Remote diagnostics and monitoring using microwave technique – improving healthcare in rural areas and in exceptional situations

Interests towards wireless portable medical diagnostics and monitoring systems, which could be used outside hospital e.g. during pandemic or catastrophic situations, have increased recently. Additionally, portable monitoring solutions could partially address widely recognized challenges related to healthcare equality in rural areas. Microwave based sensing has recently been recognized as emerging technology for portable medical monitoring and diagnostics devices since they may enable development of safe, reliable, and low-cost solutions for future’s telemedicine. The aim of this paper is to present the basic idea of microwave -based medical monitoring and discuss its possibilities, advantages, and challenges. In particular, we show that microwaves could be exploited in three pre-diagnostics applications: 1) Detection of abnormalities in the brain with a helmet type of monitoring device, 2) Detection of breast cancer with a self-monitoring vest, 3) Detection of blood clots in leg with an antenna band. The technique is based on detecting differences in radio channel responses caused by the abnormalities having different dielectric properties than the surrounding tissues. Our results of realistic simulations and experimental measurements show that even small-sized abnormalities, e.g. tumors, can change channel characteristics in detectable level

Photoacoustic imaging in biomedicine and life sciences

Photo-acoustic imaging, also known as opto-acoustic imaging, has become a widely popular modality for biomedical applications. This hybrid technique possesses the advantages of high optical contrast and high ultrasonic resolution. Due to the distinct optical absorption properties of tissue compartments and main chromophores, photo-acoustics is able to non-invasively observe structural and functional variations within biological tissues including oxygenation and deoxygenation, blood vessels and spatial melanin distribution. The detection of acoustic waves produced by a pulsed laser source yields a high scaling range, from organ level photo-acoustic tomography to sub-cellular or even molecular imaging. This review discusses significant novel technical solutions utilising photo-acoustics and their applications in the fields of biomedicine and life sciences

Photoacoustic Imaging in Biomedicine and Life Sciences

Photo-acoustic imaging, also known as opto-acoustic imaging, has become a widely popular modality for biomedical applications. This hybrid technique possesses the advantages of high optical contrast and high ultrasonic resolution. Due to the distinct optical absorption properties of tissue compartments and main chromophores, photo-acoustics is able to non-invasively observe structural and functional variations within biological tissues including oxygenation and deoxygenation, blood vessels and spatial melanin distribution. The detection of acoustic waves produced by a pulsed laser source yields a high scaling range, from organ level photo-acoustic tomography to sub-cellular or even molecular imaging. This review discusses significant novel technical solutions utilising photo-acoustics and their applications in the fields of biomedicine and life sciences

Measurement of Cerebral Circulation in Human

In this chapter, we review state-of-the-art non-invasive techniques to monitor and study cerebral circulation in humans. The measurement methods can be divided into two categories: direct and indirect methods. Direct methods are mostly based on using contrast agents delivered to blood circulation. Clinically used direct methods include single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), positron emission tomography (PET), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with contrast agents, xenon computed tomography (CT), and arterial spin labeling (ASL) MRI. Indirect techniques are based on measuring physiological parameters reflecting cerebral perfusion. The most commonly used indirect methods are near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS), transcranial Doppler ultrasound (TCD), and phase-contrast MRI. In recent years, few more techniques have been intensively developed, such as diffuse correlation spectroscopy (DCS) and microwave-based techniques, which are still emerging as methods for cerebral circulation monitoring. In addition, methods combining different modalities are discussed and, as a summary, the presented techniques and their benefits for cerebral circulation will be compared

Human Heart Pulse Wave Responses Measured Simultaneously at Several Sensor Placements by Two MR-Compatible Fibre Optic Methods

This paper presents experimental measurements conducted using two noninvasive fibre optic methods for detecting heart pulse waves in the human body. Both methods can be used in conjunction with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). For comparison, the paper also performs an MRI-compatible electrocardiogram (ECG) measurement. By the simultaneous use of different measurement methods, the propagation of pressure waves generated by each heart pulse can be sensed extensively in different areas of the human body and at different depths, for example, on the chest and forehead and at the fingertip. An accurate determination of a pulse wave allows calculating the pulse transit time (PTT) of a particular heart pulse in different parts of the human body. This result can then be used to estimate the pulse wave velocity of blood flow in different places. Both measurement methods are realized using magnetic resonance-compatible fibres, which makes the methods applicable to the MRI environment. One of the developed sensors is an extraordinary accelerometer sensor, while the other one is a more common sensor based on photoplethysmography. All measurements, involving several test patients, were performed both inside and outside an MRI room. Measurements inside the MRI room were conducted using a 3-Tesla strength closed MRI scanner in the Department of Diagnostic Radiology at the Oulu University Hospital

