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Preliminary results of homomorphic deconvolution application to surface EMG signals during walking
(2021)
Homomorphic deconvolution is applied to sEMG signals recorded during walking. Gastrocnemius lateralis and tibialis anterior signals were acquired according to SENIAM recommendation. MUAP parameters like amplitude and scale were estimated, whilst the MUAP shape parameter was fixed. This features a useful time-frequency representation of sEMG signal. Estimation of scale MUAP parameter was verified extracting the mean frequency of filtered EMG signal, extracted from the scale parameter estimated with two different MUAP shape values.
The present work proposes the use of modern ICT technologies such as smartphones, NFCs, internet, and web technologies, to help patients in carrying out their therapies. The implemented system provides a calendar with a reminder of the assumptions, ensures the drug identification through NFC, allows remote assistance from healthcare staff and family members to check and manage the therapy in real-time. The system also provides centralized information on the patient's therapeutic situation, helpful in choosing new compatible therapies.
Healthy sleep is required for sufficient restoration of the human body and brain. Therefore, in the case of sleep disorders, appropriate therapy should be applied timely, which requires a prompt diagnosis. Traditionally, a sleep diary is a part of diagnosis and therapy monitoring for some sleep disorders, such as cognitive behaviour therapy for insomnia. To automatise sleep monitoring and make it more comfortable for users, substituting a sleep diary with a smartwatch measurement could be considered. With the aim of providing accurate results, a study with a total of 30 night recordings was conducted. Objective sleep measurement with a Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 was compared with a subjective approach (sleep diary), evaluating the four relevant sleep characteristics: time of getting asleep, wake up time, sleep efficiency (SE), and total sleep time (TST). The performed analysis has demonstrated that the median difference between both measurement approaches was equal to 7 and 3 minutes for a time of getting asleep and wake up time correspondingly, which allows substituting a subjective measurement with a smartwatch. The SE was determined with a median difference between the two measurement methods of 5.22%. This result also implicates a possibility of substitution. Some single recordings have indicated a higher variance between the two approaches. Therefore, the conclusion can be made that a substitution provides reliable results primarily in the case of long-term monitoring. The results of the evaluation of the TST measurement do not allow to recommend substitution of the measurement method.
Normal breathing during sleep is essential for people’s health and well-being. Therefore, it is crucial to diagnose apnoea events at an early stage and apply appropriate therapy. Detection of sleep apnoea is a central goal of the system design described in this article. To develop a correctly functioning system, it is first necessary to define the requirements outlined in this manuscript clearly. Furthermore, the selection of appropriate technology for the measurement of respiration is of great importance. Therefore, after performing initial literature research, we have analysed in detail three different methods and made a selection of a proper one according to determined requirements. After considering all the advantages and disadvantages of the three approaches, we decided to use the impedance measurement-based one. As a next step, an initial conceptual design of the algorithm for detecting apnoea events was created. As a result, we developed an activity diagram on which the main system components and data flows are visually represented.
Healthy sleep is one of the prerequisites for a good human body and brain condition, including general well-being. Unfortunately, there are several sleep disorders that can negatively affect this. One of the most common is sleep apnoea, in which breathing is impaired. Studies have shown that this disorder often remains undiagnosed. To avoid this, developing a system that can be widely used in a home environment to detect apnoea and monitor the changes once therapy has been initiated is essential. The conceptualisation of such a system is the main aim of this research. After a thorough analysis of the available literature and state of the art in this area of knowledge, a concept of the system was created, which includes the following main components: data acquisition (including two parts), storage of the data, apnoea detection algorithm, user and device management, data visualisation. The modules are interchangeable, and interfaces have been defined for data transfer, most of which operate using the MQTT protocol. System diagrams and detailed component descriptions, including signal requirements and visualisation mockups, have also been developed. The system's design includes the necessary concepts for the implementation and can be realised in a prototype in the next phase.
Comparison of sleep characteristics measurements: a case study with a population aged 65 and above
(2020)
Good sleep is crucial for a healthy life of every person. Unfortunately, its quality often decreases with aging. A common approach to measuring the sleep characteristics is based on interviews with the subjects or letting them fill in a daily questionnaire and afterward evaluating the obtained data. However, this method has time and personal costs for the interviewer and evaluator of responses. Therefore, it would be important to execute the collection and evaluation of sleep characteristics automatically. To do that, it is necessary to investigate the level of agreement between measurements performed in a traditional way using questionnaires and measurements obtained using electronic monitoring devices. The study presented in this manuscript performs this investigation, comparing such sleep characteristics as "time going to bed", "total time in bed", "total sleep time" and "sleep efficiency". A total number of 106 night records of elderly persons (aged 65+) were analyzed. The results achieved so far reveal the fact that the degree of agreement between the two measurement methods varies substantially for different characteristics, from 31 minutes of mean difference for "time going to bed" to 77 minutes for "total sleep time". For this reason, a direct exchange of objective and subjective measuring methods is currently not possible.
