Bioimpedance sensor array for monitoring chronic wounds: Validation of method feasibility.

In an ageing society, the incidence of hard-to-heal wounds is rising. Chronic wound healing is a complex process, which requires specialised treatment. Clinical assessment of the wound is essential to establish care approaches but is usually based on visual evaluation and it remains challenging.

Prediction of Sudden Cardiac Death With Ultra-Short-Term Heart Rate Fluctuations.

Background: Conventional measures of heart rate variability (HRV) have shown only modest associations with sudden cardiac death (SCD). Detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA), with novel methodological developments to evaluate the short-term scaling exponent, is a potentially superior method compared to conventional HRV tools.

Objectives: In this study, the authors studied the analysis of the association between DFA and SCD.

Performance Evaluation of QT-RR Adaptation Time Lag Estimation in Exercise Stress Testing.

Background: Slower adaptation of the QT interval to sudden changes in heart rate has been identified as a risk marker of ventricular arrhythmia. The gradual changes observed in exercise stress testing facilitates the estimation of the QT-RR adaptation time lag.

Methods: The time lag estimation is based on the delay between the observed QT intervals and the QT intervals derived from the observed RR intervals using a memoryless transformation.

Effects of Using Guided Deep Breathing Exercises in a Virtual Natural Environment to Reduce Stress during Pediatric Treatment.

There exists a need for new methods to address treatment anxiety in pediatrics-at the same time, deep breathing exercises and virtual natural environments have both been known to have stress-reducing qualities. This article reports the combined effect of these two methods in a pediatric setting. A feasibility study was conducted in a local hospital.

Resting heart rate predicts cardiac autonomic modulation during passive head-up tilt in subjects without cardiovascular diseases.

Resting heart rate (HR) and its variability (HRV) reflects the cardiac sympathovagal balance that is stimulated by head-up tilting. HRV is influenced by the level of HR, but how much HRV offers additional information about cardiac autonomic tone than HR alone remains unresolved. We examined the relation of resting HR with HRV during head-up tilt.

Evaluation of the QRS score for diagnosing coronary artery disease in women: A Finnish cardiovascular study.

Background: Exercise electrocardiography is a widely used diagnostic modality for diagnosing coronary artery disease. This method has been used for both sexes; however, its diagnostic accuracy in women is limited.

Methods: The study analyzed 332 women participating in the Finnish Cardiovascular Study.

QT variability unrelated to RR variability during stress testing for identification of coronary artery disease.

Stress test electrocardiogram (ECG) analysis is widely used for coronary artery disease (CAD) diagnosis despite its limited accuracy. Alterations in autonomic modulation of cardiac electrical activity have been reported in CAD patients during acute ischemia. We hypothesized that those alterations could be reflected in changes in ventricular repolarization dynamics during stress testing that could be measured through QT interval variability (QTV).

Individual changes of central blood pressure in response to upright posture: different hemodynamic phenotypes.

Objectives: Most studies about upright regulation of blood pressure have focused on orthostatic hypotension despite the diverse hemodynamic changes induced by orthostatic challenge. We investigated the effect of passive head-up tilt on aortic blood pressure.

Methods: Noninvasive peripheral and central hemodynamics in 613 volunteers without cardiovascular morbidities or medications were examined using pulse wave analysis, whole-body impedance cardiography and heart rate variability analysis.

Bioimpedance method for monitoring venous ulcers: Clinical proof-of-concept study.

Evaluation of wound status is typically based on means which require the removal of dressings. These procedures are often also subjective and prone to inter-observer bias. To overcome aforementioned issues a bioimpedance measurement-based method and measurement system has been developed to evaluate the state of wound healing.

Expiratory variability index is associated with asthma risk, wheeze and lung function in infants with recurrent respiratory symptoms.

https://bit.ly/2PF2cx8.

Reduced expiratory variability index (EVI) is associated with controller medication withdrawal and symptoms in wheezy children aged 1-5 years.

Background: Lung function testing is an essential part of diagnostic workup and monitoring of asthma, but young children are lacking easy, routine testing methods. However, recent discoveries show reduced tidal breathing variability measured using impedance pneumography (IP) at home during sleep as a sign of airway obstruction. In this study, we assessed (a) the discriminative capacity of expiratory variability index (EVI) between healthy controls and young children with recurrent wheeze on-and-off controller medication, (b) association between EVI and parentally perceived obstructive symptoms (need for bronchodilator) and (c) measurement success rate.

A device for measuring sternal bone connectivity using vibration analysis techniques.

Objectives: Stability of bone splitting sternotomy is essential for normal healing after open cardiac surgery. Mechanical vibration transmittance may offer a means for early detection of separation of bone (diastasis) in the sternotomy and prevent further complications. This article describes the technical implementation and validation of vibration analysis-based prototype device built for measuring sternal bone connectivity after sternotomy.

