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The main aim of presented in this manuscript research is to compare the results of objective and subjective measurement of sleep quality for older adults (65+) in the home environment. A total amount of 73 nights was evaluated in this study. Placing under the mattress device was used to obtain objective measurement data, and a common question on perceived sleep quality was asked to collect the subjective sleep quality level. The achieved results confirm the correlation between objective and subjective measurement of sleep quality with the average standard deviation equal to 2 of 10 possible quality points.
This paper presents the implementation of deep learning methods for sleep stage detection by using three signals that can be measured in a non-invasive way: heartbeat signal, respiratory signal, and movement signal. Since signals are measurements taken during the time, the problem is seen as time-series data classification. Deep learning methods are chosen to solve the problem are convolutional neural network and long-short term memory network. Input data is structured as a time-series sequence of mentioned signals that represent 30 seconds epoch, which is a standard interval for sleep analysis. The records used belong to the overall 23 subjects, which are divided into two subsets. Records from 18 subjects were used for training the data and from 5 subjects for testing the data. For detecting four sleep stages: REM (Rapid Eye Movement), Wake, Light sleep (Stage 1 and Stage 2), and Deep sleep (Stage 3 and Stage 4), the accuracy of the model is 55%, and F1 score is 44%. For five stages: REM, Stage 1, Stage 2, Deep sleep (Stage 3 and 4), and Wake, the model gives an accuracy of 40% and F1 score of 37%.
Introduction. Despite its high accuracy, polysomnography (PSG) has several drawbacks for diagnosing obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Consequently, multiple portable monitors (PMs) have been proposed. Objective. This systematic review aims to investigate the current literature to analyze the sets of physiological parameters captured by a PM to select the minimum number of such physiological signals while maintaining accurate results in OSA detection. Methods. Inclusion and exclusion criteria for the selection of publications were established prior to the search. The evaluation of the publications was made based on one central question and several specific questions. Results. The abilities to detect hypopneas, sleep time, or awakenings were some of the features studied to investigate the full functionality of the PMs to select the most relevant set of physiological signals. Based on the physiological parameters collected (one to six), the PMs were classified into sets according to the level of evidence. The advantages and the disadvantages of each possible set of signals were explained by answering the research questions proposed in the methods. Conclusions. The minimum number of physiological signals detected by PMs for the detection of OSA depends mainly on the purpose and context of the sleep study. The set of three physiological signals showed the best results in the detection of OSA.
Cardiovascular diseases are directly or indirectly responsible for up to 38.5% of all deaths in Germany and thus represent the most frequent cause of death. At present, heart diseases are mainly discovered by chance during routine visits to the doctor or when acute symptoms occur. However, there is no practical method to proactively detect diseases or abnormalities of the heart in the daily environment and to take preventive measures for the person concerned. Long-term ECG devices, as currently used by physicians, are simply too expensive, impractical, and not widely available for everyday use. This work aims to develop an ECG device suitable for everyday use that can be worn directly on the body. For this purpose, an already existing hardware platform will be analyzed, and the corresponding potential for improvement will be identified. A precise picture of the existing data quality is obtained by metrological examination, and corresponding requirements are defined. Based on these identified optimization potentials, a new ECG device is developed. The revised ECG device is characterized by a high integration density and combines all components directly on one board except the battery and the ECG electrodes. The compact design allows the device to be attached directly to the chest. An integrated microcontroller allows digital signal processing without the need for an additional computer. Central features of the evaluation are a peak detection for detecting R-peaks and a calculation of the current heart rate based on the RR interval. To ensure the validity of the detected R-peaks, a model of the anatomical conditions is used. Thus, unrealistic RR-intervals can be excluded. The wireless interface allows continuous transmission of the calculated heart rate. Following the development of hardware and software, the results are verified, and appropriate conclusions about the data quality are drawn. As a result, a very compact and wearable ECG device with different wireless technologies, data storage, and evaluation of RR intervals was developed. Some tests yelled runtimes up to 24 hours with wireless Lan activated and streaming.
