Relationship between Car-Sickness Susceptibility and Postural Activity: Could the Re-Weighting Strategy between Signals from Different Body Sensors Be an Underlying Factor?

Postural control characteristics have been proposed as a predictor of Motion Sickness (MS). However, postural adaptation to sensory environment changes may also be critical for MS susceptibility. In order to address this issue, a postural paradigm was used where accurate orientation information from body sensors could be lost and restored, allowing us to infer sensory re-weighting dynamics from postural oscillation spectra in relation to car-sickness susceptibility. Seventy-one participants were standing on a platform (eyes closed) alternating from static phases (proprioceptive and vestibular sensors providing reliable orientation cues) to sway referenced to the ankle-angle phases (proprioceptive sensors providing unreliable orientation cues). The power spectrum density (PSD) on a 10 s sliding window was computed from the antero-posterior displacement of the center of pressure. Energy ratios (ERs) between the high (0.7-1.3 Hz) and low (0.1-0.7 Hz) frequency bands of these PSDs were computed on key time windows. Results showed no difference between MS and non-MS participants following loss of relevant ankle proprioception. However, the reintroduction of reliable ankle signals led, for the non-MS participants, to an increase of the ER originating from a previously up-weighted vestibular information during the sway-referenced situation. This suggests inter-individual differences in re-weighting dynamics in relation to car-sickness susceptibility.

An Energy-Efficient and Secure Data Inference Framework for Internet of Health Things: A Pilot Study.

Privacy protection in electronic healthcare applications is an important consideration, due to the sensitive nature of personal health data. Internet of Health Things (IoHT) networks that are used within a healthcare setting have unique challenges and security requirements (integrity, authentication, privacy, and availability) that must also be balanced with the need to maintain efficiency in order to conserve battery power, which can be a significant limitation in IoHT devices and networks. Data are usually transferred without undergoing filtering or optimization, and this traffic can overload sensors and cause rapid battery consumption when interacting with IoHT networks. This poses certain restrictions on the practical implementation of these devices. In order to address these issues, this paper proposes a privacy-preserving two-tier data inference framework solution that conserves battery consumption by inferring the sensed data and reducing data size for transmission, while also protecting sensitive data from leakage to adversaries. The results from experimental evaluations on efficiency and privacy show the validity of the proposed scheme, as well as significant data savings without compromising data transmission accuracy, which contributes to energy efficiency of IoHT sensor devices.

A Systematic Review on the Use of Wearable Body Sensors for Health Monitoring: A Qualitative Synthesis.

The use of wearable body sensors for health monitoring is a quickly growing field with the potential of offering a reliable means for clinical and remote health management. This includes both real-time monitoring and health trend monitoring with the aim to detect/predict health deterioration and also to act as a prevention tool. The aim of this systematic review was to provide a qualitative synthesis of studies using wearable body sensors for health monitoring. The synthesis and analysis have pointed out a number of shortcomings in prior research. Major shortcomings are demonstrated by the majority of the studies adopting an observational research design, too small sample sizes, poorly presented, and/or non-representative participant demographics (i.e., age, gender, patient/healthy). These aspects need to be considered in future research work.

Wireless Body Sensor Communication Systems Based on UWB and IBC Technologies: State-of-the-Art and Open Challenges.

In recent years there has been an increasing need for miniature, low-cost, commercially accessible, and user-friendly sensor solutions for wireless body area networks (WBAN), which has led to the adoption of new physical communication interfaces providing distinctive advantages over traditional wireless technologies. Ultra-wideband (UWB) and intrabody communication (IBC) have been the subject of intensive research in recent years due to their promising characteristics as means for short-range, low-power, and low-data-rate wireless interfaces for interconnection of various sensors and devices placed on, inside, or in the close vicinity of the human body. The need for safe and standardized solutions has resulted in the development of two relevant standards, IEEE 802.15.4 (for UWB) and IEEE 802.15.6 (for UWB and IBC), respectively. This paper presents an in-depth overview of recent studies and advances in the field of application of UWB and IBC technologies for wireless body sensor communication systems.

Optimal Design of a Planar Textile Antenna for Industrial Scientific Medical (ISM) 2.4 GHz Wireless Body Area Networks (WBAN) with the CRO-SL Algorithm.

This paper proposes a low-profile textile-modified meander line Inverted-F Antenna (IFA) with variable width and spacing meanders, for Industrial Scientific Medical (ISM) 2.4-GHz Wireless Body Area Networks (WBAN), optimized with a novel metaheuristic algorithm. Specifically, a metaheuristic known as Coral Reefs Optimization with Substrate Layer (CRO-SL) is used to obtain an optimal antenna for sensor systems, which allows covering properly and resiliently the 2.4⁻2.45-GHz industrial scientific medical bandwidth. Flexible pad foam has been used to make the designed prototype with a 1.1-mm thickness. We have used a version of the algorithm that is able to combine different searching operators within a single population of solutions. This approach is ideal to deal with hard optimization problems, such as the design of the proposed meander line IFA. During the optimization phase with the CRO-SL, the proposed antenna has been simulated using CST Microwave Studio software, linked to the CRO-SL by means of MATLAB implementation and Visual Basic Applications (VBA) code. We fully describe the antenna design process, the adaptation of the CRO-SL approach to this problem and several practical aspects of the optimization and details on the algorithm’s performance. To validate the simulation results, we have constructed and measured two prototypes of the antenna, designed with the proposed algorithm. Several practical aspects such as sensitivity during the antenna manufacturing or the agreement between the simulated and constructed antenna are also detailed in the paper.

