An improved approach for measuring the tonic stretch reflex response of spastic muscles
We propose a new method for detecting the onset of the stretch reflex response for assessment of spasticity based on the Tonic Stretch Reflex Threshold (TSRT). Our strategy relies on a three-stage approach to detect the onset of the reflex EMG activity: (i) Reduction of baseline activity by means of Empirical Mode Decomposition; (ii) Extraction of the complex envelope of the EMG signal by means of Hilbert Transform (HT) and; iii) A double threshold decision rule. Simulated and real EMG data were used to evaluate and compare our method (TSRT-EHD) against three other popular methods described in the literature to assess TSRT...
Source: Computers in Biology and Medicine - December 1, 2016 Category: Bioinformatics Authors: Maristella Borges Silva, Andrei Nakagawa Silva, Eduardo L ázaro Martins Naves, Evanisi Teresa Palomari, Alcimar Barbosa Soares Source Type: research
Monitoring Infants by Automatic Video Processing: A Unified Approach to Motion Analysis
A unified approach to contact-less and low-cost video processing for automatic detection of neonatal diseases characterized by specific movement patterns is presented. This disease category includes neonatal clonic seizures and apneas. Both disorders are characterized by the presence or absence, respectively, of periodic movements of parts of the body —e.g., the limbs in case of clonic seizures and the chest/abdomen in case of apneas. Therefore, one can analyze the data obtained from multiple video sensors placed around a patient, extracting relevant motion signals and estimating, using the Maximum Likelihood (ML) criter...
Source: Computers in Biology and Medicine - December 1, 2016 Category: Bioinformatics Authors: Luca Cattani, Davide Alinovi, Gianluigi Ferrari, Riccardo Raheli, Elena Pavlidis, Carlotta Spagnoli, Francesco Pisani Source Type: research
Interactive Registration between Supine and Prone Scans in Computed Tomography Colonography using Band-Height Images
In computed tomographic colonography (CTC), a patient is commonly scanned twice including supine and prone scans to improve the sensitivity of polyp detection. Typically, a radiologist must manually match the corresponding areas in the supine and prone CT scans, which is a difficult and time-consuming task, even for experienced scan readers. In this paper, we propose a method of supine-prone registration utilizing band-height images, which are directly constructed from the CT scans using a ray-casting algorithm containing neighboring shape information. (Source: Computers in Biology and Medicine)
Source: Computers in Biology and Medicine - December 1, 2016 Category: Bioinformatics Authors: Youngchan Song, Hyunna Lee, Ho Chul Kang, Juneseuk Shin, Gil-Sun Hong, Seong Ho Park, Jeongjin Lee, Yeong-Gil Shin Source Type: research
Binarized Cross-Approximate Entropy in Crowdsensing Environment
Personalised monitoring in health applications has been recognised as part of the mobile crowdsensing concept, where subjects equipped with sensors extract information and share them for personal or common benefit. Limited transmission resources impose the use of local analyses methodology, but this approach is incompatible with analytical tools that require stationary and artefact-free data. This paper proposes a computationally efficient binarised cross-approximate entropy, referred to as (X)BinEn, for unsupervised cardiovascular signal processing in environments where energy and processor resources are limited. (Source:...
Source: Computers in Biology and Medicine - December 1, 2016 Category: Bioinformatics Authors: Tamara Skoric, Omer Mohamoud, Branislav Milovanovic, Nina Japundzic-Zigon, Dragana Bajic Source Type: research
Optimizing the location of ambulances in Tijuana, Mexico
In this work we report on modeling the demand for Emergency Medical Services (EMS) in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico, followed by the optimization of the location of the ambulances for the the Red Cross of Tijuana (RCT), which is by far the largest provider of EMS services in the region. We used data from more than 10,000 emergency calls surveyed during the year 2013 to model and classify the demand for EMS in different scenarios that provide different perspectives on the demand throughout the city, considering such factors as the time of day, work and off-days. (Source: Computers in Biology and Medicine)
Source: Computers in Biology and Medicine - November 29, 2016 Category: Bioinformatics Authors: Juan Carlos Dibene, Yazmin Maldonado, Carlos Vera, Mauricio de Oliveira, Leonardo Trujillo, Oliver Sch ütze Source Type: research
Numerical simulation of interaction between organs and food bolus during swallowing and aspiration
The mechanism of swallowing is still not fully understood, because the process of swallowing is a rapid and complex interaction among several involved organs and the food bolus. In this work, with the aim of studying swallowing and aspiration processes noninvasively and systematically, a computer simulation method for analyzing the involved organs and water (considered as the food bolus) is proposed. The shape and motion of the organs involved in swallowing are modeled in the same way as in our previous study, by using the Hamiltonian moving particle simulation (MPS) method and forced displacements on the basis of motion i...
