Hand-held spectrophotometer design for textile fabrics

Science.gov (United States)

Böcekçi, Veysel Gökhan; Yıldız, Kazım

2017-09-01

In this study, a hand-held spectrophotometer was designed by taking advantage of the developments in modern optoelectronic technology. Spectrophotometer devices are used to determine the color information from the optic properties of the materials. As an alternative to a desktop spectrophotometer device we have implemented, it is the first prototype, low cost and portable. The prototype model designed for the textile industry can detect the color tone of any fabric. The prototype model consists of optic sensor, processor, display floors. According to the color applied on the optic sensor, it produces special frequency information on its output at that color value. In Arduino type processor, the frequency information is evaluated by the program we have written and the color tone information between 0-255 ton is decided and displayed on the screen.

Assessment of Laparoscopic Skills Performance: 2D Versus 3D Vision and Classic Instrument Versus New Hand-Held Robotic Device for Laparoscopy.

Science.gov (United States)

Leite, Mariana; Carvalho, Ana F; Costa, Patrício; Pereira, Ricardo; Moreira, Antonio; Rodrigues, Nuno; Laureano, Sara; Correia-Pinto, Jorge; Vilaça, João L; Leão, Pedro

2016-02-01

Laparoscopic surgery has undeniable advantages, such as reduced postoperative pain, smaller incisions, and faster recovery. However, to improve surgeons' performance, ergonomic adaptations of the laparoscopic instruments and introduction of robotic technology are needed. The aim of this study was to ascertain the influence of a new hand-held robotic device for laparoscopy (HHRDL) and 3D vision on laparoscopic skills performance of 2 different groups, naïve and expert. Each participant performed 3 laparoscopic tasks-Peg transfer, Wire chaser, Knot-in 4 different ways. With random sequencing we assigned the execution order of the tasks based on the first type of visualization and laparoscopic instrument. Time to complete each laparoscopic task was recorded and analyzed with one-way analysis of variance. Eleven experts and 15 naïve participants were included. Three-dimensional video helps the naïve group to get better performance in Peg transfer, Wire chaser 2 hands, and Knot; the new device improved the execution of all laparoscopic tasks (P < .05). For expert group, the 3D video system benefited them in Peg transfer and Wire chaser 1 hand, and the robotic device in Peg transfer, Wire chaser 1 hand, and Wire chaser 2 hands (P < .05). The HHRDL helps the execution of difficult laparoscopic tasks, such as Knot, in the naïve group. Three-dimensional vision makes the laparoscopic performance of the participants without laparoscopic experience easier, unlike those with experience in laparoscopic procedures. © The Author(s) 2015.

Design of hand held RID's monitoring system based on embedded system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Hongwei; Wei Yixiang

2008-01-01

In this paper we introduce the design of monitoring system for the hand held radionuclide identification device (RID), constructed under the embedded operating system of WinCE. At first, we introduce the design of hardware and software platform, and following is the major part of technical view of the software system, including the driver development, P/Invoke mechanism to call the C/C++ subroutines, multi-thread technology. In the experimental hardware platform, we have developed a front-end monitoring system for portable device targeted nuclide identification and orientation. It's a full-featured and flexible system, with the functions of data acquisition, radioactivity locating, data import and export, etc. (authors)

Suitability of capillary blood obtained by a minimally invasive lancet technique to detect subclinical ketosis in dairy cows by using 3 different electronic hand-held devices.

Science.gov (United States)

Kanz, P; Drillich, M; Klein-Jöbstl, D; Mair, B; Borchardt, S; Meyer, L; Schwendenwein, I; Iwersen, M

2015-09-01

The objective of this study was to evaluate the suitability of capillary blood obtained by a minimally invasive lancet technique to detect subclinical ketosis in 49 prepartum and 191 postpartum Holstein-Friesian cows using 3 different electronic hand-held devices [FreeStyle Precision (FSP, Abbott), GlucoMen LX Plus (GLX, A. Menarini), NovaVet (NOV, Nova Biomedical)]. The β-hydroxybutyrate (BHBA) concentration in serum harvested from coccygeal blood samples was analyzed in a laboratory and used as a reference value. Capillary samples were obtained from the skin of the exterior vulva by using 1 of 3 different lancets. In all samples, the concentration of BHBA was immediately analyzed with all 3 hand-held devices used in random order. All lancets used in the study were eligible for capillary blood collection but differed in the total number of incisions needed. Spearman correlation coefficients between the BHBA concentrations in capillary blood and the reference test were highly significant with 83% for the FSP, 73% for the NOV, and 63% for the GLX. Using capillary blood, the FSP overestimated the mean BHBA concentration compared with the reference test (+0.08 mmol/L), whereas the GLX and NOV underestimated the mean concentration (-0.07 and -0.01 mmol/L). When a BHBA concentration of 1.2 mmol/L in serum was used to define subclinical ketosis, the corresponding analyses of receiver operating characteristics resulted in optimized thresholds for capillary blood of 1.1 mmol/L for the NOV and GLX devices, and of 1.0 mmol/L for the FSP. Based on these thresholds, sensitivities (Se) and specificities (Sp) were 89 and 84% for the NOV, 80 and 89% for the GLX, and 100 and 76% for the FSP. Based on a serum BHBA concentration of 1.4 mmol/L, analyses of receiver operating characteristics resulted in optimized cut-offs of 1.4 mmol/L for the FSP (Se 100%, Sp 92%), 1.3 mmol/L for the NOV (Se 80%, Sp 95%), and 1.1 mmol/L (Se 90%, Sp 85%) for the GLX. Using these optimized thresholds

Hand-held tidal breathing nasal nitric oxide measurement--a promising targeted case-finding tool for the diagnosis of primary ciliary dyskinesia

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Marthin, June Kehlet; Nielsen, Kim Gjerum

2013-01-01

BACKGROUND: Nasal nitric oxide (nNO) measurement is an established first line test in the work-up for primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD). Tidal breathing nNO (TB-nNO) measurements require minimal cooperation and are potentially useful even in young children. Hand-held NO devices are becoming...... increasingly widespread for asthma management. Therefore, we chose to assess whether hand-held TB-nNO measurements reliably discriminate between PCD, and Healthy Subjects (HS) and included Cystic Fibrosis (CF) patients as a disease control group known to have intermediate nNO levels. METHODS: In this cross...... sectional, single centre, single occasion, proof-of-concept study in children and adults with PCD and CF, and in HS we compared feasibility, success rates, discriminatory capacity, repeatability and agreement between a hand-held electrochemical device equipped with a nNO software application sampling...

Driver hand-held cellular phone use: a four-year analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Eby, David W; Vivoda, Jonathon M; St Louis, Renée M

2006-01-01

The use of hand-held cellular (mobile) phones while driving has stirred more debate, passion, and research than perhaps any other traffic safety issue in the past several years. There is ample research showing that the use of either hand-held or hands-free cellular phones can lead to unsafe driving patterns. Whether or not these performance deficits increase the risk of crash is difficult to establish, but recent studies are beginning to suggest that cellular phone use elevates crash risk. The purpose of this study was to assess changes in the rate of hand-held cellular phone use by motor-vehicle drivers on a statewide level in Michigan. This study presents the results of 13 statewide surveys of cellular phone use over a 4-year period. Hand-held cellular phone use data were collected through direct observation while vehicles were stopped at intersections and freeway exit ramps. Data were weighted to be representative of all drivers traveling during daylight hours in Michigan. The study found that driver hand-held cellular phone use has more than doubled between 2001 and 2005, from 2.7% to 5.8%. This change represents an average increase of 0.78 percentage points per year. The 5.8% use rate observed in 2005 means that at any given daylight hour, around 36,550 drivers were conversing on cellular phones while driving on Michigan roadways. The trend line fitted to these data predicts that by the year 2010, driver hand-held cellular phone use will be around 8.6%, or 55,000 drivers at any given daylight hour. These results make it clear that cellular phone use while driving will continue to be an important traffic safety issue, and highlight the importance of continued attempts to generate new ways of alleviating this potential hazard.

Thresholds of whole-blood β-hydroxybutyrate and glucose concentrations measured with an electronic hand-held device to identify ovine hyperketonemia.

Science.gov (United States)

Pichler, M; Damberger, A; Schwendenwein, I; Gasteiner, J; Drillich, M; Iwersen, M

2014-03-01

Metabolic disorders, especially hyperketonemia, are very common in dairy sheep. The whole-blood concentrations of β-hydroxybutyrate (BHBA) and glucose can be determined by commercially available electronic hand-held devices, which are used in human medicine and for the detection of ketosis in dairy cows. The aim of this study was to evaluate the suitability of the hand-held device Precision Xceed (PX; Abbott Diabetes Care Inc., Abbott Park, IL) to detect hyperketonemia in ewes. An additional objective of this study was to evaluate the agreement between samples obtained by minimal invasive venipuncture of an ear vein and measurements of whole-blood samples from the jugular vein (vena jugularis, v. jug.). Blood samples taken from the v. jug. were collected from 358 ewes on 4 different farms. These samples and a blood drop obtained from an ear vein were analyzed simultaneously on farm with the PX. For method comparison, the samples obtained from the v. jug. were also analyzed by standard methods, which served as the gold standard at the Central Laboratory of the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Austria. The correlation coefficients between the serum BHBA concentration and the concentrations measured with the hand-held meter in the whole blood from an ear vein and the v. jug. were 0.94 and 0.96, respectively. The correlation coefficients of plasma and whole-blood glucose concentration were 0.68 for the v. jug. and 0.47 for the ear vein. The mean glucose concentration was significantly lower in animals classified as hyperketonemic (BHBA ≥ 1.6 mmol/L) compared with healthy ewes. Whole-blood concentrations of BHBA and glucose measured with the PX from v. jug. showed a constant negative bias of 0.15 mmol/L and 8.4 mg/dL, respectively. Hence, a receiver operating characteristic analysis was performed to determine thresholds for the PX to detect hyperketonemia in ewes. This resulted in thresholds for moderate ketosis of BHBA concentrations of 0.7 mmol/L in blood

Characterization of a high performance ultra-thin heat pipe cooling module for mobile hand held electronic devices

Science.gov (United States)

Ahamed, Mohammad Shahed; Saito, Yuji; Mashiko, Koichi; Mochizuki, Masataka

2017-11-01

In recent years, heat pipes have been widely used in various hand held mobile electronic devices such as smart phones, tablet PCs, digital cameras. With the development of technology these devices have different user friendly features and applications; which require very high clock speeds of the processor. In general, a high clock speed generates a lot of heat, which needs to be spreaded or removed to eliminate the hot spot on the processor surface. However, it is a challenging task to achieve proper cooling of such electronic devices mentioned above because of their confined spaces and concentrated heat sources. Regarding this challenge, we introduced an ultra-thin heat pipe; this heat pipe consists of a special fiber wick structure named as "Center Fiber Wick" which can provide sufficient vapor space on the both sides of the wick structure. We also developed a cooling module that uses this kind of ultra-thin heat pipe to eliminate the hot spot issue. This cooling module consists of an ultra-thin heat pipe and a metal plate. By changing the width, the flattened thickness and the effective length of the ultra-thin heat pipe, several experiments have been conducted to characterize the thermal properties of the developed cooling module. In addition, other experiments were also conducted to determine the effects of changes in the number of heat pipes in a single module. Characterization and comparison of the module have also been conducted both experimentally and theoretically.

75 FR 27504 - Substantial Product Hazard List: Hand-Held Hair Dryers

Science.gov (United States)

2010-05-17

... immersion during their use. Section 15(a) of the CPSA defines ``substantial product hazard'' to include, a....'' Hand-held hair dryers routinely contain open-coil heating elements that are, in essence, uninsulated..., bathtub, or lavatory). The proposed rule would define ``hand-held hair dryer'' as ``an electrical...

Intrarater reliability of hand held dynamometry in measuring lower extremity isometric strength using a portable stabilization device.

Science.gov (United States)

Jackson, Steven M; Cheng, M Samuel; Smith, A Russell; Kolber, Morey J

2017-02-01

Hand held dynamometry (HHD) is a more objective way to quantify muscle force production (MP) compared to traditional manual muscle testing. HHD reliability can be negatively impacted by both the strength of the tester and the subject particularly in the lower extremities due to larger muscle groups. The primary aim of this investigation was to assess intrarater reliability of HHD with use of a portable stabilization device for lower extremity MP in an athletic population. Isometric lower extremity strength was measured for bilateral lower extremities including hip abductors, external rotators, adductors, knee extensors, and ankle plantar flexors was measured in a sample of healthy recreational runners (8 male, 7 females, = 30 limbs) training for a marathon. These measurements were assessed using an intrasession intrarater reliability design. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) were calculated using 3,1 model based on the single rater design. The standard error of measurement (SEM) for each muscle group was also calculated. ICC were excellent ranging from ICC (3,1) = 0.93-0.98 with standard error of measurements ranging from 0.58 to 17.2 N. This study establishes the use of a HHD with a portable stabilization device as demonstrating good reliability within testers for measuring lower extremity muscle performance in an active healthy population. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Attentionally splitting the mass distribution of hand-held rods.

Science.gov (United States)

Burton, G; Turvey, M T

1991-08-01

Two experiments on the length-perception capabilities of effortful or dynamic touch differed only in terms of what the subject intended to perceive, while experimental conditions and apparatus were held constant. In each trial, a visually occluded rod was held as still as possible by the subject at an intermediate position. For two thirds of the trials, a weight was attached to the rod above or below the hand. In Experiment 1, in which the subject's task was to perceive the distance reachable with the portion of the rod forward of the hand, perceived extent was a function of the first moment of the mass distribution associated with the forward portion of the rod, and indifferent to the first moment of the entire rod. In Experiment 2, in which the task was to perceive the distance reachable with the entire rod if it was held at an end, the pattern of results was reversed. These results indicate the capability of selective sensitivity to different aspects of a hand-held object's mass distribution, without the possibility of differential exploration specific to these two tasks. Results are discussed in relation to possible roles of differential information, intention, and self-organization in the explanations of selective perceptual abilities.

Maintaining radiation exposures as low as reasonably achievable (ALARA) for dental personnel operating portable hand-held x-ray equipment.

Science.gov (United States)

McGiff, Thomas J; Danforth, Robert A; Herschaft, Edward E

2012-08-01

Clinical experience indicates that newly available portable hand-held x-ray units provide advantages compared to traditional fixed properly installed and operated x-ray units in dental radiography. However, concern that hand-held x-ray units produce higher operator doses than fixed x-ray units has caused regulatory agencies to mandate requirements for use of hand-held units that go beyond those recommended by the manufacturer and can discourage the use of this technology. To assess the need for additional requirements, a hand-held x-ray unit and a pair of manikins were used to measure the dose to a simulated operator under two conditions: exposures made according to the manufacturer's recommendations and exposures made according to manufacturer's recommendation except for the removal of the x-ray unit's protective backscatter shield. Dose to the simulated operator was determined using an array of personal dosimeters and a pair of pressurized ion chambers. The results indicate that the dose to an operator of this equipment will be less than 0.6 mSv y⁻¹ if the device is used according to the manufacturer's recommendations. This suggests that doses to properly trained operators of well-designed, hand-held dental x-ray units will be below 1.0 mSv y⁻¹ (2% of the annual occupational dose limit) even if additional no additional operational requirements are established by regulatory agencies. This level of annual dose is similar to those reported as typical dental personnel using fixed x-ray units and appears to satisfy the ALARA principal for this class of occupational exposures.

Adaptive RF front-ends for hand-held applications

CERN Document Server

van Bezooijen, Andre; van Roermund, Arthur

2010-01-01

The RF front-end - antenna combination is a vital part of a mobile phone because its performance is very relevant to the link quality between hand-set and cellular network base-stations. The RF front-end performance suffers from changes in operating environment, like hand-effects, that are often unpredictable. ""Adaptive RF Front-Ends for Hand-Held Applications"" presents an analysis on the impact of fluctuating environmental parameters. In order to overcome undesired behavior two different adaptive control methods are treated that make RF frond-ends more resilient: adaptive impedance control,

Leakage and scattered radiation from hand-held dental x-ray unit

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Eun Kyung

2007-01-01

To compare the leakage and scattered radiation from hand-held dental X-ray unit with radiation from fixed dental X-ray unit. For evaluation we used one hand-held dental X-ray unit and Oramatic 558 (Trophy Radiologie, France), a fixed dental X-ray unit. Doses were measured with Unfors Multi-O-Meter 512L at the right and left hand levels of X-ray tube head part for the scattered and leakage radiation when human skull DXTTR ΙΙΙ was exposed to both dental X-ray units. And for the leakage radiation only, doses were measured at the immediately right, left, superior and posterior side of the tube head part when air was exposed. Exposure parameters of hand-held dental X-ray unit were 70 kVp, 3 mA , 0.1 second, and of fixed X-ray unit 70 kVp, 8 mA, 0.45 second. The mean dose at the hand level when human skull DXTTR ΙΙΙ was exposed with portable X-ray unit 6.39 μGy, and the mean dose with fixed X-ray unit 3.03 μGy (p<0.001). The mean dose at the immediate side of the tube head part when air was exposed with portable X-ray unit was 2.97 μGy and with fixed X-ray unit the mean dose was 0.68 μGy (p<0.01). The leakage and scattered radiation from hand-held dental radiography was greater than from fixed dental radiography

Leakage and scattered radiation from hand-held dental x-ray unit

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Eun Kyung [Dankook Univ. School of Dentistry, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

2007-06-15

To compare the leakage and scattered radiation from hand-held dental X-ray unit with radiation from fixed dental X-ray unit. For evaluation we used one hand-held dental X-ray unit and Oramatic 558 (Trophy Radiologie, France), a fixed dental X-ray unit. Doses were measured with Unfors Multi-O-Meter 512L at the right and left hand levels of X-ray tube head part for the scattered and leakage radiation when human skull DXTTR {iota}{iota}{iota} was exposed to both dental X-ray units. And for the leakage radiation only, doses were measured at the immediately right, left, superior and posterior side of the tube head part when air was exposed. Exposure parameters of hand-held dental X-ray unit were 70 kVp, 3 mA , 0.1 second, and of fixed X-ray unit 70 kVp, 8 mA, 0.45 second. The mean dose at the hand level when human skull DXTTR {iota}{iota}{iota} was exposed with portable X-ray unit 6.39 {mu}Gy, and the mean dose with fixed X-ray unit 3.03 {mu}Gy (p<0.001). The mean dose at the immediate side of the tube head part when air was exposed with portable X-ray unit was 2.97 {mu}Gy and with fixed X-ray unit the mean dose was 0.68 {mu}Gy (p<0.01). The leakage and scattered radiation from hand-held dental radiography was greater than from fixed dental radiography.

New portable hand-held radiation instruments for measurements and monitoring

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fehlau, P.E.

1987-01-01

Hand-held radiation monitors are often used to search pedestrians and motor vehicles for special nuclear material (SNM) as part of a physical protection plan for nuclear materials. Recently, the Los Alamos Advanced Nuclear Technology group has commercialized an improved hand-held monitor that can be used for both physical-protection monitoring and verification measurements in nuclear material control and waste management. The new monitoring instruments are smaller and lighter; operate much longer on a battery charge; are available with NaI(Tl) or neutron and gamma-ray sensitive plastic scintillation detectors; and are less expensive than other comparable instruments. They also have a second operating mode for making precise measurements over counting times as long as 99 s. This mode permits making basic verification measurements that may be needed before transporting nuclear material or waste outside protected areas. Improved verification measurements can be made with a second new hand-held instrument that has a stabilized detector and three separate gamma-ray energy windows to obtain spectral information for SNM quantity, enrichment, or material-type verification

An Intelligent Hand-Held Microsurgical Instrument for Improved Accuracy

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Ang, Wei

2001-01-01

This paper presents the development and initial experimental results of the first prototype of Micron, an active hand-held instrument to sense and compensate physiological tremor and other unwanted...

Glucose concentration in capillary blood of dairy cows obtained by a minimally invasive lancet technique and determined with three different hand-held devices.

Science.gov (United States)

Mair, B; Drillich, M; Klein-Jöbstl, D; Kanz, P; Borchardt, S; Meyer, L; Schwendenwein, I; Iwersen, M

2016-02-24

Dairy cows have a massive demand for glucose at the onset of lactation. A poor adaption to this period leads to an excessive negative energy balance with an increased risk for ketosis and impaired animal health and production. Besides the measurement of ketones, analysing the glucose concentration in blood is reported as helpful instrument for diagnosis and differentiation of ketosis. Monitoring metabolic parameters requires multiple blood sampling. In other species, new blood sampling techniques have been introduced in which small amounts of blood are rapidly analysed using electronic hand-held devices. The objective of this study was to evaluate the suitability of capillary blood for blood glucose measurement in dairy cows using the hand-held devices FreeStyle Precision (FSP, Abbott), GlucoMen LX Plus (GLX, A. Menarini) and the WellionVet GLUCO CALEA, (WGC, MED TRUST). In total, 240 capillary blood samples were obtained from dry and fresh lactating Holstein-Friesian cows. Blood was collected from the skin of the exterior vulva by using a lancet. For method comparison, additional blood samples were taken from a coccygeal vessel and analyzed in a laboratory. Glucose concentrations measured by a standard laboratory method were defined as the criterion standard. The Pearson correlation coefficients between the glucose concentrations analyzed in capillary blood with the devices and the reference were 73% for the FSP, 81% for the GLX and 41% for the WGC. Bland-Altman plots showed biases of -18.8 mg/dL for the FSP, -11.2 mg/dL for the GLX and +20.82 mg/dL for the WGC. The optimized threshold determined by a Receiver Operating Characteristics analysis to detect hyperglycemia using the FSP was 43 mg/dL with a sensitivity (Se) and specificity (Sp) of 76 and 80%. Using the GLX and WGC optimized thresholds were 49 mg/dL (Se = 92%, Sp = 85%) and 95 mg/dL (Se = 39%, Sp = 92%). The results of this study demonstrate good performance characteristics for the GLX

Hand-held electronic data collection and procedure environment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kennedy, E.; Doniz, K.

1996-01-01

As part of a CANDU Owners Group project, AECL has developed a hand-held electronic data collection and procedure environment. Integral to this environment is the C omputerized Procedure Engine . The development of the CPE allows operators, maintainers, and technical support staff to execute virtually any type of station procedure on a general-purpose PC-compatible hand-held computer. There are several advantages to using the computerized procedures: less paper use and handling, reduction in human error, reduction in rework in the field, an increase in procedural compliance, and immediate availability of data to download to databases and plant information systems. The paper describes: the advantages of using computerized procedures, why early forms of computerized procedures were inadequate, the features that the C omputerized Procedure Engine o ffers to the user, the streamlined life cycle of a computerized procedure, and field experience. The paper concludes that computerized procedures are ready for pilot applications at stations. (author)

Measuring thyroid uptake with hand-held radiation monitors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Deschamps, M.

1987-04-01

With the use of Iodine 123, 125 and 131 and some compounds of Technetium-99 m, a fraction of the isotopes can be trapped in the thyroid of the technicians. We used the hand-held radiation contamination or survey meters of the nine (9) Nuclear medicine departments we visited to see if they were adequate for the evaluation of thyroid uptake of the users. Measurements on a neck-phanton helped us to determine a minimum detectable activity for each isotope. We were then able to check if the measurements of investigations and action levels were possible. None of the hand-held radiation monitors are completely satisfactory for the measure of thyroid uptake of the user. We discuss a class of equipment capable of measuring radiation emissions at the investigation level. Measurement at the action level is possible with meters having scintillation or proportional probes but none of them permits the discrimination in energy required for a quantitative evaluation of the radioisotopes used

The availability of relatively cheap hand-held Global Positioning ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

spamer

conditions, so the approach failed to produce results ... Hand-held Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers provide opportunities for detailed and rapid mapping of features ..... TICKELL, W. L. N. 1968 — The biology of the great albatrosses,.

Hand-held and automated breast ultrasound

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bassett, L.W.; Gold, R.H.; Kimme-Smith, C.

1985-01-01

The book is a guide for physicians and technologists who use US as an adjunct to mammography; it carefully outlines the pros and cons of US of the breast and its role in the diagnosis of benign and malignant diseases. After an introduction that discusses the philosophy of breast US, the chapters cover the physics of US and instrumentation (both hand-held transducers as well as automated water path scanners), then proceed to a discussion of the normal breast. Sections on benign disorders, malignant lesions, and pitfalls of diagnosis are followed by quiz cases

Hand held data collection and monitoring system for nuclear facilities

Science.gov (United States)

Brayton, D.D.; Scharold, P.G.; Thornton, M.W.; Marquez, D.L.

1999-01-26

Apparatus and method is disclosed for a data collection and monitoring system that utilizes a pen based hand held computer unit which has contained therein interaction software that allows the user to review maintenance procedures, collect data, compare data with historical trends and safety limits, and input new information at various collection sites. The system has a means to allow automatic transfer of the collected data to a main computer data base for further review, reporting, and distribution purposes and uploading updated collection and maintenance procedures. The hand held computer has a running to-do list so sample collection and other general tasks, such as housekeeping are automatically scheduled for timely completion. A done list helps users to keep track of all completed tasks. The built-in check list assures that work process will meet the applicable processes and procedures. Users can hand write comments or drawings with an electronic pen that allows the users to directly interface information on the screen. 15 figs.

Hand held data collection and monitoring system for nuclear facilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brayton, D.D.; Scharold, P.G.; Thornton, M.W.; Marquez, D.L.

1999-01-01

Apparatus and method is disclosed for a data collection and monitoring system that utilizes a pen based hand held computer unit which has contained therein interaction software that allows the user to review maintenance procedures, collect data, compare data with historical trends and safety limits, and input new information at various collection sites. The system has a means to allow automatic transfer of the collected data to a main computer data base for further review, reporting, and distribution purposes and uploading updated collection and maintenance procedures. The hand held computer has a running to-do list so sample collection and other general tasks, such as housekeeping are automatically scheduled for timely completion. A done list helps users to keep track of all completed tasks. The built-in check list assures that work process will meet the applicable processes and procedures. Users can hand write comments or drawings with an electronic pen that allows the users to directly interface information on the screen. 15 figs

Evaluation of a hand-held far-ultraviolet radiation device for decontamination of Clostridium difficile and other healthcare-associated pathogens

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nerandzic Michelle M

2012-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Environmental surfaces play an important role in transmission of healthcare-associated pathogens. There is a need for new disinfection methods that are effective against Clostridium difficile spores, but also safe and rapid. The Sterilray™ Disinfection Wand device is a hand-held room decontamination technology that utilizes far-ultraviolet radiation (185-230 nm to kill pathogens. Methods We examined the efficacy of disinfection using the Sterilray device in the laboratory, in rooms of hospitalized patients, and on surfaces outside of patient rooms (i.e. keyboards and portable medical equipment. Cultures for C. difficile, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA, and vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE were collected from commonly-touched surfaces before and after use of the Sterilray device. Results On inoculated surfaces in the laboratory, application of the Sterilray device at a radiant dose of 100 mJ/cm2 for ~ 5 seconds consistently reduced recovery of C. difficile spores by 4.4 CFU log10, MRSA by 5.4 log10CFU and of VRE by 6.9 log10CFU. A >3 log10 reduction of MRSA and VRE was achieved in ~2 seconds at a lower radiant dose, but killing of C. difficile spores was significantly reduced. On keyboards and portable medical equipment that were inoculated with C. difficile spores, application of the Sterilray device at a radiant dose of 100���mJ/cm2 for ~ 5 seconds reduced contamination by 3.2 log10CFU. However, the presence of organic material reduced the lethal effect of the far-UV radiation. In hospital rooms that were not pre-cleaned, disinfection with the Sterilray device significantly reduced the frequency of positive C. difficile and MRSA cultures (P =0.007. Conclusions The Sterilray™ Disinfection Wand is a novel environmental disinfection technology that rapidly kills C. difficile spores and other healthcare-associated pathogens on surfaces. However, the presence of organic matter

Validity of maximal isometric knee extension strength measurements obtained via belt-stabilized hand-held dynamometry in healthy adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Ushiyama, Naoko; Kurobe, Yasushi; Momose, Kimito

2017-11-01

[Purpose] To determine the validity of knee extension muscle strength measurements using belt-stabilized hand-held dynamometry with and without body stabilization compared with the gold standard isokinetic dynamometry in healthy adults. [Subjects and Methods] Twenty-nine healthy adults (mean age, 21.3 years) were included. Study parameters involved right side measurements of maximal isometric knee extension strength obtained using belt-stabilized hand-held dynamometry with and without body stabilization and the gold standard. Measurements were performed in all subjects. [Results] A moderate correlation and fixed bias were found between measurements obtained using belt-stabilized hand-held dynamometry with body stabilization and the gold standard. No significant correlation and proportional bias were found between measurements obtained using belt-stabilized hand-held dynamometry without body stabilization and the gold standard. The strength identified using belt-stabilized hand-held dynamometry with body stabilization may not be commensurate with the maximum strength individuals can generate; however, it reflects such strength. In contrast, the strength identified using belt-stabilized hand-held dynamometry without body stabilization does not reflect the maximum strength. Therefore, a chair should be used to stabilize the body when performing measurements of maximal isometric knee extension strength using belt-stabilized hand-held dynamometry in healthy adults. [Conclusion] Belt-stabilized hand-held dynamometry with body stabilization is more convenient than the gold standard in clinical settings.

Studies on hand-held visual communication device for the deaf and speech-impaired 2. Keyboard design.

Science.gov (United States)

Thurlow, W R

1980-01-01

Experiments with keyboard arrangements of letters show that simple alphabetic letter-key sequences with 4 to 5 letters in a row lead to most rapid visual search performance. Such arrangements can be used on keyboards operated by the index finger of one hand. Arrangement of letters in words offers a promising alternative because these arrangements can be readily memorized and can result in small interletter distances on the keyboard for frequently occurring letter sequences. Experiments on operation of keyboards show that a space or shift key operated by the left hand (which also holds the communication device) results in faster keyboard operation than when space or shift keys on the front of the keyboard (operated by right hand) are used. Special problems of the deaf-blind are discussed. Keyboard arrangements are investigated, and matching tactual codes are suggested.

[Study on an Exoskeleton Hand Function Training Device].

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Xin; Zhang, Ying; Li, Jicai; Yi, Jinhua; Yu, Hongliu; He, Rongrong

2016-02-01

Based on the structure and motion bionic principle of the normal adult fingers, biological characteristics of human hands were analyzed, and a wearable exoskeleton hand function training device for the rehabilitation of stroke patients or patients with hand trauma was designed. This device includes the exoskeleton mechanical structure and the electromyography (EMG) control system. With adjustable mechanism, the device was capable to fit different finger lengths, and by capturing the EMG of the users' contralateral limb, the motion state of the exoskeleton hand was controlled. Then driven by the device, the user's fingers conducting adduction/abduction rehabilitation training was carried out. Finally, the mechanical properties and training effect of the exoskeleton hand were verified through mechanism simulation and the experiments on the experimental prototype of the wearable exoskeleton hand function training device.

Hand-held cell phone use while driving legislation and observed driver behavior among population sub-groups in the United States.

Science.gov (United States)

Rudisill, Toni M; Zhu, Motao

2017-05-12

Cell phone use behaviors are known to vary across demographic sub-groups and geographic locations. This study examined whether universal hand-held calling while driving bans were associated with lower road-side observed hand-held cell phone conversations across drivers of different ages (16-24, 25-59, ≥60 years), sexes, races (White, African American, or other), ruralities (suburban, rural, or urban), and regions (Northeast, Midwest, South, and West). Data from the 2008-2013 National Occupant Protection Use Survey were merged with states' cell phone use while driving legislation. The exposure was presence of a universal hand-held cell phone ban at time of observation. Logistic regression was used to assess the odds of drivers having a hand-held cell phone conversation. Sub-groups differences were assessed using models with interaction terms. When universal hand-held cell phone bans were effective, hand-held cell phone conversations were lower across all driver demographic sub-groups and regions. Sub-group differences existed among the sexes (p-value, phone bans, the adjusted odds ratio (aOR) of a driver hand-held phone conversation was 0.34 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.28, 0.41] for females versus 0.47 (CI 0.40, 0.55) for males and 0.31 (CI 0.25, 0.38) for drivers in Western states compared to 0.47 (CI 0.30, 0.72) in the Northeast and 0.50 (CI 0.38, 0.66) in the South. The presence of universal hand-held cell phone bans were associated lower hand-held cell phone conversations across all driver sub-groups and regions. Hand-held phone conversations were particularly lower among female drivers and those from Western states when these bans were in effect. Public health interventions concerning hand-held cell phone use while driving could reasonably target all drivers.