Prototype of an opto-capacitive probe for non-invasive sensing cerebrospinal fluid circulation

In brain studies, the function of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) awakes growing interest, particularly related to studies of the glymphatic system in the brain, which is connected with the complex system of lymphatic vessels responsible for cleaning the tissues. The CSF is a clear, colourless liquid including water (H2O) approximately with a concentration of 99 %. In addition, it contains electrolytes, amino acids, glucose, and other small molecules found in plasma. The CSF acts as a cushion behind the skull, providing basic mechanical as well as immunological protection to the brain. Disturbances of the CSF circulation have been linked to several brain related medical disorders, such as dementia. Our goal is to develop an in vivo method for the non-invasive measurement of cerebral blood flow and CSF circulation by exploiting optical and capacitive sensing techniques simultaneously. We introduce a prototype of a wearable probe that is aimed to be used for long-term brain monitoring purposes, especially focusing on studies of the glymphatic system. In this method, changes in cerebral blood flow, particularly oxy- and deoxyhaemoglobin, are measured simultaneously and analysed with the response gathered by the capacitive sensor in order to distinct the dynamics of the CSF circulation behind the skull. Presented prototype probe is tested by measuring liquid flows inside phantoms mimicking the CSF circulation

Rajapintojen kehitys Sigfox-järjestelmäpiirille

Sigfox-verkko on yksi monesta esineiden internetin laitteille kehitetyistä verkoista. Verkko toimii lisensoimattomilla taajuuksilla ja kilpailee muiden samankaltaisten verkkojen, kuten LoRan ja Weightlessin, kanssa. Sigfox-verkkoa operoi Suomessa Connected Finland, jonka ylläpitämään verkkoon tässä projektissa kehitetty järjestelmäpiiri on tarkoitus yhdistää. Työn tavoitteena on kehittää tarvittavat rajapinnat uudelle Sigfox-järjestelmäpiirille. Vaadittuja toiminnollisuuksia ovat UART-kommunikaatio sekä GPIO-porttien hallinta. RCP Softwaren tuoteprototyypin toiminnollisuus on tarkoitus toistaa uudella Sigfox-piirillä käyttäen kehitettyjä rajapintoja. Tavoitteena on myös tutustua testivetoiseeen kehitykseen, hyödyntää sitä rajapintojen kehityksessä sekä pohtia sen tuomia hyötyjä ja haittoja sulautettujen ohjelmistojen kehityksessä. Opinnäytetyön kehitysprojektissa luotiin rajapinnat RCP Softwaren omaan suunnitteluun perustuvalle Sigfox-järjestelmäpiirille. Rajapinnat kehitettiin UARTille, GPIO:lle sekä UARTin kautta vastaanotettaville komennoille. Projektin työstämisen aikana tutustuttiin testivetoisen kehityksen perusteisiin. Testivetoinen kehitys on ohjelmistonkehitysmuoto, jossa testitapaukset luodaan ennen ohjelmakoodia. Testivetoinen kehitys edistää ohjelmamoduulien keskinäistä riippumattomuutta, tuo varmuuden ohjelmakokonaisuuden toiminnasta ja toimii selkeänä dokumentaationa. Testivetoista kehitystä sovellettiin projektityön komentorajapinnan kehityksessä. Projektin tuotoksena syntyi kolme toisistaan riippumatonta rajapintamoduulia. UART-rajapinta toteuttaa UART-viestien lähettämisen ja vastaanottamisen. GPIO-rajapinnalla pystytään hallitsemaan GPIO-portteja digitaalisina tuloina ja lähtöinä sekä asettamaan porteille keskeytyksiä. Komentorajapinta tulkitsee sille syötetyt komennot. Komennot määriteltiin vastaamaan toimeksiantajayrityksen tarpeita. Rajapinnat toteutettiin C-kielellä. Projektityön tavoitteet täyttyivät lähes täysin. Kehitystyön aikana kohdattiin muutamia merkittäviä ongelmia, jotka venyttivät aikataulua. Ongelmat onnistuttiin selvittämään, mutta aikataulun venyttyä muutama ominaisuus jäi ajan puutteen vuoksi kehittämättä. Testivetoisen kehityksen todettiin olevan tehokas tapa ohjelmiston kehityksessä. Testivetoista kehitystä on mahdollista hyödyntää sulautettujen ohjelmistojen kehityksessä, kun tiedetään kohdelaitteiston tuomat rajoitukset.The Sigfox network is one of the many networks developed for IoT devices. The network uses unlicensed frequencies and competes with similar technologies, such as LoRa and Weightless. The Sigfox network in Finland is operated by Connected Finland. The goal of the thesis is to develop the necessary interfaces for a new Sigfox module. The required functionalities include UART communication and GPIO management. The goal is also to get acquainted with test-driven development, to utilize it in the development of the interfaces, and to discuss its benefits and disadvantages in embedded software development. In this thesis, interfaces were developed for a Sigfox module based on RCP Software design. Interfaces for UART communication, GPIO functionality and commands received and sent via UART were developed. During the development work for this thesis, the basics of test driven development were studied. Test driven development is a software development method where test cases are created before the code is written. Test driven development boosts software decoupling, developer confidence and works as clear documentation for the project. Test driven development was applied to the development of the command interface. As a result, three decoupled interface modules were created. The UART interface implements the sending and receiving of UART messages. With the GPIO interface GPIO ports can be used as digital inputs or outputs and interrupts can be assigned for the ports. The command interface interprets given commands. Commands were defined to correspond the needs of the client company. The interfaces were implemented in the C language. The goals for the project were achieved almost completely. During the development, a few major problems were encountered which delayed the schedule. The problems were solved but some functionalities were not implemented due to lack of time. Test driven development was found to be an effective way of developing software. Test driven development can be utilized in the development of embedded software when the restrictions of target hardware are known