Noninvasive Cardiorespiratory Signals Analysis for Asthma Evolution Monitoring in Preschool Children.

Objective: Despite its increasing prevalence, diagnosis of asthma in children remains problematic due to their difficulties in producing repeatable spirometric maneuvers. Moreover, low adherence to inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) treatment could result in permanent airway remodeling. The growing interest in a noninvasive and objective way for monitoring asthma, together with the apparent role of autonomic nervous system (ANS) in its pathogenesis, have attracted interest towards heart rate variability (HRV) and cardiorespiratory coupling (CRC) analyses.

Combination of low blood pressure response, low exercise capacity and slow heart rate recovery during an exercise test significantly increases mortality risk.

We investigated the combination of low systolic blood pressure (SBP) response, low exercise capacity (EC) and slow heart rate recovery (HRR) during an exercise test in mortality prediction. Our population consisted of 3456 patients from the Finnish Cardiovascular Study. A failure of SBP to increase >42 mmHg was defined as a low response.

Tidal breathing flow profiles during sleep in wheezing children measured by impedance pneumography.

For the first time, impedance pneumography (IP) enables a continuous analysis of the tidal breathing flow volume (TBFV), overnight. We studied how corticosteroid inhalation treatments, sleep stage, and time from sleep onset modify the nocturnal TBFV profiles of children. Seventy children, 1-5 years old and with recurrent wheezing, underwent three, full-night TBFVs recordings at home, using IP.

Airway obstruction is associated with reduced variability in specific parts of the tidal breathing flow-volume curve in young children.

http://bit.ly/2Wkfap0.

Bioimpedance Sensor Array for Long-Term Monitoring of Wound Healing from Beneath the Primary Dressings and Controlled Formation of HO Using Low-Intensity Direct Current.

Chronic wounds impose a significant financial burden for the healthcare system. Currently, assessment and monitoring of hard-to-heal wounds are often based on visual means and measuring the size of the wound. The primary wound dressings must be removed before assessment can be done.

Tidal breathing flow volume profiles during sleep in wheezing infants measured by impedance pneumography.

Overnight analysis of tidal breathing flow volume (TBFV) loops, recorded by impedance pneumography (IP), has been successfully applied in the home monitoring of children with wheezing disorders. However, little is known on how sleep physiology modifies the relationship between TBFV profiles and wheeze. We studied such interactions in wheezing infants.

The Duke treadmill score with bicycle ergometer: Exercise capacity is the most important predictor of cardiovascular mortality.

Background: The Duke treadmill score, a widely used treadmill testing tool, is a weighted index combining exercise time or capacity, maximum ST-segment deviation and exercise-induced angina. No previous studies have investigated whether the Duke treadmill score and its individual components based on bicycle exercise testing predict cardiovascular death.

Design: Two populations with a standard bicycle testing were used: 3936 patients referred for exercise testing (2371 men, age 56 ± 13 years) from the Finnish Cardiovascular Study (FINCAVAS) and a population-based sample of 2683 men (age 53 ± 5.

Metabolic syndrome is associated with decreased heart rate variability in a sex-dependent manner: a comparison between 252 men and 249 women.

Impaired heart rate variability (HRV) is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease, but evidence regarding alterations of HRV in metabolic syndrome (MetS) remains elusive. In order to examine HRV in MetS, we subjected 501 volunteers without atherosclerosis, diabetes or antihypertensive medication, mean age 48 years, to passive head-up tilt. The subjects were divided to control men (n = 131), men with MetS (n = 121), control women (n = 191) and women with MetS (n = 58) according to the criteria by Alberti et al.

Nocturnal Heart Rate Variability Spectrum Characterization in Preschool Children With Asthmatic Symptoms.

Asthma is a chronic lung disease that usually develops during childhood. Despite that symptoms can almost be controlled with medication, early diagnosis is desirable in order to reduce permanent airway obstruction risk. It has been suggested that abnormal parasympathetic nervous system (PSNS) activity might be closely related with the pathogenesis of asthma, and that this PSNS activity could be reflected in cardiac vagal control.

Assessment of support vector machines and convolutional neural networks to detect snoring using Emfit mattress.

Snoring (SN) is an essential feature of sleep breathing disorders, such as obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). In this study, we evaluate epoch-based snoring detection methods using an unobtrusive electromechanical film transducer (Emfit) mattress sensor using polysomnography recordings as a reference. Two different approaches were investigated: a support vector machine (SVM) classifier fed with a subset of spectral features and convolutional neural network (CNN) fed with spectrograms.

Detection of Snores Using Source Separation on an Emfit Signal.

Snoring (SN) is an early sign of upper airway dysfunction, and it is strongly associated with obstructive sleep apnea. SN detection is important to monitor SN objectively and to improve the diagnostic sensitivity of sleep-disordered breathing. In this study, an automatic snore detection method using an electromechanical film transducer (Emfit) signal is presented.