Sleep quality and in general, behavior in bed can be detected using a sleep state analysis. These results can help a subject to regulate sleep and recognize different sleeping disorders. In this work, a sensor grid for pressure and movement detection supporting sleep phase analysis is proposed. In comparison to the leading standard measuring system, which is Polysomnography (PSG), the system proposed in this project is a non-invasive sleep monitoring device. For continuous analysis or home use, the PSG or wearable Actigraphy devices tends to be uncomfortable. Besides this fact, they are also very expensive. The system represented in this work classifies respiration and body movement with only one type of sensor and also in a non-invasive way. The sensor used is a pressure sensor. This sensor is low cost and can be used for commercial proposes. The system was tested by carrying out an experiment that recorded the sleep process of a subject. These recordings showed the potential for classification of breathing rate and body movements. Although previous researches show the use of pressure sensors in recognizing posture and breathing, they have been mostly used by positioning the sensors between the mattress and bedsheet. This project however, shows an innovative way to position the sensors under the mattress.
The development of automatic solutions for the detection of physiological events of interest is booming. Improvements in the collection and storage of large amounts of healthcare data allow access to these data faster and more efficiently. This fact means that the development of artificial intelligence models for the detection and monitoring of a large number of pathologies is becoming increasingly common in the medical field. In particular, developing deep learning models for detecting obstructive apnea (OSA) events is at the forefront. Numerous scientific studies focus on the architecture of the models and the results that these models can provide in terms of OSA classification and Apnea-Hypopnea-Index (AHI) calculation. However, little focus is put on other aspects of great relevance that are crucial for the training and performance of the models. Among these aspects can be found the set of physiological signals used and the preprocessing tasks prior to model training. This paper covers the essential requirements that must be considered before training the deep learning model for obstructive sleep apnea detection, in addition to covering solutions that currently exist in the scientific literature by analyzing the preprocessing tasks prior to training.
Sleep is an essential part of human existence, as we are in this state for approximately a third of our lives. Sleep disorders are common conditions that can affect many aspects of life. Sleep disorders are diagnosed in special laboratories with a polysomnography system, a costly procedure requiring much effort for the patient. Several systems have been proposed to address this situation, including performing the examination and analysis at the patient's home, using sensors to detect physiological signals automatically analysed by algorithms. This work aims to evaluate the use of a contactless respiratory recording system based on an accelerometer sensor in sleep apnea detection. For this purpose, an installation mounted under the bed mattress records the oscillations caused by the chest movements during the breathing process. The presented processing algorithm performs filtering of the obtained signals and determines the apnea events presence. The performance of the developed system and algorithm of apnea event detection (average values of accuracy, specificity and sensitivity are 94.6%, 95.3%, and 93.7% respectively) confirms the suitability of the proposed method and system for further ambulatory and in-home use.
The investigation of stress requires to distinguish between stress caused by physical activity and stress that is caused by psychosocial factors. The behaviour of the heart in response to stress and physical activity is very similar in case the set of monitored parameters is reduced to one. Currently, the differentiation remains difficult and methods which only use the heart rate are not able to differentiate between stress and physical activity, without using additional sensor data input. The approach focusses on methods which generate signals providing characteristics that are useful for detecting stress, physical activity, no activity and relaxation.
Das klinische Standardverfahren und Referenz der Schlafmessung und der Klassifizierung der einzelnen Schlafstadien ist die Polysomnographie (PSG). Alternative Ansätze zu diesem aufwändigen Verfahren könnten einige Vorteile bieten, wenn die Messungen auf eine komfortablere Weise durchgeführt werden. Das Hauptziel dieser Forschung Studie ist es, einen Algorithmus für die automatische Klassifizierung von Schlafstadien zu entwickeln, der ausschließlich Bewegungs- und Atmungssignale verwendet.
This work is a study about a comparison of survey tools and it should help developers in selecting a suited tool for application in an AAL environment. The first step was to identify the basic required functionality of the survey tools used for AAL technologies and to compare these tools by their functionality and assignments. The comparative study was derived from the data obtained, previous literature studies and further technical data. A list of requirements was stated and ordered in terms of relevance to the target application domain. With the help of an integrated assessment method, the calculation of a generalized estimate value was performed and the result is explained. Finally, the planned application of this tool in a running project is explained.