Hand-held cell phone use while driving legislation and observed driver behavior among population sub-groups in the United States

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Toni M. Rudisill

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Cell phone use behaviors are known to vary across demographic sub-groups and geographic locations. This study examined whether universal hand-held calling while driving bans were associated with lower road-side observed hand-held cell phone conversations across drivers of different ages (16–24, 25–59, ≥60 years, sexes, races (White, African American, or other, ruralities (suburban, rural, or urban, and regions (Northeast, Midwest, South, and West. Methods Data from the 2008–2013 National Occupant Protection Use Survey were merged with states’ cell phone use while driving legislation. The exposure was presence of a universal hand-held cell phone ban at time of observation. Logistic regression was used to assess the odds of drivers having a hand-held cell phone conversation. Sub-groups differences were assessed using models with interaction terms. Results When universal hand-held cell phone bans were effective, hand-held cell phone conversations were lower across all driver demographic sub-groups and regions. Sub-group differences existed among the sexes (p-value, <0.0001 and regions (p-value, 0.0003. Compared to states without universal hand-held cell phone bans, the adjusted odds ratio (aOR of a driver hand-held phone conversation was 0.34 [95% confidence interval (CI: 0.28, 0.41] for females versus 0.47 (CI 0.40, 0.55 for males and 0.31 (CI 0.25, 0.38 for drivers in Western states compared to 0.47 (CI 0.30, 0.72 in the Northeast and 0.50 (CI 0.38, 0.66 in the South. Conclusions The presence of universal hand-held cell phone bans were associated lower hand-held cell phone conversations across all driver sub-groups and regions. Hand-held phone conversations were particularly lower among female drivers and those from Western states when these bans were in effect. Public health interventions concerning hand-held cell phone use while driving could reasonably target all drivers.

fMRI-compatible rehabilitation hand device

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tzika Aria

2006-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI has been widely used in studying human brain functions and neurorehabilitation. In order to develop complex and well-controlled fMRI paradigms, interfaces that can precisely control and measure output force and kinematics of the movements in human subjects are needed. Optimized state-of-the-art fMRI methods, combined with magnetic resonance (MR compatible robotic devices for rehabilitation, can assist therapists to quantify, monitor, and improve physical rehabilitation. To achieve this goal, robotic or mechatronic devices with actuators and sensors need to be introduced into an MR environment. The common standard mechanical parts can not be used in MR environment and MR compatibility has been a tough hurdle for device developers. Methods This paper presents the design, fabrication and preliminary testing of a novel, one degree of freedom, MR compatible, computer controlled, variable resistance hand device that may be used in brain MR imaging during hand grip rehabilitation. We named the device MR_CHIROD (Magnetic Resonance Compatible Smart Hand Interfaced Rehabilitation Device. A novel feature of the device is the use of Electro-Rheological Fluids (ERFs to achieve tunable and controllable resistive force generation. ERFs are fluids that experience dramatic changes in rheological properties, such as viscosity or yield stress, in the presence of an electric field. The device consists of four major subsystems: a an ERF based resistive element; b a gearbox; c two handles and d two sensors, one optical encoder and one force sensor, to measure the patient induced motion and force. The smart hand device is designed to resist up to 50% of the maximum level of gripping force of a human hand and be controlled in real time. Results Laboratory tests of the device indicate that it was able to meet its design objective to resist up to approximately 50% of the maximum handgrip force. The detailed

Combining heterogenous features for 3D hand-held object recognition

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Lv, Xiong; Wang, Shuang; Li, Xiangyang; Jiang, Shuqiang

2014-10-01

Object recognition has wide applications in the area of human-machine interaction and multimedia retrieval. However, due to the problem of visual polysemous and concept polymorphism, it is still a great challenge to obtain reliable recognition result for the 2D images. Recently, with the emergence and easy availability of RGB-D equipment such as Kinect, this challenge could be relieved because the depth channel could bring more information. A very special and important case of object recognition is hand-held object recognition, as hand is a straight and natural way for both human-human interaction and human-machine interaction. In this paper, we study the problem of 3D object recognition by combining heterogenous features with different modalities and extraction techniques. For hand-craft feature, although it reserves the low-level information such as shape and color, it has shown weakness in representing hiconvolutionalgh-level semantic information compared with the automatic learned feature, especially deep feature. Deep feature has shown its great advantages in large scale dataset recognition but is not always robust to rotation or scale variance compared with hand-craft feature. In this paper, we propose a method to combine hand-craft point cloud features and deep learned features in RGB and depth channle. First, hand-held object segmentation is implemented by using depth cues and human skeleton information. Second, we combine the extracted hetegerogenous 3D features in different stages using linear concatenation and multiple kernel learning (MKL). Then a training model is used to recognize 3D handheld objects. Experimental results validate the effectiveness and gerneralization ability of the proposed method.

An embedded system developed for hand held assay used in water monitoring

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Lin; Wang, Jianwei; Ramakrishna, Bharath; Hsueh, Mingkai; Liu, Jonathan; Wu, Qufei; Wu, Chao-Cheng; Cao, Mang; Chang, Chein-I.; Jensen, Janet L.; Jensen, James O.; Knapp, Harlan; Daniel, Robert; Yin, Ray

2005-11-01

The US Army Joint Service Agent Water Monitor (JSAWM) program is currently interested in an approach that can implement a hardware- designed device in ticket-based hand-held assay (currently being developed) used for chemical/biological agent detection. This paper presents a preliminary investigation of the proof of concept. Three components are envisioned to accomplish the task. One is the ticket development which has been undertaken by the ANP, Inc. Another component is the software development which has been carried out by the Remote Sensing Signal and Image Processing Laboratory (RSSIPL) at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC). A third component is an embedded system development which can be used to drive the UMBC-developed software to analyze the ANP-developed HHA tickets on a small pocket-size device like a PDA. The main focus of this paper is to investigate the third component that is viable and is yet to be explored. In order to facilitate to prove the concept, a flatbed scanner is used to replace a ticket reader to serve as an input device. The Stargate processor board is used as the embedded System with Embedded Linux installed. It is connected to an input device such as scanner as well as output devices such as LCD display or laptop etc. It executes the C-Coded processing program developed for this embedded system and outputs its findings on a display device. The embedded system to be developed and investigated in this paper is the core of a future hardware device. Several issues arising in such an embedded system will be addressed. Finally, the proof-of-concept pilot embedded system will be demonstrated.

Development of dual sensor hand-held detector

Science.gov (United States)

Sezgin, Mehmet

2010-04-01

In this paper hand-held dual sensor detector development requirements are considered dedicated to buried object detection. Design characteristics of such a system are categorized and listed. Hardware and software structures, ergonomics, user interface, environmental and EMC/EMI tests to be applied and performance test issues are studied. Main properties of the developed system (SEZER) are presented, which contains Metal Detector (MD) and Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR). The realized system has ergonomic structure and can detect both metallic and non-metallic buried objects. Moreover classification of target is possible if it was defined to the signal processing software in learning phase.

Predicting meat quality traits of ovine m. semimembranosus, both fresh and following freezing and thawing, using a hand held Raman spectroscopic device.

Science.gov (United States)

Fowler, Stephanie M; Schmidt, Heinar; van de Ven, Remy; Wynn, Peter; Hopkins, David L

2015-10-01

Complementary studies were conducted to determine the potential for a Raman spectroscopic hand held device to predict meat quality traits of fresh lamb m. semimembranosus (topside) after ageing and freezing/thawing. Spectra were collected from 80 fresh muscles at 24h and 5d PM, another 80 muscles were measured at 24h, 5d and following freezing/thawing. Shear force, cooking loss, sarcomere length, colour, particle size, collagen content, pH24, pHu, purge and thaw loss were also measured. Results indicated a potential to predict pHu (R(2)cv=0.59), pH24 (R(2)cv=0.48) and purge (R(2)cv=0.42) using spectra collected 24h PM. L* could be predicted using spectra collected 24h (R(2)cv=0.33) or 5d PM (R(2)cv=0.33). This suggests that Raman spectroscopy is suited to identifying carcases which deviate from the normal metabolic processes and related meat quality traits. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Into the Wild: Neuroergonomic Differentiation of Hand-Held and Augmented Reality Wearable Displays during Outdoor Navigation with Functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy.

Science.gov (United States)

McKendrick, Ryan; Parasuraman, Raja; Murtza, Rabia; Formwalt, Alice; Baccus, Wendy; Paczynski, Martin; Ayaz, Hasan

2016-01-01

Highly mobile computing devices promise to improve quality of life, productivity, and performance. Increased situation awareness and reduced mental workload are two potential means by which this can be accomplished. However, it is difficult to measure these concepts in the "wild". We employed ultra-portable battery operated and wireless functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to non-invasively measure hemodynamic changes in the brain's Prefrontal cortex (PFC). Measurements were taken during navigation of a college campus with either a hand-held display, or an Augmented reality wearable display (ARWD). Hemodynamic measures were also paired with secondary tasks of visual perception and auditory working memory to provide behavioral assessment of situation awareness and mental workload. Navigating with an augmented reality wearable display produced the least workload during the auditory working memory task, and a trend for improved situation awareness in our measures of prefrontal hemodynamics. The hemodynamics associated with errors were also different between the two devices. Errors with an augmented reality wearable display were associated with increased prefrontal activity and the opposite was observed for the hand-held display. This suggests that the cognitive mechanisms underlying errors between the two devices differ. These findings show fNIRS is a valuable tool for assessing new technology in ecologically valid settings and that ARWDs offer benefits with regards to mental workload while navigating, and potentially superior situation awareness with improved display design.

Flexible CMOS low-noise amplifiers for beyond-3G wireless hand-held devices

Science.gov (United States)

Becerra-Alvarez, Edwin C.; Sandoval-Ibarra, Federico; de la Rosa, José M.

2009-05-01

This paper explores the use of reconfigurable Low-Noise Amplifiers (LNAs) for the implementation of CMOS Radio Frequency (RF) front-ends in the next generation of multi-standard wireless transceivers. Main circuit strategies reported so far for multi-standard LNAs are reviewed and a novel flexible LNA intended for Beyond-3G RF hand-held terminals is presented. The proposed LNA circuit consists of a two-stage topology that combines inductive-source degeneration with PMOS-varactor based tuning network and a programmable load to adapt its performance to different standard specifications without penalizing the circuit noise and with a reduced number of inductors as compared to previous reported reconfigurable LNAs. The circuit has been designed in a 90-nm CMOS technology to cope with the requirements of the GSM, WCDMA, Bluetooth and WLAN (IEEE 802.11b-g) standards. Simulation results, including technology and packaging parasitics, demonstrate correct operation of the circuit for all the standards under study, featuring NF13.3dB and IIP3>10.9dBm, over a 1.85GHz-2.4GHz band, with an adaptive power consumption between 17mW and 22mW from a 1-V supply voltage. Preliminary experimental measurements are included, showing a correct reconfiguration operation within the operation band.

How to use hand-held computers to evaluate wood drying.

Science.gov (United States)

Howard N. Rosen; Darrell S. Martin

1985-01-01

Techniques have been developed to evaluate end generate wood drying curves with hand-held computers (3-5K memory). Predictions of time to dry to a specific moisture content, drying rates, and other characteristics of wood drying curves can be made. The paper describes the development of programs and illustrates their use.

A feasibility and efficacy trial of a hand-held humidification device in patients undergoing radiotherapy for head and neck cancer.

Science.gov (United States)

Ghosh, Priyanka; Lazar, Ann A; Ryan, William R; Yom, Sue S

2017-08-01

This study aimed to evaluate the effects of warm-mist humidification during and after head and neck radiation therapy (HN RT) on quality of life (QOL), as measured by the M. D. Anderson Symptom Inventory-Head and Neck (MDASI-HN) HN score. A secondary aim was to compare QOL among compliers (≥60% of protocol-recommended usage) versus non-compliers. Twenty patients self-administered a hand-held, self-sterilizing humidification device for a recommended time of at least 15 min twice daily for 12 weeks. Patients completed the MDASI-HN instrument at RT start, after 6 weeks, and after 12 weeks. Compliance was reported weekly. The average HN score at baseline was 1.7 (SD = 1.8) and increased to 6.0 (SD = 1.6) after 6 weeks; this increase was much higher than anticipated and the primary endpoint could not be reached. However, compliers had an average of nearly two less HN symptoms (-1.8, 95% CI -4 to 0.2; p = 0.08) than non-compliers at 6 weeks and fewer symptoms at 12 weeks as well (-0.9, 95% CI -2.9 to 1.2; p = 0.39). The most common terms patients used to describe humidification were "helpful" and "soothing." Compliance with humidification during RT was associated with fewer reported HN symptoms and a strong trend to better QOL. Improvements were seen from compliance with occasional required use of a portable, inexpensive device. Our findings support continued efforts to reduce barriers to humidification, as an intervention that should be considered for standard HN RT clinical practice.

78 FR 73415 - Safety Standard for Hand-Held Infant Carriers

Science.gov (United States)

2013-12-06

... modifications to the ASTM test procedure set forth in ASTM F2050-12 so that the test produces more repeatable... skills necessary for the preparation of reports or records; and a description of the steps the agency has... the Rule on Small Business There are at least 47 firms currently known to be marketing hand- held...

The Weak Link HP-41C hand-held calculator program

Science.gov (United States)

Ross A. Phillips; Penn A. Peters; Gary D. Falk

1982-01-01

The Weak Link hand-held calculator program (HP-41C) quickly analyzes a system for logging production and costs. The production equations model conventional chain saw, skidder, loader, and tandemaxle truck operations in eastern mountain areas. Production of each function of the logging system may be determined so that the system may be balanced for minimum cost. The...

Three-dimensional modeling of physiological tremor for hand-held surgical robotic instruments.

Science.gov (United States)

Tatinati, Sivanagaraja; Yan Naing Aye; Pual, Anand; Wei Tech Ang; Veluvolu, Kalyana C

2016-08-01

Hand-held robotic instruments are developed to compensate physiological tremor in real-time while augmenting the required precision and dexterity into normal microsurgical work-flow. The hardware (sensors and actuators) and software (causal linear filters) employed for tremor identification and filtering introduces time-varying unknown phase-delay that adversely affects the device performance. The current techniques that focus on three-dimensions (3D) tip position control involves modeling and canceling the tremor in 3-axes (x, y, and z axes) separately. Our analysis with the tremor data recorded from surgeons and novice subjects show that there exists significant correlation in tremor motion across the dimensions. Motivated by this, a new multi-dimensional modeling approach based on extreme learning machines (ELM) is proposed in this paper to correct the phase delay and to accurately model tremulous motion in three dimensions simultaneously. A study is conducted with tremor data recorded from the microsurgeons to analyze the suitability of proposed approach.

Driver electronic device use in 2013.

Science.gov (United States)

2015-04-01

The percentage of drivers text-messaging or visibly manipulating : hand-held devices increased from 1.5 percent in : 2012 to 1.7 percent in 2013; however, this was not a statistically : significant increase. Driver hand-held cell phone : use decrease...

Hand-held dynamic visual noise reduces naturally occurring food cravings and craving-related consumption.

Science.gov (United States)

Kemps, Eva; Tiggemann, Marika

2013-09-01

This study demonstrated the applicability of the well-established laboratory task, dynamic visual noise, as a technique for reducing naturally occurring food cravings and subsequent food intake. Dynamic visual noise was delivered on a hand-held computer device. Its effects were assessed within the context of a diary study. Over a 4-week period, 48 undergraduate women recorded their food cravings and consumption. Following a 2-week baseline, half the participants watched the dynamic visual noise display whenever they experienced a food craving. Compared to a control group, these participants reported less intense cravings. They were also less likely to eat following a craving and consequently consumed fewer total calories following craving. These findings hold promise for curbing unwanted food cravings and craving-driven consumption in real-world settings. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A hand-held 3D laser scanning with global positioning system of subvoxel precision

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arias, Nestor; Meneses, Nestor; Meneses, Jaime; Gharbi, Tijani

2011-01-01

In this paper we propose a hand-held 3D laser scanner composed of an optical head device to extract 3D local surface information and a stereo vision system with subvoxel precision to measure the position and orientation of the 3D optical head. The optical head is manually scanned over the surface object by the operator. The orientation and position of the 3D optical head is determined by a phase-sensitive method using a 2D regular intensity pattern. This phase reference pattern is rigidly fixed to the optical head and allows their 3D location with subvoxel precision in the observation field of the stereo vision system. The 3D resolution achieved by the stereo vision system is about 33 microns at 1.8 m with an observation field of 60cm x 60cm.

Hand-held transendoscopic robotic manipulators: A transurethral laser prostate surgery case study.

Science.gov (United States)

Hendrick, Richard J; Mitchell, Christopher R; Herrell, S Duke; Webster, Robert J

2015-11-01

Natural orifice endoscopic surgery can enable incisionless approaches, but a major challenge is the lack of small and dexterous instrumentation. Surgical robots have the potential to meet this need yet often disrupt the clinical workflow. Hand-held robots that combine thin manipulators and endoscopes have the potential to address this by integrating seamlessly into the clinical workflow and enhancing dexterity. As a case study illustrating the potential of this approach, we describe a hand-held robotic system that passes two concentric tube manipulators through a 5 mm port in a rigid endoscope for transurethral laser prostate surgery. This system is intended to catalyze the use of a clinically superior, yet rarely attempted, procedure for benign prostatic hyperplasia. This paper describes system design and experiments to evaluate the surgeon's functional workspace and accuracy using the robot. Phantom and cadaver experiments demonstrate successful completion of the target procedure via prostate lobe resection.

Gen-2 Hand-Held Optical Imager towards Cancer Imaging: Reflectance and Transillumination Phantom Studies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anuradha Godavarty

2012-02-01

Full Text Available Hand-held near-infrared (NIR optical imagers are developed by various researchers towards non-invasive clinical breast imaging. Unlike these existing imagers that can perform only reflectance imaging, a generation-2 (Gen-2 hand-held optical imager has been recently developed to perform both reflectance and transillumination imaging. The unique forked design of the hand-held probe head(s allows for reflectance imaging (as in ultrasound and transillumination or compressed imaging (as in X-ray mammography. Phantom studies were performed to demonstrate two-dimensional (2D target detection via reflectance and transillumination imaging at various target depths (1–5 cm deep and using simultaneous multiple point illumination approach. It was observed that 0.45 cc targets were detected up to 5 cm deep during transillumination, but limited to 2.5 cm deep during reflectance imaging. Additionally, implementing appropriate data post-processing techniques along with a polynomial fitting approach, to plot 2D surface contours of the detected signal, yields distinct target detectability and localization. The ability of the gen-2 imager to perform both reflectance and transillumination imaging allows its direct comparison to ultrasound and X-ray mammography results, respectively, in future clinical breast imaging studies.

The reliability and validity of hand-held refractometry water content measures of hydrogel lenses.

Science.gov (United States)

Nichols, Jason J; Mitchell, G Lynn; Good, Gregory W

2003-06-01

To investigate within- and between-examiner reliability and validity of hand-held refractometry water content measures of hydrogel lenses. Nineteen lenses of various nominal water contents were examined by two examiners on two occasions separated by 1 hour. An Atago N2 hand-held refractometer was used for all water content measures. Lenses were presented in a random order to each examiner by a third party, and examiners were masked to any potential lens identifiers. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC), 95% limits of agreement, and Wilcoxon signed rank test were used to characterize the within- and between-examiner reliability and validity of lens water content measures. Within-examiner reliability was excellent (ICC, 0.97; 95% limits of agreement, -3.6% to +5.7%), and the inter-visit mean difference of 1.1 +/- 2.4% was not biased (p = 0.08). Between-examiner reliability was also excellent (ICC, 0.98; 95% limits of agreement, -4.1% to +3.9%). The mean difference between examiners was -0.1 +/- 2.1% (p = 0.83). The mean difference between the nominally reported water content and our water content measures was -2.1 +/- 1.7% (p refractometry and is material dependent. Therefore, investigators may need to account for bias when measuring hydrogel lens water content via hand-held refractometry.

Balancing fast-rotating parts of hand-held machine drive

Science.gov (United States)

Korotkov, V. S.; Sicora, E. A.; Nadeina, L. V.; Yongzheng, Wang

2018-03-01

The article considers the issues related to the balancing of fast rotating parts of the hand-held machine drive including a wave transmission with intermediate rolling elements, which is constructed on the basis of the single-phase collector motor with a useful power of 1 kW and a nominal rotation frequency of 15000 rpm. The forms of balancers and their location are chosen. The method of balancing is described. The scheme for determining of residual unbalance in two correction planes is presented. Measurement results are given in tables.

Hand-held multi-DOF robotic forceps for neurosurgery designed for dexterous manipulation in deep and narrow space.

Science.gov (United States)

Okubo, Takuro; Harada, Kanako; Fujii, Masahiro; Tanaka, Shinichi; Ishimaru, Tetsuya; Iwanaka, Tadashi; Nakatomi, Hirohumi; Sora, Sigeo; Morita, Akio; Sugita, Naohiko; Mitsuishi, Mamoru

2014-01-01

Neurosurgical procedures require precise and dexterous manipulation of a surgical suture in narrow and deep spaces in the brain. This is necessary for surgical tasks such as the anastomosis of microscopic blood vessels and dura mater suturing. A hand-held multi-degree of freedom (DOF) robotic forceps was developed to aid the performance of such difficult tasks. The diameter of the developed robotic forceps is 3.5 mm, and its tip has three DOFs, namely, bending, rotation, and grip. Experimental results showed that the robotic forceps had an average needle insertion force of 1.7 N. Therefore, an increase in the needle insertion force is necessary for practical application of the developed device.

Radiation safety evaluation of a hand-held, battery operated image intensifier

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wilson, O.J.; Young, B.F.

1987-01-01

A portable, hand-held, fluoroscopic unit intended for medical and industrial use was tested to verify the claim of the manufacturers that the radiation doses to the patient and user are low, and comparable to those received from standard radiographic procedures. The first claim was substantiated but not the second. A number of concerns arising from the use of this unit are discussed

Comparative Geometrical Accuracy Investigations of Hand-Held 3d Scanning Systems - AN Update

Science.gov (United States)

Kersten, T. P.; Lindstaedt, M.; Starosta, D.

2018-05-01

Hand-held 3D scanning systems are increasingly available on the market from several system manufacturers. These systems are deployed for 3D recording of objects with different size in diverse applications, such as industrial reverse engineering, and documentation of museum exhibits etc. Typical measurement distances range from 0.5 m to 4.5 m. Although they are often easy-to-use, the geometric performance of these systems, especially the precision and accuracy, are not well known to many users. First geometrical investigations of a variety of diverse hand-held 3D scanning systems were already carried out by the Photogrammetry & Laser Scanning Lab of the HafenCity University Hamburg (HCU Hamburg) in cooperation with two other universities in 2016. To obtain more information about the accuracy behaviour of the latest generation of hand-held 3D scanning systems, HCU Hamburg conducted further comparative geometrical investigations using structured light systems with speckle pattern (Artec Spider, Mantis Vision PocketScan 3D, Mantis Vision F5-SR, Mantis Vision F5-B, and Mantis Vision F6), and photogrammetric systems (Creaform HandySCAN 700 and Shining FreeScan X7). In the framework of these comparative investigations geometrically stable reference bodies were used. The appropriate reference data was acquired by measurements with two structured light projection systems (AICON smartSCAN and GOM ATOS I 2M). The comprehensive test results of the different test scenarios are presented and critically discussed in this contribution.

Standard guide to In-Plant performance evaluation of Hand-Held SNM monitors

CERN Document Server

American Society for Testing and Materials. Philadelphia

1999-01-01

1.1 This guide is one of a series on the application and evaluation of special nuclear material (SNM) monitors. Other guides in the series are listed in Section 2, and the relationship of in-plant performance evaluation to other procedures described in the series is illustrated in Fig. 1. Hand-held SNM monitors are described in of Guide C1112, and performance criteria illustrating their capabilities can be found in Appendix X1. 1.2 The purpose of this guide to in-plant performance evaluation is to provide a comparatively rapid procedure to verify that a hand-held SNM monitor performs as expected for detecting SNM or alternative test sources or to disclose the need for repair. The procedure can be used as a routine operational evaluation or it can be used to verify performance after a monitor is calibrated. 1.3 In-plant performance evaluations are more comprehensive than daily functional tests. They take place less often, at intervals ranging from weekly to once every three months, and derive their result fr...

Hand-Held Photometer for Instant On-Spot Quantification of Nucleic Acids, Proteins, and Cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Shi-Hao; Jain, Abhinav; Tscharntke, Timo; Arnold, Tobias; Trau, Dieter W

2018-02-20

This paper presents a novel hand-held photometer, termed "Photopette", for on-spot absorbance measurements of biochemical analytes. The Photopette is a multicomponent, highly portable device with an overall weight of 160 g, which fits within 202 mm × 47 mm × 42 mm. Designed in the form factor of a micropipette, Photopette integrates a photodiode detector with light emitting diodes (LEDs) to form a highly customizable photometer which supports a wide variety of applications within the wavelengths between 260 and 1050 nm. A dual-purpose disposable reflective tip was designed to act as a sample holder and a light-reflecting system, which is in stark contrast to the operation of mainstream spectrophotometers and photometers. Small volume analytes may be measured with low sample loss using this proprietary CuveTip. A user-friendly software application running on smart devices was developed to control and read the values from Photopette via a low-energy Bluetooth link. This one-step strategy allows measurements on-spot without sample transfer, minimizing cross-contamination and human error. The results reported in this paper demonstrate Photopette's great potential to quantify DNA, direct protein, and cell density directly within the laminar flow hood. Results are compared with a Nanodrop 2000c spectrophotometer, a mainstream spectrophotometer for small-volume measurements.

Integrated optical detection of autonomous capillary microfluidic immunoassays:a hand-held point-of-care prototype.

Science.gov (United States)

Novo, P; Chu, V; Conde, J P

2014-07-15

The miniaturization of biosensors using microfluidics has potential in enabling the development of point-of-care devices, with the added advantages of reduced time and cost of analysis with limits-of-detection comparable to those obtained through traditional laboratory techniques. Interfacing microfluidic devices with the external world can be difficult especially in aspects involving fluid handling and the need for simple sample insertion that avoids special equipment or trained personnel. In this work we present a point-of-care prototype system by integrating capillary microfluidics with a microfabricated photodiode array and electronic instrumentation into a hand-held unit. The capillary microfluidic device is capable of autonomous and sequential fluid flow, including control of the average fluid velocity at any given point of the analysis. To demonstrate the functionality of the prototype, a model chemiluminescence ELISA was performed. The performance of the integrated optical detection in the point-of-care prototype is equal to that obtained with traditional bench-top instrumentation. The photodiode signals were acquired, displayed and processed by a simple graphical user interface using a computer connected to the microcontroller through USB. The prototype performed integrated chemiluminescence ELISA detection in about 15 min with a limit-of-detection of ≈2 nM with an antibody-antigen affinity constant of ≈2×10(7) M(-1). Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Algorithms for a hand-held miniature x-ray fluorescence analytical instrument

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Elam, W.T.; Newman, D.; Ziemba, F.

1998-01-01

The purpose of this joint program was to provide technical assistance with the development of a Miniature X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) Analytical Instrument. This new XRF instrument is designed to overcome the weaknesses of spectrometers commercially available at the present time. Currently available XRF spectrometers (for a complete list see reference 1) convert spectral information to sample composition using the influence coefficients technique or the fundamental parameters method. They require either a standard sample with composition relatively close to the unknown or a detailed knowledge of the sample matrix. They also require a highly-trained operator and the results often depend on the capabilities of the operator. In addition, almost all existing field-portable, hand-held instruments use radioactive sources for excitation. Regulatory limits on such sources restrict them such that they can only provide relatively weak excitation. This limits all current hand-held XRF instruments to poor detection limits and/or long data collection times, in addition to the licensing requirements and disposal problems for radioactive sources. The new XRF instrument was developed jointly by Quantrad Sensor, Inc., the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), and the Department of Energy (DOE). This report describes the analysis algorithms developed by NRL for the new instrument and the software which embodies them

Assessment of Lower Limb Muscle Strength and Power Using Hand-Held and Fixed Dynamometry: A Reliability and Validity Study

Science.gov (United States)

Perraton, Luke G.; Bower, Kelly J.; Adair, Brooke; Pua, Yong-Hao; Williams, Gavin P.; McGaw, Rebekah

2015-01-01

Introduction Hand-held dynamometry (HHD) has never previously been used to examine isometric muscle power. Rate of force development (RFD) is often used for muscle power assessment, however no consensus currently exists on the most appropriate method of calculation. The aim of this study was to examine the reliability of different algorithms for RFD calculation and to examine the intra-rater, inter-rater, and inter-device reliability of HHD as well as the concurrent validity of HHD for the assessment of isometric lower limb muscle strength and power. Methods 30 healthy young adults (age: 23±5yrs, male: 15) were assessed on two sessions. Isometric muscle strength and power were measured using peak force and RFD respectively using two HHDs (Lafayette Model-01165 and Hoggan microFET2) and a criterion-reference KinCom dynamometer. Statistical analysis of reliability and validity comprised intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC), Pearson correlations, concordance correlations, standard error of measurement, and minimal detectable change. Results Comparison of RFD methods revealed that a peak 200ms moving window algorithm provided optimal reliability results. Intra-rater, inter-rater, and inter-device reliability analysis of peak force and RFD revealed mostly good to excellent reliability (coefficients ≥ 0.70) for all muscle groups. Concurrent validity analysis showed moderate to excellent relationships between HHD and fixed dynamometry for the hip and knee (ICCs ≥ 0.70) for both peak force and RFD, with mostly poor to good results shown for the ankle muscles (ICCs = 0.31–0.79). Conclusions Hand-held dynamometry has good to excellent reliability and validity for most measures of isometric lower limb strength and power in a healthy population, particularly for proximal muscle groups. To aid implementation we have created freely available software to extract these variables from data stored on the Lafayette device. Future research should examine the reliability

Hand-held triangulation laser profilometer with audio output for blind people Profilométre laser à triangulation tenu en main avec sortie sonare pour non-voyants

Science.gov (United States)

Farcy, R.; Damaschini, R.

1998-06-01

We describe a device currently under industrial development which will give to the blind a means of three-dimensional space perception. It consists of a 350 g hand-held triangulating laser telemeter including electronic parts and batteries, with auditory feedback either inside the apparatus or close to the ear. The microprocessor unit converts in real time the distance measured by the telemeter into a musical note. Scanning the space with an adequate movement of the hand produces musical lines corresponding to the profiles of the environment. We discuss the optical configuration of the system relative to our first year of clinical experimentation.

Neurosurgical hand-held optical coherence tomography (OCT) forward-viewing probe

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Cuiru; Lee, Kenneth K. C.; Vuong, Barry; Cusimano, Michael; Brukson, Alexander; Mariampillai, Adrian; Standish, Beau A.; Yang, Victor X. D.

