Misophonia Sound Recognition Using Vision Transformer.

Misophonia is a condition characterized by an abnormal emotional response to specific sounds, such as eating, breathing, and clock ticking noises. Sound classification for misophonia is an important area of research since it can benefit in the development of interventions and therapies for individuals affected by the condition. In the area of sound classification, deep learning algorithms such as Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) have achieved a high accuracy performance and proved their ability in feature extraction and modeling.

Applying Machine Learning for Intelligent Assessment of Wheelchair Cushions from Pressure Mapping Images.

Pressure ulcers are skin and underlying tissue injuries caused by the cells' lack of oxygen and nutrition due to blood flow obstruction from constant pressure on the skin. It is prevalent in people with motion disabilities, such as wheelchair users. For both prevention and healing, wheelchair users should occasionally change their sitting posture, use cushions that evenly distribute the pressure, or relieve pressure from the sensitive areas.

Decoding Brain Signals to Classify Gait Direction Anticipation.

The use of brain-computer interface (BCI) technology has emerged as a promising rehabilitation approach for patients with motor function and motor-related disorders. BCIs provide an augmentative communication platform for controlling advanced assistive robots such as a lower-limb exoskeleton. Brain recordings collected by an electroencephalography (EEG) system have been employed in the BCI platform to command the exoskeleton.

Design and evaluation of a dynamic air cushion for pressure ulcers prevention.

Wheelchair users have a higher risk of developing pressure ulcers due to prolonged seated pressure. Pressure ulcers can be painful, may require surgical intervention, and even become life-threatening if infection occurs. To prevent pressure ulcers from forming the patient must either offload themselves or rely on a caregiver to move them allowing pressure redistribution over the seated area.

Family Experiences of Decreased Sound Tolerance in ASD.

Decreased sound tolerance (DST) is the most common sensory difficulty experienced by autistic individuals. Parents of 88 autistic children and young adults between the ages of 3 and 30 described coping strategies and physical and emotional responses used to deal with distressing sounds, and their impact on daily activities. Loud, sudden, and high-pitched sounds were most commonly endorsed as distressing, most often causing autistic children and young adults to cover their ears or yell, while producing stress, irritation, fear, and anxiety.

Design and performance analysis of a 3-RRR spherical parallel manipulator for hip exoskeleton applications.

This paper presents the design and performance analysis and experimental study of a 3-RRR spherical parallel manipulator in the context of hip exoskeleton applications. First, the mechanism's inverse kinematics analysis and Jacobian matrix development are revisited. Manipulability, dexterity, and rotational sensitivity indices are then evaluated for two different methods of attachment to the human body.

The dynamics of electric powered wheelchair sideways tips and falls: experimental and computational analysis of impact forces and injury.

Background: To reduce the occurrence of wheelchair falls and to develop effective protection systems, we aimed to quantify sideways tip and fall dynamics of electric power wheelchairs (EPWs). We hypothesized that driving speed, curb height and angle of approach would affect impact forces and head injury risk for wheelchair riders. We further expected that fall dynamics and head injury risk would be greater for unrestrained riders compared to restrained riders.

Non-invasive estimation of cardiovascular parameters using ballistocardiography.

Ballistocardiography is a non-invasive technique to estimate heart function and relative changes in cardiac output. The goal of this study was to establish the relationship between ballistocardiogram (BCG) parameters and changes in cardiovascular parameters. A group of 20 subjects performed three different exercises on a force plate.

Age-related changes in dynamic compressive properties of trochanteric soft tissues over the hip.

Hip fracture risk increases dramatically with age, and 90% of fractures are due to falls. During a fall on the hip, the soft tissues overlying the hip region (skin, fat, and muscle) act as shock absorbers to absorb energy and reduce the peak force applied to the underlying bone. We conducted dynamic indentation experiments with young women (aged 19-30; n=17) and older women (aged 65-81; n=17) to test the hypothesis that changes occur with age in the stiffness and damping properties of these tissues.

Preliminary results on quantification of Seismocardiogram morphological changes, using principal component analysis.

A methodology, based on principal component analysis, is proposed to quantify beat to beat Seismocardiogram changes. The proposed method was tested over a population of 94 subjects including 35 ischemic heart disease patients. The results showed that there was an insignificant overlap between the diseased and the healthy populations in the number of principal components (NPC) and that further development of this method might yield a classification index for myocardial abnormalities.

The effects of implant angulation on the resonance frequency of a dental implant.

Dental implants are ideally placed in an orientation that allows vertical transfer of occlusal forces along their long axis. Nevertheless, optimal situations for implant placement are seldom encountered resulting in implants placement in angulated positions, which may affect their long-term success. The resonance frequency (RF) is an objective tool used to monitor stability of the implant tissue integration; however, little is known of the effect of the implant orientation in bone on the RF and its potential significance.

Discrimination of tooth layers and dental restorative materials using cutting sounds.

Dental restoration begins with removing carries and affected tissues with air-turbine rotary cutting handpieces, and later restoring the lost tissues with appropriate restorative materials to retain the functionality. Most restoration materials eventually fail as they age and need to be replaced. One of the difficulties in replacing failing restorations is discerning the boundary of restorative materials, which causes inadvertent removal of healthy tooth layers.