Present demographic change and a growing population of elderly people leads to new medical needs. Meeting these with state of the art technology is as a consequence a rapidly growing market. So this work is aimed at taking modern concepts of mobile and sensor technology and putting them in a medical context. By measuring a user’s vital signs on sensors which are processed on a Android smartphone, the target system is able to determine the current health state of the user and to visualize gathered information. The system also includes a weather forecasting functionality, which alerts the user on possibly dangerous future meteorological events. All information are collected centrally and distributed to users based on their location. Further, the system can correlate the client-side measurement of vital signs with a server-side weather history. This enables personalized forecasting for each user individually. Finally, a portable and affordable application was developed that continuously monitors the health status by many vital sensors, all united on a common smartphone.
oday many scientific works are using deep learning algorithms and time series, which can detect physiological events of interest. In sleep medicine, this is particularly relevant in detecting sleep apnea, specifically in detecting obstructive sleep apnea events. Deep learning algorithms with different architectures are used to achieve decent results in accuracy, sensitivity, etc. Although there are models that can reliably determine apnea and hypopnea events, another essential aspect to consider is the explainability of these models, i.e., why a model makes a particular decision. Another critical factor is how these deep learning models determine how severe obstructive sleep apnea is in patients based on the apnea-hypopnea index (AHI). Deep learning models trained by two approaches for AHI determination are exposed in this work. Approaches vary depending on the data format the models are fed: full-time series and window-based time series.
This study investigates the application of Force Sensing Resistor (FSR) sensors and machine learning algorithms for non-invasive body position monitoring during sleep. Although reliable, traditional methods like Polysomnography (PSG) are invasive and unsuited for extended home-based monitoring. Our approach utilizes FSR sensors placed beneath the mattress to detect body positions effectively. We employed machine learning techniques, specifically Random Forest (RF), K-Nearest Neighbors (KNN), and XGBoost algorithms, to analyze the sensor data. The models were trained and tested using data from a controlled study with 15 subjects assuming various sleep positions. The performance of these models was evaluated based on accuracy and confusion matrices. The results indicate XGBoost as the most effective model for this application, followed by RF and KNN, offering promising avenues for home-based sleep monitoring systems.
The influence of sleep on human health is enormous. Accordingly, sleep disorders can have a negative impact on it. To avoid this, they should be identified and treated in time. For this purpose, objective (with an appropriate device) or subjective (based on perceived values) measurement methods are used for sleep analysis to understand the problem. The aim of this work is to find out whether an exchange of the two methods is possible and can provide reliable results. In accordance with this goal, a study was conducted with people aged over 65 years old (a total of 154 night-time recordings) in which both measurement methods were compared. Sleep questionnaires and electronic devices for sleep assessment placed under the mattress were applied to achieve the study aims. The obtained results indicated that the correlation between both measurement methods could be observed for sleep characteristics such as total sleep time, total time in bed and sleep efficiency. However, there are also significant differences in absolute values of the two measurement approaches for some subjects/nights, which leads us to conclude that the substitution is more likely to be considered in case of long-term monitoring where the trends are of more importance and not the absolute values for individual nights.
Home health applications have evolved over the last few decades. Assistive systems such as a data platform in connection with health devices can allow for health-related data to be automatically transmitted to a database. However, there remain significant challenges concerning intermodular communication. Central among them is the challenge of achieving interoperability, the ability of devices to communicate and share data with each other. A major goal of this project was to extend an existing data platform (COMES®) and establish working interoperability by connecting assistive devices with differing approaches. We describe this process for a sleep monitoring and a physical exercise device. Furthermore, we aimed to test this setup and the implementation with a data platform in both a laboratory and an in-home setting with 11 elderly participants. The platform modification was realized, and the relevant changes were made so that the incoming data could be processed by the data platform, as well as visually displayed in real-time. Data was recorded by the respective device and transmitted into the data server with minor disruptions. Our observations affirmed that difficulties and data loss are far more likely to occur with increasing technical complexity, in the event of instable internet connection, or when the device setup requires (elderly) subjects to take specific steps for proper functioning. We emphasize the importance for tests and evaluations of home health technologies in real-life circumstances.