ANALYSING THE SUBGROUP STRUCTURES IN AN INTERNATIONAL VIRTUAL TEAM

Due to the globalization multinational companies (MNCs) are forming their operations to match the global markets. This means that more teams are starting to use virtual team structures to ensure that they have the right resources in use, at the correct place when needed. These teams can vary between project groups that have only few persons to larger teams that include tens of employees. When a larger team operates in a virtual environment it is likely that subgroups are formed inside the teams either by the management or by the employees based on their personal preferences. This creates additional challenges compared to the regular face to face team and these challenges are investigated further in this research. To investigate these challenges this thesis addresses one main research question with two main subquestions and one questions regarding the managerial implications. The main question investigates how the subgroups are affecting the team that operates in a virtual form. Sub-questions are then focusing on the benefits and disadvantages that these formations can have to the team as well as the supporting and dismantling factors that are affecting the operations with these formations at the target team. The managerial implications are then built on the last research question that aims to investigate how these formations can be used to the teams advantage. Qualitative research methods with the semi-structured interview and action research were used in order to find out what are the theoretically acclaimed factors that affect the target team and then further investigate how the effects of these factors can be seen in a daily work. Eventually, the main focus was put on teams, virtual teams and subgroup structures and how they affect the communication, tasks, roles, knowledge of the workload and the goals and vision. All interviewees are working at the target organization and have a deep knowledge of the operations in a global MNC using both face to face and virtual team formation. Data was analysed through the research questions dividing the results into main segments. The results indicate that while the target team still has challenges in their operations and the virtual environment has additional factors that MNC must consider while using the virtual team formations, the main influencing factor is still the employees.fi=Opinnäytetyö kokotekstinä PDF-muodossa.|en=Thesis fulltext in PDF format.|sv=Lärdomsprov tillgängligt som fulltext i PDF-format

Multimodal biomedical measurement methods to study brain functions simultaneously with functional magnetic resonance imaging