The Survey on Near Field Communication.

Near Field Communication (NFC) is an emerging short-range wireless communication technology that offers great and varied promise in services such as payment, ticketing, gaming, crowd sourcing, voting, navigation, and many others. NFC technology enables the integration of services from a wide range of applications into one single smartphone. NFC technology has emerged recently, and consequently not much academic data are available yet, although the number of academic research studies carried out in the past two years has already surpassed the total number of the prior works combined. This paper presents the concept of NFC technology in a holistic approach from different perspectives, including hardware improvement and optimization, communication essentials and standards, applications, secure elements, privacy and security, usability analysis, and ecosystem and business issues. Further research opportunities in terms of the academic and business points of view are also explored and discussed at the end of each section. This comprehensive survey will be a valuable guide for researchers and academicians, as well as for business in the NFC technology and ecosystem.

The era of nano-bionic: 2D materials for wearable and implantable body sensors.

Nano-bionics have the potential of revolutionizing modern medicine. Among nano-bionic devices, body sensors allow to monitor in real-time the health of patients, to achieve personalized medicine, and even to restore or enhance human functions. The advent of two-dimensional (2D) materials is facilitating the manufacturing of miniaturized and ultrathin bioelectronics, that can be easily integrated in the human body. Their unique electronic properties allow to efficiently transduce physical and chemical stimuli into electric current. Their flexibility and nanometric thickness facilitate the adaption and adhesion to human body. The low opacity permits to obtain transparent devices. The good cellular adhesion and reduced cytotoxicity are advantageous for the integration of the devices in vivo. Herein we review the latest and more significant examples of 2D material-based sensors for health monitoring, describing their architectures, sensing mechanisms, advantages and, as well, the challenges and drawbacks that hampers their translation into commercial clinical devices.

Two factor authentication protocol for IoT based healthcare monitoring system.

In the last few years, technological advancement has led to the use of wearable body sensors for gathering patient information. Wireless body area networks played an essential role in the modern medical era. Through wearable body sensors, patient data are sent to medical professionals in real-time without any hindrance. This information moves through the public channel, and thus proper security and protection are needed because of its sensitiveness. Many authentication protocols proposed for solving these issues were neither secure nor cost-effective. This paper proposed an authentication protocol using certificateless cryptography for wireless body area networks to resolve the associated security concerns. A formal security analysis is done using the Burrows-Abadi-Needham logic shows that the proposed protocol is resilient against prevailing attacks. Additionally, we employ the Real-or-Random model for mathematical proof and Automated Verification Security Protocol and Analysis simulation tool for security analysis. A detailed comprehensive comparison with the existing protocols indicates that the proposed protocol is cost-effective with improved functionality.

Towards breath sensors that are self-powered by design.

Piezoelectric materials are widely used to generate electric charge from mechanical deformation or vice versa. These strategies are increasingly common in implantable medical devices, where sensing must be done on small scales. In the case of a flow rate sensor, a sensor's energy harvesting rate could be mapped to that flow rate, making it 'self-powered by design (SPD)'. Prior fluids-based SPD work has focused on turbulence-driven resonance and has been largely empirical. Here, we explore the possibility of sub-resonant SPD flow sensing in a human airway. We present a physical model of piezoelectric sensing/harvesting in the airway, which we validated with a benchtop experiment. Our work offers a model-based roadmap for implantable SPD sensing solutions. We also use the model to theorize a new form of SPD sensing that can detect broadband flow information.

Wearables in the home-based assessment of abnormal movements in Parkinson's disease: a systematic review of the literature.

At present, the standard practices for home-based assessments of abnormal movements in Parkinson's disease (PD) are based either on subjective tools or on objective measures that often fail to capture day-to-day fluctuations and long-term information in real-life conditions in a way that patient's compliance and privacy are secured. The employment of wearable technologies in PD represents a great paradigm shift in healthcare remote diagnostics and therapeutics monitoring. However, their applicability in everyday clinical practice seems to be still limited. We carried out a systematic search across the Medline Database. In total, 246 publications, published until 1 June 2020, were identified. Among them, 26 reports met the inclusion criteria and were included in the present review. We focused more on clinically relevant aspects of wearables' application including feasibility and efficacy of the assessment, the number, type and body position of the wearable devices, type of PD motor symptom, environment and duration of assessments and validation methodology. The aim of this review is to provide a systematic overview of the current knowledge and state-of-the-art of the home-based assessment of motor symptoms and fluctuations in PD patients using wearable technology, highlighting current problems and laying foundations for future works.