In diesem Beitrag wird eine Methode des maschinellen Lernens entwickelt, die die Schlafstadienerkennung untersucht. Übliche Methoden der Schlafanalyse basieren auf der Polysomnographie (PSG). Der präsentierte Ansatz basiert auf Signalen, die ausschließlich nicht-invasiv in einer häuslichen Umgebung gemessen werden können. Bewegungs-, Herzschlags- und Atmungssignale können vergleichsweise leicht erfasst werden aber die Erkennung der Schlafstadien ist dadurch erschwert. Die Signale werden als Zeitreihenfolge strukturiert und in Epochen überführt. Die Leistungsfähigkeit von maschinellem Lernen wird der Polysomnographie gegenübergestellt und bewertet.
Objective: This paper presents an algorithm for non-invasive sleep stage identification using respiratory, heart rate and movement signals. The algorithm is part of a system suitable for long-term monitoring in a home environment, which should support experts analysing sleep. Approach: As there is a strong correlation between bio-vital signals and sleep stages, multinomial logistic regression was chosen for categorical distribution of sleep stages. Several derived parameters of three signals (respiratory, heart rate and movement) are input for the proposed method. Sleep recordings of five subjects were used for the training of a machine learning model and 30 overnight recordings collected from 30 individuals with about 27 000 epochs of 30 s intervals each were evaluated. Main results: The achieved rate of accuracy is 72% for Wake, NREM, REM (with Cohen's kappa value 0.67) and 58% for Wake, Light (N1 and N2), Deep (N3) and REM stages (Cohen's kappa is 0.50). Our approach has confirmed the potential of this method and disclosed several ways for its improvement. Significance: The results indicate that respiratory, heart rate and movement signals can be used for sleep studies with a reasonable level of accuracy. These inputs can be obtained in a non-invasive way applying it in a home environment. The proposed system introduces a convenient approach for a long-term monitoring system which could support sleep laboratories. The algorithm which was developed allows for an easy adjustment of input parameters that depend on available signals and for this reason could also be used with various hardware systems.
Stress is a recognized as a predominant disease with growing costs of treatment. The approach presented here is aimed to detect stress using a light weighted, mobile, cheap and easy to use system. The result shows that stress can be detected even in case a person’s natural bio vital data is out of the main range. The system enables storage of measured data, while maintaining communication channels of online and post-processing.
Background:
One of the most promising health care development areas is introducing telemedicine services and creating solutions based on blockchain technology. The study of systems combining both these domains indicates the ongoing expansion of digital technologies in this market segment.
Objective:
This paper aims to review the feasibility of blockchain technology for telemedicine.
Methods:
The authors identified relevant studies via systematic searches of databases including PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, IEEE Xplore, and Google Scholar. The suitability of each for inclusion in this review was assessed independently. Owing to the lack of publications, available blockchain-based tokens were discovered via conventional web search engines (Google, Yahoo, and Yandex).
Results:
Of the 40 discovered projects, only 18 met the selection criteria. The 5 most prevalent features of the available solutions (N=18) were medical data access (14/18, 78%), medical service processing (14/18, 78%), diagnostic support (10/18, 56%), payment transactions (10/18, 56%), and fundraising for telemedical instrument development (5/18, 28%).
Conclusions:
These different features (eg, medical data access, medical service processing, epidemiology reporting, diagnostic support, and treatment support) allow us to discuss the possibilities for integration of blockchain technology into telemedicine and health care on different levels. In this area, a wide range of tasks can be identified that could be accomplished based on digital technologies using blockchains.
In previous studies, we used a method for detecting stress that was based exclusively on heart rate and ECG for differentiation between such situations as mental stress, physical activity, relaxation, and rest. As a response of the heart to these situations, we observed different behavior in the Root Mean Square of the Successive differences heartbeats (RMSSD). This study aims to analyze Virtual Reality via a virtual reality headset as an effective stressor for future works. The value of the Root Mean Square of the Successive Differences is an important marker for the parasympathetic effector on the heart and can provide information about stress. For these measurements, the RR interval was collected using a breast belt. In these studies, we can observe the Root Mean Square of the successive differences heartbeats. Additional sensors for the analysis were not used. We conducted experiments with ten subjects that had to drive a simulator for 25 minutes using monitors and 25 minutes using virtual reality headset. Before starting and after finishing each simulation, the subjects had to complete a survey in which they had to describe their mental state. The experiment results show that driving using virtual reality headset has some influence on the heart rate and RMSSD, but it does not significantly increase the stress of driving.