2012-02-01

A prototype neurosurgical hand-held optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging probe has been developed to provide micron resolution cross-sectional images of subsurface tissue during open surgery. This new ergonomic hand-held probe has been designed based on our group's previous work on electrostatically driven optical fibers. It has been packaged into a catheter probe in the familiar form factor of the clinically accepted Bayonet shaped neurosurgical non-imaging Doppler ultrasound probes. The optical design was optimized using ZEMAX simulation. Optical properties of the probe were tested to yield an ~20 um spot size, 5 mm working distance and a 3.5 mm field of view. The scan frequency can be increased or decreased by changing the applied voltage. Typically a scan frequency of less than 60Hz is chosen to keep the applied voltage to less than 2000V. The axial resolution of the probe was ~15 um (in air) as determined by the OCT system. A custom-triggering methodology has been developed to provide continuous stable imaging, which is crucial for clinical utility. Feasibility of this probe, in combination with a 1310 nm swept source OCT system was tested and images are presented to highlight the usefulness of such a forward viewing handheld OCT imaging probe. Knowledge gained from this research will lay the foundation for developing new OCT technologies for endovascular management of cerebral aneurysms and transsphenoidal neuroendoscopic treatment of pituitary tumors.

A study of cladding technology on tube wall surface by a hand-held laser torch

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Terada, Takaya; Nishimura, Akihiko; Oka, Kiyoshi; Moriyama, Taku; Matsuda, Hiroyasu

2015-01-01

New maintenance technique was proposed using a hand-held laser torch for aging chemical plants and power plants. The hand-held laser torch was specially designed to be able to access limited tubular space in various cases. A composite-type optical fiberscope was composed of a center fiber for beam delivery and surrounded fibers for visible image delivery. Laser irradiation on a work pieces with the best accuracy of filler wire was carried out. And, we found that the optimized wire-feed speed was 2 mm/s in laser cladding. We succeeded to make a line clad on the inner wall of 23 mm tube. This technique was discussed to be applied to the maintenance for cracks or corrosions of tubes in various harsh environments. (author)

Hand-held Raman sensor head for in-situ characterization of meat quality applying a microsystem 671 nm diode laser

Science.gov (United States)

Schmidt, Heinar; Sowoidnich, Kay; Maiwald, Martin; Sumpf, Bernd; Kronfeldt, Heinz-Detlef

2009-05-01

A hand-held Raman sensor head was developed for the in-situ characterization of meat quality. As light source, a microsystem based external cavity diode laser module (ECDL) emitting at 671 nm was integrated in the sensor head and attached to a miniaturized optical bench which contains lens optics for excitation and signal collection as well as a Raman filter stage for Rayleigh rejection. The signal is transported with an optical fiber to the detection unit which was in the initial phase a laboratory spectrometer with CCD detector. All elements of the ECDL are aligned on a micro optical bench with 13 x 4 mm2 footprint. The wavelength stability is provided by a reflection Bragg grating and the laser has an optical power of up to 200 mW. However, for the Raman measurements of meat only 35 mW are needed to obtain Raman spectra within 1 - 5 seconds. Short measuring times are essential for the hand-held device. The laser and the sensor head are characterized in terms of stability and performance for in-situ Raman investigations. The function is demonstrated in a series of measurements with raw and packaged pork meat as samples. The suitability of the Raman sensor head for the quality control of meat and other products will be discussed.

Exploring field-of-view non-uniformities produced by a hand-held spectroradiometer

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tamir Caras

2011-01-01

Full Text Available The shape of a spectroradiometer’s field of view (FOV affects the way spectral measurements are acquired. Knowing this property is a prerequisite for the correct use of the spectrometer. If the substrate is heterogeneous, the ability to accurately know what is being measured depends on knowing the FOV location, shape, spectral and spatial sensitivity. The GER1500 is a hand-held spectrometer with a fixed lens light entry slit and has a laser guide that allows control over the target by positioning the entire unit. In the current study, the FOV of the GER1500 was mapped and analysed. The spectral and spatial non-uniformities of the FOV were examined and were found to be spectrally independent. The relationship between the FOV and the built-in laser guide was tested and found to have a linear displacement dependent on the distance to the target. This allows an accurate prediction of the actual FOV position. A correction method to improve the agreement between the expected and measured reflectance over heterogeneous targets was developed and validated. The methods described are applicable and may be of use with other hand-held spectroradiometers.

Integration Head Mounted Display Device and Hand Motion Gesture Device for Virtual Reality Laboratory

Science.gov (United States)

Rengganis, Y. A.; Safrodin, M.; Sukaridhoto, S.

2018-01-01

Virtual Reality Laboratory (VR Lab) is an innovation for conventional learning media which show us whole learning process in laboratory. There are many tools and materials are needed by user for doing practical in it, so user could feel new learning atmosphere by using this innovation. Nowadays, technologies more sophisticated than before. So it would carry in education and it will be more effective, efficient. The Supported technologies are needed us for making VR Lab such as head mounted display device and hand motion gesture device. The integration among them will be used us for making this research. Head mounted display device for viewing 3D environment of virtual reality laboratory. Hand motion gesture device for catching user real hand and it will be visualized in virtual reality laboratory. Virtual Reality will show us, if using the newest technologies in learning process it could make more interesting and easy to understand.

Gamma-ray detectors for intelligent, hand-held radiation monitors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fehlau, P.E.

1983-01-01

Small radiation detectors based on HgI 2 , bismuth germanate (BGO), plastic, or NaI(Tl) detector materials were evaluated for use in small, lighweight radiation monitors. The two denser materials, HgI 2 and BGO, had poor resolution at low-energy and thus performed less well than NaI(Tl) in detecting low-energy gamma rays from bare, enriched uranium. The plastic scintillator, a Compton recoil detector, also performed less well at low gamma-ray energy. Two small NaI(Tl) detectors were suitable for detecting bare uranium and sheilded plutonium. One became part of a new lightweight hand-held monitor and the other found uses as a pole-mounted detector for monitoring hard-to-reach locations

Applying Hand-Held 3D Printing Technology to the Teaching of VSEPR Theory

Science.gov (United States)

Dean, Natalie L.; Ewan, Corrina; McIndoe, J. Scott

2016-01-01

The use of hand-held 3D printing technology provides a unique and engaging approach to learning VSEPR theory by enabling students to draw three-dimensional depictions of different molecular geometries, giving them an appreciation of the shapes of the building blocks of complex molecular structures. Students are provided with 3D printing pens and…

Survey reveals public open to ban on hand-held cell phone use and texting.

Science.gov (United States)

2013-01-01

A study performed by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reveals that the public is open to a ban on hand-held cell phone use while driving. The study is based on data from 2009s Omnibus Household Survey (OHS), which is administered by B...

Measurement of Visual Reaction Times Using Hand-held Mobile Devices

Science.gov (United States)

Mulligan, Jeffrey B.; Arsintescu, Lucia; Flynn-Evans, Erin

2015-01-01

Modern mobile devices provide a convenient platform for collecting research data in the field. But,because the working of these devices is often cloaked behind multiple layers of proprietary system software, it can bedifficult to assess the accuracy of the data they produce, particularly in the case of timing. We have been collecting datain a simple visual reaction time experiment, as part of a fatigue testing protocol known as the Psychomotor Vigilance Test (PVT). In this protocol, subjects run a 5-minute block consisting of a sequence of trials in which a visual stimulus appears after an unpredictable variable delay. The subject is required to tap the screen as soon as possible after the appearance of the stimulus. In order to validate the reaction times reported by our program, we had subjects perform the task while a high-speed video camera recorded both the display screen, and a side view of the finger (observed in a mirror). Simple image-processing methods were applied to determine the frames in which the stimulus appeared and disappeared, and in which the finger made and broke contact with the screen. The results demonstrate a systematic delay between the initial contact by the finger and the detection of the touch by the software, having a value of 80 +- 20 milliseconds.

Hand-held optical fuel pin scanner

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kirchner, T.L.; Powers, H.G.

1987-01-01

A portable, hand-held apparatus is described for optically scanning indicia imprinted about a planar end face of an article having an outer wall surface, the apparatus comprising: a supporting frame; light detector means fixed to the frame for digitizing light patterns directed thereto; indexing means on the frame for engaging the planar end face and locating the end face in a preselected focal plane on the frame. The indexing means has an inner wall surface complementary to the article wall surface for disposition thereabout and terminates in an end portion beyond the planar end face. The inner wall surface has a radially inwardly extending shoulder spaced from the end portion and engageable with the planar end face; light means directed onto the preselected focal plane; optical means mounted on the frame about a central axis, the optical means being optically interposed between the indexing means and the light detector means for directing reflected light from the preselected focal plane to the light detector means and including a dove prism centrally aligned along the central axis; and means for selectively rotating the dove prism relative to the frame about the central axis to thereby rotate the image from the focal plane as transmitted to the light detector means

Comparative Geometrical Investigations of Hand-Held Scanning Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Kersten, T. P.; Przybilla, H.-J.; Lindstaedt, M.; Tschirschwitz, F.; Misgaiski-Hass, M.

2016-06-01

An increasing number of hand-held scanning systems by different manufacturers are becoming available on the market. However, their geometrical performance is little-known to many users. Therefore the Laboratory for Photogrammetry & Laser Scanning of the HafenCity University Hamburg has carried out geometrical accuracy tests with the following systems in co-operation with the Bochum University of Applied Sciences (Laboratory for Photogrammetry) as well as the Humboldt University in Berlin (Institute for Computer Science): DOTProduct DPI-7, Artec Spider, Mantis Vision F5 SR, Kinect v1 + v2, Structure Sensor and Google's Project Tango. In the framework of these comparative investigations geometrically stable reference bodies were used. The appropriate reference data were acquired by measurement with two structured light projection systems (AICON smartSCAN and GOM ATOS I 2M). The comprehensive test results of the different test scenarios are presented and critically discussed in this contribution.

A pneumatic muscle hand therapy device.

Science.gov (United States)

Koeneman, E J; Schultz, R S; Wolf, S L; Herring, D E; Koeneman, J B

2004-01-01

Intensive repetitive therapy improves function and quality of life for stroke patients. Intense therapies to overcome upper extremity impairment are beneficial, however, they are expensive because, in part, they rely on individualized interaction between the patient and rehabilitation specialist. The development of a pneumatic muscle driven hand therapy device, the Mentortrade mark, reinforces the need for volitional activation of joint movement while concurrently offering knowledge of results about range of motion, muscle activity or resistance to movement. The device is well tolerated and has received favorable comments from stroke survivors, their caregivers, and therapists.

Potential role of a new hand-held miniature gamma camera in performing minimally invasive parathyroidectomy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ortega, Joaquin; Lledo, Salvador [University of Valencia, Clinic University Hospital, Department of Surgery, Valencia (Spain); Ferrer-Rebolleda, Jose [Clinic University Hospital, Department of Nuclear Medicine, Valencia (Spain); Cassinello, Norberto [Clinic University Hospital, Unit of Endocrinologic and Bariatric Surgery, Valencia (Spain)

2007-02-15

Sestamibi scans have increased the use of minimally invasive parathyroidectomy (MIP) to treat primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) when caused by a parathyroid single adenoma. The greatest concern for surgeons remains the proper identification of pathological glands in a limited surgical field. We have studied the usefulness of a new hand-held miniature gamma camera (MGC) when used intraoperatively to locate parathyroid adenomas. To our knowledge this is the first report published on this subject in the scientific literature. Five patients with PHPT secondary to a single adenoma, positively diagnosed by preoperative sestamibi scans, underwent a MIP. A gamma probe for radioguided surgery and the new hand-held MGC were used consecutively to locate the pathological glands. This new MGC has a module composed of a high-resolution interchangeable collimator and a CsI(Na) scintillating crystal. It has dimensions of around 15 cm x 8 cm x 9 cm and weighs 1 kg. The intraoperative assay of PTH (ioPTH) was used to confirm the complete resection of pathological tissue. All cases were operated on successfully by a MIP. The ioPTH confirmed the excision of all pathological tissues. The MGC proved its usefulness in all patients, even in a difficult case in which the first attempt with the gamma probe failed. In all cases it offered real-time accurate intraoperative images. The hand-held MGC is a useful instrument in MIP for PHPT. It may be used to complement the standard tools used to date, or may even replace them, at least in selected cases of single adenomas. (orig.)

Potential role of a new hand-held miniature gamma camera in performing minimally invasive parathyroidectomy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ortega, Joaquin; Lledo, Salvador; Ferrer-Rebolleda, Jose; Cassinello, Norberto

2007-01-01

Sestamibi scans have increased the use of minimally invasive parathyroidectomy (MIP) to treat primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) when caused by a parathyroid single adenoma. The greatest concern for surgeons remains the proper identification of pathological glands in a limited surgical field. We have studied the usefulness of a new hand-held miniature gamma camera (MGC) when used intraoperatively to locate parathyroid adenomas. To our knowledge this is the first report published on this subject in the scientific literature. Five patients with PHPT secondary to a single adenoma, positively diagnosed by preoperative sestamibi scans, underwent a MIP. A gamma probe for radioguided surgery and the new hand-held MGC were used consecutively to locate the pathological glands. This new MGC has a module composed of a high-resolution interchangeable collimator and a CsI(Na) scintillating crystal. It has dimensions of around 15 cm x 8 cm x 9 cm and weighs 1 kg. The intraoperative assay of PTH (ioPTH) was used to confirm the complete resection of pathological tissue. All cases were operated on successfully by a MIP. The ioPTH confirmed the excision of all pathological tissues. The MGC proved its usefulness in all patients, even in a difficult case in which the first attempt with the gamma probe failed. In all cases it offered real-time accurate intraoperative images. The hand-held MGC is a useful instrument in MIP for PHPT. It may be used to complement the standard tools used to date, or may even replace them, at least in selected cases of single adenomas. (orig.)

Hand-held cell phone use while driving legislation and observed driver behavior among population sub-groups in the United States

OpenAIRE

Rudisill, Toni M.; Zhu, Motao

2017-01-01

Abstract Background Cell phone use behaviors are known to vary across demographic sub-groups and geographic locations. This study examined whether universal hand-held calling while driving bans were associated with lower road-side observed hand-held cell phone conversations across drivers of different ages (16–24, 25–59, ≥60 years), sexes, races (White, African American, or other), ruralities (suburban, rural, or urban), and regions (Northeast, Midwest, South, and West). Methods Data from the...

Utility of electronic hand hygiene counting devices for measuring physicians' hand hygiene adherence applied to outpatient settings.

Science.gov (United States)

Arai, Akie; Tanabe, Masaki; Nakamura, Akiko; Yamasaki, Daisuke; Muraki, Yuichi; Kaneko, Toshihiro; Kadowaki, Ayako; Ito, Masaaki

2016-12-01

Our objectives were to evaluate the utility of electronic hand hygiene counting devices in outpatient settings and the impact of results feedback on physicians' hand hygiene behaviors. We installed 130 electronic hand hygiene counting devices in our redesigned outpatient department. We remotely monitored physicians' hand hygiene practices during outpatient examinations and calculated the adherence rate as follows: number of hand hygiene counts divided by the number of outpatients examined multiplied by 100. Physician individual adherence rates were also classified into 4 categories. Two hundred and eighty physicians from 28 clinical departments were monitored for 3 months. The overall hand hygiene adherence rate was 10.7% at baseline, which improved significantly after feedback to 18.2% in the third month. Of the clinical departments, 78.6% demonstrated significant improvement in hand hygiene compliance. The change in the percentage of physicians in each category before and after feedback were as follows: very low (84.3% to 72.1%), low (8.6% to 14.3%), moderate (2.9% to 8.9%), and high (4.3% to 4.6%), from the first to third month, respectively. Based on category assessment, 17.1% of physicians were classified as responders. Physicians' adherence to hand hygiene practices during outpatient examinations was successfully monitored remotely using electronic counting devices. Audit and feedback of adherence data may have a positive impact on physicians' hand hygiene compliance. Copyright © 2016 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

COMPARATIVE GEOMETRICAL INVESTIGATIONS OF HAND-HELD SCANNING SYSTEMS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

T. P. Kersten

2016-06-01

Full Text Available An increasing number of hand-held scanning systems by different manufacturers are becoming available on the market. However, their geometrical performance is little-known to many users. Therefore the Laboratory for Photogrammetry & Laser Scanning of the HafenCity University Hamburg has carried out geometrical accuracy tests with the following systems in co-operation with the Bochum University of Applied Sciences (Laboratory for Photogrammetry as well as the Humboldt University in Berlin (Institute for Computer Science: DOTProduct DPI-7, Artec Spider, Mantis Vision F5 SR, Kinect v1 + v2, Structure Sensor and Google’s Project Tango. In the framework of these comparative investigations geometrically stable reference bodies were used. The appropriate reference data were acquired by measurement with two structured light projection systems (AICON smartSCAN and GOM ATOS I 2M. The comprehensive test results of the different test scenarios are presented and critically discussed in this contribution.

21 CFR 801.128 - Exceptions or alternatives to labeling requirements for medical devices held by the Strategic...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... requirements for medical devices held by the Strategic National Stockpile. 801.128 Section 801.128 Food and... requirements for medical devices held by the Strategic National Stockpile. (a) The appropriate FDA Center... Strategic National Stockpile. (b)(1)(i) A Strategic National Stockpile official or any entity that...

Soft robotic devices for hand rehabilitation and assistance: a narrative review.

Science.gov (United States)

Chu, Chia-Ye; Patterson, Rita M

2018-02-17

The debilitating effects on hand function from a number of a neurologic disorders has given rise to the development of rehabilitative robotic devices aimed at restoring hand function in these patients. To combat the shortcomings of previous traditional robotics, soft robotics are rapidly emerging as an alternative due to their inherent safety, less complex designs, and increased potential for portability and efficacy. While several groups have begun designing devices, there are few devices that have progressed enough to provide clinical evidence of their design's therapeutic abilities. Therefore, a global review of devices that have been previously attempted could facilitate the development of new and improved devices in the next step towards obtaining clinical proof of the rehabilitative effects of soft robotics in hand dysfunction. A literature search was performed in SportDiscus, Pubmed, Scopus, and Web of Science for articles related to the design of soft robotic devices for hand rehabilitation. A framework of the key design elements of the devices was developed to ease the comparison of the various approaches to building them. This framework includes an analysis of the trends in portability, safety features, user intent detection methods, actuation systems, total DOF, number of independent actuators, device weight, evaluation metrics, and modes of rehabilitation. In this study, a total of 62 articles representing 44 unique devices were identified and summarized according to the framework we developed to compare different design aspects. By far, the most common type of device was that which used a pneumatic actuator to guide finger flexion/extension. However, the remainder of our framework elements yielded more heterogeneous results. Consequently, those results are summarized and the advantages and disadvantages of many design choices as well as their rationales were highlighted. The past 3 years has seen a rapid increase in the development of soft robotic

Evaluation of a focussed protocol for hand-held echocardiography and computer-assisted auscultation in detecting latent rheumatic heart disease in scholars.

Science.gov (United States)

Zühlke, Liesl J; Engel, Mark E; Nkepu, Simpiwe; Mayosi, Bongani M

2016-08-01

Introduction Echocardiography is the diagnostic test of choice for latent rheumatic heart disease. The utility of echocardiography for large-scale screening is limited by high cost, complex diagnostic protocols, and time to acquire multiple images. We evaluated the performance of a brief hand-held echocardiography protocol and computer-assisted auscultation in detecting latent rheumatic heart disease with or without pathological murmur. A total of 27 asymptomatic patients with latent rheumatic heart disease based on the World Heart Federation criteria and 66 healthy controls were examined by standard cardiac auscultation to detect pathological murmur. Hand-held echocardiography using a focussed protocol that utilises one view - that is, the parasternal long-axis view - and one measurement - that is, mitral regurgitant jet - and a computer-assisted auscultation utilising an automated decision tool were performed on all patients. The sensitivity and specificity of computer-assisted auscultation in latent rheumatic heart disease were 4% (95% CI 1.0-20.4%) and 93.7% (95% CI 84.5-98.3%), respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of the focussed hand-held echocardiography protocol for definite rheumatic heart disease were 92.3% (95% CI 63.9-99.8%) and 100%, respectively. The test reliability of hand-held echocardiography was 98.7% for definite and 94.7% for borderline disease, and the adjusted diagnostic odds ratios were 1041 and 263.9 for definite and borderline disease, respectively. Computer-assisted auscultation has extremely low sensitivity but high specificity for pathological murmur in latent rheumatic heart disease. Focussed hand-held echocardiography has fair sensitivity but high specificity and diagnostic utility for definite or borderline rheumatic heart disease in asymptomatic patients.

Rapid and automatic chemical identification of the medicinal flower buds of Lonicera plants by the benchtop and hand-held Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Jianbo; Guo, Baolin; Yan, Rui; Sun, Suqin; Zhou, Qun

2017-07-01

With the utilization of the hand-held equipment, Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy is a promising analytical technique to minimize the time cost for the chemical identification of herbal materials. This research examines the feasibility of the hand-held FT-IR spectrometer for the on-site testing of herbal materials, using Lonicerae Japonicae Flos (LJF) and Lonicerae Flos (LF) as examples. Correlation-based linear discriminant models for LJF and LF are established based on the benchtop and hand-held FT-IR instruments. The benchtop FT-IR models can exactly recognize all articles of LJF and LF. Although a few LF articles are misjudged at the sub-class level, the hand-held FT-IR models are able to exactly discriminate LJF and LF. As a direct and label-free analytical technique, FT-IR spectroscopy has great potential in the rapid and automatic chemical identification of herbal materials either in laboratories or in fields. This is helpful to prevent the spread and use of adulterated herbal materials in time.

Design and Development of a Bilateral Therapeutic Hand Device for Stroke Rehabilitation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Akhlaquor Rahman

2013-12-01

Full Text Available The major cause of disability is stroke. It is the second highest cause of death after coronary heart disease in Australia. In this paper, a post stroke therapeutic device has been designed and developed for hand motor function rehabilitation that a stroke survivor can use for bilateral movement practice. A prototype of the device was fabricated that can fully flex and extend metacarpophalangeal (MCP, proximal interphalangeal (PIP and distal interphalangeal (DIP joints of the fingers, and interphalangeal (IP, metacarpophalangeal (MCP and trapeziometacarpal (IM joints of the thumb of the left hand (impaired hand, based on movements of the right hand's (healthy hand fingers. Out of 21 degrees of freedom (DOFs of hand fingers, the prototype of the hand exoskeleton allowed fifteen degrees of freedom (DOFs, with three degrees of freedom (DOFs for each finger and three degrees of freedom (DOFs for the thumb. In addition, testing of the device on a healthy subject was conducted to validate the design requirements.

Robotic devices and brain-machine interfaces for hand rehabilitation post-stroke.

Science.gov (United States)

McConnell, Alistair C; Moioli, Renan C; Brasil, Fabricio L; Vallejo, Marta; Corne, David W; Vargas, Patricia A; Stokes, Adam A

2017-06-28

To review the state of the art of robotic-aided hand physiotherapy for post-stroke rehabilitation, including the use of brain-machine interfaces. Each patient has a unique clinical history and, in response to personalized treatment needs, research into individualized and at-home treatment options has expanded rapidly in recent years. This has resulted in the development of many devices and design strategies for use in stroke rehabilitation. The development progression of robotic-aided hand physiotherapy devices and brain-machine interface systems is outlined, focussing on those with mechanisms and control strategies designed to improve recovery outcomes of the hand post-stroke. A total of 110 commercial and non-commercial hand and wrist devices, spanning the 2 major core designs: end-effector and exoskeleton are reviewed. The growing body of evidence on the efficacy and relevance of incorporating brain-machine interfaces in stroke rehabilitation is summarized. The challenges involved in integrating robotic rehabilitation into the healthcare system are discussed. This review provides novel insights into the use of robotics in physiotherapy practice, and may help system designers to develop new devices.

Interaction devices for hands-on desktop design

Science.gov (United States)

Ju, Wendy; Madsen, Sally; Fiene, Jonathan; Bolas, Mark T.; McDowall, Ian E.; Faste, Rolf

2003-05-01

Starting with a list of typical hand actions - such as touching or twisting - a collection of physical input device prototypes was created to study better ways of engaging the body and mind in the computer aided design process. These devices were interchangeably coupled with a graphics system to allow for rapid exploration of the interplay between the designer's intent, body motions, and the resulting on-screen design. User testing showed that a number of key considerations should influence the future development of such devices: coupling between the physical and virtual worlds, tactile feedback, and scale. It is hoped that these explorations contribute to the greater goal of creating user interface devices that increase the fluency, productivity and joy of computer-augmented design.

Hand-held indirect calorimeter offers advantages compared with prediction equations, in a group of overweight women, to determine resting energy expenditures and estimated total energy expenditures during research screening.

Science.gov (United States)

Spears, Karen E; Kim, Hyunsook; Behall, Kay M; Conway, Joan M

2009-05-01

To compare standardized prediction equations to a hand-held indirect calorimeter in estimating resting energy and total energy requirements in overweight women. Resting energy expenditure (REE) was measured by hand-held indirect calorimeter and calculated by prediction equations Harris-Benedict, Mifflin-St Jeor, World Health Organization/Food and Agriculture Organization/United Nations University (WHO), and Dietary Reference Intakes (DRI). Physical activity level, assessed by questionnaire, was used to estimate total energy expenditure (TEE). Subjects (n=39) were female nonsmokers older than 25 years of age with body mass index more than 25. Repeated measures analysis of variance, Bland-Altman plot, and fitted regression line of difference. A difference within +/-10% of two methods indicated agreement. Significant proportional bias was present between hand-held indirect calorimeter and prediction equations for REE and TEE (Pvalues and underestimated at higher values. Mean differences (+/-standard error) for REE and TEE between hand-held indirect calorimeter and Harris-Benedict were -5.98+/-46.7 kcal/day (P=0.90) and 21.40+/-75.7 kcal/day (P=0.78); between hand-held indirect calorimeter and Mifflin-St Jeor were 69.93+/-46.7 kcal/day (P=0.14) and 116.44+/-75.9 kcal/day (P=0.13); between hand-held indirect calorimeter and WHO were -22.03+/-48.4 kcal/day (P=0.65) and -15.8+/-77.9 kcal/day (P=0.84); and between hand-held indirect calorimeter and DRI were 39.65+/-47.4 kcal/day (P=0.41) and 56.36+/-85.5 kcal/day (P=0.51). Less than 50% of predictive equation values were within +/-10% of hand-held indirect calorimeter values, indicating poor agreement. A significant discrepancy between predicted and measured energy expenditure was observed. Further evaluation of hand-held indirect calorimeter research screening is needed.

Development of Hand Grip Assistive Device Control System for Old People through Electromyography (EMG) Signal Acquisitions

OpenAIRE

Khamis Herman; Mohamaddan Shahrol; Komeda Takashi; Alias Aidil Azli; Tanjong Shirley Jonathan; Julai Norhuzaimin; Hashim Nurul ‘Izzati

2017-01-01

The hand grip assistive device is a glove to assist old people who suffer from hand weakness in their daily life activities. The device earlier control system only use simple on and off switch. This required old people to use both hand to activate the device. The new control system of the hand grip assistive device was developed to allow single hand operation for old people. New control system take advantages of electromyography (EMG) and flex sensor which was implemented to the device. It wa...

Hand-Held Sunphotometers for High School Student Construction and Measuring Aerosol Optical Thickness

Science.gov (United States)

Almonor, Linda; Baldwin, C.; Craig, R.; Johnson, L. P.

2000-01-01

Science education is taking the teaching of science from a traditional (lecture) approach to a multidimensional sense-making approach which allows teachers to support students by providing exploratory experiences. Using projects is one way of providing students with opportunities to observe and participate in sense-making activity. We created a learning environment that fostered inquiry-based learning. Students were engaged in a variety of Inquiry activities that enabled them to work in cooperative planning teams where respect for each other was encouraged and their ability to grasp, transform and transfer information was enhanced. Summer, 1998: An air pollution workshop was conducted for high school students in the Medgar Evers College/Middle College High School Liberty Partnership Summer Program. Students learned the basics of meteorology: structure and composition of the atmosphere and the processes that cause weather. The highlight of this workshop was the building of hand-held sunphotometers, which measure the intensity of the sunlight striking the Earth. Summer, 1999: high school students conducted a research project which measured the mass and size of ambient particulates and enhanced our ability to observe through land based measurements changes in the optical depth of ambient aerosols over Brooklyn. Students used hand held Sunphotometers to collect data over a two week period and entered it into the NASA GISS database by way of the internet.

3D indoor modeling using a hand-held embedded system with multiple laser range scanners

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Shaoxing; Wang, Duhu; Xu, Shike

2016-10-01

Accurate three-dimensional perception is a key technology for many engineering applications, including mobile mapping, obstacle detection and virtual reality. In this article, we present a hand-held embedded system designed for constructing 3D representation of structured indoor environments. Different from traditional vehicle-borne mobile mapping methods, the system presented here is capable of efficiently acquiring 3D data while an operator carrying the device traverses through the site. It consists of a simultaneous localization and mapping(SLAM) module, a 3D attitude estimate module and a point cloud processing module. The SLAM is based on a scan matching approach using a modern LIDAR system, and the 3D attitude estimate is generated by a navigation filter using inertial sensors. The hardware comprises three 2D time-flight laser range finders and an inertial measurement unit(IMU). All the sensors are rigidly mounted on a body frame. The algorithms are developed on the frame of robot operating system(ROS). The 3D model is constructed using the point cloud library(PCL). Multiple datasets have shown robust performance of the presented system in indoor scenarios.

A feasibility study to develop a diabetes prevention program for young adults with prediabetes using digital platforms and a hand held device

Science.gov (United States)

Cha, EunSeok; Kim, Kevin H.; Umpierrez, Guillermo; Dawkins, Colleen R.; Bello, Morenike K.; Lerner, Hannah; Narayan, K.M. Venkat; Dunbar, Sandra B.

2014-01-01

Purpose The purpose of the pilot study was to examine the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of an age-specific diabetes prevention program in young adults with prediabetes. Methods One group pretest-posttest design was conducted. The inclusion criteria were young adults age 18–29 years with prediabetes [either Impaird fasting glucose [IFG] (100–125 mg/dL), or an A1C of 5.7%–6.4%]. Fifteen participants were enrolled in this study. A technology based lifestyle coaching program focused on diet and physical activity and incorporating a hand-held device and digital platforms was developed and tested. Psychosocial factors (health literacy, illness perception, self-efficacy, therapeutic efficacy) based on social cognitive theory, changes in diet and physical activity, and cardiometabolic risk factors were assessed at baseline and week 12 after intervention. A paired-samples t-test was performed to examine changes between baseline and post-intervention on each psychosocial and physical variable. Results Participants (n= 13 completers) were mean age 24.4 yrs [SD: 2.2], 23.1% male, and 53.8% were African American. Overall, the participants were satisfied with the intervention (M = 4.15 on a 5-point Likert scale). Between pre and post testing, BMI and A1C decreased from 41.0 ±7.3 to 40.1±7.0 and 6.0% ± .5 to 5.6% ± .5, respectively, while fasting glucose did not significantly change (92.6±11 mg/dl to 97.6 ±14.3 mg/dl). Conclusion The intervention resulted in reduced A1C and a trend for decreased BMI in obese sedentary young adults with prediabetes after 12 weeks of intervention. Further study through a randomized clinical trial with a longer intervention period is warranted. PMID:24950683

Precise intraoperative location of gastrointestinal bleeding with a hand-held counter. Work in progress

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Williamson, M.R.; Boyd, C.M.; McGuire, E.L.

1986-01-01

The nuclear medicine bleeding scan is frequently insufficient to locate sites of bleeding precisely, in spite of its great sensitivity. A small, hand-held Geiger-Mueller counter, placed directly on exposed intestine in the operating room, enables precise location of the probable bleeding site. In three patients, the technique allowed a minimal amount of intestine to be resected, distinguished between large- and small-intestinal hemorrhage, and eliminated other foci as sites of bleeding.A

Development of Hand Grip Assistive Device Control System for Old People through Electromyography (EMG Signal Acquisitions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Khamis Herman

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The hand grip assistive device is a glove to assist old people who suffer from hand weakness in their daily life activities. The device earlier control system only use simple on and off switch. This required old people to use both hand to activate the device. The new control system of the hand grip assistive device was developed to allow single hand operation for old people. New control system take advantages of electromyography (EMG and flex sensor which was implemented to the device. It was programmed into active and semi-active mode operation. EMG sensors were placed on the forearm to capture EMG signal of Flexor Digitorum Profundus muscle to activate the device. Flex sensor was used to indicate the finger position and placed on top of the finger. The signal from both sensors then used to control the device. The new control system allowed single hand operation and designed to prevent user from over depended on the device by activating it through moving their fingers.

