Integrating Wearable Sensors and Machine Learning for the Detection of Critical Events in Industry Workers.

The event where an industry worker experiences some sort of critical health problems on site, due to factors not strictly related to the job, poses a serious concern and is an issue of research. These events can be mitigated almost entirely if the workers' health is being monitored in real time by an occupational physician along with an artificial intelligence system that can foresee a health incident and act fast and efficiently. For this reason, we developed a framework of devices, systems, and algorithms which help the industry workers along with the industries to monitor such events and, if possible, minimize them. The aforementioned framework performs seamlessly and autonomously and creates a system where the health of the industry workers is being monitored in real time. In the proposed solution, the worker would wear a wrist sensor in the form of a smartwatch as well as a blood pressure device on the ear. These sensors can communicate directly with a cloud storage system to store sensor data, and then real-time data analysis can be performed. Subsequently, all results can be displayed in an interface operated by an occupational physician, and in case of a health issue event, the doctor and the worker will be notified.

The i-Walk Lightweight Assistive Rollator: First Evaluation Study.

Robots can play a significant role as assistive devices for people with movement impairment and mild cognitive deficit. In this paper we present an overview of the lightweight i-Walk intelligent robotic rollator, which offers cognitive and mobility assistance to the elderly and to people with light to moderate mobility impairment. The utility, usability, safety and technical performance of the device is investigated through a clinical study, which took place at a rehabilitation center in Greece involving real patients with mild to moderate cognitive and mobility impairment. This first evaluation study comprised a set of scenarios in a number of pre-defined use cases, including physical rehabilitation exercises, as well as mobility and ambulation involved in typical daily living activities of the patients. The design and implementation of this study is discussed in detail, along with the obtained results, which include both an objective and a subjective evaluation of the system operation, based on a set of technical performance measures and a validated questionnaire for the analysis of qualitative data, respectively. The study shows that the technical modules performed satisfactory under real conditions, and that the users generally hold very positive views of the platform, considering it safe and reliable.

Hyperthyrotropinemia during iodide administration in normal children and in children born with neonatal transient hypothyroidism.

The aim of the present study was to examine the effects of chronic iodide administration in pharmacological doses on thyroid function in children with a history of transient congenital hypothyroidism (TCH). We hypothesized that such children may carry a previously undisclosed intrinsic intrathyroidal defect, rendering them susceptible to TCH. We administered for this 60-65 mg iodide daily for 60 d in 13 individuals with TCH (group A), 8 of their siblings (group B), 8 healthy controls (group C), and 11 normal adults (group D). Thyroid function was evaluated by measuring serum T(3), T(4), free T(3), free T(4), TSH, and thyroglobulin concentrations and autoantibodies against thyroid peroxidase and thyroglobulin at baseline at 15, 30, and 60 d during iodide administration, and 2 months after iodide withdrawal. Hyperthyrotropinemia greater than 4.2 mU/liter but not higher than 10 mU/liter with normal thyroid hormone concentrations was observed in one of the TCH group and in two of the group B siblings. During iodide administration, hyperthyrotropinemia was observed in 8 of 13 (62%) adolescents in group A, 4 of 7 (57%) in group B, and 6 of 8 (75%) in group C. None of the 11 adults (group D) developed hyperthyrotropinemia during iodide administration. Serum T(4) and free T(4) concentrations were decreased in all groups when compared with baseline values. The magnitude of the decrease of serum T(4) was identical in all groups (0.7-0.8 microg/dl). Thyroid enlargement was observed in all subjects and was more pronounced in children. There were no cases of subclinical and/or overt hyperthyroidism. After iodine withdrawal, serum TSH decreased in all groups and returned to baseline levels, as well as the thyroid volume. In conclusion, the hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid axis of adolescents with TCH responds to pharmacological doses of iodide similarly to that observed in normal children. The hyperthyrotropinemia observed in the adolescents exposed to iodides may reflect incipient transient hypothyroidism or simply a brisk TSH response to a small serum T(4) decrease. Whatever the mechanism, chronic use of excessive quantities of iodide should be avoided until the end of puberty.