasma leptin concentrations within 10 min to a minimum at 120 min, followed by a rebound at 360 min. Administration (i.v.) of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) increased plasma leptin to almost twice baseline by 120 min, and it remained on a plateau for 360 min, accompanied by increased adipocyte leptin mRNA. Anesthesia largely blunted the LPS-induced leptin release at 120 min. Isoproterenol (β-adrenergic agonist) failed to alter plasma leptin but reduced LPS-induced leptin release significantly. Propranolol (β-receptor antagonist) produced a significant increase in plasma leptin but had no effect on the response to LPS. Phentolamine (α-adrenergic receptor blocker) not only increased plasma leptin (P < 0.001), but also augmented the LPS-induced increase (P < 0.001). α-Bromoergocryptine (dopaminergic-2 receptor agonist) decreased plasma leptin (P < 0.01) and blunted the LPS-induced rise in plasma leptin release (P < 0.001). We conclude that leptin is at least in part controlled neurally because anesthesia decreased plasma leptin and blocked its response to LPS. The findings that phentolamine and propranolol increased plasma leptin concentrations suggest that leptin release is inhibited by the sympathetic nervous system mediated principally by α-adrenergic receptors because phentolamine, but not propranolol, augmented the response to LPS. Because α-bromoergocryptine decreased basal and LPS-induced leptin release, dopaminergic neurons may inhibit basal and LPS-induced leptin release by suppression of release of prolactin from the adenohypophysis

A bronze-tomato enriched diet affects the intestinal microbiome under homeostatic and inflammatory conditions

Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) are debilitating chronic inflammatory disorders that develop as a result of a defective immune response toward intestinal bacteria. Intestinal dysbiosis is associated with the onset of IBD and has been reported to persist even in patients in deep remission. We investigated the possibility of a dietary-induced switch to the gut microbiota composition using Winnie mice as a model of spontaneous ulcerative colitis and chow enriched with 1% Bronze tomato. We used the near isogenic tomato line strategy to investigate the effects of a diet enriched in polyphenols administered to mild but established chronic intestinal inflammation. The Bronze-enriched chow administered for two weeks was not able to produce any macroscopic effect on the IBD symptoms, although, at molecular level there was a significant induction of anti-inflammatory genes and intracellular staining of T cells revealed a mild decrease in IL17A and IFNγ production. Analysis of the microbial composition revealed that two weeks of Bronze enriched diet was sufficient to perturb the microbial composition of Winnie and control mice, suggesting that polyphenol-enriched diets may create unfavorable conditions for distinct bacterial species. In conclusion, dietary regimes enriched in polyphenols may efficiently support IBD remission affecting the intestinal dysbiosis

The Fetal Hypothalamus Has the Potential to Generate Cells with a Gonadotropin Releasing Hormone (GnRH) Phenotype

Neurospheres (NS) are colonies of neural stem and precursor cells capable of differentiating into the central nervous system (CNS) cell lineages upon appropriate culture conditions: neurons, and glial cells. NS were originally derived from the embryonic and adult mouse striatum subventricular zone. More recently, experimental evidence substantiated the isolation of NS from almost any region of the CNS, including the hypothalamus. Here we report a protocol that enables to generate large quantities of NS from both fetal and adult rat hypothalami. We found that either FGF-2 or EGF were capable of inducing NS formation from fetal hypothalamic cultures, but that only FGF-2 is effective in the adult cultures. The hypothalamic-derived NS are capable of differentiating into neurons and glial cells and most notably, as demonstrated by immunocytochemical detection with a specific anti-GnRH antibody, the fetal cultures contain cells that exhibit a GnRH phenotype upon differentiation. This in vitro model should be useful to study the molecular mechanisms involved in GnRH neuronal differentiation