Source: Computers in Biology and Medicine - November 29, 2016 Category: Bioinformatics Authors: Takahiro Kikuchi, Yukihiro Michiwaki, Seiichi Koshizuka, Tetsu Kamiya, Yoshio Toyama Source Type: research
Artificial neural networks as a powerful numerical tool to classify specific features of a tooth based on 3D scan data
Chairside manufacturing based on digital image acquisition is gainingincreasing importance in dentistry. For the standardized application of these methods, it is paramount to have highly automated digital workflows that can process acquired 3D image data of dental surfaces. Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) arenumerical methods primarily used to mimic the complex networks of neural connections in the natural brain. Our hypothesis is that an ANNcan be developed that is capable of classifying dental cusps with sufficient accuracy. (Source: Computers in Biology and Medicine)
Source: Computers in Biology and Medicine - November 26, 2016 Category: Bioinformatics Authors: Stefan Raith, Eric Per Vogel, Naeema Anees, Christine Keul, Jan-Frederik G üth, Daniel Edelhoff, Horst Fischer Source Type: research
MindEdit: A P300-based Text Editor for Mobile Devices
Practical application of Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCIs) requires that the whole BCI system be portable. The mobility of BCI systems involves two aspects: making the electroencephalography (EEG) recording devices portable, and developing software applications with low computational complexity to be able to run on low computational-power devices such as tablets and smartphones. This paper addresses the development of MindEdit; a P300-based text editor for Android-based devices. Given the limited resources of mobile devices and their limited computational power, a novel ensemble classifier is utilized that uses Principal Co...
Source: Computers in Biology and Medicine - November 26, 2016 Category: Bioinformatics Authors: Amr S. Elsawy, Seif Eldawlatly, Mohamed Taher, Gamal M. Aly Source Type: research
Most suitable mother wavelet for the analysis of fractal properties of stride interval time series via the average wavelet coefficient
Human gait is a complex interaction of many nonlinear systems and stride intervals exhibit self-similarity over long time scales that can be modeled as a fractal process. The scaling exponent represents the fractal degree and can be interpreted as a “biomarker” of relative diseases. The previous study showed that the average wavelet method provides the most accurate results to estimate this scaling exponent when applied to stride interval time series. The purpose of this paper is to determine the most suitable mother wavelet for the average wavelet method. (Source: Computers in Biology and Medicine)
Source: Computers in Biology and Medicine - November 25, 2016 Category: Bioinformatics Authors: Zhenwei Zhang, Jessie VanSwearingen, Jennifer S. Brach, Subashan Perera, Ervin Sejdi ć Source Type: research
Stroke Risk Stratification and its Validation using Ultrasonic Echolucent Carotid Wall Plaque Morphology: A Machine Learning Paradigm
Stroke risk stratification based on grayscale morphology of the ultrasound carotid wall has recently been shown to have a promise in classification of high risk versus low risk plaque or symptomatic versus asymptomatic plaques. In previous studies, this stratification has been mainly based on analysis of the far wall of the carotid artery. Due to the multifocal nature of atherosclerotic disease, the plaque growth is not restricted to the far wall alone. This paper presents a new approach for stroke risk assessment by integrating assessment of both the near and far walls of the carotid artery using grayscale morphology of t...
