Development and Validation of a Portable EIT System for Real-Time Respiratory Monitoring.

This work contributes to the improvement of novel medical technologies for the prevention and treatment of diseases. Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) has gained attention as a valuable tool for non-invasive monitoring providing real-time insights. The purpose of this work is to develop and validate a novel portable EIT system with a small form factor for respiratory monitoring.

Neural Correlates of Telicity in Spanish-Speaking Children with and without Developmental Language Disorder.

Background: It is broadly acknowledged that children with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) show verb-related limitations. While most previous studies have focused on tense, the mastery of lexical aspect-particularly telicity-has not been the primary focus of much research. Lexical aspect refers to whether an action has a defined endpoint (telic verbs) or not (atelic verbs).

Comparison of baseline correction algorithms for in vivo H-MRS.

Proton MRS is used clinically to collect localized, quantitative metabolic data from living tissues. However, the presence of baselines in the spectra complicates accurate MRS data quantification. The occurrence of baselines is not specific to short-echo-time MRS data.

A brief tablet-based intervention benefits linguistic and communicative abilities in toddlers and preschoolers.

Young children's linguistic and communicative abilities are foundational for their academic achievement and overall well-being. We present the positive outcomes of a brief tablet-based intervention aimed at teaching toddlers and preschoolers new word-object and letter-sound associations. We conducted two experiments, one involving toddlers ( ~ 24 months old, n = 101) and the other with preschoolers ( ~ 42 months old, n = 152).

Multi-frequency Electrical Impedance Pneumography System as Point-Of-Care Device.

In this work we present the development of a multi-frequency electrical impedance pneumography (EIP) system based on a portable acquisition device and a mobile platform. This design is intended as an upgrade to our previous device for clinical use in the screening of patients with pulmonary diseases. The acquisition device uses the bioimpedance analog front end MAX30001, a mux/demux stage, Bluetooth 4.

Carbamazepine Biosensor Development for Epilepsy Patient Screening.

The San Carlos population in Chile is an example of an underserved community due to lack of timely access to regular controls and laboratory results. One particular challenge is the adherence to treatment of Epilepsy patients. In this work, we present the design and proof-of-concept of a Point of Care Device (POCD) to measure carbamazepine levels in saliva to screen for correct dose prescription among epilepsy patients.

Simple Wireless Impedance Pneumography System for Unobtrusive Sensing of Respiration.

This extended paper presents the development and implementation at a prototype level of a wireless, low-cost system for the measurement of the electrical bioimpedance of the chest with two channels using the AD5933 in a bipolar electrode configuration to measure impedance pneumography. The measurement device works for impedance measurements ranging from 1 Ω to 1800 Ω. Fifteen volunteers were measured with the prototype.

Wireless Low-Cost Bioimpedance Measurement Device for Lung Capacity Screening.

This paper presents the development and implementation at a prototype level of a wireless, low-cost system for the measurement of the electrical bio-impedance of the chest with two channels using the AD5933 in a bipolar electrode configuration to measure lung volume variation. 15 volunteers were measured with the prototype, and the acquired signal presents the phases of the respiratory cycle, useful for the breathing rate calculation and for possible screening applications.

Wearable EMG Shirt for Upper Limb Training.

This work presents a wearable shirt fitted with dry electrodes to measure EMG in upper limbs during physical exercise. The hardware acquires signals from 6 channels and transmits wirelessly to a PC via Bluetooth. In the PC, EMG signals are analyzed to give feedback to the user regarding the exercise being performed.

Capacitive Sensors Array for Plantar Pressure Measurement Insole fabricated with Flexible PCB.

Diabetic foot is a pathology associated with diabetic neuropathy, where the vast majority of diabetic foot infections terminate in surgical intervention; from debridement to amputation of the involved limb. Commonly, diabetic foot infections come from ulceration produced by high-pressure areas under the foot. For this reason, researchers have been working on a continuous measurement system to detect the high-pressure areas in-shoe in a low cost way.

Improving efficiency of DC/DC booster converters used in electrical stimulators.

Power efficiency is critical for electrical stimulators. Battery life of wearable stimulators and wireless power transmission in implanted systems are common limiting factors. Boost DC/DC converters are typically needed to increase the supply voltage of the output stage.

Myoelectric intuitive control and transcutaneous electrical stimulation of the forearm for vibrotactile sensation feedback applied to a 3D printed prosthetic hand.

This paper presents the development of a myoelectric prosthetic hand based on a 3D printed model. A myoelectric control strategy based on artificial neural networks is implemented on a microcontroller for online position estimation. Position estimation performance achieves a correlation index of 0.

Non-invasive BCG monitoring for non-traditional settings.