Abstract Multimodal measurements are increasingly being employed in the study of human physiology. Brain studies in particular can draw advantage of simultaneous measurements using different modalities to analyse correlations, mechanisms and relationships of physiological signals and their dynamics in relation to brain functions. Moreover, multimodal measurements help to identify components of physiological dynamics generated specifically by the brain. This thesis summarizes the study, design and development of non-invasive medical instruments that can be utilized in conjunction with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). A key challenge in the development of measurement methods is posed by the extraordinary requirements that the MRI environment poses - all materials need to be MR-compatible and the selected instruments and devices must not be affected by the strong magnetic field generated by the MRI scanner nor the MRI by the instruments placed within its scanning volume. The presented methods allow simultaneous continuous measurement of heart rate (HR) and metabolism from the brain cortex as well as pulse wave velocity (PWV) and blood pressure measurements in synchrony with electroencephalography (EEG) and MRI. Furthermore, the thesis explored the reliability and accuracy of the responses gathered by the developed instruments and, using new experimental methods, estimated the propagation of near-infrared light in the human brain. The goal of the novel multimodal measurement environment is to provide more extensive tools for medical researchers, neurologists in particular, to acquire accurate information on the function of the brain and the human body. Measurements have been performed on more than 70 persons using the presented multimodal setup to study such factors as the correlation between blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) data and low-frequency oscillations (LFOs) during the resting state.Tiivistelmä Multimodaalisia kuvantamismenetelmiä käytetään enenevässä määrin ihmisen fysiologian ja elintoimintojen tutkimisessa. Erityisesti aivotutkimuksessa samanaikaisesti useammalla modaliteetilla mittaaminen mahdollistaa erilaisten fysiologisten mekanismien ja niiden korrelaatioiden tutkimisen kehon ja aivotoimintojen välillä. Lisäksi multimodaaliset mittaukset auttavat yksilöimään fysiologiset komponentit toisistaan ja identifioimaan aivojen tuottamia fysiologisia signaaleja. Tämä väitöskirja kokoaa tutkimustyön sekä laite- ja instrumentointisuunnittelun ja sen kehittämistyön ei-invasiivisesti toteutettujen lääketieteen mittausmenetelmien käyttämiseksi magneettikuvauksen aikana. Erityishaasteena työssä on ollut magneettikuvausympäristö, joka asettaa erityisvaatimuksia mm. mittalaitteissa käytettäville materiaaleille sekä laitteiden häiriönsiedolle magneettikuvauslaitteen aiheuttaman voimakkaan magneettikentän takia. Kehitettävät mittausmenetelmät eivät myöskään saa aiheuttaa häiriöitä magneettikuvauslaitteen tuottamalle kuvainformaatiolle. Väitöskirjassa esitettävät mittausmenetelmät tekevät mahdolliseksi mitata magneettikuvausympäristössä ihmisen sydämen sykettä, veren virtauksen kulkunopeutta ja verenpaineen vaihteluja sekä aivokuoren metaboliaa - kaikki synkronissa aivosähkökäyrän mittaamisen ja magneettikuvantamisen kanssa. Lisäksi väitöskirjassa tutkitaan kehitettyjen mittausmenetelmien antamaa mittaustarkkuutta sekä arvioidaan lähi-infrapunavalon etenemistä ihmisen aivoissa uudenlaisella menetelmällä. Kehitetyllä multimodaalisella mittausympäristöllä on tavoitteena antaa lääketieteen alan tutkijoille, erityisesti neurologeille, käyttöön mittausmenetelmiä, joiden avulla voidaan tutkia ihmisen aivojen ja kehon välisiä toimintoja aiempaa kattavammin. Laitekokonaisuudella on tutkittu jo yli 70:tä henkilöä. Näissä mittauksissa on tutkittu mm. veren happitasojen hitaita vaihteluja ihmisen aivojen ollessa lepotilassa, ns. resting state -tilassa

The Crowdsourcing Delphi : Combining the Delphi Methodology and Crowdsourcing Techniques

In this study three strong methodological approaches are combined including The Delphi methodology, the Crowdsourcing Approach and the Boston Consulting Matric Approach, while proposing an extension to conventional Delphi methodology, which we name as the Crowdsourcing Delphi. This new approach is better and probably more efficient version of conventional tool package of the Delphi methodology. Thus, the contribution adds new understanding to modern innovation management based on expert evaluations, and in some special consumer driven cases, on laymen evaluations. The study will have many practical implications for the use of crowdsourcing methodology. All the key stakeholders of the Quartet Helix (university researchers, corporations, the government and customers), which want to utilize modern crowdsourcing techniques, could benefit from this study