Source: Computers in Biology and Medicine - November 25, 2016 Category: Bioinformatics Authors: Tadashi Araki, Pankaj K. Jain, Harman S. Suri, Narendra D. Londhe, Nobutaka Ikeda, Ayman El-Baz, Vimal K. Shrivastava, Luca Saba, Andrew Nicolaides, Shoaib Shafique, John R. Laird, Ajay Gupta, Jasjit S. Suri Source Type: research
Finite element analysis of post dental implant fixation in drilled mandible sites
Implant loosening may occur after dental implant placement as a result of the mechanical conditions created around the implant. In this research, the effect of bone drilling conditions on the magnitude of stress created in newly-formed bone around the implant, after placement, was investigated using FEA analysis. (Source: Computers in Biology and Medicine)
Source: Computers in Biology and Medicine - November 25, 2016 Category: Bioinformatics Authors: Adel Pirjamalineisiani, Mohsen Sarafbidabad, Nima Jamshidi, Fatemeh Abedi Esfahani Source Type: research
Multiclass cancer classification using a feature subset-based ensemble from microRNA expression profiles
Cancer classification has been a crucial topic of research in cancer treatment. In the last decade, messenger RNA (mRNA) expression profiles have been widely used to classify different types of cancers. With the discovery of a new class of small non-coding RNAs; known as microRNAs (miRNAs), various studies have shown that the expression patterns of miRNA can also accurately classify human cancers. Therefore, there is a great demand for the development of machine learning approaches to accurately classify various types of cancers using miRNA expression data. (Source: Computers in Biology and Medicine)
Source: Computers in Biology and Medicine - November 20, 2016 Category: Bioinformatics Authors: Yongjun Piao, Minghao Piao, Keun Ho Ryu Source Type: research
SacLab: a toolbox for saccade analysis to increase usability of Eye Tracking systems in clinical ophthalmology practice
Many open source software packages have been recently developed to expand the usability of eye tracking systems to study oculomotor behavior, but none of these is specifically designed to encompass all the main functions required for creating eye tracking tests and for providing the automatic analysis of saccadic eye movements. The aim of this study is to introduce SacLab, an intuitive, freely-available MATLAB toolbox based on Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) that we have developed to increase the usability of the ViewPoint EyeTracker (Arrington Research, Scottsdale, AZ, USA) in clinical ophthalmology practice. (Source: Co...
Source: Computers in Biology and Medicine - November 20, 2016 Category: Bioinformatics Authors: Laura Cercenelli, Guido Tiberi, Ivan Corazza, Giuseppe Giannaccare, Michela Fresina, Emanuela Marcelli Source Type: research
Custom FPGA Processing for Real-Time Fetal ECG Extraction and Identification
Monitoring the fetal cardiac activity during pregnancy is of crucial importance for evaluating fetus health. However, there is a lack of automatic and reliable methods for Fetal ECG (FECG) monitoring that can perform this elaboration in real-time. In this paper, we present a hardware architecture, implemented on the Altera Stratix V FPGA, capable of separating the FECG from the maternal ECG and to correctly identify it. We evaluated our system using both synthetic and real tracks acquired from patients beyond the 20th pregnancy week. (Source: Computers in Biology and Medicine)
Source: Computers in Biology and Medicine - November 16, 2016 Category: Bioinformatics Authors: E. Torti, D. Koliopoulos, M. Matraxia, G. Danese, F Leporati Source Type: research
A contrast enhancement method for improving the segmentation of breast lesions on ultrasonography
Purpose: This paper presents an adaptive contrast enhancement method based on sigmoidal mapping function (SACE) used for improving the computerized segmentation of breast lesions on ultrasound. Methods: First, from the original ultrasound image an intensity variation map is obtained, which is used to generate local sigmoidal mapping functions related to distinct contextual regions. Then, a bilinear interpolation scheme is used to transform every original pixel to a new gray level value. Also, four contrast enhancement techniques widely used in breast ultrasound enhancement are implemented: histogram equalization (HEQ), con...
Source: Computers in Biology and Medicine - November 15, 2016 Category: Bioinformatics Authors: Wilfrido G ómez Flores, Wagner Coelho de Albuquerque Pereira Source Type: research