A residual neural network was adapted and applied to the Physionet/Computing data in Cardiology Challenge 2020 to detect 24 different classes of cardiac abnormalities from 12-lead. Additive Gaussian noise, signal shifting, and the classification of signal sections of different lengths were applied to prevent the network from overfitting and facilitating generalization. Due to the use of a global pooling layer after the feature extractor, the network is independent of the signal’s length. On the hidden test set of the challenge, the model achieved a validation score of 0.656 and a full test score of 0.27, placing us 15th out of 41 officially ranked teams (Team name: UC_Lab_Kn). These results show the potential of deep neural networks for ap- plication to raw data and a complex multi-class multi-label classification problem, even if the training data is from di- verse datasets and of differing lengths.
The citizen-centered health platform project is intended to provide a platform that can be used in EU cross-border regions, where social and economic exchange occurs across national borders. The overriding challenges are: (a) social: improving citizen-centered health and care provision; (b) technical: providing a digital platform for networking citizens, service providers, and municipal actors; (c) economic: developing long-term successful (sustainable) business models/value chains. The platform should strengthen and expand existing networks and establish new regional networks. Each network addresses particular challenges and apply them in a region-specific manner. Here, the national boundary conditions and the interregional needs play an essential role. These objectives require sufficient participation of civil society representatives. Furthermore, the platform will establish an overarching, sustainable, and knowledge-based network of health experts. The platform is to be jointly developed and implemented in the regions and follow an open-access approach. Therefore, synergies will be shared more quickly, strengthening competencies and competitiveness. In addition to practice partners, scientific and municipal institutions and SMEs are involved. The actors thus contribute to scientific performance, innovative strength, and resilience.
Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are leading contributors to global mortality, necessitating advanced methods for vital sign monitoring. Heart Rate Variability (HRV) and Respiratory Rate, key indicators of cardiovascular health, are traditionally monitored via Electrocardiogram (ECG). However, ECG's obtrusiveness limits its practicality, prompting the exploration of Ballistocardiography (BCG) as a non-invasive alternative. BCG records the mechanical activity of the body with each heartbeat, offering a contactless method for HRV monitoring. Despite its benefits, BCG signals are susceptible to external interference and present a challenge in accurately detecting J-Peaks. This research uses advanced signal processing and deep learning techniques to overcome these limitations. Our approach integrates accelerometers for long-term BCG data collection during sleep, applying Discrete Wavelet Transforms (DWT) and Ensemble Empirical Mode Decomposition (EEMD) for feature extraction. The Bi-LSTM model, leveraging these features, enhances heartbeat detection, offering improved reliability over traditional methods. The study's findings indicate that the combined use of DWT, EEMD, and Bi-LSTM for J-Peak detection in BCG signals is effective, with potential applications in unobtrusive long-term cardiovascular monitoring. Our results suggest that this methodology could contribute to HRV monitoring, particularly in home settings, enhancing patient comfort and compliance.
Good sleep is crucial for a healthy life of every person. Unfortunately, its quality often decreases with aging. A common approach to measuring the sleep characteristics is based on interviews with the subjects or letting them fill in a daily questionnaire and afterward evaluating the obtained data. However, this method has time and personal costs for the interviewer and evaluator of responses. Therefore, it would be important to execute the collection and evaluation of sleep characteristics automatically. To do that, it is necessary to investigate the level of agreement between measurements performed in a traditional way using questionnaires and measurements obtained using electronic monitoring devices. The study presented in this manuscript performs this investigation, comparing such sleep characteristics as "time going to bed", "total time in bed", "total sleep time" and "sleep efficiency". A total number of 106 night records of elderly persons (aged 65+) were analyzed. The results achieved so far reveal the fact that the degree of agreement between the two measurement methods varies substantially for different characteristics, from 31 minutes of mean difference for "time going to bed" to 77 minutes for "total sleep time". For this reason, a direct exchange of objective and subjective measuring methods is currently not possible.