Portable Hand-Held Electrochemical Sensor for the Transuranics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dale D. Russell, William B. Knowlton, Ph.D.; Russel Hertzog, Ph.D

2005-11-25

sensitive detector for uranium. Millimeter scale electrodes, operated by a hand-held instrument assembled in this lab and operated in the voltammetric mode, were transported to the DOE-Nevada test site (Las Vegas, NV) where field detection and quantitation of plutonium, uranium, and a mixture of these two elements was also demonstrated. Several probe designs were prepared, built and tested including probes with movable protective windows. A miniature, battery powered potentiostat was designed, built and demonstrated for use in a hand-held field portable instrument. This work was performed largely by undergraduates who gained valuable research experience, and many of them have continued on to graduate schools. In addition, they all gained exposure to and appreciation for national security research, in particular non-proliferation research. Four graduate students participated and one earned the MS degree on this project.

Augmented robotic device for EVA hand manoeuvres

Science.gov (United States)

Matheson, Eloise; Brooker, Graham

2012-12-01

comparable to those of a natural, healthy hand. The minimum mass held by the user on the hand was 240 g, with remote hardware, including a compressed air bottle, having a further mass of 1.6 kg. These results indicate that the design is able to augment human motion in a low profile, low mass package, and could be a valuable addition to a space suit during an EVA.

78 FR 43262 - Use of Wireless Mobile Data Devices as Transponders for the Commercial Motor Vehicle Information...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-07-19

... FMCSA's regulations prohibiting texting and the use of hand-held wireless mobile phones by commercial... part 392 prohibiting texting and the use of hand-held wireless mobile phones by commercial motor vehicle (CMV) drivers. Benefits Use of wireless mobile data devices as transponders with CMRS provides...

An integrated portable hand-held analyser for real-time isothermal nucleic acid amplification

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smith, Matthew C.; Steimle, George; Ivanov, Stan; Holly, Mark; Fries, David P.

2007-01-01

A compact hand-held heated fluorometric instrument for performing real-time isothermal nucleic acid amplification and detection is described. The optoelectronic instrument combines a Printed Circuit Board/Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (PCB/MEMS) reaction detection/chamber containing an integrated resistive heater with attached miniature LED light source and photo-detector and a disposable glass waveguide capillary to enable a mini-fluorometer. The fluorometer is fabricated and assembled in planar geometry, rolled into a tubular format and packaged with custom control electronics to form the hand-held reactor. Positive or negative results for each reaction are displayed to the user using an LED interface. Reaction data is stored in FLASH memory for retrieval via an in-built USB connection. Operating on one disposable 3 V lithium battery >12, 60 min reactions can be performed. Maximum dimensions of the system are 150 mm (h) x 48 mm (d) x 40 mm (w), the total instrument weight (with battery) is 140 g. The system produces comparable results to laboratory instrumentation when performing a real-time nucleic acid sequence-based amplification (NASBA) reaction, and also displayed comparable precision, accuracy and resolution to laboratory-based real-time nucleic acid amplification instrumentation. A good linear response (R 2 = 0.948) to fluorescein gradients ranging from 0.5 to 10 μM was also obtained from the instrument indicating that it may be utilized for other fluorometric assays. This instrument enables an inexpensive, compact approach to in-field genetic screening, providing results comparable to laboratory equipment with rapid user feedback as to the status of the reaction

An integrated portable hand-held analyser for real-time isothermal nucleic acid amplification

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Smith, Matthew C. [College of Marine Science, University of South Florida, St Petersburg, FL (United States)], E-mail: msmith@marine.usf.edu; Steimle, George; Ivanov, Stan; Holly, Mark; Fries, David P. [College of Marine Science, University of South Florida, St Petersburg, FL (United States)

2007-08-29

A compact hand-held heated fluorometric instrument for performing real-time isothermal nucleic acid amplification and detection is described. The optoelectronic instrument combines a Printed Circuit Board/Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (PCB/MEMS) reaction detection/chamber containing an integrated resistive heater with attached miniature LED light source and photo-detector and a disposable glass waveguide capillary to enable a mini-fluorometer. The fluorometer is fabricated and assembled in planar geometry, rolled into a tubular format and packaged with custom control electronics to form the hand-held reactor. Positive or negative results for each reaction are displayed to the user using an LED interface. Reaction data is stored in FLASH memory for retrieval via an in-built USB connection. Operating on one disposable 3 V lithium battery >12, 60 min reactions can be performed. Maximum dimensions of the system are 150 mm (h) x 48 mm (d) x 40 mm (w), the total instrument weight (with battery) is 140 g. The system produces comparable results to laboratory instrumentation when performing a real-time nucleic acid sequence-based amplification (NASBA) reaction, and also displayed comparable precision, accuracy and resolution to laboratory-based real-time nucleic acid amplification instrumentation. A good linear response (R{sup 2} = 0.948) to fluorescein gradients ranging from 0.5 to 10 {mu}M was also obtained from the instrument indicating that it may be utilized for other fluorometric assays. This instrument enables an inexpensive, compact approach to in-field genetic screening, providing results comparable to laboratory equipment with rapid user feedback as to the status of the reaction.

Cost effective spectral sensor solutions for hand held and field applications

Science.gov (United States)

Reetz, Edgar; Correns, Martin; Notni, Gunther

2015-05-01

Optical spectroscopy is without doubt one of the most important non-contact measurement principles. It is used in a wide range of applications from bio-medical to industrial fields. One recent trend is to miniaturize spectral sensors to address new areas of application. The most common spectral sensor type is based on diffraction gratings, while other types are based on micro mechanical systems (MEMS) or filter technologies. The authors represent the opinion that there is a potentially wide spread field of applications for spectrometers, but the market limits the range of applications since they cannot keep up with targeted cost requirements for consumer products. The present article explains an alternative approach for miniature multichannel spectrometer to enhance robustness for hand held field applications at a cost efficient price point.

Hip- and knee-strength assessments using a hand-held dynamometer with external belt-fixation are inter-tester reliable

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Thorborg, Kristian; Bandholm, Thomas; Hölmich, Per

2013-01-01

PURPOSE: In football, ice-hockey, and track and field, injuries have been predicted, and hip- and knee-strength deficits quantified using hand-held dynamometry (HHD). However, systematic bias exists when testers of different sex and strength perform the measurements. Belt-fixation of the dynamome...

Extra-oral dental radiography for disaster victims using a flat panel X-ray detector and a hand-held X-ray generator.

Science.gov (United States)

Ohtani, M; Oshima, T; Mimasaka, S

2017-12-01

Forensic odontologists commonly incise the skin for post-mortem dental examinations when it is difficult to open the victim's mouth. However, it is prohibited by law to incise dead bodies without permission in Japan. Therefore, we attempted using extra-oral dental radiography, using a digital X-ray equipment with rechargeable batteries, to overcome this restriction. A phantom was placed in the prone position on a table, and three plain dental radiographs were used per case: "lateral oblique radiographs" for left and right posterior teeth and a "contact radiograph" for anterior teeth were taken using a flat panel X-ray detector and a hand-held X-ray generator. The resolving power of the images was measured by a resolution test chart, and the scattered X-ray dose was measured using an ionization chamber-type survey meter. The resolving power of the flat panel X-ray detector was 3.0 lp/mm, which was less than that of intra-oral dental methods, but the three extra-oral plain dental radiographs provided the overall dental information from outside of the mouth, and this approach was less time-consuming. In addition, the higher dose of scattered X-rays was laterally distributed, but the dose per case was much less than that of intra-oral dental radiographs. Extra-oral plain dental radiography can be used for disaster victim identification by dental methods even when it is difficult to open the mouth. Portable and rechargeable devices, such as a flat panel X-ray detector and a hand-held X-ray generator, are convenient to bring and use anywhere, even at a disaster scene lacking electricity and water.

Direction-Sensitive Hand-Held Gamma-Ray Spectrometer

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mukhopadhyay, S.

2012-10-04

A novel, light-weight, hand-held gamma-ray detector with directional sensitivity is being designed. The detector uses a set of multiple rings around two cylindrical surfaces, which provides precise location of two interaction points on two concentric cylindrical planes, wherefrom the source location can be traced back by back projection and/or Compton imaging technique. The detectors are 2.0 × 2.0 mm europium-doped strontium iodide (SrI2:Eu2+) crystals, whose light output has been measured to exceed 120,000 photons/MeV, making it one of the brightest scintillators in existence. The crystal’s energy resolution, less than 3% at 662 keV, is also excellent, and the response is highly linear over a wide range of gamma-ray energies. The emission of SrI2:Eu2+ is well matched to both photo-multiplier tubes and blue-enhanced silicon photodiodes. The solid-state photomultipliers used in this design (each 2.0 × 2.0 mm) are arrays of active pixel sensors (avalanche photodiodes driven beyond their breakdown voltage in reverse bias); each pixel acts as a binary photon detector, and their summed output is an analog representation of the total photon energy, while the individual pixel accurately defines the point of interaction. A simple back-projection algorithm involving cone-surface mapping is being modeled. The back projection for an event cone is a conical surface defining the possible location of the source. The cone axis is the straight line passing through the first and second interaction points.

Visual Search and Target Cueing: A Comparison of Head-Mounted Versus Hand-Held Displays on the Allocation of Visual Attention

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Yeh, Michelle; Wickens, Christopher D

1998-01-01

We conducted a study to examine the effects of target cueing and conformality with a hand-held or head-mounted display to determine their effects on visual search tasks requiring focused and divided attention...

Device of Definition of Hand-Written Documents Belonging to One Executor

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. D. Kulik

2012-03-01

Full Text Available Results of working out of the device of definition of hand-written documents belonging to the executor of the text in Russian are presented. The device is intended for automation of work of experts and allows to solve problems of information security and search of criminals.

Validation of Ankle Strength Measurements by Means of a Hand-Held Dynamometer in Adult Healthy Subjects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrea Ancillao

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Uniaxial Hand-Held Dynamometer (HHD is a low-cost device widely adopted in clinical practice to measure muscle force. HHD measurements depend on operator’s ability and joint movements. The aim of the work is to validate the use of a commercial HHD in both dorsiflexion and plantarflexion ankle strength measurements quantifying the effects of HHD misplacements and unwanted foot’s movements on the measurements. We used an optoelectronic system and a multicomponent load cell to quantify the sources of error in the manual assessment of the ankle strength due to both the operator’s ability to hold still the HHD and the transversal components of the exerted force that are usually neglected in clinical routine. Results showed that foot’s movements and angular misplacements of HHD on sagittal and horizontal planes were relevant sources of inaccuracy on the strength assessment. Moreover, ankle dorsiflexion and plantarflexion force measurements presented an inaccuracy less than 2% and higher than 10%, respectively. In conclusion, the manual use of a uniaxial HHD is not recommended for the assessment of ankle plantarflexion strength; on the contrary, it can be allowed asking the operator to pay strong attention to the HHD positioning in ankle dorsiflexion strength measurements.

Intra-operative ultrasound hand-held strain imaging for the visualization of ablations produced in the liver with a toroidal HIFU transducer: first in vivo results

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Chenot, J; Melodelima, D; N' Djin, W A; Souchon, Remi; Rivoire, M; Chapelon, J Y, E-mail: jeremy.chenot@inserm.f [Inserm, U556, Lyon, F-69003 (France)

2010-06-07

The use of hand-held ultrasound strain imaging for the intra-operative real-time visualization of HIFU (high-intensity focused ultrasound) ablations produced in the liver by a toroidal transducer was investigated. A linear 12 MHz ultrasound imaging probe was used to obtain radiofrequency signals. Using a fast cross-correlation algorithm, strain images were calculated and displayed at 60 frames s{sup -1}, allowing the use of hand-held strain imaging intra-operatively. Fourteen HIFU lesions were produced in four pigs. Intra-operative strain imaging of HIFU ablations in the liver was feasible owing to the high frame rate. The correlation between dimensions measured on gross pathology and dimensions measured on B-mode images and on strain images were R = 0.72 and R = 0.94 respectively. The contrast between ablated and non-ablated tissue was significantly higher (p < 0.05) in the strain images (22 dB) than in the B-mode images (9 dB). Strain images allowed equivalent or improved definition of ablated regions when compared with B-mode images. Real-time intra-operative hand-held strain imaging seems to be a promising complement to conventional B-mode imaging for the guidance of HIFU ablations produced in the liver during an open procedure. These results support that hand-held strain imaging outperforms conventional B-mode ultrasound and could potentially be used for the assessment of thermal therapies.

SeleCon: Scalable IoT Device Selection and Control Using Hand Gestures.

Science.gov (United States)

Alanwar, Amr; Alzantot, Moustafa; Ho, Bo-Jhang; Martin, Paul; Srivastava, Mani

2017-04-01

Although different interaction modalities have been proposed in the field of human-computer interface (HCI), only a few of these techniques could reach the end users because of scalability and usability issues. Given the popularity and the growing number of IoT devices, selecting one out of many devices becomes a hurdle in a typical smarthome environment. Therefore, an easy-to-learn, scalable, and non-intrusive interaction modality has to be explored. In this paper, we propose a pointing approach to interact with devices, as pointing is arguably a natural way for device selection. We introduce SeleCon for device selection and control which uses an ultra-wideband (UWB) equipped smartwatch. To interact with a device in our system, people can point to the device to select it then draw a hand gesture in the air to specify a control action. To this end, SeleCon employs inertial sensors for pointing gesture detection and a UWB transceiver for identifying the selected device from ranging measurements. Furthermore, SeleCon supports an alphabet of gestures that can be used for controlling the selected devices. We performed our experiment in a 9 m -by-10 m lab space with eight deployed devices. The results demonstrate that SeleCon can achieve 84.5% accuracy for device selection and 97% accuracy for hand gesture recognition. We also show that SeleCon is power efficient to sustain daily use by turning off the UWB transceiver, when a user's wrist is stationary.

Real-time Identification System using Mobile Hand-held Devices: Mobile Biometrics Evaluation Framework

Science.gov (United States)

2014-04-01

test server, transmit five test cases over both WIFI and 3G , and receive accurate results. The second Study output, the Mobile Biometrics Evaluation...wired (USB), near field (Bluetooth), wireless (802.11) and cellular ( 2G / 3G ) connectivity. Satellite (BGAN) devices have been deployed, in conjunction...Wireless Connectivity: 802.11b, 802.11g, Bluetooth Cellular Connectivity: GSM [ 2G ], UMTS [ 3G ] Internal RAM (GB): 128 Internal Storage (GB): 128

Ergonomic material-handling device

Science.gov (United States)

Barsnick, Lance E.; Zalk, David M.; Perry, Catherine M.; Biggs, Terry; Tageson, Robert E.

2004-08-24

A hand-held ergonomic material-handling device capable of moving heavy objects, such as large waste containers and other large objects requiring mechanical assistance. The ergonomic material-handling device can be used with neutral postures of the back, shoulders, wrists and knees, thereby reducing potential injury to the user. The device involves two key features: 1) gives the user the ability to adjust the height of the handles of the device to ergonomically fit the needs of the user's back, wrists and shoulders; and 2) has a rounded handlebar shape, as well as the size and configuration of the handles which keep the user's wrists in a neutral posture during manipulation of the device.

A hand-held sensor for analyses of local distributions of magnetic fields and losses

CERN Document Server

Krismanic, G; Baumgartinger, N

2000-01-01

The paper describes a novel sensor for non-destructive analyses of local field and loss distributions in laminated soft magnetic cores, such as transformer cores. It was designed for rapid information on comparative local degrees of inhomogeneity, e.g., for the estimation of local building factors. Similar to a magnifying glass with handle, the compact hand-held sensor contains extremely sharp needle electrodes for the detection of the induction vector B as well as double-field coils for the vector H. Losses P are derived from the Poynting law. Applied to inner -- or also outer -- core regions, the sensor yields instantaneous computer displays of local H, B, and P.

SeleCon: Scalable IoT Device Selection and Control Using Hand Gestures

Science.gov (United States)

Alanwar, Amr; Alzantot, Moustafa; Ho, Bo-Jhang; Martin, Paul; Srivastava, Mani

2018-01-01

Although different interaction modalities have been proposed in the field of human-computer interface (HCI), only a few of these techniques could reach the end users because of scalability and usability issues. Given the popularity and the growing number of IoT devices, selecting one out of many devices becomes a hurdle in a typical smarthome environment. Therefore, an easy-to-learn, scalable, and non-intrusive interaction modality has to be explored. In this paper, we propose a pointing approach to interact with devices, as pointing is arguably a natural way for device selection. We introduce SeleCon for device selection and control which uses an ultra-wideband (UWB) equipped smartwatch. To interact with a device in our system, people can point to the device to select it then draw a hand gesture in the air to specify a control action. To this end, SeleCon employs inertial sensors for pointing gesture detection and a UWB transceiver for identifying the selected device from ranging measurements. Furthermore, SeleCon supports an alphabet of gestures that can be used for controlling the selected devices. We performed our experiment in a 9m-by-10m lab space with eight deployed devices. The results demonstrate that SeleCon can achieve 84.5% accuracy for device selection and 97% accuracy for hand gesture recognition. We also show that SeleCon is power efficient to sustain daily use by turning off the UWB transceiver, when a user’s wrist is stationary. PMID:29683151

Reliability of measuring hip abductor strength following total knee arthroplasty using a hand-held dynamometer.

Science.gov (United States)

Schache, Margaret B; McClelland, Jodie A; Webster, Kate E

2016-01-01

To investigate the test-retest reliability of measuring hip abductor strength in patients with total knee arthroplasty (TKA) using a hand-held dynamometer (HHD) with two different types of resistance: belt and manual resistance. Test-retest reliability of 30 subjects (17 female, 13 male, 71.9 ± 7.4 years old), 9.2 ± 2.7 days post TKA was measured using belt and therapist resistance. Retest reliability was calculated with intra-class coefficients (ICC3,1) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for both the group average and the individual scores. A paired t-test assessed whether a difference existed between the belt and therapist methods of resistance. ICCs were 0.82 and 0.80 for the belt and therapist resisted methods, respectively. Hip abductor strength increases of 8 N (14%) for belt resisted and 14 N (17%) for therapist resisted measurements of the group average exceeded the 95% CI and may represent real change. For individuals, hip abductor strength increases of 33 N (72%) (belt resisted) and 57 N (79%) (therapist resisted) could be interpreted as real change. Hip abductor strength can be reliably measured using HHD in the clinical setting with the described protocol. Belt resistance demonstrated slightly higher test-retest reliability. Reliable measurement of hip abductor muscle strength in patients with TKA is important to ensure deficiencies are addressed in rehabilitation programs and function is maximized. Hip abductor strength can be reliably measured with a hand-held dynamometer in the clinical setting using manual or belt resistance.

Design, data, and theory regarding a digital hand inclinometer: a portable device for studying slant perception.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Zhi; Durgin, Frank H

2011-06-01

Palm boards are often used as a nonverbal measure in human slant perception studies. It was recently found that palm boards are biased and relatively insensitive measures, and that an unrestricted hand gesture provides a more sensitive response (Durgin, Hajnal, Li, Tonge, & Stigliani, Acta Psychologica, 134, 182-197, 2010a). In this article, we describe an original design for a portable lightweight digital device for measuring hand orientation. This device is microcontroller-based and uses a micro inclinometer chip as its inclination sensor. The parts are fairly inexpensive. This device, used to measure hand orientation, provides a sensitive nonverbal method for studying slant perception, which can be used in both indoor and outdoor environments. We present data comparing the use of a free hand to palm-board and verbal measures for surfaces within reach and explain how to interpret free-hand measures for outdoor hills.

Clinical assessment of hip strength using a hand-held dynamometer is reliable

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Thorborg, K; Petersen, J; Magnusson, S P

2010-01-01

rotation (ER), internal rotation (IR), flexion (FLEX) and extension (EXT) using a hand-held dynamometer. Nine subjects (five males, four females), physically active for at least 2.5 h a week, were included. Twelve standardized isometric strength tests were performed twice with a 1-week interval in between......Hip strength assessment plays an important role in the clinical examination of the hip and groin region. The primary aim of this study was to examine the absolute test-retest measurement variation concerning standardized strength assessments of hip abduction (ABD), adduction (ADD), external...... by the same examiner. The test order was randomized to avoid systematic bias. Measurement variation between sessions was 3-12%. When the maximum value of four measurements was used, test-retest measurement variation was below 10% in 11 of the 12 individual hip strength tests and below 5% in five of the 12...

Comparison of maximal voluntary isometric contraction and hand-held dynamometry in measuring muscle strength of patients with progressive lower motor neuron syndrome

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Visser, J.; Mans, E.; de Visser, M.; van den Berg-Vos, R. M.; Franssen, H.; de Jong, J. M. B. V.; van den Berg, L. H.; Wokke, J. H. J.; de Haan, R. J.

2003-01-01

Context. Maximal voluntary isometric contraction, a method quantitatively assessing muscle strength, has proven to be reliable, accurate and sensitive in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Hand-held dynamometry is less expensive and more quickly applicable than maximal voluntary isometric contraction.

Potential air contamination during CO2 angiography using a hand-held syringe: theoretical considerations and gas chromatography.

Science.gov (United States)

Cho, David R; Cho, Kyung J; Hawkins, Irvin F

2006-01-01

To assess air contamination in the hand-held syringes currently used for CO2 delivery and to determine whether there is an association between their position and the rate of air contamination. Assessment of air contamination in the syringe (20 ml) included theoretical modeling, mathematical calculation, and gas chromatography (GC). The model was used with Fick's first law to calculate the diffusion of CO2 and the amount of air contamination. For GC studies, the syringes were placed in the upright, horizontal, and inverted positions and gas samples were obtained after 5, 10, 20, 30, and 60 min. All trials with each position for each sampling time were performed five times. The amounts of air contamination with time calculated mathematically were 5-10% less than those of GC. With the diffusivity of air-CO2 at 0.1599 cm2/sec (9.594 cm2/min), air contamination was calculated to be 60% at 60 min. With GC air contamination was 13% at 5 min, 31% at 20 min, 43% at 30 min, and 68% at 60 min. There was no difference in air contamination between the different syringe positions. Air contamination occurs in hand-held syringes filled with CO2 when they are open to the ambient air. The amounts of air contamination over time are similar among syringes placed in the upright, horizontal, and inverted positions.

Hand-held hyperspectral imager for chemical/biological and environmental applications

Science.gov (United States)

Hinnrichs, Michele; Piatek, Bob

2004-03-01

A small, hand held, battery operated imaging infrared spectrometer, Sherlock, has been developed by Pacific Advanced Technology and was field tested in early 2003. The Sherlock spectral imaging camera has been designed for remote gas leak detection, however, the architecture of the camera is versatile enough that it can be applied to numerous other applications such as homeland security, chemical/biological agent detection, medical and pharmaceutical applications as well as standard research and development. This paper describes the Sherlock camera, theory of operations, shows current applications and touches on potential future applications for the camera. The Sherlock has an embedded Power PC and performs real-time-image processing function in an embedded FPGA. The camera has a built in LCD display as well as output to a standard monitor, or NTSC display. It has several I/O ports, ethernet, firewire, RS232 and thus can be easily controlled from a remote location. In addition, software upgrades can be performed over the ethernet eliminating the need to send the camera back to the factory for a retrofit. Using the USB port a mouse and key board can be connected and the camera can be used in a laboratory environment as a stand alone imaging spectrometer.

Digital knowledge in the coat pocket - hand-held personal digital assistants in radiology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Niehues, S.M.; Froehlich, M.; Felix, R.; Lemke, A.J.

2004-01-01

The personal digital assistant (PDA) enables the independent access to large data in a pocket-sized format. The applications for hand-held computers are growing steadily and can support almost any kind of problem. An overview of the available hardware and software is provided and evaluated. Furthermore, the use of the PDA in the clinical daily routine is described. In view of the numerous software programs available in radiology, the range of software solutions for radiologists is presented. Despite the high acquisition cost, the PDA has already become the digital assistant for the radiologist. After a short time of getting used to the PDA, nobody wants to miss it at work or at home. New technical features and available software programs will continuously increase the integration of the PDA into the medical workflow in the near future. (orig.)

An EMG-driven exoskeleton hand robotic training device on chronic stroke subjects: task training system for stroke rehabilitation.

Science.gov (United States)

Ho, N S K; Tong, K Y; Hu, X L; Fung, K L; Wei, X J; Rong, W; Susanto, E A

2011-01-01

An exoskeleton hand robotic training device is specially designed for persons after stroke to provide training on their impaired hand by using an exoskeleton robotic hand which is actively driven by their own muscle signals. It detects the stroke person's intention using his/her surface electromyography (EMG) signals from the hemiplegic side and assists in hand opening or hand closing functional tasks. The robotic system is made up of an embedded controller and a robotic hand module which can be adjusted to fit for different finger length. Eight chronic stroke subjects had been recruited to evaluate the effects of this device. The preliminary results showed significant improvement in hand functions (ARAT) and upper limb functions (FMA) after 20 sessions of robot-assisted hand functions task training. With the use of this light and portable robotic device, stroke patients can now practice more easily for the opening and closing of their hands at their own will, and handle functional daily living tasks at ease. A video is included together with this paper to give a demonstration of the hand robotic system on chronic stroke subjects and it will be presented in the conference. © 2011 IEEE

Potential Air Contamination During CO2 Angiography Using a Hand-Held Syringe: Theoretical Considerations and Gas Chromatography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cho, David R.; Cho, Kyung J.; Hawkins, Irvin F.

2006-01-01

Purpose. To assess air contamination in the hand-held syringes currently used for CO 2 delivery and to determine whether there is an association between their position and the rate of air contamination. Methods. Assessment of air contamination in the syringe (20 ml) included theoretical modeling, mathematical calculation, and gas chromatography (GC). The model was used with Fick's first law to calculate the diffusion of CO 2 and the amount of air contamination. For GC studies, the syringes were placed in the upright, horizontal, and inverted positions and gas samples were obtained after 5, 10, 20, 30, and 60 min. All trials with each position for each sampling time were performed five times. Results. The amounts of air contamination with time calculated mathematically were 5-10% less than those of GC. With the diffusivity of air-CO 2 at 0.1599 cm 2 /sec (9.594 cm 2 /min), air contamination was calculated to be 60% at 60 min. With GC air contamination was 13% at 5 min, 31% at 20 min, 43% at 30 min, and 68% at 60 min. There was no difference in air contamination between the different syringe positions. Conclusion. Air contamination occurs in hand-held syringes filled with CO 2 when they are open to the ambient air. The amounts of air contamination over time are similar among syringes placed in the upright, horizontal, and inverted positions

Development and performance of a hand-held CZT detector for in-situ measurements at the emergency response

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ji, Young Yong; Chung, Kun Ho; Kim, Chang Jong; Lee, Wan No; Choi, Geun Sik; Kang, Mun Ja [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of); Yoon, Jin [SI Detection Co. Ltd, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2016-06-15

A hand-held detector for an emergency response was developed for nuclide identification and to estimate the information of the ambient dose rate in the scene of an accident as well as the radioactivity of the contaminants. To achieve this, the most suitable sensor was first selected as a cadmium zinc telluride (CZT) semiconductor and the signal processing unit from a sensor and the signal discrimination and storage unit were successfully manufactured on a printed circuit board. The performance of the developed signal processing unit was then evaluated to have an energy resolution of about 14 keV at 662 keV. The system control unit was also designed to operate the CZT detector, monitor the detector, battery, and interface status, and check and transmit the measured results of the ambient dose rate and radioactivity. In addition, a collimator, which can control the inner radius, and the airborne dust sampler, which consists of an air filter and charcoal filter, were developed and mounted to the developed CZT detector for the quick and efficient response of a nuclear accident. The hand-held CZT detector was developed to make the in-situ gamma-ray spectrometry and its performance was checked to have a good energy resolution. In addition, the collimator and the airborne dust sampler were developed and mounted to the developed CZT detector for a quick and efficient response to a nuclear accident.

Enabling GPU-assisted Antivirus Protection on Android Devices Through Edge Offloading

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Deyannis, Dimitris; Tsirbas, Rafail; Vasiliadis, Giorgos

2018-01-01

Antivirus software are the most popular tools for detecting and stopping malicious or unwanted files. However, the performance requirements of traditional host-based antivirus make their wide adoption to mobile, embedded, and hand-held devices questionable. Their computational- and memory...

Characterization of wood dust emission from hand-held woodworking machines.

Science.gov (United States)

Keller, F-X; Chata, F

2018-01-01

This article focuses on the prevention of exposure to wood dust when operating electrical hand-held sawing and sanding machines. A laboratory methodology was developed to measure the dust concentration around machines during operating processes. The main objective was to characterize circular saws and sanders, with the aim of classifying the different power tools tested in terms of dust emission (high dust emitter vs. low dust emitter). A test set-up was developed and is described and a measurement methodology was determined for each of the two operations studied. The robustness of the experimental results is discussed and shows good tendencies. The impact of air-flow extraction rate was assessed and the pressure loss of the system for each machine established. For the circular saws, three machines over the nine tested could be classified in the low dust emitter group. Their mean concentration values measured are between 0.64 and 0.98 mg/m 3 for the low dust emitter group and from 2.55 and 4.37 mg/m 3 for the high dust emitter group. From concentration measurements, a machine classification is possible-one for sanding machines and one for sawing machines-and a ratio from 1-7 is obtained when comparing the results. This classification will be helpful when a choice of high performance power tools, in terms of dust emission, must be made by professionals.

The Complimentary Role of Methoxy-Isobutyl-Isonitrile and Hand-Held Gamma Probe in Adamantinoma

Science.gov (United States)

Maharaj, Masha; Korowlay, Nisaar; Ellmann, Prof

2016-01-01

Adamantinoma is a rare locally aggressive osteolytic tumor that is found 90% of the time in the diaphysis of the tibia with the remaining lesions found in the fibula and long tubular bones. A case of adamantinoma of the tibia is presented. The added value of nuclear medicine investigations in the workup of this patient is described. A three-phase whole body 99mTc-methylene diphosphonate bone and a whole body 99mTc-methoxy-isobutyl-isonitrile scans were complimentary in the demarcation of viable bone tumor and the assessment of the remainder of the bone and soft tissue to exclude other sites. Intra-operative assistance with a hand-held gamma probe, guided the biopsy of the most metabolically active tumor tissue. Histology revealed a biphasic tumor composed of epithelial and fibrous components, in keeping with an adamantinoma. PMID:26912979

Hand-held optical sensor using denatured antibody coated electro-active polymer for ultra-trace detection of copper in blood serum and environmental samples.

Science.gov (United States)

Chandra, Sutapa; Dhawangale, Arvind; Mukherji, Soumyo

2018-07-01

An optimum copper concentration in environment is highly desired for all forms of life. We have developed an ultrasensitive copper sensor which functions from femto to micro molar concentration accurately (R 2 = 0.98). The sensor is based on denatured antibody immunoglobulin G (IgG), immobilized on polyaniline (PAni) which in turn is the coating on the core of an optical fiber. The sensing relies on changes in evanescent wave absorbance in the presence of the analyte. The sensor showed excellent selectivity towards Cu (II) ions over all other metal ions. The sensor was tested with lake and marine water samples to determine unknown concentrations of copper ions and the recovery results were within 90-115%, indicating reasonable accuracy. We further integrated the fiber-optic sensor with a miniaturized hand-held instrumentation platform to develop an accurate and field deployable device which can broadly be applicable to determine Cu (II) concentration in a wide range of systems - natural water bodies, soil as well as blood serum. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Magnified Bacteria Powerful Motivator for Hand Hygiene Compliance.

