Efficacy of Oral Anticoagulation in Stroke Prevention among Sinus-Rhythm Patients Who Lack Left Atrial Mechanical Contraction after Cryoablation.

The customary recommendation is that oral anticoagulation be withdrawn a few months after cryoablation for atrial fibrillation, independently of left atrial mechanical contraction in patients in sinus rhythm. Recently, a 5-fold increase in stroke has been described in sinus-rhythm patients who lack atrial mechanical contraction. One aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of oral anticoagulation in preventing postoperative stroke in such patients.

Impact of alprazolam in allostatic load and neurocognition of patients with anxiety disorders and chronic stress (GEMA): observational study protocol.

Introduction: The allostatic load model explains the additive effects of multiple biological processes that accelerate pathophysiology related to stress, particularly in the central nervous system. Stress-related mental conditions such as anxiety disorders and neuroticism (a well-known stress vulnerability factor), have been linked to disturbances of hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal with cognitive implications. Nevertheless, there are controversial results in the literature and there is a need to determine the impact of the psychopharmacological treatment on allostatic load parameters and in cognitive functions.

Third CoreValve™ insertion for treatment of a severe paravalvular leak after a failed valve-in-valve procedure.

An 83-year-old high-risk gentleman diagnosed with severe symptomatic aortic stenosis was scheduled for TAVR. A 31 mm CoreValve was implanted but severe paravalvular leak was noted. A valve-in-valve procedure was performed.

Robust human machine interface based on head movements applied to assistive robotics.

This paper presents an interface that uses two different sensing techniques and combines both results through a fusion process to obtain the minimum-variance estimator of the orientation of the user's head. Sensing techniques of the interface are based on an inertial sensor and artificial vision. The orientation of the user's head is used to steer the navigation of a robotic wheelchair.

Towards a new modality-independent interface for a robotic wheelchair.

This work presents the development of a robotic wheelchair that can be commanded by users in a supervised way or by a fully automatic unsupervised navigation system. It provides flexibility to choose different modalities to command the wheelchair, in addition to be suitable for people with different levels of disabilities. Users can command the wheelchair based on their eye blinks, eye movements, head movements, by sip-and-puff and through brain signals.

Vision based interface: an alternative tool for children with cerebral palsy.

In this paper a new vision based interface (VBI) for children with cerebral palsy is presented. The VBI is implemented for the interaction between children and computer. The VBI detects and tracks the movement of the hand, foot or head of the user.

Surface electromyogram signals classification based on bispectrum.

This paper bispectrum is used to classify human arm movements and control a robotic arm based on upper limb's surface electromyogram signals (sEMG). We use bispectrum based on third-order cumulant to parameterize sEMG signals and classify elbow flexion and extension, forearm pronation and supination, and rest states by an artificial neural network (ANN). Finally, a robotic manipulator is controlled based on classification and parameters extracted from the signals.

SLAM algorithm applied to robotics assistance for navigation in unknown environments.

Background: The combination of robotic tools with assistance technology determines a slightly explored area of applications and advantages for disability or elder people in their daily tasks. Autonomous motorized wheelchair navigation inside an environment, behaviour based control of orthopaedic arms or user's preference learning from a friendly interface are some examples of this new field. In this paper, a Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) algorithm is implemented to allow the environmental learning by a mobile robot while its navigation is governed by electromyographic signals.

Robust EMG sensing system based on data fusion for myoelectric control of a robotic arm.

Background: Myoelectric control of a robotic manipulator may be disturbed by failures due to disconnected electrodes, interface impedance changes caused by movements, problems in the recording channel and other various noise sources. To correct these problems, this paper presents two fusing techniques, Variance Weighted Average (VWA) and Decentralized Kalman Filter (DKF), both based on the myoelectric signal variance as selecting criterion.

Methods: Tested in five volunteers, a redundant arrangement was obtained with two pairs of electrodes for each recording channel.