Healthy sleep is one of the prerequisites for a good human body and brain condition, including general well-being. Unfortunately, there are several sleep disorders that can negatively affect this. One of the most common is sleep apnoea, in which breathing is impaired. Studies have shown that this disorder often remains undiagnosed. To avoid this, developing a system that can be widely used in a home environment to detect apnoea and monitor the changes once therapy has been initiated is essential. The conceptualisation of such a system is the main aim of this research. After a thorough analysis of the available literature and state of the art in this area of knowledge, a concept of the system was created, which includes the following main components: data acquisition (including two parts), storage of the data, apnoea detection algorithm, user and device management, data visualisation. The modules are interchangeable, and interfaces have been defined for data transfer, most of which operate using the MQTT protocol. System diagrams and detailed component descriptions, including signal requirements and visualisation mockups, have also been developed. The system's design includes the necessary concepts for the implementation and can be realised in a prototype in the next phase.
Long-term sleep monitoring can be done primarily in the home environment. Good patient acceptance requires low user and installation barriers. The selection of parameters in this approach is significantly limited compared to a PSG session. The aim is a qualified selection of parameters, which on the one hand allow a sufficiently good classification of sleep phases and on the other hand can be detected by non-invasive methods.
Unintrusive health monitoring systems is important when continuous monitoring of the patient vital signals is required. In this paper, signals obtained from accelerometers placed under a bed are processed with ballistocardiography algorithms and compared with synchronized electrocardiographic signals.
Deep Learning-based EEG Detection of Mental Alertness States from Drivers under Ethical Aspects
(2022)
One of the most critical factors for a successful road trip is a high degree of alertness while driving. Even a split second of inattention or sleepiness in a crucial moment, will make the difference between life and death. Several prestigious car manufacturers are currently pursuing the aim of automated drowsiness identification to resolve this problem. The path between neuro-scientific research in connection with artificial intelligence and the preservation of the dignity of human individual’s and its inviolability, is very narrow. The key contribution of this work is a system of data analysis for EEGs during a driving session, which draws on previous studies analyzing heart rate (ECG), brain waves (EEG), and eye function (EOG). The gathered data is hereby treated as sensitive as possible, taking ethical regulations into consideration. Obtaining evaluable signs of evolving exhaustion includes techniques that obtain sleeping stage frequencies, problematic are hereby the correlated interference’s in the signal. This research focuses on a processing chain for EEG band splitting that involves band-pass filtering, principal component analysis (PCA), independent component analysis (ICA) with automatic artefact severance, and fast fourier transformation (FFT). The classification is based on a step-by-step adaptive deep learning analysis that detects theta rhythms as a drowsiness predictor in the pre-processed data. It was possible to obtain an offline detection rate of 89% and an online detection rate of 73%. The method is linked to the simulated driving scenario for which it was developed. This leaves space for more optimization on laboratory methods and data collection during wakefulness-dependent operations.
The perception of the amount of stress is subjective to every person, and the perception of it changes depending on many factors. One of the factors that has an impact on perceived stress is the emotional state. In this work, we compare the emotional state of 40 German driving students and present different partitions that can be advantageous for using artificial intelligence and classification. Like this, we evaluate the data quality and prepare for the specific use. The Stress Perceived Questionnaire (PSQ20) was employed to assess the level of stress experienced by individuals while participating in a driving simulation for 5 and 25 min. As a result of our analysis, we present a categorisation of various emotional states into intervals, comparing different classifications and facilitating a more straightforward implementation of artificial intelligence for classification purposes.
There have been substantial research efforts for algorithms to improve continuous and automated assessment of various health-related questions in recent years. This paper addresses the deployment gap between those improving algorithms and their usability in care and mobile health applications. In practice, most algorithms require significant and founded technical knowledge to be deployed at home or support healthcare professionals. Therefore, the digital participation of persons in need of health care professionals lacks a usable interface to use the current technological advances. In this paper, we propose applying algorithms taken from research as web-based microservices following the common approach of a RESTful service to bridge the gap and make algorithms accessible to caregivers and patients without technical knowledge and extended hardware capabilities. We address implementation details, interpretation and realization of guidelines, and privacy concerns using our self-implemented example. Also, we address further usability guidelines and our approach to those.