Science.gov (United States)

Gregory, Ashley

2016-08-01

Infection prevention specialists at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit have found that showing healthcare workers magnified pictures of bacteria found ontheir hands and in their surrounding units can be a powerful motivator for improved hand hygiene compliance. When tested in four units during a one-month period, the intervention boosted hand hygiene compliance by an average of 24%. Investigators note that to be successful, the intervention must be paired with an effective compliance monitoring program. For the study, investigators visited each unit twice per week, during which they would swab various items as well as employees' hands using and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) meter, a hand-held device that measures living organisms. During each unit visit, infection prevention specialists would show unit personnel pictures from a compilation of 12 magnified images of bacteria that had been lifted from the unit. This was to demonstrate what the bacteria would look like under a microscope. The unsavory pictures produced immediate increases in had hygiene compliance, and prompted healthcare workers to see who could produce the best ATP meter readings on subsequent infection prevention specialist visits.

Interacting with mobile devices by fusion eye and hand gestures recognition systems based on decision tree approach

Science.gov (United States)

Elleuch, Hanene; Wali, Ali; Samet, Anis; Alimi, Adel M.

2017-03-01

Two systems of eyes and hand gestures recognition are used to control mobile devices. Based on a real-time video streaming captured from the device's camera, the first system recognizes the motion of user's eyes and the second one detects the static hand gestures. To avoid any confusion between natural and intentional movements we developed a system to fuse the decision coming from eyes and hands gesture recognition systems. The phase of fusion was based on decision tree approach. We conducted a study on 5 volunteers and the results that our system is robust and competitive.

A hand-held imaging probe for radio-guided surgery: physical performance and preliminary clinical experience

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pitre, S.; Menard, L.; Charon, Y.; Solal, M.; Garbay, J.R.

2003-01-01

Improvements in the specificity of radiopharmaceutical compounds have been paralleled by an upsurge of interest in developing small detectors to assist surgeons in localizing tumour tissue during surgery. This study reports the main technical features and physical characteristics of a new hand-held gamma camera dedicated to accurate and real-time intra-operative imaging. First clinical experience is also reported. The POCI (Per-operative Compact Imager) camera consists of a head module composed of a high-resolution interchangeable lead collimator and a CsI(Na) crystal plate optically coupled to an intensified position-sensitive diode. The current prototype has a 40-mm diameter field of view, an outer diameter of 9.5 cm, a length of 9 cm and a weight of 1.2 kg. Overall detector imaging characteristics were evaluated by technetium-99m phantom measurements. Three patients with breast cancer previously scheduled to undergo sentinel lymph node detection were selected for the preliminary clinical experience. Preoperative images of the lymphatic basin obtained using the POCI camera were compared with conventional transcutaneous explorations using a non-imaging gamma probe. The full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) spatial resolution was investigated in both air and scattering medium; when the phantom was placed in contact with the collimator, the POCI camera exhibited a 3.2 mm FWHM. The corresponding sensitivity was 290 cps/MBq. The preliminary clinical results showed that POCI was able to predict the number and location of all SLNs. In one case, two deep radioactive nodes missed by the gamma probe were detected on the intra-operative images. This very initial experience demonstrates that the physical performance of the POCI camera is adequate for radio-guided surgery. These results are sufficiently encouraging to prompt further evaluation studies designed to determine the specific and optimal clinical role of intra-operative imaging devices

Inter-Tester Reliability and Precision of Manual Muscle Testing and Hand-Held Dynamometry in Lower Limb Muscles of Children with Spina Bifida

Science.gov (United States)

Mahony, Kate; Hunt, Adrienne; Daley, Deborah; Sims, Susan; Adams, Roger

2009-01-01

Reliability and measurement precision of manual muscle testing (MMT) and hand-held dynamometry (HHD) were compared for children with spina bifida. Strength measures were obtained of the hip flexors, hip abductors, and knee extensors of 20 children (10 males, 10 females; mean age 9 years 10 months; range: 5 to 15 years) by two experienced physical…

Utilization of ocular safety devices among Sawmill workers in Nigeria

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Objective: The study was carried out to assess the use of eye safety devices in sawmill workers in Nigeria. Methods: A cross-sectional study of sawmill workers was carried out using pretested questionnaires. Ocular examination was done on site with a pen torch, portable hand-held slit lamp bio-microscope and direct ...

A Low-Cost Hand Trainer Device Based On Microcontroller Platform

Science.gov (United States)

Sabor, Muhammad Akmal Mohammad; Thamrin, Norashikin M.

2018-03-01

Conventionally, the rehabilitation equipment used in the hospital or recovery center to treat and train the muscle of the stroke patient is implementing the pneumatic or compressed air machine. The main problem caused by this equipment is that the arrangement of the machine is quite complex and the position of it has been locked and fixed, which can cause uncomfortable feeling to the patients throughout the recovery session. Furthermore, the harsh movement from the machine could harm the patient as it does not allow flexibility movement and the use of pneumatic actuator has increased the gripping force towards the patient which could hurt them. Therefore, the main aim of this paper is to propose the development of the Bionic Hand Trainer based on Arduino platform, for a low-cost solution for rehabilitation machine as well as allows flexibility and smooth hand movement for the patients during the healing process. The scope of this work is to replicate the structure of the hand only at the fingers structure that is the phalanges part, which inclusive the proximal, intermediate and distal of the fingers. In order to do this, a hand glove is designed by equipping with flex sensors at every finger and connected them to the Arduino platform. The movement of the hand will motorize the movement of the dummy hand that has been controlled by the servo motors, which have been equipped along the phalanges part. As a result, the bending flex sensors due to the movement of the fingers has doubled up the rotation of the servo motors to mimic this movement at the dummy hand. The voltage output from the bending sensors are ranging from 0 volt to 5 volts, which are suitable for low-cost hand trainer device implementation. Through this system, the patient will have the power to control their gripping operation slowly without having a painful force from the external actuators throughout the rehabilitation process.

Assessment of isometric muscle strength and rate of torque development with hand-held dynamometry: Test-retest reliability and relationship with gait velocity after stroke.

Science.gov (United States)

Mentiplay, Benjamin F; Tan, Dawn; Williams, Gavin; Adair, Brooke; Pua, Yong-Hao; Bower, Kelly J; Clark, Ross A

2018-04-27

Isometric rate of torque development examines how quickly force can be exerted and may resemble everyday task demands more closely than isometric strength. Rate of torque development may provide further insight into the relationship between muscle function and gait following stroke. Aims of this study were to examine the test-retest reliability of hand-held dynamometry to measure isometric rate of torque development following stroke, to examine associations between strength and rate of torque development, and to compare the relationships of strength and rate of torque development to gait velocity. Sixty-three post-stroke adults participated (60 years, 34 male). Gait velocity was assessed using the fast-paced 10 m walk test. Isometric strength and rate of torque development of seven lower-limb muscle groups were assessed with hand-held dynamometry. Intraclass correlation coefficients were calculated for reliability and Spearman's rho correlations were calculated for associations. Regression analyses using partial F-tests were used to compare strength and rate of torque development in their relationship with gait velocity. Good to excellent reliability was shown for strength and rate of torque development (0.82-0.97). Strong associations were found between strength and rate of torque development (0.71-0.94). Despite high correlations between strength and rate of torque development, rate of torque development failed to provide significant value to regression models that already contained strength. Assessment of isometric rate of torque development with hand-held dynamometry is reliable following stroke, however isometric strength demonstrated greater relationships with gait velocity. Further research should examine the relationship between dynamic measures of muscle strength/torque and gait after stroke. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Beyond Textbook Illustrations: Hand-Held Models of Ordered DNA and Protein Structures as 3D Supplements to Enhance Student Learning of Helical Biopolymers

Science.gov (United States)

Jittivadhna, Karnyupha; Ruenwongsa, Pintip; Panijpan, Bhinyo

2010-01-01

Textbook illustrations of 3D biopolymers on printed paper, regardless of how detailed and colorful, suffer from its two-dimensionality. For beginners, computer screen display of skeletal models of biopolymers and their animation usually does not provide the at-a-glance 3D perception and details, which can be done by good hand-held models. Here, we…

Utility of hand-held echocardiography in outpatient pediatric cardiology management.

Science.gov (United States)

Riley, Alan; Sable, Craig; Prasad, Aparna; Spurney, Christopher; Harahsheh, Ashraf; Clauss, Sarah; Colyer, Jessica; Gierdalski, Marcin; Johnson, Ashley; Pearson, Gail D; Rosenthal, Joanna

2014-12-01

Adult patient series have shown hand-held echocardiography (echo) units (HHE) to be accurate for rapid diagnosis and triage. This is the first study to evaluate the ability of HHE to inform decision making in outpatient pediatric cardiology. New pediatric cardiology patients in outpatient clinics staffed by six pediatric cardiologists (experience 1-17 years) were prospectively enrolled if an echocardiogram (echo) was ordered during their initial visit. After history and physical examination and before a standard echo, the cardiologists performed a bedside HHE examination (GE Vscan 1.7-3.8 MHz), documented findings, and made a clinical decision. Diagnoses and decisions based on HHE were compared with final management after the standard echo. The study enrolled 101 subjects (ages 9 days to 19 years). The cardiologists considered HHE imaging adequate for decision making for 80 of the 101 subjects. For 77 of the 80 subjects with acceptable HHE imaging (68/68 normal and 9/12 abnormal standard echoes), the HHE-based primary diagnoses and decisions agreed with the final management. The sensitivity of HHE was 75 % (95 % confidence interval [CI] 43-94 %) and the positive predictive value 100 % (95 % CI 66-100 %) for pediatric heart disease. The agreement between standard echocardiography and HHE imaging was substantial (κ = 0.82). Excluding one of the least experienced cardiologists, HHE provided the basis for correct cardiac diagnoses and management for all the subjects with acceptable HHE imaging (58/58 normal and 9/9 abnormal echoes). In outpatient pediatric cardiology, HHE has potential as a tool to complement physical examination. Further investigation is needed to evaluate how value improves with clinical experience.

Robotic devices and brain-machine interfaces for hand rehabilitation post-stroke

OpenAIRE

McConnell, Alistair C; Moioli, Renan C; Brasil, Fabricio L; Vallejo, Marta; Corne, David W; Vargas, Patricia A; Stokes, Adam A

2017-01-01

OBJECTIVE: To review the state of the art of robotic-aided hand physiotherapy for post-stroke rehabilitation, including the use of brain-machine interfaces. Each patient has a unique clinical history and, in response to personalized treatment needs, research into individualized and at-home treatment options has expanded rapidly in recent years. This has resulted in the development of many devices and design strategies for use in stroke rehabilitation.METHODS: The development progression of ro...

Calculation of induced current densities and specific absorption rates (SAR) for pregnant women exposed to hand-held metal detectors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kainz, Wolfgang; Chan, Dulciana D; Casamento, Jon P; Bassen, Howard I

2003-01-01

The finite difference time domain (FDTD) method in combination with a well established frequency scaling method was used to calculate the internal fields and current densities induced in a simple model of a pregnant woman and her foetus, when exposed to hand-held metal detectors. The pregnant woman and foetus were modelled using a simple semi-heterogeneous model in 10 mm resolution, consisting of three different types of tissue. The model is based on the scanned shape of a pregnant woman in the 34th gestational week. Nine different representative models of hand-held metal detectors operating in the frequency range from 8 kHz to 2 MHz were evaluated. The metal detectors were placed directly on the abdomen of the computational model with a spacing of 1 cm. Both the induced current density and the specific absorption rate (SAR) are well below the recommended limits for exposure of the general public published in the ICNIRP Guidelines and the IEEE C95.1 Standard. The highest current density is 8.3 mA m -2 and the highest SAR is 26.5 μW kg -1 . Compared to the limits for the induced current density recommended in the ICNIRP Guidelines, a minimum safety factor of 3 exists. Compared to the IEEE C95.1 Standard, a safety factor of 60,000 for the specific absorption rate was found. Based on the very low specific absorption rate and an induced current density below the recommended exposure limits, significant temperature rise or nerve stimulation in the pregnant woman or in the foetus can be excluded

Perceiving the vertical distances of surfaces by means of a hand-held probe.

Science.gov (United States)

Chan, T C; Turvey, M T

1991-05-01

Nine experiments were conducted on the haptic capacity of people to perceive the distances of horizontal surfaces solely on the basis of mechanical stimulation resulting from contacting the surfaces with a vertically held rod. Participants touched target surfaces with rods inside a wooden cabinet and reported the perceived surface location with an indicator outside the cabinet. The target surface, rod, and the participant's hand were occluded, and the sound produced in exploration was muffled. Properties of the probe (length, mass, moment of inertia, center of mass, and shape) were manipulated, along with surface distance and the method and angle of probing. Results suggest that for the most common method of probing, namely, tapping, perceived vertical distance is specific to a particular relation among the rotational inertia of the probe, the distance of the point of contact with the surface from the probe's center of percussion, and the inclination at contact of the probe to the surface. They also suggest that the probe length and the distance probed are independently perceivable. The results were discussed in terms of information specificity versus percept-percept coupling and parallels between selective attention in haptic and visual perception.

Drift from the Use of Hand-Held Knapsack Pesticide Sprayers in Boyacá (Colombian Andes).

Science.gov (United States)

García-Santos, Glenda; Feola, Giuseppe; Nuyttens, David; Diaz, Jaime

2016-05-25

Offsite pesticide losses in tropical mountainous regions have been little studied. One example is measuring pesticide drift soil deposition, which can support pesticide risk assessment for surface water, soil, bystanders, and off-target plants and fauna. This is considered a serious gap, given the evidence of pesticide-related poisoning in those regions. Empirical data of drift deposition of a pesticide surrogate, Uranine tracer, within one of the highest potato-producing regions in Colombia, characterized by small plots and mountain orography, is presented. High drift values encountered in this study reflect the actual spray conditions using hand-held knapsack sprayers. Comparison between measured and predicted drift values using three existing empirical equations showed important underestimation. However, after their optimization based on measured drift information, the equations showed a strong predictive power for this study area and the study conditions. The most suitable curve to assess mean relative drift was the IMAG calculator after optimization.

3D Scan of Ornamental Column (huabiao Using Terrestrial LiDAR and Hand-held Imager

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

W. Zhang

2015-08-01

Full Text Available In ancient China, Huabiao was a type of ornamental column used to decorate important buildings. We carried out 3D scan of a Huabiao located in Peking University, China. This Huabiao was built no later than 1742. It is carved by white marble, 8 meters in height. Clouds and various postures of dragons are carved on its body. Two instruments were used to acquire the point cloud of this Huabiao, a terrestrial LiDAR (Riegl VZ-1000 and a hand-held imager (Mantis Vision F5. In this paper, the details of the experiment were described, including the differences between these two instruments, such as working principle, spatial resolution, accuracy, instrument dimension and working flow. The point clouds obtained respectively by these two instruments were compared, and the registered point cloud of Huabiao was also presented. These should be of interest and helpful for the research communities of archaeology and heritage.

Thumb Reach of Indonesian Young Adult When Interacting with Touchscreen of Single-Handed Device: A Preliminary Study

Science.gov (United States)

Umami, M. K.

2018-01-01

This study is a preliminary survey on thumb reach of Indonesian population when interacting with single-handed device. This study was aimed to know the thumb reach envelope on the screen of mobile phone. The correlation between the thumb reach vs. the hand length and thumb length was also identified. Thirty young adults participated in the study. All participants had normal body stature and were right-handed person. In the observational phase, the participant was asked to colour the canvas area on the screen of the mobile phone by using his/her thumb. The participant had to complete the task by applying the single hand interaction. The participant should grab the mobile phone as he/she use it normally in his/her daily activities. The thumb reach envelope of participants was identified from the coloured area of the canvas. The results of this study found that participants with a large hand length and thumb length tend to have a large thumb reach. The results of this study also show the thumb reach area of the participants is forming an elliptical shape that runs from the northeast to southwest on the device screen.

SEGMENTATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL TIME LAPSE IMAGE SEQUENCES FOR THE DETERMINATION OF SHORE LINES CAPTURED BY HAND-HELD SMARTPHONE CAMERAS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Kröhnert

2017-09-01

Full Text Available The relevance of globally environmental issues gains importance since the last years with still rising trends. Especially disastrous floods may cause in serious damage within very short times. Although conventional gauging stations provide reliable information about prevailing water levels, they are highly cost-intensive and thus just sparsely installed. Smartphones with inbuilt cameras, powerful processing units and low-cost positioning systems seem to be very suitable wide-spread measurement devices that could be used for geo-crowdsourcing purposes. Thus, we aim for the development of a versatile mobile water level measurement system to establish a densified hydrological network of water levels with high spatial and temporal resolution. This paper addresses a key issue of the entire system: the detection of running water shore lines in smartphone images. Flowing water never appears equally in close-range images even if the extrinsics remain unchanged. Its non-rigid behavior impedes the use of good practices for image segmentation as a prerequisite for water line detection. Consequently, we use a hand-held time lapse image sequence instead of a single image that provides the time component to determine a spatio-temporal texture image. Using a region growing concept, the texture is analyzed for immutable shore and dynamic water areas. Finally, the prevalent shore line is examined by the resultant shapes. For method validation, various study areas are observed from several distances covering urban and rural flowing waters with different characteristics. Future work provides a transformation of the water line into object space by image-to-geometry intersection.

Segmentation of Environmental Time Lapse Image Sequences for the Determination of Shore Lines Captured by Hand-Held Smartphone Cameras

Science.gov (United States)

Kröhnert, M.; Meichsner, R.

2017-09-01

The relevance of globally environmental issues gains importance since the last years with still rising trends. Especially disastrous floods may cause in serious damage within very short times. Although conventional gauging stations provide reliable information about prevailing water levels, they are highly cost-intensive and thus just sparsely installed. Smartphones with inbuilt cameras, powerful processing units and low-cost positioning systems seem to be very suitable wide-spread measurement devices that could be used for geo-crowdsourcing purposes. Thus, we aim for the development of a versatile mobile water level measurement system to establish a densified hydrological network of water levels with high spatial and temporal resolution. This paper addresses a key issue of the entire system: the detection of running water shore lines in smartphone images. Flowing water never appears equally in close-range images even if the extrinsics remain unchanged. Its non-rigid behavior impedes the use of good practices for image segmentation as a prerequisite for water line detection. Consequently, we use a hand-held time lapse image sequence instead of a single image that provides the time component to determine a spatio-temporal texture image. Using a region growing concept, the texture is analyzed for immutable shore and dynamic water areas. Finally, the prevalent shore line is examined by the resultant shapes. For method validation, various study areas are observed from several distances covering urban and rural flowing waters with different characteristics. Future work provides a transformation of the water line into object space by image-to-geometry intersection.

Hand held control unit for controlling a display screen-oriented computer game, and a display screen-oriented computer game having one or more such control units

NARCIS (Netherlands)

2001-01-01

A hand-held control unit is used to control a display screen-oriented computer game. The unit comprises a housing with a front side, a set of control members lying generally flush with the front side for through actuating thereof controlling actions of in-game display items, and an output for

3D interactive topology optimization on hand-held devices

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nobel-Jørgensen, Morten; Aage, Niels; Christiansen, Asger Nyman

2015-01-01

This educational paper describes the implementation aspects, user interface design considerations and workflow potential of the recently published TopOpt 3D App. The app solves the standard minimum compliance problem in 3D and allows the user to change design settings interactively at any point...... in time during the optimization. Apart from its educational nature, the app may point towards future ways of performing industrial design. Instead of the usual geometrize, then model and optimize approach, the geometry now automatically adapts to the varying boundary and loading conditions. The app...

METHOD OF PHYSIOTHERAPY MEDICAL PROCEDURES FOR THERMAL IMPACT ON SELECTED AREAS WITH HUMAN HANDS THERMOELECTRIC DEVICES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. B. Sulin

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The device for thermal impact on separate zones of a hand of the person executed on the basis of thermoelectric converters of energy is considered. The advantages consisting in high environmental friendliness, noiselessness, reliability, functionality, universality are noted it. The technique of carrying out medical (preventive physiotherapeutic procedures, the hands of the person consisting in contrast thermal impact on a site with various level of heating and cooling, and also lasting expositions is described.

Use of smartphones and portable media devices for quantifying human movement characteristics of gait, tendon reflex response, and Parkinson's disease hand tremor.

Science.gov (United States)

LeMoyne, Robert; Mastroianni, Timothy

2015-01-01

Smartphones and portable media devices are both equipped with sensor components, such as accelerometers. A software application enables these devices to function as a robust wireless accelerometer platform. The recorded accelerometer waveform can be transmitted wireless as an e-mail attachment through connectivity to the Internet. The implication of such devices as a wireless accelerometer platform is the experimental and post-processing locations can be placed anywhere in the world. Gait was quantified by mounting a smartphone or portable media device proximal to the lateral malleolus of the ankle joint. Attributes of the gait cycle were quantified with a considerable accuracy and reliability. The patellar tendon reflex response was quantified by using the device in tandem with a potential energy impact pendulum to evoke the patellar tendon reflex. The acceleration waveform maximum acceleration feature of the reflex response displayed considerable accuracy and reliability. By mounting the smartphone or portable media device to the dorsum of the hand through a glove, Parkinson's disease hand tremor was quantified and contrasted with significance to a non-Parkinson's disease steady hand control. With the methods advocated in this chapter, any aspect of human movement may be quantified through smartphones or portable media devices and post-processed anywhere in the world. These wearable devices are anticipated to substantially impact the biomedical and healthcare industry.

Driver electronic device use in 2008

Science.gov (United States)

2009-09-01

The 2008 hand-held cell phone use rate translates into 812,000 vehicles being driven by someone using a hand-held cell phone at any given daylight moment.1 It also translates into an estimated 11 percent of the vehicles whose drivers were using some ...

21 CFR 872.4565 - Dental hand instrument.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... chisel, endodontic broach, dental wax carver, endodontic pulp canal file, hand instrument for calculus... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Dental hand instrument. 872.4565 Section 872.4565...) MEDICAL DEVICES DENTAL DEVICES Surgical Devices § 872.4565 Dental hand instrument. (a) Identification. A...

The Rubble Rescue Radar (RRR): A low power hand-held microwave device for the detection of trapped human personnel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Haddad, W.S.

1997-01-01

Each year, innocent human lives are lost in collapsed structures as a result of both natural and man-made disasters. We have developed a prototype device, called the Rubble Rescue Radar (RRR) as a aid to workers trying to locate trapped victims in urban search and rescue operations. The RRR is a motion sensor incorporating Micropower Impulse Radar and is capable of detecting human breathing motions through reinforced concrete. It is lightweight, and designed to be handled by a single operator for local searches in areas where trapped victims are expected. Tests of the first prototype device were conducted on site at LLNL using a mock rubble pile consisting of a reinforced concrete pipe with two concrete floor slabs placed against one side, and random concrete and asphalt debris piled against the other. This arrangement provides safe and easy access for instruments and/or human subjects. Breathing signals of a human subject were recorded with the RRR through one floor slab plus the wall of the pipe, two slabs plus the wall of the pipe, and the random rubble plus the wall of the pipe. Breathing and heart beat signals were also recorded of a seated human subject at a distance of 1 meter with no obstructions. Results and photographs of the experimental work are presented, and a design concept for the next generation device is described

Steady-state operation of magnetic fusion devices: Plasma control and plasma facing components. Report on the IAEA technical committee meeting held at Fukuoka, 25-29 October 1999

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Engelmann, F.

2000-01-01

An IAEA Technical Committee Meeting on Steady-State Operation of Magnetic Fusion Devices - Plasma Control and Plasma Facing Components was held at Fukuoka, Japan, from 25 to 29 October 1999. The meeting was the second IAEA Techical Committee Meeting on the subject, following the one held at Hefei, China, a year earlier. The meeting was attended by over 150 researchers from 10 countries

In-Season Yield Prediction of Cabbage with a Hand-Held Active Canopy Sensor.

Science.gov (United States)

Ji, Rongting; Min, Ju; Wang, Yuan; Cheng, Hu; Zhang, Hailin; Shi, Weiming

2017-10-08

Efficient and precise yield prediction is critical to optimize cabbage yields and guide fertilizer application. A two-year field experiment was conducted to establish a yield prediction model for cabbage by using the Greenseeker hand-held optical sensor. Two cabbage cultivars (Jianbao and Pingbao) were used and Jianbao cultivar was grown for 2 consecutive seasons but Pingbao was only grown in the second season. Four chemical nitrogen application rates were implemented: 0, 80, 140, and 200 kg·N·ha -1 . Normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) was collected 20, 50, 70, 80, 90, 100, 110, 120, 130, and 140 days after transplanting (DAT). Pearson correlation analysis and regression analysis were performed to identify the relationship between the NDVI measurements and harvested yields of cabbage. NDVI measurements obtained at 110 DAT were significantly correlated to yield and explained 87-89% and 75-82% of the cabbage yield variation of Jianbao cultivar over the two-year experiment and 77-81% of the yield variability of Pingbao cultivar. Adjusting the yield prediction models with CGDD (cumulative growing degree days) could make remarkable improvement to the accuracy of the prediction model and increase the determination coefficient to 0.82, while the modification with DFP (days from transplanting when GDD > 0) values did not. The integrated exponential yield prediction equation was better than linear or quadratic functions and could accurately make in-season estimation of cabbage yields with different cultivars between years.

Hand-arm vibration disorder among grass-cutter workers in Malaysia.

Science.gov (United States)

Azmir, Nor Azali; Ghazali, Mohd Imran; Yahya, Musli Nizam; Ali, Mohamad Hanafi

2016-09-01

Prolonged exposure to hand-transmitted vibration from grass-cutting machines has been associated with increasing occurrences of symptoms and signs of occupational diseases related to hand-arm vibration syndrome (HAVS). A cross-sectional study was carried out using an adopted HAVS questionnaire on hand-arm vibration exposure and symptoms distributed to 168 male workers from the grass and turf maintenance industry who use hand-held grass-cutting machines as part of their work. The prevalence ratio and symptom correlation to HAVS between high and low-moderate exposure risk groups were evaluated. There were positive HAVS symptoms relationships between the low-moderate exposure group and the high exposure group among hand-held grass-cutting workers. The prevalence ratio was considered high because there were indicators that fingers turned white and felt numb, 3.63, 95% CI [1.41, 9.39] and 4.24, 95% CI [2.18, 8.27], respectively. Less than 14.3% of workers stated that they were aware of the occupational hand-arm vibration, and it seemed to be related to the finger blanching and numbness. The results suggest that HAVS is under-diagnosed in Malaysia, especially in the agricultural sectors. More information related to safety and health awareness programmes for HAVS exposure is required among hand-held grass-cutting workers.

Vibration produced by hand-held olive electrical harvesters

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Emanuele Cerruto

2012-09-01

Full Text Available The paper reports the results of some laboratory and field tests aimed at assessing the acceleration levels transmitted to the hand-arm system by electric portable harvesters for olive. Four harvesting heads, different for shape and kinematic system, and five bars, different for diameter, length and material (aluminium and carbon fibre, were used in assembling eleven harvesters. The vibrations were measured in two points, next to the handgrips. The laboratory tests allowed the evaluation of the acceleration levels in standard controlled conditions, while the field tests allowed the assessing of the effects of the tree canopy with respect to the no load running. The laboratory tests showed that in reducing the vibration level plays a major role the kinematic system of the harvesting head and then the bar material. The classical flap-type harvester produced accelerations of around 20 m/s2, while by using a harvesting head with two parts in opposite movement, the accelerations were lowered to about 6 m/s2. The use of carbon fibres for the bars, besides the reduction in weight, produced also a reduction in acceleration (from 21 to 16 m/s2. The field tests proved that the tree canopy had a negative effect on the vibrations transmitted to the hand-arm system, especially when the aluminium bar of small diameter was used.

UV-C decontamination of hand-held tablet devices in the healthcare environment using the Codonics D6000™ disinfection system.

Science.gov (United States)

Muzslay, M; Yui, S; Ali, S; Wilson, A P R

2018-04-09

Mobile phones and tablet computers may be contaminated with microorganisms and become a potential reservoir for cross-transmission of pathogens between healthcare workers and patients. There is no generally accepted guidance how to reduce contamination on mobile devices in healthcare settings. Our aim was to determine the efficacy of the Codonics D6000™ UV-C disinfection device. Daily disinfection reduced contamination on screens and on protective cases (test) significantly, but not all cases (control) could be decontaminated. The median aerobic colony count on the control and the test cases was 52 (IQR 33-89) cfu/25cm 2 and 22 (IQR 10.5-41) cfu/25cm 2 respectively before disinfection. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Four dimensional hybrid ultrasound and optoacoustic imaging via passive element optical excitation in a hand-held probe

Science.gov (United States)

Fehm, Thomas Felix; Deán-Ben, Xosé Luís; Razansky, Daniel

2014-10-01

Ultrasonography and optoacoustic imaging share powerful advantages related to the natural aptitude for real-time image rendering with high resolution, the hand-held operation, and lack of ionizing radiation. The two methods also possess very different yet highly complementary advantages of the mechanical and optical contrast in living tissues. Nonetheless, efficient integration of these modalities remains challenging owing to the fundamental differences in the underlying physical contrast, optimal signal acquisition, and image reconstruction approaches. We report on a method for hybrid acquisition and reconstruction of three-dimensional pulse-echo ultrasound and optoacoustic images in real time based on passive ultrasound generation with an optical absorber, thus avoiding the hardware complexity of active ultrasound generation. In this way, complete hybrid datasets are generated with a single laser interrogation pulse, resulting in simultaneous rendering of ultrasound and optoacoustic images at an unprecedented rate of 10 volumetric frames per second. Performance is subsequently showcased in phantom experiments and in-vivo measurements from a healthy human volunteer, confirming general clinical applicability of the method.

Four dimensional hybrid ultrasound and optoacoustic imaging via passive element optical excitation in a hand-held probe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fehm, Thomas Felix; Razansky, Daniel; Deán-Ben, Xosé Luís

2014-01-01

Ultrasonography and optoacoustic imaging share powerful advantages related to the natural aptitude for real-time image rendering with high resolution, the hand-held operation, and lack of ionizing radiation. The two methods also possess very different yet highly complementary advantages of the mechanical and optical contrast in living tissues. Nonetheless, efficient integration of these modalities remains challenging owing to the fundamental differences in the underlying physical contrast, optimal signal acquisition, and image reconstruction approaches. We report on a method for hybrid acquisition and reconstruction of three-dimensional pulse-echo ultrasound and optoacoustic images in real time based on passive ultrasound generation with an optical absorber, thus avoiding the hardware complexity of active ultrasound generation. In this way, complete hybrid datasets are generated with a single laser interrogation pulse, resulting in simultaneous rendering of ultrasound and optoacoustic images at an unprecedented rate of 10 volumetric frames per second. Performance is subsequently showcased in phantom experiments and in-vivo measurements from a healthy human volunteer, confirming general clinical applicability of the method.

Four dimensional hybrid ultrasound and optoacoustic imaging via passive element optical excitation in a hand-held probe

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fehm, Thomas Felix; Razansky, Daniel, E-mail: dr@tum.de [Institute for Biological and Medical Imaging (IBMI), Helmholtz Zentrum München, Neuherberg (Germany); Faculty of Medicine, Technische Universität München, Munich (Germany); Deán-Ben, Xosé Luís [Institute for Biological and Medical Imaging (IBMI), Helmholtz Zentrum München, Neuherberg (Germany)

2014-10-27

Ultrasonography and optoacoustic imaging share powerful advantages related to the natural aptitude for real-time image rendering with high resolution, the hand-held operation, and lack of ionizing radiation. The two methods also possess very different yet highly complementary advantages of the mechanical and optical contrast in living tissues. Nonetheless, efficient integration of these modalities remains challenging owing to the fundamental differences in the underlying physical contrast, optimal signal acquisition, and image reconstruction approaches. We report on a method for hybrid acquisition and reconstruction of three-dimensional pulse-echo ultrasound and optoacoustic images in real time based on passive ultrasound generation with an optical absorber, thus avoiding the hardware complexity of active ultrasound generation. In this way, complete hybrid datasets are generated with a single laser interrogation pulse, resulting in simultaneous rendering of ultrasound and optoacoustic images at an unprecedented rate of 10 volumetric frames per second. Performance is subsequently showcased in phantom experiments and in-vivo measurements from a healthy human volunteer, confirming general clinical applicability of the method.