Detecting vital signs with wearable wireless sensors.

The emergence of wireless technologies and advancements in on-body sensor design can enable change in the conventional health-care system, replacing it with wearable health-care systems, centred on the individual. Wearable monitoring systems can provide continuous physiological data, as well as better information regarding the general health of individuals. Thus, such vital-sign monitoring systems will reduce health-care costs by disease prevention and enhance the quality of life with disease management. In this paper, recent progress in non-invasive monitoring technologies for chronic disease management is reviewed. In particular, devices and techniques for monitoring blood pressure, blood glucose levels, cardiac activity and respiratory activity are discussed; in addition, on-body propagation issues for multiple sensors are presented.

Correlating multimodal physical sensor information with biological analysis in ultra endurance cycling.

The sporting domain has traditionally been used as a testing ground for new technologies which subsequently make their way into the public domain. This includes sensors. In this article a range of physical and biological sensors deployed in a 64 hour ultra-endurance non-stop cycling race are described. A novel algorithm to estimate the energy expenditure while cycling and resting during the event are outlined. Initial analysis in this noisy domain of "sensors in the field" are very encouraging and represent a first with respect to cycling.

Role of Kinematics Assessment and Multimodal Sensorimotor Training for Motion Deficits in Breast Cancer Chemotherapy-Induced Polyneuropathy: A Perspective on Virtual Reality Avatars.

Chemotherapy-induced polyneuropathy (CIPN), one of the most severe and incapacitating side effects of chemotherapeutic drugs, is a serious concern in breast cancer therapy leading to dose diminution, delay, or cessation. The reversibility of CIPN is of increasing importance since active chemotherapies prolong survival. Clinical assessment tools show that patients experiencing sensorimotor CIPN symptoms not only do they have to cope with loss in autonomy and life quality, but CIPN has become a key restricting factor in treatment. CIPN incidence poses a clinical challenge and has lacked established and efficient therapeutic options up to now. Complementary, non-opioid therapies are sought for both prevention and management of CIPN. In this perspective, we explore the potential that digital interventions have for sensorimotor CIPN rehabilitation in breast cancer patients. Our primary goal is to emphasize the benefits and impact that Virtual Reality (VR) avatars and Machine Learning have in combination in a digital intervention aiming at (1) assessing the complete kinematics of deficits through learning underlying patient sensorimotor parameters, and (2) parameterize a multimodal VR simulation to drive personalized deficit compensation. We support our perspective by evaluating sensorimotor effects of chemotherapy, the metrics to assess sensorimotor deficits, and relevant clinical studies. We subsequently analyse the neurological substrate of VR sensorimotor rehabilitation, with multisensory integration acting as a key element. Finally, we propose a closed-loop patient-centered design recommendation for CIPN sensorimotor rehabilitation. Our aim is to provoke the scientific community toward the development and use of such digital interventions for more efficient and targeted rehabilitation.

Wearable Circuits Sintered at Room Temperature Directly on the Skin Surface for Health Monitoring.

A soft body area sensor network presents a promising direction in wearable devices to integrate on-body sensors for physiological signal monitoring and flexible printed circuit boards (FPCBs) for signal conditioning/readout and wireless transmission. However, its realization currently relies on various sophisticated fabrication approaches such as lithography or direct printing on a carrier substrate before attaching to the body. Here, we report a universal fabrication scheme to enable printing and room-temperature sintering of the metal nanoparticle on paper/fabric for FPCBs and directly on the human skin for on-body sensors with a novel sintering aid layer. Consisting of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) paste and nanoadditives in the water, the sintering aid layer reduces the sintering temperature. Together with the significantly decreased surface roughness, it allows for the integration of a submicron-thick conductive pattern with enhanced electromechanical performance. Various on-body sensors integrated with an FPCB to detect health conditions illustrate a system-level example.

Pervasive mobile healthcare systems for chronic disease monitoring.

Pervasive mobile healthcare system has the potential to improve healthcare and the quality of life of chronic disease patients through continuous monitoring. Recently, many articles related to pervasive mobile healthcare system focusing on health monitoring using wireless technologies have been published. The main aim of this review is to evaluate the state-of-the-art pervasive mobile healthcare systems to identify major technical requirements and design challenges associated with the realization of a pervasive mobile healthcare system. A systematic literature review was conducted over IEEE Xplore Digital Library to evaluate 20 pervasive mobile healthcare systems out of 683 articles from 2011 to 2016. The classification of the pervasive mobile healthcare systems and other important factors are discussed. Potential opportunities and challenges are pointed out for the further deployment of effective pervasive mobile healthcare systems. This article helps researchers in health informatics to have a holistic view toward understanding pervasive mobile healthcare systems and points out new technological trends and design challenges that researchers have to consider when designing such systems for better adoption, usability, and seamless integration.