Normal breathing during sleep is essential for people’s health and well-being. Therefore, it is crucial to diagnose apnoea events at an early stage and apply appropriate therapy. Detection of sleep apnoea is a central goal of the system design described in this article. To develop a correctly functioning system, it is first necessary to define the requirements outlined in this manuscript clearly. Furthermore, the selection of appropriate technology for the measurement of respiration is of great importance. Therefore, after performing initial literature research, we have analysed in detail three different methods and made a selection of a proper one according to determined requirements. After considering all the advantages and disadvantages of the three approaches, we decided to use the impedance measurement-based one. As a next step, an initial conceptual design of the algorithm for detecting apnoea events was created. As a result, we developed an activity diagram on which the main system components and data flows are visually represented.
A significant proportion of road traffic accidents are due to inattentiveness or fatigue at the wheel. Approaches to monitoring the driver's condition range from eye tracking and driving behavior analysis to yawn and blink detection and ECG measurement. This work describes the development of a mobile system for the measurement and processing of ECG data. The aim of the signal processing is to quantify the driver’s fatigue with the heartrate variability (HRV). The work includes the hardware and software design of the sensor. First, the development of low-noise electronics including AD conversion is described. Then the software signal processing with QRS complex detection and plotting front end is explained. The resulting sensor is compact, low-cost and provides a good signal for HRV extraction.
Sleep is essential to existence, much like air, water, and food, as we spend nearly one-third of our time sleeping. Poor sleep quality or disturbed sleep causes daytime solemnity, which worsens daytime activities' mental and physical qualities and raises the risk of accidents. With advancements in sensor and communication technology, sleep monitoring is moving out of specialized clinics and into our everyday homes. It is possible to extract data from traditional overnight polysomnographic recordings using more basic tools and straightforward techniques. Ballistocardiogram is an unobtrusive, non-invasive, simple, and low-cost technique for measuring cardiorespiratory parameters. In this work, we present a sensor board interface to facilitate the communication between force sensitive resistor sensor and an embedded system to provide a high-performing prototype with an efficient signal-to-noise ratio. We have utilized a multi-physical-layer approach to locate each layer on top of another, yet supporting a low-cost, compact design with easy deployment under the bed frame.
The proposed approach applies current unsupervised clustering approaches in a different dynamic manner. Instead of taking all the data as input and finding clusters among them, the given approach clusters Holter ECG data (long-term electrocardiography data from a holter monitor) on a given interval which enables a dynamic clustering approach (DCA). Therefore advanced clustering techniques based on the well known Dynamic Time Warping algorithm are used. Having clusters e.g. on a daily basis, clusters can be compared by defining cluster shape properties. Doing this gives a measure for variation in unsupervised cluster shapes and may reveal unknown changes in healthiness. Embedding this approach into wearable devices offers advantages over the current techniques. On the one hand users get feedback if their ECG data characteristic changes unforeseeable over time which makes early detection possible. On the other hand cluster properties like biggest or smallest cluster may help a doctor in making diagnoses or observing several patients. Further, on found clusters known processing techniques like stress detection or arrhythmia classification may be applied.
Determination of accelerometer sensor position for respiration rate detection: Initial research
(2022)
Continuous monitoring of a patient's vital signs is essential in many chronic illnesses. The respiratory rate (RR) is one of the vital signs indicating breathing diseases. This article proposes the initial investigation for determining the accelerometric sensor position of a non-invasive and unobtrusive respiratory rate monitoring system. This research aims to determine the sensor position in relation to the patient, which can provide the most accurate values of the mentioned physiological parameter. In order to achieve the result, the particular system setup, including a mechanical sensor holder construction was used. The breathing signals from 5 participants were analyzed corresponding to the relaxed state. The main criterion for selecting a suitable sensor position was each patient's average acceleration amplitude excursion, which corresponds to the respiratory signal. As a result, we provided one more defined important parameter for the considered system, which was not determined before.