Extracting attempted hand movements from EEGs in people with complete hand paralysis following stroke

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abirami eMuralidharan

2011-03-01

Full Text Available This study examines the feasibility of using electroencephalograms (EEGs to rapidly detect the intent to open one’s hand in individuals with complete hand paralysis following a subcortical ischemic stroke. If detectable, this motor planning activity could be used in real time to trigger a motorized hand exoskeleton or an electrical stimulation device that opens/closes the hand. While EEG-triggered movement-assist devices could restore function, they may also promote recovery by reinforcing the use of remaining cortical circuits. EEGs were recorded while participants were cued to either relax or attempt to extend their fingers. Linear discriminant analysis was used to detect onset of finger extension from the EEGs in a leave-one-trial-out cross-validation process. In each testing trial, the classifier was applied in pseudo real time starting from an initial hand-relaxed phase, through movement planning, and into the initial attempted finger extension phase (finger extension phase estimated from typical time-to-movement-onset measured in the unaffected hand. The classifiers detected attempted finger-extension at a significantly higher rate during both motor planning and early attempted execution compared to rest. To reduce inappropriate triggering of a movement-assist device during rest, the classification threshold could be adjusted to require more certainty about one’s intent to move before triggering a device. Additionally, a device could be set to activate only after multiple time samples in a row were classified as finger extension events. These options resulted in some sessions with no false triggers while the person was resting, but moderate-to-high true trigger rates during attempted movements.

A-KAM, bracket positioning device

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anand Ambekar

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Bracket positioning is the heart of preadjusted edgewise appliance. Accuracy of bracket positioning directly affects the treatment outcome. A number of hand-held instruments are available for bracket positioning accuracy including Boon's gauge, MBT gauges, and various other modifications. However, the most commonly used MBT gauges come in a set of two or four jigs with gauges on each end of the instrument making it difficult to carry in the instrument tray for the orthodontists. Our new bracket positioning instrument, A-KAM, bracket positioning device surpasses these difficulties and can be used for reproducible bracket placement from 2.5 mm to 5.5 mm from the base of bracket.

Design of point-of-care (POC) microfluidic medical diagnostic devices

Science.gov (United States)

Leary, James F.

2018-02-01

Design of inexpensive and portable hand-held microfluidic flow/image cytometry devices for initial medical diagnostics at the point of initial patient contact by emergency medical personnel in the field requires careful design in terms of power/weight requirements to allow for realistic portability as a hand-held, point-of-care medical diagnostics device. True portability also requires small micro-pumps for high-throughput capability. Weight/power requirements dictate use of super-bright LEDs and very small silicon photodiodes or nanophotonic sensors that can be powered by batteries. Signal-to-noise characteristics can be greatly improved by appropriately pulsing the LED excitation sources and sampling and subtracting noise in between excitation pulses. The requirements for basic computing, imaging, GPS and basic telecommunications can be simultaneously met by use of smartphone technologies, which become part of the overall device. Software for a user-interface system, limited real-time computing, real-time imaging, and offline data analysis can be accomplished through multi-platform software development systems that are well-suited to a variety of currently available cellphone technologies which already contain all of these capabilities. Microfluidic cytometry requires judicious use of small sample volumes and appropriate statistical sampling by microfluidic cytometry or imaging for adequate statistical significance to permit real-time (typically medical decisions for patients at the physician's office or real-time decision making in the field. One or two drops of blood obtained by pin-prick should be able to provide statistically meaningful results for use in making real-time medical decisions without the need for blood fractionation, which is not realistic in the field.

Quantitative Assessment of the Arm/Hand Movements in Parkinson’s Disease Using a Wireless Armband Device

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sofija Spasojević

2017-08-01

Full Text Available We present an approach for quantitative assessment of the arm/hand movements in patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD, from sensor data acquired with a wearable, wireless armband device (Myo sensor. We propose new Movement Performance Indicators that can be adopted by practitioners for the quantitative evaluation of motor performance and support their clinical evaluations. In addition, specific Movement Performance Indicators can indicate the presence of the bradykinesia symptom. The study includes seventeen PD patients and sixteen age-matched controls. A set of representative arm/hand movements is defined under the supervision of movement disorder specialist. In order to assist the evaluations, and for progress monitoring purposes, as well as for assessing the amount of bradykinesia in PD, a total set of 84 Movement Performance Indicators are computed from the sensor readings. Subsequently, we investigate whether wireless armband device, with the use of the proposed Movement Performance Indicators can be utilized: (1 for objective and precise quantitative evaluation of the arm/hand movements of Parkinson’s patients, (2 for assessment of the bradykinesia motor symptom, and (3 as an adequate low-cost alternative for the sensor glove. We conducted extensive analysis of proposed Movement Performance Indicators and results are indicating following clinically relevant characteristics: (i adequate reliability as measured by ICC; (ii high accuracy in discrimination between the patients and controls, and between the disease stages (support to disease diagnosis and progress monitoring, respectively; (iii substantial difference in comparison between the left-hand and the right-hand movements across controls and patients, as well as between disease stage groups; (iv statistically significant correlation with clinical scales (tapping test and UPDRS-III Motor Score; and (v quantitative evaluation of bradykinesia symptom. Results suggest that the proposed

Use of a hand-held bladder ultrasound scanner in the assessment of dehydration and monitoring response to treatment in a paediatric emergency department.

Science.gov (United States)

Enright, Kevin; Beattie, Tom; Taheri, Sepideh

2010-10-01

Dehydration is a common concern in paediatric emergency care. Limited tools are available to assess reduced urine production, which is commonly cited as a reliable marker of dehydration. To evaluate the utility of a hand-held bladder ultrasound scanner in monitoring urine production in children attending the emergency department with suspected dehydration. A prospective pilot study was undertaken on a convenience sample of patients presenting with suspected dehydration. Serial bladder ultrasound scanning was performed to monitor urine output. Dehydration was assessed clinically using the WHO guide to dehydration assessment. Decisions about treatment and admission were made independently of the urine output measurements obtained using the bladder scanner. 45 children were studied. Using the WHO guide, 33 (73%) had mild dehydration, 8 (18%) had moderate dehydration and 4 (9%) had severe dehydration. There was a significant difference in estimated urine production between those admitted and those discharged (0.9±1.2 ml/kg/h vs 1.8±1.5 ml/kg/h, p=0.01) and between those with mild dehydration versus moderate/severe dehydration (2.3±1.5 ml/kg/h vs 0.6±0.7 ml/kg/h, p=0.0011). Urine output had been significantly reduced in those who had received an intravenous fluid bolus compared with those who had not (0.4±0.46 ml/kg/h vs 1.9±1.6 ml/kg/h, p=0.001). The hand-held bladder scanner is a convenient, non-invasive and objective adjunct in the assessment and management of children attending the emergency department with suspected dehydration.

Access to hands-on mathematics measurement activities using robots controlled via speech generating devices: three case studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Adams, Kim; Cook, Al

2014-07-01

To examine how using a robot controlled via a speech generating device (SGD) influences the ways students with physical and communication limitations can demonstrate their knowledge in math measurement activities. Three children with severe physical disabilities and complex communication needs used the robot and SGD system to perform four math measurement lessons in comparing, sorting and ordering objects. The performance of the participants was measured and the process of using the system was described in terms of manipulation and communication events. Stakeholder opinions were solicited regarding robot use. Robot use revealed some gaps in the procedural knowledge of the participants. Access to both the robot and SGD was shown to provide several benefits. Stakeholders thought the intervention was important and feasible for a classroom environment. The participants were able to participate actively in the hands-on and communicative measurement activities and thus meet the demands of current math instruction methods. Current mathematics pedagogy encourages doing hands-on activities while communicating about concepts. Adapted Lego robots enabled children with severe physical disabilities to perform hands-on length measurement activities. Controlling the robots from speech generating devices (SGD) enabled the children, who also had complex communication needs, to reflect and report on results during the activities. By using the robots combined with SGDs, children both exhibited their knowledge of and experienced the concepts of mathematical measurements.

X-ray film digitization using a personal computer and hand-held scanner: a simple technique for storing images

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Munoz-Nunez, C. F.; Lloret-Alcaniz, A.

1998-01-01

To develop a simple, low-cost technique for the digitization of X-ray films for personal use. A 66-MHz 486 PC with 8 MB of RAM, a Logitech ScanMan 256 hand-held scanner and a standard negatoscope with the power source converted to direct current. Although the system was originally designed for the digitization of mammographies, it has also been used with computed tomography, magnetic resonance, digital angiography and ultrasonographic images, as well as plain X-rays. After a minimal training period, the system digitized X-ray films easily and rapidly. Although the scanning values vary depending on the type of image to be digitized, an input spatial resolution of 200 dpi and a contrast resolution of 256 levels of gray are generally adequate. Of the storage formats tested, JPEG presented the best quality/image size ratio. A simple, low-cost technique has been developed for the digitization of X-ray films. This technique enables the storage of images in a digital format, thus facilitating their presentation and transmission. (Author) 9 refs

RADRELAY RADIOLOGICAL DATA LINK DEVICE

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Harpring, L.; Frank Heckendorn, F.

2007-01-01

The RadRelay effort developed small, field appropriate, portable prototype devices that allow radiological spectra to be downloaded from field radiological detectors, like the identiFINDER-U, and transmitted to land based experts. This communications capability was designed for the U. S. Coast Guard (USCG) but is also applicable to the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) personnel working in remote locations. USCG Level II personnel currently use the identiFINDER-U Hand-Held Radioisotope ID Devices (HHRIID) to detect radiological materials during specific boarding operations. These devices will detect not only radiological emissions but will also evaluate those emissions against a table of known radiological spectra. The RadRelay has been developed to significantly improve the functionality of HHRIID, by providing the capability to download radiological spectra and then transmit them using satellite or cell phone technology. This remote wireless data transfer reduces the current lengthy delay often encountered between the shipboard detection of unknown radiological material and the evaluation of that data by technical and command personnel. That delay is reduced from hours to minutes and allows the field located personnel to remain on station during the inspection and evaluation process

Studies on hand-held visual communication device for the deaf and speech-impaired I. Visual display window size.

Science.gov (United States)

Thurlow, W R

1980-01-01

Messages were presented which moved from right to left along an electronic alphabetic display which was varied in "window" size from 4 through 32 letter spaces. Deaf subjects signed the messages they perceived. Relatively few errors were made even at the highest rate of presentation, which corresponded to a typing rate of 60 words/min. It is concluded that many deaf persons can make effective use of a small visual display. A reduced cost is then possible for visual communication instruments for these people through reduced display size. Deaf subjects who can profit from a small display can be located by a sentence test administered by tape recorder which drives the display of the communication device by means of the standard code of the deaf teletype network.

Linearization of weak hand holds in Russian Sign Language

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kimmelman, V.

2017-01-01

Russian Sign Language (RSL) makes use of constructions involving manual simultaneity, in particular, weak hand holds, where one hand is being held in the location and configuration of a sign, while the other simultaneously produces one sign or a sequence of several signs. In this paper, I argue that

Evaluation of Hands-Free Devices for the Display of Maintenance Procedures

Science.gov (United States)

Whitmore, Mihriban; Hoffman, Ronald B.; Litaker, Harry, Jr.; Solem, Jody; Holden, Kritina; Twyford, Evan; Conlee, Carl

2007-01-01

Over the past year, NASA's focus has turned to crewed long duration and exploration missions. On these journeys, crewmembers will be required to execute thousands of procedures to maintain life support systems, check out space suits, conduct science experiments, and perform medical exams. To support the many complex tasks crewmembers undertake in microgravity, NASA is interested in providing crewmembers a hands-free work environment to promote more efficient operations. The overarching objective is to allow crewmembers to use both of their hands for tasks related to their mission, versus holding a paper manual or interacting with a display. The use of advanced, hands-free tools will undoubtedly make the crewmembers task easier, but they can also add to overall task complexity if not properly designed. A leading candidate technology for supporting a hands-free environment is the Head-Mounted Display (HMD). A more recent technology (e-book reader) that could be easily temp-stowed near the work area is also a potential hands-free solution. Previous work at NASA involved the evaluation of several commercially available HMDs for visual quality, comfort, and fit, as well as suitability for use in microgravity. Based on results from this work, three HMDs were selected for further evaluation (along with an e-book reader), using International Space Station (ISS)-like maintenance procedures. Two evaluations were conducted in the Space Station Mockup and Trainer Facility (SSMTF) located at the NASA Johnson Space Center (building 9). The SSMTF is a full scale, medium fidelity replica of the pressurized portions of the ISS. It supports crew training such as ingress and egress, habitability, and emergency procedures. In each of the two evaluations, the participants performed two maintenance procedures. One maintenance procedure involved inspecting air filters in a life support system and replacing them with a clean filter if one were found to be contaminated. The second

Efficacy of hand held, inexpensive UV light sources on Acanthamoeba, causative organism in amoebic keratitis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ivan Cometa

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Ivan Cometa1, Andrew Rogerson1, Scott Schatz21Department of Biology, California State University Fresno, Fresno, CA, USA; 2Arizona College of Optometry, Midwestern University, Glendale, AZ, USAAbstract: Multipurpose lens cleaning solutions (MPS fail to consistently kill or inactivate Acanthamoeba cysts and UV irradiation, while effective at high doses, can damage contact lenses. The present study considered synergy of action between MPS and hand-held inexpensive (ie, relatively weak UV irradiation units. Regardless of disinfection method recently formed cysts (<10 days were far more susceptible to treatment than mature cysts (>14 days. This has important implications for future protocols on testing methods for killing amoebae. The study also showed that cysts of different strains (two tested, FLA2 and P120 are variable in their response to MPS, presumably reflecting differences in cyst wall structure and thus permeability to the disinfectant. On the other hand, the effect of UV irradiation was not wall structure dependent. A 6-hour treatment with MPS alone killed trophic amoebae but failed to kill any mature cysts. Cysts of strain FLA2 were killed after 24 hours with MPS but cysts of strain P120 survived. UV irradiation with the larger 4 W unit killed all cysts after 7 minutes and was more effective than the smaller battery-powered unit (after 10 minutes about 50% of cysts were killed. When the larger unit was used with the MPS disinfection, all trophozoites were killed using UV for 3 minutes and MPS for 1 hour. The resistant P120 cysts remained a challenge but a 2- to 4-minute UV treatment followed by MPS for 3 or 6 hours reduced mature cyst survival by about 50%. The small unit in combination with MPS was less effective but did reduce the time required to kill trophic amoebae in MPS (6 hours MPS alone versus 3 hours MPS with a 1-minute UV treatment. In short, inexpensive UV units do enhance MPS disinfection and future lens cleaning systems

Forest Inventory with Terrestrial LiDAR: A Comparison of Static and Hand-Held Mobile Laser Scanning

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sébastien Bauwens

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The application of static terrestrial laser scanning (TLS in forest inventories is becoming more effective. Nevertheless, the occlusion effect is still limiting the processing efficiency to extract forest attributes. The use of a mobile laser scanner (MLS would reduce this occlusion. In this study, we assessed and compared a hand-held mobile laser scanner (HMLS with two TLS approaches (single scan: SS, and multi scan: MS for the estimation of several forest parameters in a wide range of forest types and structures. We found that SS is competitive to extract the ground surface of forest plots, while MS gives the best result to describe the upper part of the canopy. The whole cross-section at 1.3 m height is scanned for 91% of the trees (DBH > 10 cm with the HMLS leading to the best results for DBH estimates (bias of −0.08 cm and RMSE of 1.11 cm, compared to no fully-scanned trees for SS and 42% fully-scanned trees for MS. Irregularities, such as bark roughness and non-circular cross-section may explain the negative bias encountered for all of the scanning approaches. The success of using MLS in forests will allow for 3D structure acquisition on a larger scale and in a time-efficient manner.

Hand biometric recognition based on fused hand geometry and vascular patterns.

Science.gov (United States)

Park, GiTae; Kim, Soowon

2013-02-28

A hand biometric authentication method based on measurements of the user's hand geometry and vascular pattern is proposed. To acquire the hand geometry, the thickness of the side view of the hand, the K-curvature with a hand-shaped chain code, the lengths and angles of the finger valleys, and the lengths and profiles of the fingers were used, and for the vascular pattern, the direction-based vascular-pattern extraction method was used, and thus, a new multimodal biometric approach is proposed. The proposed multimodal biometric system uses only one image to extract the feature points. This system can be configured for low-cost devices. Our multimodal biometric-approach hand-geometry (the side view of the hand and the back of hand) and vascular-pattern recognition method performs at the score level. The results of our study showed that the equal error rate of the proposed system was 0.06%.

Hand Gesture Recognition Using Ultrasonic Waves

KAUST Repository

AlSharif, Mohammed Hussain

2016-04-01

Gesturing is a natural way of communication between people and is used in our everyday conversations. Hand gesture recognition systems are used in many applications in a wide variety of fields, such as mobile phone applications, smart TVs, video gaming, etc. With the advances in human-computer interaction technology, gesture recognition is becoming an active research area. There are two types of devices to detect gestures; contact based devices and contactless devices. Using ultrasonic waves for determining gestures is one of the ways that is employed in contactless devices. Hand gesture recognition utilizing ultrasonic waves will be the focus of this thesis work. This thesis presents a new method for detecting and classifying a predefined set of hand gestures using a single ultrasonic transmitter and a single ultrasonic receiver. This method uses a linear frequency modulated ultrasonic signal. The ultrasonic signal is designed to meet the project requirements such as the update rate, the range of detection, etc. Also, it needs to overcome hardware limitations such as the limited output power, transmitter, and receiver bandwidth, etc. The method can be adapted to other hardware setups. Gestures are identified based on two main features; range estimation of the moving hand and received signal strength (RSS). These two factors are estimated using two simple methods; channel impulse response (CIR) and cross correlation (CC) of the reflected ultrasonic signal from the gesturing hand. A customized simple hardware setup was used to classify a set of hand gestures with high accuracy. The detection and classification were done using methods of low computational cost. This makes the proposed method to have a great potential for the implementation in many devices including laptops and mobile phones. The predefined set of gestures can be used for many control applications.

Maximal isometric muscle strength values obtained By hand-held dynamometry in children between 6 and 15 years of age.

Science.gov (United States)

Escobar, Raul G; Munoz, Karin T; Dominguez, Angelica; Banados, Pamela; Bravo, Maria J

2017-01-01

In this study we aimed to determine the maximal isometric muscle strength of a healthy, normal-weight, pediatric population between 6 and 15 years of age using hand-held dynamometry to establish strength reference values. The secondary objective was determining the relationship between strength and anthropometric parameters. Four hundred normal-weight Chilean children, split into 10 age groups, separated by 1-year intervals, were evaluated. Each age group included between 35 and 55 children. The strength values increased with increasing age and weight, with a correlation of 0.83 for age and 0.82 for weight. The results were similar to those reported in previous studies regarding the relationships among strength, age, and anthropometric parameters, but the reported strength differed. These results provide normal strength parameters for healthy and normal-weight Chilean children between 6 and 15 years of age and highlight the relevance of ethnicity in defining reference values for muscle strength in a pediatric population. Muscle Nerve 55: 16-22, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Automation Study for Longhorn Army Ammunition Plant Hand Held Signal Flight Assembly, Rocket Barrel Assembly, 40 MM Signal, Final Packaging/Pack-Out, and Star Finishing

Science.gov (United States)

1990-03-01

wood protectors in the HHS Rocket Barrel Assembly Operations. d) Use of hot melt sealant rather than lacquer on the end of the assembled Hand Held...4OL.UA8LYADHRlE CG411!cLVPAM-1 ~LW7m~I~o~c~c LCA ~TM18UX"Y.31nSRGU-11 STiIM ASSELYJMACE FINh1TZ1A1*4CWAJKRZAM’ WAOiNt rs~my" LOCATM1ED 0~7 LOCA1ED’ IWCM-1W...Moorfeed Fairview, PA Indianapolis, IN Voice Synthesis Module Square D Micro Chip Technology Palatine, IL Chandler, AZ 85224 Vacuum Unit Venturi’s

Personal hand gel for improved hand hygiene compliance on the regional anesthesia team.

Science.gov (United States)

Parks, Colby L; Schroeder, Kristopher M; Galgon, Richard E

2015-12-01

Hand hygiene reduces healthcare-associated infections, and several recent publications have examined hand hygiene in the perioperative period. Our institution's policy is to perform hand hygiene before and after patient contact. However, observation suggests poor compliance. This is a retrospective review of a quality improvement database showing the effect of personal gel dispensers on perioperative hand hygiene compliance on a regional anesthesia team. Healthcare providers assigned to the Acute Pain Service were observed for compliance with hand hygiene policy during a quality improvement initiative. Provider type and compliance were prospectively recorded in a database. Team members were then given a personal gel dispensing device and again observed for compliance. We have retrospectively reviewed this database to determine the effects of this intervention. Of the 307 encounters observed, 146 were prior to implementing personal gel dispensers. Compliance was 34%. Pre- and post-patient contact compliances were 23 and 43%, respectively. For 161 encounters after individual gel dispensers were provided, compliance was 63%. Pre- and post-patient contact compliances were 53 and 72%, respectively. Improvement in overall compliance from 34 to 63% was significant. On the Acute Pain Service, compliance with hand hygiene policy improves when individual sanitation gel dispensing devices are worn on the person.

Hand Biometric Recognition Based on Fused Hand Geometry and Vascular Patterns

Science.gov (United States)

Park, GiTae; Kim, Soowon

2013-01-01

A hand biometric authentication method based on measurements of the user's hand geometry and vascular pattern is proposed. To acquire the hand geometry, the thickness of the side view of the hand, the K-curvature with a hand-shaped chain code, the lengths and angles of the finger valleys, and the lengths and profiles of the fingers were used, and for the vascular pattern, the direction-based vascular-pattern extraction method was used, and thus, a new multimodal biometric approach is proposed. The proposed multimodal biometric system uses only one image to extract the feature points. This system can be configured for low-cost devices. Our multimodal biometric-approach hand-geometry (the side view of the hand and the back of hand) and vascular-pattern recognition method performs at the score level. The results of our study showed that the equal error rate of the proposed system was 0.06%. PMID:23449119

Position calibration of a 3-DOF hand-controller with hybrid structure

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Chengcheng; Song, Aiguo

2017-09-01

A hand-controller is a human-robot interactive device, which measures the 3-DOF (Degree of Freedom) position of the human hand and sends it as a command to control robot movement. The device also receives 3-DOF force feedback from the robot and applies it to the human hand. Thus, the precision of 3-DOF position measurements is a key performance factor for hand-controllers. However, when using a hybrid type 3-DOF hand controller, various errors occur and are considered originating from machining and assembly variations within the device. This paper presents a calibration method to improve the position tracking accuracy of hybrid type hand-controllers by determining the actual size of the hand-controller parts. By re-measuring and re-calibrating this kind of hand-controller, the actual size of the key parts that cause errors is determined. Modifying the formula parameters with the actual sizes, which are obtained in the calibrating process, improves the end position tracking accuracy of the device.

On the feasibility of interoperable schemes in hand biometrics.

Science.gov (United States)

Morales, Aythami; González, Ester; Ferrer, Miguel A

2012-01-01

Personal recognition through hand-based biometrics has attracted the interest of many researchers in the last twenty years. A significant number of proposals based on different procedures and acquisition devices have been published in the literature. However, comparisons between devices and their interoperability have not been thoroughly studied. This paper tries to fill this gap by proposing procedures to improve the interoperability among different hand biometric schemes. The experiments were conducted on a database made up of 8,320 hand images acquired from six different hand biometric schemes, including a flat scanner, webcams at different wavelengths, high quality cameras, and contactless devices. Acquisitions on both sides of the hand were included. Our experiment includes four feature extraction methods which determine the best performance among the different scenarios for two of the most popular hand biometrics: hand shape and palm print. We propose smoothing techniques at the image and feature levels to reduce interdevice variability. Results suggest that comparative hand shape offers better performance in terms of interoperability than palm prints, but palm prints can be more effective when using similar sensors.

On the Feasibility of Interoperable Schemes in Hand Biometrics

Science.gov (United States)

Morales, Aythami; González, Ester; Ferrer, Miguel A.

2012-01-01

Personal recognition through hand-based biometrics has attracted the interest of many researchers in the last twenty years. A significant number of proposals based on different procedures and acquisition devices have been published in the literature. However, comparisons between devices and their interoperability have not been thoroughly studied. This paper tries to fill this gap by proposing procedures to improve the interoperability among different hand biometric schemes. The experiments were conducted on a database made up of 8,320 hand images acquired from six different hand biometric schemes, including a flat scanner, webcams at different wavelengths, high quality cameras, and contactless devices. Acquisitions on both sides of the hand were included. Our experiment includes four feature extraction methods which determine the best performance among the different scenarios for two of the most popular hand biometrics: hand shape and palm print. We propose smoothing techniques at the image and feature levels to reduce interdevice variability. Results suggest that comparative hand shape offers better performance in terms of interoperability than palm prints, but palm prints can be more effective when using similar sensors. PMID:22438714

Constraint Study for a Hand Exoskeleton: Human Hand Kinematics and Dynamics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fai Chen Chen

2013-01-01

Full Text Available In the last few years, the number of projects studying the human hand from the robotic point of view has increased rapidly, due to the growing interest in academic and industrial applications. Nevertheless, the complexity of the human hand given its large number of degrees of freedom (DoF within a significantly reduced space requires an exhaustive analysis, before proposing any applications. The aim of this paper is to provide a complete summary of the kinematic and dynamic characteristics of the human hand as a preliminary step towards the development of hand devices such as prosthetic/robotic hands and exoskeletons imitating the human hand shape and functionality. A collection of data and constraints relevant to hand movements is presented, and the direct and inverse kinematics are solved for all the fingers as well as the dynamics; anthropometric data and dynamics equations allow performing simulations to understand the behavior of the finger.

Motion control, motion sickness, and the postural dynamics of mobile devices.

Science.gov (United States)

Stoffregen, Thomas A; Chen, Yi-Chou; Koslucher, Frank C

2014-04-01

Drivers are less likely than passengers to experience motion sickness, an effect that is important for any theoretical account of motion sickness etiology. We asked whether different types of control would affect the incidence of motion sickness, and whether any such effects would be related to participants' control of their own bodies. Participants played a video game on a tablet computer. In the Touch condition, the device was stationary and participants controlled the game exclusively through fingertip inputs via the device's touch screen. In the Tilt condition, participants held the device in their hands and moved the device to control some game functions. Results revealed that the incidence of motion sickness was greater in the Touch condition than in the Tilt condition. During game play, movement of the head and torso differed as a function of the type of game control. Before the onset of subjective symptoms of motion sickness, movement of the head and torso differed between participants who later reported motion sickness and those that did not. We discuss implications of these results for theories of motion sickness etiology.

Efficiency of voluntary closing hand and hook prostheses

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Smit, G.; Plettenburg, D.H.

2010-01-01

The Delft Institute of Prosthetics and Orthotics has started a research program to develop an improved voluntary closing, body-powered hand prosthesis. Five commercially available voluntary closing terminal devices were mechanically tested: three hands [Hosmer APRL VC hand, Hosmer Soft VC Male hand,

Performance of hand-held whole-breast ultrasound based on BI-RADS in women with mammographically negative dense breast

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Youk, Ji Hyun; Kim, Eun-Kyung; Kim, Min Jung; Kwak, Jin Young; Son, Eun Ju

2011-01-01

To assess the performance of breast ultrasound based on BI-RADS final assessment categories in women with mammographically negative dense breast. Of 3,820 cases with mammographically negative dense breast and subsequent hand-held bilateral whole-breast ultrasound, a total of 1,507 cases in 1,046 women who had biopsy or at least 2-year follow-up ultrasound constituted the basis of this retrospective study. Cancer rate of each sonographic BI-RADS category was determined and medical audit was performed separately in screening-general, screening-treated, and diagnostic group. A total of 43 cases (2.9%) were confirmed as malignancy. Cancer rate among BI-RADS categories was significantly different (p < 0.0001). Among three groups, the cancer rate was significantly different (p < 0.0001) and the highest in diagnostic group (15.8%, 22 of 139). Abnormal interpretation rate, PPV of biopsy performed, cancer detection rate, and rate of early stage cancer, and the size of invasive cancer were significantly different among three groups and the highest in diagnostic group. Regarding cancer characteristics, the proportion of advanced cancer was the highest in diagnostic group. Breast ultrasound based on BI-RADS as an adjunctive to negative mammography can be useful for predicting malignancy in women with dense breast. (orig.)

Effects of a new mild shampoo for preventing hair loss in Asian by a simple hand-held phototrichogram technique.

Science.gov (United States)

Baek, J H; Lee, S Y; Yoo, M; Park, W-S; Lee, S J; Boo, Y C; Koh, J-S

2011-12-01

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of a commercially available shampoo in Korean subjects with alopecia using a simple hand-held phototrichogram technique. Forty-four subjects with alopecia were enrolled and forty subjects continued for 16 weeks. In the test group, total hair counts increased significantly at weeks 8 and 16, and the number of shedding hair significantly decreased at week 16. Terminal hair counts significantly increased at week 8. In the control group, hair thickness and the number of vellus hairs significantly decreased at week 16. The number of total hairs significantly increased in the test group than in the control group at weeks 8 and 16. The number of shedding hairs significantly decreased in the test group than in the control group at week 16. Visual assessment using clinical digital images showed that the number of total hairs appeared to increase although there was no statistical significance. In this study, it was found that the test shampoo could prevent hair loss. © 2011 DERMAPRO Co Ltd. ICS © 2011 Society of Cosmetic Scientists and the Société Française de Cosmétologie.

On the Feasibility of Interoperable Schemes in Hand Biometrics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Miguel A. Ferrer

2012-02-01

Full Text Available Personal recognition through hand-based biometrics has attracted the interest of many researchers in the last twenty years. A significant number of proposals based on different procedures and acquisition devices have been published in the literature. However, comparisons between devices and their interoperability have not been thoroughly studied. This paper tries to fill this gap by proposing procedures to improve the interoperability among different hand biometric schemes. The experiments were conducted on a database made up of 8,320 hand images acquired from six different hand biometric schemes, including a flat scanner, webcams at different wavelengths, high quality cameras, and contactless devices. Acquisitions on both sides of the hand were included. Our experiment includes four feature extraction methods which determine the best performance among the different scenarios for two of the most popular hand biometrics: hand shape and palm print. We propose smoothing techniques at the image and feature levels to reduce interdevice variability. Results suggest that comparative hand shape offers better performance in terms of interoperability than palm prints, but palm prints can be more effective when using similar sensors.

Equipment for measuring contamination of hands with radioactive material

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Erban, J.; Kleinbauer, K.; Husak, V.; Grigar, O.

1986-01-01

The claimed device consists of a scintillation detector mounted in a shielding case consisting of rings. The shielding case is provided with a cavity with an inlet opening lined with polyethylene foil. The cavity shape, shielding and replaceable foil guarantee minimizing the interfering effect of radiation sources in the vicinity and of contamination of the device. Gradually inserting the hand in the cavity or suitably placing the hand can locate contamination of the hand surface. The sensitivity of the device for 125 I and 99 Tc is 200-times higher than that of Geiger-Mueller counter instruments. (M.D.)

