Exploring expressivity and emotion with artificial voice and speech technologies.

Emotion in audio-voice signals, as synthesized by text-to-speech (TTS) technologies, was investigated to formulate a theory of expression for user interface design. Emotional parameters were specified with markup tags, and the resulting audio was further modulated with post-processing techniques. Software was then developed to link a selected TTS synthesizer with an automatic speech recognition (ASR) engine, producing a chatbot that could speak and listen.

A disposable heart-lung machine. Results of animal testing.

A small wave propagation pump (WPP) was incorporated into oxygenators to create a disposable heart-lung machine. The WPP provides undirectional micropulsatile laminar flow of 8 L/min against 800 mmHg. The smaller WPP can generate 4 L/min against 400 mmHg (cardioplegia), or reversed, and can create up to 150 mmHg negative pressure for suction.

Hemopump support for the failing heart.

Under fluoroscopy, the hemopump is passed through the aortic valve into the left ventricle through a Gortex (WF Gore, Denver, CO) chimney sewn to a surgically exposed femoral artery. The system aspirates the left ventricular blood and actively pumps it into the aorta. Five patients (four men, one woman), aged 47-71 years (mean, 62 years), were candidates for hemopump support because of refractory cardiogenic shock.