Home health applications have evolved over the last few decades. Assistive systems such as a data platform in connection with health devices can allow for health-related data to be automatically transmitted to a database. However, there remain significant challenges concerning intermodular communication. Central among them is the challenge of achieving interoperability, the ability of devices to communicate and share data with each other. A major goal of this project was to extend an existing data platform (COMES®) and establish working interoperability by connecting assistive devices with differing approaches. We describe this process for a sleep monitoring and a physical exercise device. Furthermore, we aimed to test this setup and the implementation with a data platform in both a laboratory and an in-home setting with 11 elderly participants. The platform modification was realized, and the relevant changes were made so that the incoming data could be processed by the data platform, as well as visually displayed in real-time. Data was recorded by the respective device and transmitted into the data server with minor disruptions. Our observations affirmed that difficulties and data loss are far more likely to occur with increasing technical complexity, in the event of instable internet connection, or when the device setup requires (elderly) subjects to take specific steps for proper functioning. We emphasize the importance for tests and evaluations of home health technologies in real-life circumstances.
The influence of sleep on human health is enormous. Accordingly, sleep disorders can have a negative impact on it. To avoid this, they should be identified and treated in time. For this purpose, objective (with an appropriate device) or subjective (based on perceived values) measurement methods are used for sleep analysis to understand the problem. The aim of this work is to find out whether an exchange of the two methods is possible and can provide reliable results. In accordance with this goal, a study was conducted with people aged over 65 years old (a total of 154 night-time recordings) in which both measurement methods were compared. Sleep questionnaires and electronic devices for sleep assessment placed under the mattress were applied to achieve the study aims. The obtained results indicated that the correlation between both measurement methods could be observed for sleep characteristics such as total sleep time, total time in bed and sleep efficiency. However, there are also significant differences in absolute values of the two measurement approaches for some subjects/nights, which leads us to conclude that the substitution is more likely to be considered in case of long-term monitoring where the trends are of more importance and not the absolute values for individual nights.
This work is a study about a comparison of survey tools and it should help developers in selecting a suited tool for application in an AAL environment. The first step was to identify the basic required functionality of the survey tools used for AAL technologies and to compare these tools by their functionality and assignments. The comparative study was derived from the data obtained, previous literature studies and further technical data. A list of requirements was stated and ordered in terms of relevance to the target application domain. With the help of an integrated assessment method, the calculation of a generalized estimate value was performed and the result is explained. Finally, the planned application of this tool in a running project is explained.
Sleep is an essential part of human existence, as we are in this state for approximately a third of our lives. Sleep disorders are common conditions that can affect many aspects of life. Sleep disorders are diagnosed in special laboratories with a polysomnography system, a costly procedure requiring much effort for the patient. Several systems have been proposed to address this situation, including performing the examination and analysis at the patient's home, using sensors to detect physiological signals automatically analysed by algorithms. This work aims to evaluate the use of a contactless respiratory recording system based on an accelerometer sensor in sleep apnea detection. For this purpose, an installation mounted under the bed mattress records the oscillations caused by the chest movements during the breathing process. The presented processing algorithm performs filtering of the obtained signals and determines the apnea events presence. The performance of the developed system and algorithm of apnea event detection (average values of accuracy, specificity and sensitivity are 94.6%, 95.3%, and 93.7% respectively) confirms the suitability of the proposed method and system for further ambulatory and in-home use.
The development of automatic solutions for the detection of physiological events of interest is booming. Improvements in the collection and storage of large amounts of healthcare data allow access to these data faster and more efficiently. This fact means that the development of artificial intelligence models for the detection and monitoring of a large number of pathologies is becoming increasingly common in the medical field. In particular, developing deep learning models for detecting obstructive apnea (OSA) events is at the forefront. Numerous scientific studies focus on the architecture of the models and the results that these models can provide in terms of OSA classification and Apnea-Hypopnea-Index (AHI) calculation. However, little focus is put on other aspects of great relevance that are crucial for the training and performance of the models. Among these aspects can be found the set of physiological signals used and the preprocessing tasks prior to model training. This paper covers the essential requirements that must be considered before training the deep learning model for obstructive sleep apnea detection, in addition to covering solutions that currently exist in the scientific literature by analyzing the preprocessing tasks prior to training.