Myoelectric control of prosthetic hands: state-of-the-art review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Geethanjali P

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Purushothaman Geethanjali School of Electrical Engineering Department of Control and Automation VIT University, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India Abstract: Myoelectric signals (MES have been used in various applications, in particular, for identification of user intention to potentially control assistive devices for amputees, orthotic devices, and exoskeleton in order to augment capability of the user. MES are also used to estimate force and, hence, torque to actuate the assistive device. The application of MES is not limited to assistive devices, and they also find potential applications in teleoperation of robots, haptic devices, virtual reality, and so on. The myoelectric control-based prosthetic hand aids to restore activities of daily living of amputees in order to improve the self-esteem of the user. All myoelectric control-based prosthetic hands may not have similar operations and exhibit variation in sensing input, deciphering the signals, and actuating prosthetic hand. Researchers are focusing on improving the functionality of prosthetic hand in order to suit the user requirement with the different operating features. The myoelectric control differs in operation to accommodate various external factors. This article reviews the state of the art of myoelectric prosthetic hand, giving description of each control strategy. Keywords: EMG, assistive device, amputee, myoelectric control, electric powered, body ­powered, bioelectric signal control

The use of hand-held 35 mm color infrared imagery for estimates of suspended solids - A progress report. [in water pollution monitoring

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, W. F.; Whisler, F. D.; Robinette, H. R.; Finnie, D.; Cannon, T.

1975-01-01

A cost-effective aerial surveillance technique is proposed for detection and identification of suspended solids which would be operational for both governmental monitoring organizations and private individuals operating catfish farms. Sixteen catfish ponds were flown daily for seven days using two hand-held 35 mm cameras with both Kodachrome X and Ektachrome infrared film. Hue, value, and chroma designations were recorded for each pond on each date by three interpreters, and the accepted color was that recorded by at least two of the interpreters, or if there was a three hue range, the median was accepted. Relations between suspended solids and color designations were analyzed graphically, and chroma was discarded due to an apparent lack of correlation. The data obtained were then analyzed by multiple regression. Significant correlations were revealed between hue and value and total and inorganic suspended solids. If perfected, this technique could be developed to sufficent accuracy for large-scale reconnaissance surveys to monitor the quality of rivers and streams.

Development of a flexible and bendable vibrotactile actuator based on wave-shaped poly(vinyl chloride)/acetyl tributyl citrate gels for wearable electronic devices

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Won-Hyeong; Bae, Jin Woo; Shin, Eun-Jae; Kim, Sang-Youn

2016-11-01

The paradigm of consumer electronic devices is being shifted from rigid hand-held devices to flexible/wearable devices in search of benefits such as enhanced usability and portability, excellent wear characteristics, and more functions in less space. However, the fundamental incompatibility of flexible/wearable devices and a rigid actuator brought forth a new issue obstructing commercialization of flexible/wearable devices. In this paper, we propose a new wave-shaped eco-friendly PVC gel, and a new flexible and bendable vibrotactile actuator that could easily be applied to wearable electronic devices. We explain the vibration mechanism of the proposed vibrotactile actuator and investigate its influence on the content of plasticizer for the performance of the proposed actuator. An experiment for measuring vibrational amplitude was conducted over a wide frequency range. The experiment clearly showed that the proposed vibrotactile actuator could create a variety of haptic sensations in wearable devices.

Comparison of a digital and an optical analogue hand-held refractometer for the measurement of canine urine specific gravity.

Science.gov (United States)

Paris, J K; Bennett, A D; Dodkin, S J; Gunn-Moore, D A

2012-05-05

Urine specific gravity (USG) is used clinically as a measure of urine concentration, and is routinely assessed by refractometry. A comparison between optical analogue and digital refractometers for evaluation of canine urine has not been reported. The aim of this study was to compare a digital and an optical analogue hand-held refractometer for the measurement of canine USG, and to assess correlation with urine osmolality. Prospective study. Free-catch urine samples were collected from 285 hospitalised adult dogs, and paired USG readings were obtained with a digital and an optical analogue refractometer. In 50 dogs, urine osmolality was also measured using a freezing point depression osmometer. There was a small but statistically significant difference between the two refractometers (P<0.001), with the optical analogue refractometer reading higher than the digital refractometer (mean difference 0.0006, sd 0.0012). Paired refractometer measurements varied by <0.002 in 91.5 per cent of cases. The optical analogue and digital refractometer readings showed excellent correlation with osmolality (r=0.980 and r=0.977, respectively, P<0.001 in both cases). Despite statistical significance, the difference between the two refractometers is unlikely to be clinically significant. Both instruments provide an accurate assessment of USG in dogs.

Evaluation of an automated breast 3D-ultrasound system by comparing it with hand-held ultrasound (HHUS) and mammography.

Science.gov (United States)

Golatta, Michael; Baggs, Christina; Schweitzer-Martin, Mirjam; Domschke, Christoph; Schott, Sarah; Harcos, Aba; Scharf, Alexander; Junkermann, Hans; Rauch, Geraldine; Rom, Joachim; Sohn, Christof; Heil, Joerg

2015-04-01

Automated three-dimensional (3D) breast ultrasound (US) systems are meant to overcome the shortcomings of hand-held ultrasound (HHUS). The aim of this study is to analyze and compare clinical performance of an automated 3D-US system by comparing it with HHUS, mammography and the clinical gold standard (defined as the combination of HHUS, mammography and-if indicated-histology). Nine hundred and eighty three patients (=1,966 breasts) were enrolled in this monocentric, explorative and prospective cohort study. All examinations were analyzed blinded to the patients´ history and to the results of the routine imaging. The agreement of automated 3D-US with HHUS, mammography and the gold standard was assessed with kappa statistics. Sensitivity, specificity and positive and negative predictive value were calculated to assess the test performance. Blinded to the results of the gold standard the agreement between automated 3D-US and HHUS or mammography was fair, given by a Kappa coefficient of 0.31 (95% CI [0.26;0.36], p automated 3D-US the sensitivity improved to 84% (NPV = 99%, specificity = 85%). The results of this study let us suggest, that automated 3D-US might be a helpful new tool in breast imaging, especially in screening.

Feasibility study into self-administered training at home using an arm and hand device with motivational gaming environment in chronic stroke.

Science.gov (United States)

Nijenhuis, Sharon M; Prange, Gerdienke B; Amirabdollahian, Farshid; Sale, Patrizio; Infarinato, Francesco; Nasr, Nasrin; Mountain, Gail; Hermens, Hermie J; Stienen, Arno H A; Buurke, Jaap H; Rietman, Johan S

2015-10-09

Assistive and robotic training devices are increasingly used for rehabilitation of the hemiparetic arm after stroke, although applications for the wrist and hand are trailing behind. Furthermore, applying a training device in domestic settings may enable an increased training dose of functional arm and hand training. The objective of this study was to assess the feasibility and potential clinical changes associated with a technology-supported arm and hand training system at home for patients with chronic stroke. A dynamic wrist and hand orthosis was combined with a remotely monitored user interface with motivational gaming environment for self-administered training at home. Twenty-four chronic stroke patients with impaired arm/hand function were recruited to use the training system at home for six weeks. Evaluation of feasibility involved training duration, usability and motivation. Clinical outcomes on arm/hand function, activity and participation were assessed before and after six weeks of training and at two-month follow-up. Mean System Usability Scale score was 69 % (SD 17 %), mean Intrinsic Motivation Inventory score was 5.2 (SD 0.9) points, and mean training duration per week was 105 (SD 66) minutes. Median Fugl-Meyer score improved from 37 (IQR 30) pre-training to 41 (IQR 32) post-training and was sustained at two-month follow-up (40 (IQR 32)). The Stroke Impact Scale improved from 56.3 (SD 13.2) pre-training to 60.0 (SD 13.9) post-training, with a trend at follow-up (59.8 (SD 15.2)). No significant improvements were found on the Action Research Arm Test and Motor Activity Log. Remotely monitored post-stroke training at home applying gaming exercises while physically supporting the wrist and hand showed to be feasible: participants were able and motivated to use the training system independently at home. Usability shows potential, although several usability issues need further attention. Upper extremity function and quality of life improved after training

Unconstrained and contactless hand geometry biometrics.

Science.gov (United States)

de-Santos-Sierra, Alberto; Sánchez-Ávila, Carmen; Del Pozo, Gonzalo Bailador; Guerra-Casanova, Javier

2011-01-01

This paper presents a hand biometric system for contact-less, platform-free scenarios, proposing innovative methods in feature extraction, template creation and template matching. The evaluation of the proposed method considers both the use of three contact-less publicly available hand databases, and the comparison of the performance to two competitive pattern recognition techniques existing in literature: namely support vector machines (SVM) and k-nearest neighbour (k-NN). Results highlight the fact that the proposed method outcomes existing approaches in literature in terms of computational cost, accuracy in human identification, number of extracted features and number of samples for template creation. The proposed method is a suitable solution for human identification in contact-less scenarios based on hand biometrics, providing a feasible solution to devices with limited hardware requirements like mobile devices.

Unconstrained and Contactless Hand Geometry Biometrics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carmen Sánchez-Ávila

2011-10-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a hand biometric system for contact-less, platform-free scenarios, proposing innovative methods in feature extraction, template creation and template matching. The evaluation of the proposed method considers both the use of three contact-less publicly available hand databases, and the comparison of the performance to two competitive pattern recognition techniques existing in literature: namely Support Vector Machines (SVM and k-Nearest Neighbour (k-NN. Results highlight the fact that the proposed method outcomes existing approaches in literature in terms of computational cost, accuracy in human identification, number of extracted features and number of samples for template creation. The proposed method is a suitable solution for human identification in contact-less scenarios based on hand biometrics, providing a feasible solution to devices with limited hardware requirements like mobile devices.

A simple hand-held magnet array for efficient and reproducible SABRE hyperpolarisation using manual sample shaking.

Science.gov (United States)

Richardson, Peter M; Jackson, Scott; Parrott, Andrew J; Nordon, Alison; Duckett, Simon B; Halse, Meghan E

2018-07-01

Signal amplification by reversible exchange (SABRE) is a hyperpolarisation technique that catalytically transfers nuclear polarisation from parahydrogen, the singlet nuclear isomer of H 2 , to a substrate in solution. The SABRE exchange reaction is carried out in a polarisation transfer field (PTF) of tens of gauss before transfer to a stronger magnetic field for nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) detection. In the simplest implementation, polarisation transfer is achieved by shaking the sample in the stray field of a superconducting NMR magnet. Although convenient, this method suffers from limited reproducibility and cannot be used with NMR spectrometers that do not have appreciable stray fields, such as benchtop instruments. Here, we use a simple hand-held permanent magnet array to provide the necessary PTF during sample shaking. We find that the use of this array provides a 25% increase in SABRE enhancement over the stray field approach, while also providing improved reproducibility. Arrays with a range of PTFs were tested, and the PTF-dependent SABRE enhancements were found to be in excellent agreement with comparable experiments carried out using an automated flow system where an electromagnet is used to generate the PTF. We anticipate that this approach will improve the efficiency and reproducibility of SABRE experiments carried out using manual shaking and will be particularly useful for benchtop NMR, where a suitable stray field is not readily accessible. The ability to construct arrays with a range of PTFs will also enable the rapid optimisation of SABRE enhancement as function of PTF for new substrate and catalyst systems. © 2017 The Authors Magnetic Resonance in Chemistry Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Visuo-Haptic Mixed Reality with Unobstructed Tool-Hand Integration.

Science.gov (United States)

Cosco, Francesco; Garre, Carlos; Bruno, Fabio; Muzzupappa, Maurizio; Otaduy, Miguel A

2013-01-01

Visuo-haptic mixed reality consists of adding to a real scene the ability to see and touch virtual objects. It requires the use of see-through display technology for visually mixing real and virtual objects, and haptic devices for adding haptic interaction with the virtual objects. Unfortunately, the use of commodity haptic devices poses obstruction and misalignment issues that complicate the correct integration of a virtual tool and the user's real hand in the mixed reality scene. In this work, we propose a novel mixed reality paradigm where it is possible to touch and see virtual objects in combination with a real scene, using commodity haptic devices, and with a visually consistent integration of the user's hand and the virtual tool. We discuss the visual obstruction and misalignment issues introduced by commodity haptic devices, and then propose a solution that relies on four simple technical steps: color-based segmentation of the hand, tracking-based segmentation of the haptic device, background repainting using image-based models, and misalignment-free compositing of the user's hand. We have developed a successful proof-of-concept implementation, where a user can touch virtual objects and interact with them in the context of a real scene, and we have evaluated the impact on user performance of obstruction and misalignment correction.

Design of a 3-DOF Parallel Hand-Controller

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chengcheng Zhu

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Hand-controllers, as human-machine-interface (HMI devices, can transfer the position information of the operator’s hands into the virtual environment to control the target objects or a real robot directly. At the same time, the haptic information from the virtual environment or the sensors on the real robot can be displayed to the operator. It helps human perceive haptic information more truly with feedback force. A parallel hand-controller is designed in this paper. It is simplified from the traditional delta haptic device. The swing arms in conventional delta devices are replaced with the slider rail modules. The base consists of two hexagons and several links. For the use of the linear sliding modules instead of swing arms, the arc movement is replaced by linear movement. So that, the calculating amount of the position positive solution and the force inverse solution is reduced for the simplification of the motion. The kinematics, static mechanics, and dynamic mechanics are analyzed in this paper. What is more, two demonstration applications are developed to verify the performance of the designed hand-controller.

Development and pilot testing of HEXORR: Hand EXOskeleton Rehabilitation Robot

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Godfrey Sasha B

2010-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Following acute therapeutic interventions, the majority of stroke survivors are left with a poorly functioning hemiparetic hand. Rehabilitation robotics has shown promise in providing patients with intensive therapy leading to functional gains. Because of the hand's crucial role in performing activities of daily living, attention to hand therapy has recently increased. Methods This paper introduces a newly developed Hand Exoskeleton Rehabilitation Robot (HEXORR. This device has been designed to provide full range of motion (ROM for all of the hand's digits. The thumb actuator allows for variable thumb plane of motion to incorporate different degrees of extension/flexion and abduction/adduction. Compensation algorithms have been developed to improve the exoskeleton's backdrivability by counteracting gravity, stiction and kinetic friction. We have also designed a force assistance mode that provides extension assistance based on each individual's needs. A pilot study was conducted on 9 unimpaired and 5 chronic stroke subjects to investigate the device's ability to allow physiologically accurate hand movements throughout the full ROM. The study also tested the efficacy of the force assistance mode with the goal of increasing stroke subjects' active ROM while still requiring active extension torque on the part of the subject. Results For 12 of the hand digits'15 joints in neurologically normal subjects, there were no significant ROM differences (P > 0.05 between active movements performed inside and outside of HEXORR. Interjoint coordination was examined in the 1st and 3rd digits, and no differences were found between inside and outside of the device (P > 0.05. Stroke subjects were capable of performing free hand movements inside of the exoskeleton and the force assistance mode was successful in increasing active ROM by 43 ± 5% (P Conclusions Our pilot study shows that this device is capable of moving the hand's digits through

Development and pilot testing of HEXORR: Hand EXOskeleton Rehabilitation Robot

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

Background Following acute therapeutic interventions, the majority of stroke survivors are left with a poorly functioning hemiparetic hand. Rehabilitation robotics has shown promise in providing patients with intensive therapy leading to functional gains. Because of the hand's crucial role in performing activities of daily living, attention to hand therapy has recently increased. Methods This paper introduces a newly developed Hand Exoskeleton Rehabilitation Robot (HEXORR). This device has been designed to provide full range of motion (ROM) for all of the hand's digits. The thumb actuator allows for variable thumb plane of motion to incorporate different degrees of extension/flexion and abduction/adduction. Compensation algorithms have been developed to improve the exoskeleton's backdrivability by counteracting gravity, stiction and kinetic friction. We have also designed a force assistance mode that provides extension assistance based on each individual's needs. A pilot study was conducted on 9 unimpaired and 5 chronic stroke subjects to investigate the device's ability to allow physiologically accurate hand movements throughout the full ROM. The study also tested the efficacy of the force assistance mode with the goal of increasing stroke subjects' active ROM while still requiring active extension torque on the part of the subject. Results For 12 of the hand digits'15 joints in neurologically normal subjects, there were no significant ROM differences (P > 0.05) between active movements performed inside and outside of HEXORR. Interjoint coordination was examined in the 1st and 3rd digits, and no differences were found between inside and outside of the device (P > 0.05). Stroke subjects were capable of performing free hand movements inside of the exoskeleton and the force assistance mode was successful in increasing active ROM by 43 ± 5% (P < 0.001) and 24 ± 6% (P = 0.041) for the fingers and thumb, respectively. Conclusions Our pilot study shows that this device

Modeling the problem of many hands in organisations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lima, de T.; Royakkers, L.M.M.; Dignum, F.P.M.; Coelho, H.; Studer, R.; Woodridge, M.J.

2010-01-01

In this paper we provide a formalism to reason about the problem of many hands in organisations. This is a problem that arises whenever the organisation is responsible for some undesirable outcome but none of its members can be held responsible for the outcome. The formalism proposed here is a logic

Reliability of a novel thermal imaging system for temperature assessment of healthy feet.

Science.gov (United States)

Petrova, N L; Whittam, A; MacDonald, A; Ainarkar, S; Donaldson, A N; Bevans, J; Allen, J; Plassmann, P; Kluwe, B; Ring, F; Rogers, L; Simpson, R; Machin, G; Edmonds, M E

2018-01-01

Thermal imaging is a useful modality for identifying preulcerative lesions ("hot spots") in diabetic foot patients. Despite its recognised potential, at present, there is no readily available instrument for routine podiatric assessment of patients at risk. To address this need, a novel thermal imaging system was recently developed. This paper reports the reliability of this device for temperature assessment of healthy feet. Plantar skin foot temperatures were measured with the novel thermal imaging device (Diabetic Foot Ulcer Prevention System (DFUPS), constructed by Photometrix Imaging Ltd) and also with a hand-held infrared spot thermometer (Thermofocus® 01500A3, Tecnimed, Italy) after 20 min of barefoot resting with legs supported and extended in 105 subjects (52 males and 53 females; age range 18 to 69 years) as part of a multicentre clinical trial. The temperature differences between the right and left foot at five regions of interest (ROIs), including 1st and 4th toes, 1st, 3rd and 5th metatarsal heads were calculated. The intra-instrument agreement (three repeated measures) and the inter-instrument agreement (hand-held thermometer and thermal imaging device) were quantified using intra-class correlation coefficients (ICCs) and the 95% confidence intervals (CI). Both devices showed almost perfect agreement in replication by instrument. The intra-instrument ICCs for the thermal imaging device at all five ROIs ranged from 0.95 to 0.97 and the intra-instrument ICCs for the hand-held-thermometer ranged from 0.94 to 0.97. There was substantial to perfect inter-instrument agreement between the hand-held thermometer and the thermal imaging device and the ICCs at all five ROIs ranged between 0.94 and 0.97. This study reports the performance of a novel thermal imaging device in the assessment of foot temperatures in healthy volunteers in comparison with a hand-held infrared thermometer. The newly developed thermal imaging device showed very good agreement in

Sensing human hand motions for controlling dexterous robots

Science.gov (United States)

Marcus, Beth A.; Churchill, Philip J.; Little, Arthur D.

1988-01-01

The Dexterous Hand Master (DHM) system is designed to control dexterous robot hands such as the UTAH/MIT and Stanford/JPL hands. It is the first commercially available device which makes it possible to accurately and confortably track the complex motion of the human finger joints. The DHM is adaptable to a wide variety of human hand sizes and shapes, throughout their full range of motion.

A demonstration of the transition from ready-to-hand to unready-to-hand.

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Dobromir G Dotov

Full Text Available The ideas of continental philosopher Martin Heidegger have been influential in cognitive science and artificial intelligence, despite the fact that there has been no effort to analyze these ideas empirically. The experiments reported here are designed to lend empirical support to Heidegger's phenomenology and more specifically his description of the transition between ready-to-hand and unready-to-hand modes in interactions with tools. In experiment 1, we found that a smoothly coping cognitive system exhibits type positively correlated noise and that its correlated character is reduced when the system is perturbed. This indicates that the participant and tool constitute a self-assembled, extended device during smooth coping and this device is disrupted by the perturbation. In experiment 2, we examine the re-organization of awareness that occurs when a smoothly coping, self-assembled, extended cognitive system is perturbed. We found that the disruption is accompanied by a change in attention which interferes with participants' performance on a simultaneous cognitive task. Together these experiments show that a smoothly coping participant-tool system can be temporarily disrupted and that this disruption causes a change in the participant's awareness. Since these two events follow as predictions from Heidegger's work, our study offers evidence for the hypothesized transition from readiness-to-hand to unreadiness-to-hand.

Robotic approaches for rehabilitation of hand function after stroke.

Science.gov (United States)

Lum, Peter S; Godfrey, Sasha B; Brokaw, Elizabeth B; Holley, Rahsaan J; Nichols, Diane

2012-11-01

The goal of this review was to discuss the impairments in hand function after stroke and present previous work on robot-assisted approaches to movement neurorehabilitation. Robotic devices offer a unique training environment that may enhance outcomes beyond what is possible with conventional means. Robots apply forces to the hand, allowing completion of movements while preventing inappropriate movement patterns. Evidence from the literature is emerging that certain characteristics of the human-robot interaction are preferable. In light of this evidence, the robotic hand devices that have undergone clinical testing are reviewed, highlighting the authors' work in this area. Finally, suggestions for future work are offered. The ability to deliver therapy doses far higher than what has been previously tested is a potentially key advantage of robotic devices that needs further exploration. In particular, more efforts are needed to develop highly motivating home-based devices, which can increase access to high doses of assisted movement therapy.

The design of hands and feet contamination monitor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Song Jiangxue; Shen Yang; Deng Changming; Zhang Jia; Hou Lei; Meng Dan

2011-01-01

In order to protect the hands and feet of personnel engaged in nuclear, draw on advanced hands and feet contamination monitor, we design a new radiation protection instrumentation. It describes the composition of the hands and feet contamination monitor, and software program design. It describes the hardware monitor software, firmware and computer programming techniques. If device found your hand and foot surface is contamination, it will prompt you to decontamination, to protect your hands and feet of safety. (authors)

New frontiers in the rubber hand experiment: when a robotic hand becomes one's own.

Science.gov (United States)

Caspar, Emilie A; De Beir, Albert; Magalhaes De Saldanha Da Gama, Pedro A; Yernaux, Florence; Cleeremans, Axel; Vanderborght, Bram

2015-09-01

The rubber hand illusion is an experimental paradigm in which participants consider a fake hand to be part of their body. This paradigm has been used in many domains of psychology (i.e., research on pain, body ownership, agency) and is of clinical importance. The classic rubber hand paradigm nevertheless suffers from limitations, such as the absence of active motion or the reliance on approximate measurements, which makes strict experimental conditions difficult to obtain. Here, we report on the development of a novel technology-a robotic, user- and computer-controllable hand-that addresses many of the limitations associated with the classic rubber hand paradigm. Because participants can actively control the robotic hand, the device affords higher realism and authenticity. Our robotic hand has a comparatively low cost and opens up novel and innovative methods. In order to validate the robotic hand, we have carried out three experiments. The first two studies were based on previous research using the rubber hand, while the third was specific to the robotic hand. We measured both sense of agency and ownership. Overall, results show that participants experienced a "robotic hand illusion" in the baseline conditions. Furthermore, we also replicated previous results about agency and ownership.

Bimanual proprioception: are two hands better than one?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wong, J.D.; Wilson, E.T.; Kistemaker, D.A.; Gribble, P.L.

2014-01-01

Information about the position of an object that is held in both hands, such as a golf club or a tennis racquet, is transmitted to the human central nervous system from peripheral sensors in both left and right arms. How does the brain combine these two sources of information? Using a robot to move

Talking on a Wireless Cellular Device While Driving: Improving the Validity of Crash Odds Ratio Estimates in the SHRP 2 Naturalistic Driving Study

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Richard A. Young

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Dingus and colleagues (Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 2016, 113, 2636–2641 reported a crash odds ratio (OR estimate of 2.2 with a 95% confidence interval (CI from 1.6 to 3.1 for hand-held cell phone conversation (hereafter, “Talk” in the SHRP 2 naturalistic driving database. This estimate is substantially higher than the effect sizes near one in prior real-world and naturalistic driving studies of conversation on wireless cellular devices (whether hand-held, hands-free portable, or hands-free integrated. Two upward biases were discovered in the Dingus study. First, it selected many Talk-exposed drivers who simultaneously performed additional secondary tasks besides Talk but selected Talk-unexposed drivers with no secondary tasks. This “selection bias” was removed by: (1 filtering out records with additional tasks from the Talk-exposed group; or (2 adding records with other tasks to the Talk-unexposed group. Second, it included records with driver behavior errors, a confounding bias that was also removed by filtering out such records. After removing both biases, the Talk OR point estimates declined to below 1, now consistent with prior studies. Pooling the adjusted SHRP 2 Talk OR estimates with prior study effect size estimates to improve precision, the population effect size for wireless cellular conversation while driving is estimated as 0.72 (CI 0.60–0.88.

Feasibility and efficacy of a robotic device for hand rehabilitation in hemiplegic stroke patients: a randomized pilot controlled study.

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Vanoglio, Fabio; Bernocchi, Palmira; Mulè, Chiara; Garofali, Francesca; Mora, Chiara; Taveggia, Giovanni; Scalvini, Simonetta; Luisa, Alberto

2017-03-01

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the feasibility and efficacy of robot-assisted hand rehabilitation in improving arm function abilities in sub-acute hemiplegic patients. Randomized controlled pilot study. Inpatient rehabilitation centers. Thirty hemiplegic stroke patients (Ashworth spasticity index hand training with Gloreha, a hand rehabilitation glove that provides computer-controlled, repetitive, passive mobilization of the fingers, with multisensory feedback. Patients in the CG received the same amount of time in terms of conventional hand rehabilitation. Hand motor function (Motricity Index, MI), fine manual dexterity (Nine Hole Peg Test, NHPT) and strength (Grip and Pinch test) were measured at baseline and after rehabilitation, and the differences, (Δ) mean(standard deviation), compared between groups. Results Twenty-seven patients concluded the program: 14 in the TG and 13 in the CG. None of the patients refused the device and only one adverse event of rheumatoid arthritis reactivation was reported. Baseline data did not differ significantly between the two groups. In TG, ΔMI 23(16.4), ΔNHPT 0.16(0.16), ΔGRIP 0.27(0.23) and ΔPINCH 0.07(0.07) were significantly greater than in CG, ΔMI 5.2(9.2), ΔNHPT 0.02(0.07), ΔGRIP 0.03(0.06) and ΔPINCH 0.02(0.03)] ( p=0.002, p=0.009, p=0.003 and p=0.038, respectively). Gloreha Professional is feasible and effective in recovering fine manual dexterity and strength and reducing arm disability in sub-acute hemiplegic patients.

A bio-inspired design of a hand robotic exoskeleton for rehabilitation

Science.gov (United States)

Ong, Aira Patrice R.; Bugtai, Nilo T.

2018-02-01

This paper presents the methodology for the design of a five-degree of freedom wearable robotic exoskeleton for hand rehabilitation. The design is inspired by the biological structure and mechanism of the human hand. One of the distinct features of the device is the cable-driven actuation, which provides the flexion and extension motion. A prototype of the orthotic device has been developed to prove the model of the system and has been tested in a 3D printed mechanical hand. The result showed that the proposed device was consistent with the requirements of bionics and was able to demonstrate the flexion and extension of the system.

Personal authentication through dorsal hand vein patterns

Science.gov (United States)

Hsu, Chih-Bin; Hao, Shu-Sheng; Lee, Jen-Chun

2011-08-01

Biometric identification is an emerging technology that can solve security problems in our networked society. A reliable and robust personal verification approach using dorsal hand vein patterns is proposed in this paper. The characteristic of the approach needs less computational and memory requirements and has a higher recognition accuracy. In our work, the near-infrared charge-coupled device (CCD) camera is adopted as an input device for capturing dorsal hand vein images, it has the advantages of the low-cost and noncontact imaging. In the proposed approach, two finger-peaks are automatically selected as the datum points to define the region of interest (ROI) in the dorsal hand vein images. The modified two-directional two-dimensional principal component analysis, which performs an alternate two-dimensional PCA (2DPCA) in the column direction of images in the 2DPCA subspace, is proposed to exploit the correlation of vein features inside the ROI between images. The major advantage of the proposed method is that it requires fewer coefficients for efficient dorsal hand vein image representation and recognition. The experimental results on our large dorsal hand vein database show that the presented schema achieves promising performance (false reject rate: 0.97% and false acceptance rate: 0.05%) and is feasible for dorsal hand vein recognition.

Force-directed design of a voluntary closing hand prosthesis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

De Visser, H.; Herder, J.L.

2000-01-01

This paper presents the design of a body-powered voluntary closing prosthetic hand. It is argued that the movement of the fingers before establishing a grip is much less relevant for good control of the object held than the distribution of forces once the object has been contacted. Based on this

Minimizing energy consumption for wireless computers in Moby Dick

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Havinga, Paul J.M.; Smit, Gerardus Johannes Maria

1997-01-01

The Moby Dick project is a joint European project to develop and define the architecture of a new generation of mobile hand-held computers, called Pocket Companions. The Pocket Companion is a hand-held device that is resource-poor, i.e. small amount of memory, limited battery life, low processing

SOPHIA: Soft Orthotic Physiotherapy Hand Interactive Aid

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Alistair C. McConnell

2017-06-01

Full Text Available This work describes the design, fabrication, and initial testing of a Soft Orthotic Physiotherapy Hand Interactive Aid (SOPHIA for stroke rehabilitation. SOPHIA consists of (1 a soft robotic exoskeleton, (2 a microcontroller-based control system driven by a brain–machine interface (BMI, and (3 a sensorized glove for passive rehabilitation. In contrast to other rehabilitation devices, SOPHIA is the first modular prototype of a rehabilitation system that is capable of three tasks: aiding extension based assistive rehabilitation, monitoring patient exercises, and guiding passive rehabilitation. Our results show that this prototype of the device is capable of helping healthy subjects to open their hand. Finger extension is triggered by a command from the BMI, while using a variety of sensors to ensure a safe motion. All data gathered from the device will be used to guide further improvements to the prototype, aiming at developing specifications for the next generation device, which could be used in future clinical trials.

Eccentric and isometric shoulder rotator cuff strength testing using a hand-held dynamometer: reference values for overhead athletes.

Science.gov (United States)

Cools, Ann M J; Vanderstukken, Fran; Vereecken, Frédéric; Duprez, Mattias; Heyman, Karel; Goethals, Nick; Johansson, Fredrik

2016-12-01

In order to provide science-based guidelines for injury prevention or return to play, regular measurement of isometric and eccentric internal (IR) and external (ER) rotator strength is warranted in overhead athletes. However, up to date, no normative database exists regarding these values, when measured with a hand-held dynamometer. Therefore, the purpose of the study was to provide a normative database on isometric and eccentric rotator cuff (RC) strength values in a sample of overhead athletes, and to discuss gender, age and sports differences. A HHD was used to measure RC strength in 201 overhead athletes between 18 and 50 years old from three different sports disciplines: tennis, volleyball and handball. Isometric as well as eccentric strength was measured in different shoulder positions. Outcome variables of interest were isometric ER and IR strength, eccentric ER strength, and intermuscular strength ratios ER/IR. Our results show significant side, gender and sports discipline differences in the isometric and eccentric RC strength. However, when normalized to body weight, gender differences often are absent. In general, strength differences are in favour of the dominant side, the male athletes and handball. Intermuscular ER/IR ratios showed gender, sports, and side differences. This normative database is necessary to help the clinician in the evaluation of RC strength in healthy and injured overhead athletes. In view of the preventive screening and return-to-play decisions in overhead athletes, normalization to body weight and calculating intermuscular ratios are key points in this evaluation. Diagnostic study, Level III.

Design of a robotic device for assessment and rehabilitation of hand sensory function.