The person’s heart rate is an important indicator of their health status. A heart rate that is too high or too low could be a sign of several different diseases, such as a heart disorder, obesity, asthma, or many others. Many devices require users to wear the device on their chest or place a finger on the device. The approach presented in this paper describes the principle and implementation of a heart rate monitoring device, which is able to detect the heart rate with high precision with the sensor integrated in a wristband. One method to measure the heart rate is the photoplethysmogram technique. This method measures the change of blood volume through the absorption or reflection of light. A light emitting diode (LED) shines through a thin amount of tissue. A photo-diode registers the intensity of light that traverses the tissue or is reflected by the tissue. Since blood changes its volume with each heartbeat, the photo-diode detects more or less light from the LED. The device is able to measure the heart rate with a high precision, it has low performance and hardware requirements, and it allows an implementation with small micro-controllers.
Development of an expert system to overpass citizens technological barriers on smart home and living
(2023)
Adopting new technologies can be overwhelming, even for people with experience in the field. For the general public, learning about new implementations, releases, brands, and enhancements can cause them to lose interest. There is a clear need to create point sources and platforms that provide helpful information about the novel and smart technologies, assisting users, technicians, and providers with products and technologies. The purpose of these platforms is twofold, as they can gather and share information on interests common to manufacturers and vendors. This paper presents the ”Finde-Dein-SmartHome” tool. Developed in association with the Smart Home & Living competence center [5] to help users learn about, understand, and purchase available technologies that meet their home automation needs. This tool aims to lower the usability barrier and guide potential customers to clear their doubts about privacy and pricing. Communities can use the information provided by this tool to identify market trends that could eventually lower costs for providers and incentivize access to innovative home technologies and devices supporting long-term care.
Health monitoring in a home environment can have broader use since it may provide continuous control of health parameters with relatively minor intrusiveness into regular life. This work aims to verify if it is possible to replace the typical in some sleep medicine areas subjective questioning by an objective measurement using electronic devices. For this purpose, a study was conducted with ten subjects, in which objective and subjective measurement of relevant sleep parameters took place. The results of both measurement methods were evaluated and analyzed. The results showed that while for some measures, such as Total Time in Bed, there is a high agreement between objective and subjective measurements, for others, such as sleep quality, there are significant differences. For this reason, currently, a combination of both measurement methods may be beneficial and provide the most detailed results, while a partial replacement can already reduce the number of questions at the subjective measurement by measurement through electronic devices.
Für die Überwachung des Schlafs zu Hause sind nichtinvasive Methoden besonders gut anwendbar. Die Signale, die häufig überwacht werden, sind Herzfrequenz und Atemfrequenz. Die Ballistokardiographie (BCG)ist eine Technik, bei der die Herzfrequenz aus den mechanischen Schwingungen des Körpers bei jedem Herzzyklus gemessen wird. Kürzlich wurden Übersichtsarbeiten veröffentlicht. Die Untersuchung soll in einem ersten Ansatz bewerten, ob die Herzfrequenz anhand von BCG erkannt werden kann. Die wesentlichen Randbedingungen sind, ob dies gelingt, wenn der Sensor unter der Matratze positioniert wird und kostengünstige Sensoren zum Einsatz kommen.
The last decades have shown that the volume of tourism, in general, is constantly increasing (with some justified exceptions). To offer a possibility of travel for all groups of people, it is necessary to pay attention to accessibility. One of the possibilities for increasing accessibility is digital technologies, which could assist in planning and the implementation and completion of trips. To make a selection of technologies, first, a study of barriers was conducted, which was then analyzed, and finally, some technologies were made available in a test setup. A focus on two technologies was made: 360°-Tours and mobile app with the travel information. The two technologies were implemented and presented to the test subjects.
The evaluation results showed that both technologies could increase accessibility if some essential aspects (such as usability, completeness, relevance, etc.) are considered during the implementation.
This document presents a new complete standalone system for a recognition of sleep apnea using signals from the pressure sensors placed under the mattress. The developed hardware part of the system is tuned to filter and to amplify the signal. Its software part performs more accurate signal filtering and identification of apnea events. The overall achieved accuracy of the recognition of apnea occurrence is 91%, with the average measured recognition delay of about 15 seconds, which confirms the suitability of the proposed method for future employment. The main aim of the presented approach is the support of the healthcare system with the cost-efficient tool for recognition of sleep apnea in the home environment.