Why Nonlinear Biomedical Physics?

The two goals of Nonlinear Biomedical Physics are: firstly to show how nonlinear methods can shed new light on biological phenomena and medical applications and secondly to bridge the technical, mathematical, and cultural divides between the physical disciplines where these methods are being developed and the audience for their use in the biological and medical sciences

Consciousness and its Measures: Joint Workshop for COST Actions NeuroMath and Consciousness

The main goals of COST Action NeuroMath are the same as those of the open access journal Nonlinear Biomedical Physics to show how new methods that are being developed in physical disciplines can shed new light on biological phenomena and their medical applications and to bridge the gaps between specialists in physics and biomedical specialists who use these methods in practice. Medical doctors and biologists rather avoid reading physical journals because the articles published there contain 'heavy' mathematics; on the other hand, physicists and engineers rarely read biological and medical journals because articles there are mostly descriptive. Both COST NeuroMath Action with its workshops and the journal Nonlinear Biomedical Physics were created to enable these groups to meet together. In this Supplement to Nonlinear Biomedical Physics we publish the best papers based on the presentations shown during the joint workshop for COST Actions NeuroMath (BM0601) and Consciousness (BM0605) 'Consciousness and its Measures' that took place in Limassol, Cyprus, 29 November 01 December, 2009. The papers present the newest interdisciplinary achievements in both applied and theoretical research on brain and consciousness. Transient process and synchrony of cortical activity [1], different patterns of cortical activity [2] and assessment of different conscious states [3] are presented. Neurodynamics is studied based on fMRI [4] and on high-resolution EEG signals [5]. Mutual Information is used to study yoking of eyes during saccadic movements [6] and MEG around saccades is analyzed for non-invasive characterization of the human eye fields [7]. Parameter selection for cortical potential imaging [8], and classification of ADHD patients based on independent ERP components [9] are discussed. Language processing by human brain using fMRI [10] and the influence of noise due to electromagnetic interference on processing of visual information [11] are studied. We thank the Authors and the Reviewers for the great job they all have done. We also thank Dr. Kalliopi Kostelidou, Science Officer, BMBS Domain, COST Office, Brussels, and Isobel Peters, Senior Project Manager as well as The Independent Editorial Production Team of BioMed Central, London, for their invaluable assistance in publishing this Supplement to Nonlinear Biomedical Physics

Some Computational Aspects of the Brain Computer Interfaces Based on Inner Music

We discuss the BCI based on inner tones and inner music. We had some success in the detection of inner tones, the imagined tones which are not sung aloud. Rather easily imagined and controlled, they offer a set of states usable for BCI, with high information capacity and high transfer rates. Imagination of sounds or musical tunes could provide a multicommand language for BCI, as if using the natural language. Moreover, this approach could be used to test musical abilities. Such BCI interface could be superior when there is a need for a broader command language. Some computational estimates and unresolved difficulties are presented

Simple fractal method of assessment of histological images for application in medical diagnostics

We propose new method of assessment of histological images for medical diagnostics. 2-D image is preprocessed to form 1-D landscapes or 1-D signature of the image contour and then their complexity is analyzed using Higuchi's fractal dimension method. The method may have broad medical application, from choosing implant materials to differentiation between benign masses and malignant breast tumors

From conformons to human brains: an informal overview of nonlinear dynamics and its applications in biomedicine

Methods of contemporary physics are increasingly important for biomedical research but, for a multitude of diverse reasons, most practitioners of biomedicine lack access to a comprehensive knowledge of these modern methodologies. This paper is an attempt to describe nonlinear dynamics and its methods in a way that could be read and understood by biomedical professionals who usually are not trained in advanced mathematics. After an overview of basic concepts and vocabulary of nonlinear dynamics, deterministic chaos, and fractals, application of nonlinear methods of biosignal analysis is discussed. In particular, five case studies are presented: 1. Monitoring the depth of anaesthesia and of sedation; 2. Bright Light Therapy and Seasonal Affective Disorder; 3. Analysis of posturographic signals; 4. Evoked EEG and photo-stimulation; 5. Influence of electromagnetic fields generated by cellular phones

Everything you wanted to ask about EEG but were afraid to get the right answer

We answer several important questions concerning EEG. We also shortly discuss importance of nonlinear methods of contemporary physics in EEG analysis. Basic definitions and explanation of fundamental concepts may be found in my previous publications in NBP

Econobiophysics - game of choosing. Model of selection or election process with diverse accessible information

We propose several models applicable to both selection and election processes when each selecting or electing subject has access to different information about the objects to choose from. We wrote special software to simulate these processes. We consider both the cases when the environment is neutral (natural process) as well as when the environment is involved (controlled process)

Higuchi Fractal Dimension of Heart Rate Variability During Percutaneous Auricular Vagus Nerve Stimulation in Healthy and Diabetic Subjects

Analysis of heart rate variability (HRV) can be applied to assess the autonomic nervous system (ANS) sympathetic and parasympathetic activity. Since living systems are non-linear, evaluation of ANS activity is difficult by means of linear methods. We propose to apply the Higuchi fractal dimension (HFD) method for assessment of ANS activity. HFD measures complexity of the HRV signal. We analyzed 45 RR time series of 84 min duration each from nine healthy and five diabetic subjects with clinically confirmed long-term diabetes mellitus type II and with diabetic foot ulcer lasting more than 6 weeks. Based on HRV time series complexity analysis we have shown that HFD: (1) discriminates healthy subjects from patients with diabetes mellitus type II; (2) assesses the impact of percutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation (pVNS) on ANS activity in normal and diabetic conditions. Thus, HFD may be used during pVNS treatment, to provide stimulation feedback for on-line regulation of therapy in a fast and robust way