This paper presents the results from actual measurements of cardiac activity acquired through the use of noninvasive sensors to detect Ballistocardiogram (BCG). The results show that it is feasible to unobtrusively monitor heart rate in non-standard settings such as waiting rooms or at school using simple chairs fitted with capacitive sensors. The selected sensors, based on electromechanical principles, are able to measure BCG from a variety of subjects.

Noninvasive health condition monitoring device for workers at high altitudes conditions.

This work presents the design and implementation of a continuous monitoring device to control the health state of workers, for instance miners, at high altitudes. The extreme ambient conditions are harmful for peoples' health; therefore a continuous control of the workers' vital signs is necessary. The developed system includes physiological variables: electrocardiogram (ECG), respiratory activity and body temperature (BT), and ambient variables: ambient temperature (AT) and relative humidity (RH).

Design of an intraoperative peritoneal lavage device.

This paper consists of the design and construction of an intraoperative peritoneal lavage device. It is intended for cleaning the intra-abdominal cavity during a surgical procedure, once the etiology of a peritonitis has been identified and treated. Its purpose is to improve the current standard treatment consisting of simple pouring saline solution.

Validation of non-invasive monitoring device to evaluate sleep quality.

This paper presents the validation of a noninvasive sleep monitoring device and sleep quality evaluation. The system is based on an array of pressure sensors positioned on the bed that can measure relevant parameters to estimate sleep quality. This device can measure time in bed (TB), body movements (BM), the thorax expansion, periods out of bed (POB) and apnea events.

Noninvasive ambulatory measurement system of cardiac activity.

This work implements a noninvasive system that measures the movements caused by cardiac activity. It uses unobtrusive Electro-Mechanical Films (EMFi) on the seat and on the backrest of a regular chair. The system detects ballistocardiogram (BCG) and respiration movements.

Identifying and extracting patient smoking status information from clinical narrative texts in Spanish.

In this work we present a system to identify and extract patient's smoking status from clinical narrative text in Spanish. The clinical narrative text was processed using natural language processing techniques, and annotated by four people with a biomedical background. The dataset used for classification had 2,465 documents, each one annotated with one of the four smoking status categories.

Eye-tracking capabilities of low-cost EOG system.

This paper presents the design and implementation of a low-cost eye tracking system that allows measuring the rotational angle of the eye and gaze direction in healthy individuals. The system consists of an EOG circuit with simple components that acquire both horizontal and vertical eye movement through regular all-purpose contact electrodes. Then the data are analyzed and translated into corresponding angle values representing the eye rotation angle in both orientations.

Data collection capabilities of a new non-invasive monitoring system for patients with advanced multiple sclerosis.

This paper reports on a data collection study in a clinical environment to evaluate a new non-invasive monitoring system for people with advanced Multiple Sclerosis (MS) who use powered wheelchairs. The proposed system can acquire respiration and heart activity from ballistocardiogram (BCG) signals, seat and back pressure changes, wheelchair tilt angle, ambient temperature and relative humidity. The data was collected at The Boston Home (TBH), a specialized care residence for adults with advanced MS.

Clustering of atrial fibrillation based on surface ECG measurements.

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common arrhythmia encountered in clinical research. In particular, the study of AF types or sub-classes is a very interesting research topic. In this paper we present a preliminary study to find sub-classes of AF from real 12-lead ECG recordings using k-means and hierarchical clustering algorithms.

Contact pressure monitoring device for sleep studies.

This project implements a non-invasive sleep monitoring system using a bed pressure sensor array. The system detects changes in the contact pressure between a subject and the bed and is able to automatically select the sensor with the best respiratory signal, determine the respiratory rate (RR), count number of sleep apneas and count body position changes through the night. The respiratory signal is validated with an airflow sensor using Pearson's correlation coefficient.

Monitoring technology for wheelchair users with advanced multiple sclerosis.

This paper presents a non-invasive assistive device for people with advanced Multiple Sclerosis (MS) who use electric power wheelchairs (EPW). The proposed system can acquire respiration and heart activity from ballistocardiogram (BCG), seat and back pressure distribution, wheelchair tilt angle and ambient temperature and relative humidity. The sensors collect information related to the main issues of MS patients: fatigue, heat sensitivity and low mobility.

Atrial activity selection for atrial fibrillation ECG recordings.

In this paper we apply independent component analysis (ICA) followed by second order blind identification (SOBI) to an atrial fibrillation (AF) 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) recording in order to extract the source that represents atrial activity (AA) (ICA-SOBI method). Still, there is no assurance that only one source obtained from this method will contain AA, and thus we aim to select the most representative source of AA. The novelty in this paper is the proposal of three parameters to select the most representative source of AA.