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Lambercy, Olivier; Robles, Alejandro Juárez; Kim, Yeongmi; Gassert, Roger

2011-01-01

This paper presents the design and implementation of the Robotic Sensory Trainer, a robotic interface for assessment and therapy of hand sensory function. The device can provide three types of well controlled stimuli: (i) angular displacement at the metacarpophalangeal (MCP) joint using a remote-center-of-motion double-parallelogram structure, (ii) vibration stimuli at the fingertip, proximal phalange and palm, and (iii) pressure at the fingertip, while recording position, interaction force and feedback from the user over a touch screen. These stimuli offer a novel platform to investigate sensory perception in healthy subjects and patients with sensory impairments, with the potential to assess deficits and actively train detection of specific sensory cues in a standardized manner. A preliminary study with eight healthy subjects demonstrates the feasibility of using the Robotic Sensory Trainer to assess the sensory perception threshold in MCP angular position. An average just noticeable difference (JND) in the MCP joint angle of 2.46° (14.47%) was found, which is in agreement with previous perception studies. © 2011 IEEE

HairMax LaserComb laser phototherapy device in the treatment of male androgenetic alopecia: A randomized, double-blind, sham device-controlled, multicentre trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Leavitt, Matt; Charles, Glenn; Heyman, Eugene; Michaels, David

2009-01-01

The use of low levels of visible or near infrared light for reducing pain, inflammation and oedema, promoting healing of wounds, deeper tissue and nerves, and preventing tissue damage has been known for almost 40 years since the invention of lasers. The HairMax LaserComb is a hand-held Class 3R lower level laser therapy device that contains a single laser module that emulates 9 beams at a wavelength of 655 nm (+/-5%). The device uses a technique of parting the user's hair by combs that are attached to the device. This improves delivery of distributed laser light to the scalp. The combs are designed so that each of the teeth on the combs aligns with a laser beam. By aligning the teeth with the laser beams, the hair can be parted and the laser energy delivered to the scalp of the user without obstruction by the individual hairs on the scalp. The primary aim of the study was to assess the safety and effectiveness of the HairMax LaserComb laser phototherapy device in the promotion of hair growth and in the cessation of hair loss in males diagnosed with androgenetic alopecia (AGA). This double-blind, sham device-controlled, multicentre, 26-week trial randomized male patients with Norwood-Hamilton classes IIa-V AGA to treatment with the HairMax LaserComb or the sham device (2 : 1). The sham device used in the study was identical to the active device except that the laser light was replaced by a non-active incandescent light source. Of the 110 patients who completed the study, subjects in the HairMax LaserComb treatment group exhibited a significantly greater increase in mean terminal hair density than subjects in the sham device group (p laser phototherapy device for the treatment of AGA in males.

Applying a soft-robotic glove as assistive device and training tool with games to support hand function after stroke: Preliminary results on feasibility and potential clinical impact.

Science.gov (United States)

Prange-Lasonder, Gerdienke B; Radder, Bob; Kottink, Anke I R; Melendez-Calderon, Alejandro; Buurke, Jaap H; Rietman, Johan S

2017-07-01

Recent technological developments regarding wearable soft-robotic devices extend beyond the current application of rehabilitation robotics and enable unobtrusive support of the arms and hands during daily activities. In this light, the HandinMind (HiM) system was developed, comprising a soft-robotic, grip supporting glove with an added computer gaming environment. The present study aims to gain first insight into the feasibility of clinical application of the HiM system and its potential impact. In order to do so, both the direct influence of the HiM system on hand function as assistive device and its therapeutic potential, of either assistive or therapeutic use, were explored. A pilot randomized clinical trial was combined with a cross-sectional measurement (comparing performance with and without glove) at baseline in 5 chronic stroke patients, to investigate both the direct assistive and potential therapeutic effects of the HiM system. Extended use of the soft-robotic glove as assistive device at home or with dedicated gaming exercises in a clinical setting was applicable and feasible. A positive assistive effect of the soft-robotic glove was proposed for pinch strength and functional task performance 'lifting full cans' in most of the five participants. A potential therapeutic impact was suggested with predominantly improved hand strength in both participants with assistive use, and faster functional task performance in both participants with therapeutic application.

Evaluating the transmitted vibration to operator′s hands hand and effect of protective gloves in real condition, based on International Standard Organization 5349 standard

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Farhad Forouharmajd

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Aims: The objective of this research was an evaluation of hand-held tools vibration acceleration such as circular saw and drill transmitted to operator′s and also to determine the role of glove in vibration reduction of those tools. Materials and Methods: In this study, Bruel and Kjaer Vibration meter with a model of 2231 and its analyzer, 2522, along three types of gloves have been used. Accelerometer transducer installed according to International Standard Organization (ISO 5349:1-2 standards in the case of the operator handles the hand-held tool. In next step, the transducer was placed inside the glove. Results: The results show the most accelerated vibration in axis Y for circular saw while working on Plexiglas. All of the used gloves show a reduction of vibration transmission from tools to hands. Glove of C grouped had a reduction of vibration less than two other groups. Conclusion: Based on ISO 5349-1, 10% of workers who are working with circular saw and drill without using glove will be affiliated to white finger after about 7-12 years. As a whole, the results showed that the anti-vibration gloves should be tested in real conditions before using them.

Field studies on health effects from the application of two organophosphorus insecticide formulations by hand-held ULV to cotton.

Science.gov (United States)

Kummer, R; van Sittert, N J

1986-10-01

Two field studies to assess the health implications for farmers applying two different formulations containing organophosphorus (OP) pesticides to cotton by hand-held ULV are described. The first study, carried out in the Ivory Coast, involved the application of an endrin/DDT/methylparathion (MEP) formulation in an aromatic hydrocarbon solvent. The second study took place in Indonesia with a 20% monocrotophos formulation in a mixture of a glycol and a glycol ether. Both studies were carried out under actual field conditions. The purpose of the studies was to get a good assessment of the health hazards of the particular formulation, used under the specific circumstances and agronomic requirements of the area of application and taking into account all local, climatic and cultural conditions that could be of possible influence. The results showed that in both studies skin exposures took place during application and especially during handling, filling and cleaning, and that inhalation of spray mist was negligible. Absorption was confirmed by the presence in urine of metabolites of endrin and methylparathion in the Ivory Coast study, and of dimethyl phosphate in the Indonesia study. No clinical signs or symptoms of intoxication were discovered in either study, nor were inhibitions of cholinesterase (ChE) activity of health significance established under the conditions of the studies. In addition, various practical aspects such as choice of apparatus, of formulation, the application procedures etc. are discussed.

Development of a prototype over-actuated biomimetic prosthetic hand.

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Matthew R Williams

Full Text Available The loss of a hand can greatly affect quality of life. A prosthetic device that can mimic normal hand function is very important to physical and mental recuperation after hand amputation, but the currently available prosthetics do not fully meet the needs of the amputee community. Most prosthetic hands are not dexterous enough to grasp a variety of shaped objects, and those that are tend to be heavy, leading to discomfort while wearing the device. In order to attempt to better simulate human hand function, a dexterous hand was developed that uses an over-actuated mechanism to form grasp shape using intrinsic joint mounted motors in addition to a finger tendon to produce large flexion force for a tight grip. This novel actuation method allows the hand to use small actuators for grip shape formation, and the tendon to produce high grip strength. The hand was capable of producing fingertip flexion force suitable for most activities of daily living. In addition, it was able to produce a range of grasp shapes with natural, independent finger motion, and appearance similar to that of a human hand. The hand also had a mass distribution more similar to a natural forearm and hand compared to contemporary prosthetics due to the more proximal location of the heavier components of the system. This paper describes the design of the hand and controller, as well as the test results.

[Hand hygiene technique assessment using electronic equipment in 26 Hungarian healthcare institutions].

Science.gov (United States)

Lehotsky, Ákos; Morvai, Júlia; Szilágyi, László; Bánsághi, Száva; Benkó, Alíz; Haidegger, Tamás

2017-07-01

Hand hygiene is probably the most effective tool of nosocomial infection prevention, however, proper feedback and control is needed to develop the individual hand hygiene practice. Assessing the efficiency of modern education tools, and digital demonstration and verification equipment during their wide-range deployment. 1269 healthcare workers took part in a training organized by our team. The training included the assessment of the participants' hand hygiene technique to identify the most often missed areas. The hand hygiene technique was examined by a digital device. 33% of the participants disinfected their hands incorrectly. The most often missed sites are the fingertips (33% on the left hand, 37% on the right hand) and the thumbs (42% on the left hand, 32% on the right hand). The feedback has a fundamental role in the development of the hand hygiene technique. With the usage of electronic devices feedback can be provided efficiently and simply. Orv Hetil. 2017; 158(29): 1143-1148.

Effects of Age and Gender on Hand Motion Tasks

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Wing Lok Au

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Objective. Wearable and wireless motion sensor devices have facilitated the automated computation of speed, amplitude, and rhythm of hand motion tasks. The aim of this study is to determine if there are any biological influences on these kinematic parameters. Methods. 80 healthy subjects performed hand motion tasks twice for each hand, with movements measured using a wireless motion sensor device (Kinesia, Cleveland Medical Devices Inc., Cleveland, OH. Multivariate analyses were performed with age, gender, and height added into the model. Results. Older subjects performed poorer in finger tapping (FT speed (r=0.593, p<0.001, hand-grasp (HG speed (r=0.517, p<0.001, and pronation-supination (PS speed (r=0.485, p<0.001. Men performed better in FT rhythm p<0.02, HG speed p<0.02, HG amplitude p<0.02, and HG rhythm p<0.05. Taller subjects performed better in the speed and amplitude components of FT p<0.02 and HG tasks p<0.02. After multivariate analyses, only age and gender emerged as significant independent factors influencing the speed but not the amplitude and rhythm components of hand motion tasks. Gender exerted an independent influence only on HG speed, with better performance in men p<0.05. Conclusions. Age, gender, and height are not independent factors influencing the amplitude and rhythm components of hand motion tasks. The speed component is affected by age and gender differences.

Robotic Hand with Flexible Fingers for Grasping Cylindrical Objects

OpenAIRE

柴田, 瑞穂

2015-01-01

In this manuscript, a robotic hand for grasping a cylindrical object is proposed. This robotic hand has flexible fingers that can hold a cylindrical object during moving. We introduce a grasping strategy for a cylindrical object in terms of state transition graph. In this strategy the robotic hand picks up the cylindrical object utilizing a suction device before the hand grasp the object. We also design the flexible fingers; then, we investigate the validity of this robotic hand via several e...

Quantum levitation by left-handed metamaterials

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Leonhardt, Ulf; Philbin, Thomas G [School of Physics and Astronomy, University of St Andrews, North Haugh, St Andrews KY16 9SS (United Kingdom)

2007-08-15

Left-handed metamaterials make perfect lenses that image classical electromagnetic fields with significantly higher resolution than the diffraction limit. Here, we consider the quantum physics of such devices. We show that the Casimir force of two conducting plates may turn from attraction to repulsion if a perfect lens is sandwiched between them. For optical left-handed metamaterials, this repulsive force of the quantum vacuum may levitate ultra-thin mirrors.

Quantum levitation by left-handed metamaterials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Leonhardt, Ulf; Philbin, Thomas G

2007-01-01

Left-handed metamaterials make perfect lenses that image classical electromagnetic fields with significantly higher resolution than the diffraction limit. Here, we consider the quantum physics of such devices. We show that the Casimir force of two conducting plates may turn from attraction to repulsion if a perfect lens is sandwiched between them. For optical left-handed metamaterials, this repulsive force of the quantum vacuum may levitate ultra-thin mirrors

Right-handed fossil humans.

Science.gov (United States)

Lozano, Marina; Estalrrich, Almudena; Bondioli, Luca; Fiore, Ivana; Bermúdez de Castro, José-Maria; Arsuaga, Juan Luis; Carbonell, Eudald; Rosas, Antonio; Frayer, David W

2017-11-01

Fossil hominids often processed material held between their upper and lower teeth. Pulling with one hand and cutting with the other, they occasionally left impact cut marks on the lip (labial) surface of their incisors and canines. From these actions, it possible to determine the dominant hand used. The frequency of these oblique striations in an array of fossil hominins documents the typically modern pattern of 9 right- to 1 left-hander. This ratio among living Homo sapiens differs from that among chimpanzees and bonobos and more distant primate relatives. Together, all studies of living people affirm that dominant right-handedness is a uniquely modern human trait. The same pattern extends deep into our past. Thus far, the majority of inferred right-handed fossils come from Europe, but a single maxilla from a Homo habilis, OH-65, shows a predominance of right oblique scratches, thus extending right-handedness into the early Pleistocene of Africa. Other studies show right-handedness in more recent African, Chinese, and Levantine fossils, but the sample compiled for non-European fossil specimens remains small. Fossil specimens from Sima del los Huesos and a variety of European Neandertal sites are predominately right-handed. We argue the 9:1 handedness ratio in Neandertals and the earlier inhabitants of Europe constitutes evidence for a modern pattern of handedness well before the appearance of modern Homo sapiens. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Humanitarian Use Devices/Humanitarian Device Exemptions in cardiovascular medicine.

Science.gov (United States)

Kaplan, Aaron V; Harvey, Elisa D; Kuntz, Richard E; Shiran, Hadas; Robb, John F; Fitzgerald, Peter

2005-11-01

The Second Dartmouth Device Development Symposium held in October 2004 brought together leaders from the medical device community, including clinical investigators, senior representatives from the US Food and Drug Administration, large and small device manufacturers, and representatives from the financial community to examine difficult issues confronting device development. The role of the Humanitarian Use Device/Humanitarian Device Exemption (HUD/HDE) pathway in the development of new cardiovascular devices was discussed in this forum. The HUD/HDE pathway was created by Congress to facilitate the availability of medical devices for "orphan" indications, ie, those affecting HDEs have been granted (23 devices, 6 diagnostic tests). As the costs to gain regulatory approval for commonly used devices increase, companies often seek alternative ways to gain market access, including the HUD/HDE pathway. For a given device, there may be multiple legitimate and distinct indications, including indications that meet the HUD criteria. Companies must choose how and when to pursue each of these indications. The consensus of symposium participants was for the HUD/HDE pathway to be reserved for true orphan indications and not be viewed strategically as part of the clinical development plan to access a large market.

Epidural electrocorticography of phantom hand movement following long-term upper-limb amputation

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Alireza eGharabaghi

2014-05-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Prostheses for upper-limb amputees are currently controlled by either myoelectric or peripheral neural signals. Performance and dexterity of these devices is still limited, particularly when it comes to controlling hand function. Movement-related brain activity might serve as a complementary bio-signal for motor control of hand prosthesis. Methods: We introduced a methodology to implant a cortical interface without direct exposure of the brain surface in an upper-limb amputee. This bi-directional interface enabled us to explore the cortical physiology following long-term transhumeral amputation. In addition, we investigated neurofeedback of electrocorticographic brain activity related to the patient’s motor imagery to open his missing hand, i.e. phantom hand movement, for real-time control of a virtual hand prosthesis.Results: Both event-related brain potentials and cortical stimulation revealed mutually overlapping cortical representations of the phantom hand. Phantom hand movements could be robustly classified and the patient required only three training sessions to gain reliable control of the virtual hand prosthesis in an online closed-loop paradigm that discriminated between hand opening and rest. Conclusion: Epidural implants may constitute a powerful and safe alternative communication pathway between the brain and external devices for upper-limb amputees, thereby facilitating the integrated use of different signal sources for more intuitive and specific control of multi-functional devices in clinical use.

Control solutions for robots using Android and iOS devices

Science.gov (United States)

Evans, A. William, III; Gray, Jeremy P.; Rudnick, Dave; Karlsen, Robert E.

2012-06-01

As more Soldiers seek to utilize robots to enhance their mission capabilities, controls are needed which are intuitive, portable, and adaptable to a wide range of mission tasks. Android™ and iOS™ devices have the potential to meet each of these requirements as well as being based on readily available hardware. This paper will focus on some of the ways in which an Android™ or iOS™ device could be used to control specific and varied robot mobility functions and payload tools. Several small unmanned ground vehicle (SUGV) payload tools will have been investigated at Camp Pendleton during a user assessment and mission feasibility study for automatic remote tool changing. This group of payload tools will provide a basis, to researchers, concerning what types of control functions are needed to fully utilize SUGV robotic capabilities. Additional, mobility functions using tablet devices have been used as part of the Safe Operation of Unmanned systems for Reconnaissance in Complex Environments Army Technology Objective (SOURCE ATO) which is investigating the safe operation of robotics. Using Android™ and iOS™ hand-held devices is not a new concept in robot manipulation. However, the authors of this paper hope to introduce some novel concepts that may serve to make the interaction between Soldier and machine more fluid and intuitive. By creating a better user experience, Android™ and iOS™ devices could help to reduce training time, enhance performance, and increase acceptance of robotics as valuable mission tools for Soldiers.

Reliability of maximal isometric knee strength testing with modified hand-held dynamometry in patients awaiting total knee arthroplasty: useful in research and individual patient settings? A reliability study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Koblbauer Ian FH

2011-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty (TKA often experience strength deficits both pre- and post-operatively. As these deficits may have a direct impact on functional recovery, strength assessment should be performed in this patient population. For these assessments, reliable measurements should be used. This study aimed to determine the inter- and intrarater reliability of hand-held dynamometry (HHD in measuring isometric knee strength in patients awaiting TKA. Methods To determine interrater reliability, 32 patients (81.3% female were assessed by two examiners. Patients were assessed consecutively by both examiners on the same individual test dates. To determine intrarater reliability, a subgroup (n = 13 was again assessed by the examiners within four weeks of the initial testing procedure. Maximal isometric knee flexor and extensor strength were tested using a modified Citec hand-held dynamometer. Both the affected and unaffected knee were tested. Reliability was assessed using the Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC. In addition, the Standard Error of Measurement (SEM and the Smallest Detectable Difference (SDD were used to determine reliability. Results In both the affected and unaffected knee, the inter- and intrarater reliability were good for knee flexors (ICC range 0.76-0.94 and excellent for knee extensors (ICC range 0.92-0.97. However, measurement error was high, displaying SDD ranges between 21.7% and 36.2% for interrater reliability and between 19.0% and 57.5% for intrarater reliability. Overall, measurement error was higher for the knee flexors than for the knee extensors. Conclusions Modified HHD appears to be a reliable strength measure, producing good to excellent ICC values for both inter- and intrarater reliability in a group of TKA patients. High SEM and SDD values, however, indicate high measurement error for individual measures. This study demonstrates that a modified HHD is appropriate to

Overview of a benefit/risk ratio optimized for a radiation emitting device used in non-destructive testing

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Maharaj, H.P., E-mail: H_P_Maharaj@hc-sc.gc.ca [Health Canada, Dept. of Health, Consumer and Clinical Radiaton Protection Bureau, Ottawa, Ontario (Canada)

2016-03-15

This paper aims to provide an overview of an optimized benefit/risk ratio for a radiation emitting device. The device, which is portable, hand-held, and open-beam x-ray tube based, is utilized by a wide variety of industries for purposes of determining elemental or chemical analyses of materials in-situ based on fluorescent x-rays. These analyses do not cause damage or permanent alteration of the test materials and are considered a non-destructive test (NDT). Briefly, the key characteristics, principles of use and radiation hazards associated with the Hay device are presented and discussed. In view of the potential radiation risks, a long term strategy that incorporates risk factors and guiding principles intended to mitigate the radiation risks to the end user was considered and applied. Consequently, an operator certification program was developed on the basis of an International Standards Organization (ISO) standard (ISO 20807:2004) and in collaboration with various stake holders and was implemented by a federal national NDT certification body several years ago. It comprises a written radiation safety examination and hands-on training with the x-ray device. The operator certification program was recently revised and the changes appear beneficial. There is a fivefold increase in operator certification (Levels 1 a nd 2) to date compared with earlier years. Results are favorable and promising. An operational guidance document is available to help mitigate radiation risks. Operator certification in conjunction with the use of the operational guidance document is prudent, and is recommended for end users of the x-ray device. Manufacturers and owners of the x-ray devices will also benefit from the operational guidance document. (author)

Overview of a benefit/risk ratio optimized for a radiation emitting device used in non-destructive testing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Maharaj, H.P.

2016-01-01

This paper aims to provide an overview of an optimized benefit/risk ratio for a radiation emitting device. The device, which is portable, hand-held, and open-beam x-ray tube based, is utilized by a wide variety of industries for purposes of determining elemental or chemical analyses of materials in-situ based on fluorescent x-rays. These analyses do not cause damage or permanent alteration of the test materials and are considered a non-destructive test (NDT). Briefly, the key characteristics, principles of use and radiation hazards associated with the Hay device are presented and discussed. In view of the potential radiation risks, a long term strategy that incorporates risk factors and guiding principles intended to mitigate the radiation risks to the end user was considered and applied. Consequently, an operator certification program was developed on the basis of an International Standards Organization (ISO) standard (ISO 20807:2004) and in collaboration with various stake holders and was implemented by a federal national NDT certification body several years ago. It comprises a written radiation safety examination and hands-on training with the x-ray device. The operator certification program was recently revised and the changes appear beneficial. There is a fivefold increase in operator certification (Levels 1 a nd 2) to date compared with earlier years. Results are favorable and promising. An operational guidance document is available to help mitigate radiation risks. Operator certification in conjunction with the use of the operational guidance document is prudent, and is recommended for end users of the x-ray device. Manufacturers and owners of the x-ray devices will also benefit from the operational guidance document. (author)

Robotic hand with locking mechanism using TCP muscles for applications in prosthetic hand and humanoids

Science.gov (United States)

Saharan, Lokesh; Tadesse, Yonas

2016-04-01

This paper presents a biomimetic, lightweight, 3D printed and customizable robotic hand with locking mechanism consisting of Twisted and Coiled Polymer (TCP) muscles based on nylon precursor fibers as artificial muscles. Previously, we have presented a small-sized biomimetic hand using nylon based artificial muscles and fishing line muscles as actuators. The current study focuses on an adult-sized prosthetic hand with improved design and a position/force locking system. Energy efficiency is always a matter of concern to make compact, lightweight, durable and cost effective devices. In natural human hand, if we keep holding objects for long time, we get tired because of continuous use of energy for keeping the fingers in certain positions. Similarly, in prosthetic hands we also need to provide energy continuously to artificial muscles to hold the object for a certain period of time, which is certainly not energy efficient. In this work we, describe the design of the robotic hand and locking mechanism along with the experimental results on the performance of the locking mechanism.

Hand-to-hand coupling and strategies to minimize unintentional energy transfer during laparoscopic surgery.

Science.gov (United States)

Overbey, Douglas M; Hilton, Sarah A; Chapman, Brandon C; Townsend, Nicole T; Barnett, Carlton C; Robinson, Thomas N; Jones, Edward L

2017-11-01

Energy-based devices are used in nearly every laparoscopic operation. Radiofrequency energy can transfer to nearby instruments via antenna and capacitive coupling without direct contact. Previous studies have described inadvertent energy transfer through bundled cords and nonelectrically active wires. The purpose of this study was to describe a new mechanism of stray energy transfer from the monopolar instrument through the operating surgeon to the laparoscopic telescope and propose practical measures to decrease the risk of injury. Radiofrequency energy was delivered to a laparoscopic L-hook (monopolar "bovie"), an advanced bipolar device, and an ultrasonic device in a laparoscopic simulator. The tip of a 10-mm telescope was placed adjacent but not touching bovine liver in a standard four-port laparoscopic cholecystectomy setup. Temperature increase was measured as tissue temperature from baseline nearest the tip of the telescope which was never in contact with the energy-based device after a 5-s open-air activation. The monopolar L-hook increased tissue temperature adjacent to the camera/telescope tip by 47 ± 8°C from baseline (P energy devices significantly reduced temperature change in comparison to the monopolar instrument (47 ± 8°C) for both the advanced bipolar (1.2 ± 0.5°C; P energy transfers from the monopolar "bovie" instrument through the operating surgeon to standard electrically inactive laparoscopic instruments. Hand-to-hand coupling describes a new form of capacitive coupling where the surgeon's body acts as an electrical conductor to transmit energy. Strategies to reduce stray energy transfer include avoiding the same surgeon holding the active electrode and laparoscopic camera or using alternative energy devices. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The hand-hold polarization-sensitive spectral domain optical coherence and its applications

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Hao; Gao, Wanrong

2017-08-01

The polarization-sensitive spectral domain optical coherence tomography (PSOCT) has the advantages of being able to measure the polarization properties of samples, such as phase-retardation, diattenuation, depolarization, and optical axis orientation, providing a contrast to identify the diseased area and normal area in tissues in PSOCT images. Conventionally, the sample arm of PSOCT is fixed on the stage where biomedical tissues or models is placed, and the OCT images is acquired by scanning with a galvanometer-based mirror. To be applied in the practical diagnosis, a promising way is to design a hand-held device. To this end, it is required that probe is assembled with a small volume to allow for comprehensively imaging large tissues areas at a microscopic scale, and is available to move on different samples to be acquired quickly with negligible motion artifacts. Meanwhile, the probe should be manufactured wih well stability to avoid system jitter error while it is used to detect the biological tissues in vivo. In this work, a design of a hand-hold fiber-based PSOCT is described. The device is of the size of 10 cm (length) × 8 cm (width) × 6 cm (height). Both the axial resolution and the imaging depth of the system are measured and were approximately 7 μm and 2.5 mm in air, respectively, which are in good agreement with the theoretical predictions. The A-scan rate of the system is 70 kHz. The structure is compact and all the components are fixed on the shell to reduce the motion artifact, resulting in a great stability on measuring the tissues in vivo. The cross sectional images of ex vivo chicken breast, ex vivo pork cartilage and in vivo forearm skin of human wolunteer are presented to demonstrate the capability of the system.

Design and implementation of a contactless multiple hand feature acquisition system

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Qiushi; Bu, Wei; Wu, Xiangqian; Zhang, David

2012-06-01

In this work, an integrated contactless multiple hand feature acquisition system is designed. The system can capture palmprint, palm vein, and palm dorsal vein images simultaneously. Moreover, the images are captured in a contactless manner, that is, users need not to touch any part of the device when capturing. Palmprint is imaged under visible illumination while palm vein and palm dorsal vein are imaged under near infrared (NIR) illumination. The capturing is controlled by computer and the whole process is less than 1 second, which is sufficient for online biometric systems. Based on this device, this paper also implements a contactless hand-based multimodal biometric system. Palmprint, palm vein, palm dorsal vein, finger vein, and hand geometry features are extracted from the captured images. After similarity measure, the matching scores are fused using weighted sum fusion rule. Experimental results show that although the verification accuracy of each uni-modality is not as high as that of state-of-the-art, the fusion result is superior to most of the existing hand-based biometric systems. This result indicates that the proposed device is competent in the application of contactless multimodal hand-based biometrics.

Early intensive hand rehabilitation after spinal cord injury ("Hands On": a protocol for a randomised controlled trial

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hsueh Ya-Seng

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Loss of hand function is one of the most devastating consequences of spinal cord injury. Intensive hand training provided on an instrumented exercise workstation in conjunction with functional electrical stimulation may enhance neural recovery and hand function. The aim of this trial is to compare usual care with an 8-week program of intensive hand training and functional electrical stimulation. Methods/design A multicentre randomised controlled trial will be undertaken. Seventy-eight participants with recent tetraplegia (C2 to T1 motor complete or incomplete undergoing inpatient rehabilitation will be recruited from seven spinal cord injury units in Australia and New Zealand and will be randomised to a control or experimental group. Control participants will receive usual care. Experimental participants will receive usual care and an 8-week program of intensive unilateral hand training using an instrumented exercise workstation and functional electrical stimulation. Participants will drive the functional electrical stimulation of their target hands via a behind-the-ear bluetooth device, which is sensitive to tooth clicks. The bluetooth device will enable the use of various manipulanda to practice functional activities embedded within computer-based games and activities. Training will be provided for one hour, 5 days per week, during the 8-week intervention period. The primary outcome is the Action Research Arm Test. Secondary outcomes include measurements of strength, sensation, function, quality of life and cost effectiveness. All outcomes will be taken at baseline, 8 weeks, 6 months and 12 months by assessors blinded to group allocation. Recruitment commenced in December 2009. Discussion The results of this trial will determine the effectiveness of an 8-week program of intensive hand training with functional electrical stimulation. Trial registration NCT01086930 (12th March 2010 ACTRN12609000695202 (12th August 2009

Early intensive hand rehabilitation after spinal cord injury ("Hands On"): a protocol for a randomised controlled trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Harvey, Lisa A; Dunlop, Sarah A; Churilov, Leonid; Hsueh, Ya-Seng Arthur; Galea, Mary P

2011-01-17

Loss of hand function is one of the most devastating consequences of spinal cord injury. Intensive hand training provided on an instrumented exercise workstation in conjunction with functional electrical stimulation may enhance neural recovery and hand function. The aim of this trial is to compare usual care with an 8-week program of intensive hand training and functional electrical stimulation. A multicentre randomised controlled trial will be undertaken. Seventy-eight participants with recent tetraplegia (C2 to T1 motor complete or incomplete) undergoing inpatient rehabilitation will be recruited from seven spinal cord injury units in Australia and New Zealand and will be randomised to a control or experimental group. Control participants will receive usual care. Experimental participants will receive usual care and an 8-week program of intensive unilateral hand training using an instrumented exercise workstation and functional electrical stimulation. Participants will drive the functional electrical stimulation of their target hands via a behind-the-ear bluetooth device, which is sensitive to tooth clicks. The bluetooth device will enable the use of various manipulanda to practice functional activities embedded within computer-based games and activities. Training will be provided for one hour, 5 days per week, during the 8-week intervention period. The primary outcome is the Action Research Arm Test. Secondary outcomes include measurements of strength, sensation, function, quality of life and cost effectiveness. All outcomes will be taken at baseline, 8 weeks, 6 months and 12 months by assessors blinded to group allocation. Recruitment commenced in December 2009. The results of this trial will determine the effectiveness of an 8-week program of intensive hand training with functional electrical stimulation. NCT01086930 (12th March 2010)ACTRN12609000695202 (12th August 2009).

Breast-density assessment with hand-held ultrasound: A novel biomarker to assess breast cancer risk and to tailor screening?

Science.gov (United States)

Sanabria, Sergio J; Goksel, Orcun; Martini, Katharina; Forte, Serafino; Frauenfelder, Thomas; Kubik-Huch, Rahel A; Rominger, Marga B

2018-03-19

To assess feasibility and diagnostic accuracy of a novel hand-held ultrasound (US) method for breast density assessment that measures the speed of sound (SoS), in comparison to the ACR mammographic (MG) categories. ACR-MG density (a=fatty to d=extremely dense) and SoS-US were assessed in the retromamillary, inner and outer segments of 106 women by two radiographers. A conventional US system was used for SoS-US. A reflector served as timing reference for US signals transmitted through the breasts. Four blinded readers assessed average SoS (m/s), ΔSoS (segment-variation SoS; m/s) and the ACR-MG density. The highest SoS and ΔSoS values of the three segments were used for MG-ACR whole breast comparison. SoS-US breasts were examined in densities a-d were 1,421 m/s (SD 14), 1,432 m/s (SD 17), 1,448 m/s (SD 20) and 1,500 m/s (SD 31), with significant differences between all groups (pdensity was evident (r s =0.622, p=density without discomfort, readers evaluated measurements with high inter-reader agreement, and SoS-US correlated significantly with ACR-MG breast-density categories. • The novel speed-of-sound ultrasound correlated significantly with mammographic ACR breast density categories. • Radiographers measured breast density without women discomfort or radiation. • SoS-US can be implemented on a standard US machine. • SoS-US shows potential for a quantifiable, cost-effective assessment of breast density.

TEST-RETEST RELIABILITY OF HAND GRIP STRENGTH MEASUREMENT USING A JAMAR HAND DYNAMOMETER IN PATIENTS WITH ACUTE AND CHRONIC CERVICAL RADICULOPATHY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ejazi G

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Background: To evaluate the test-retest reliability of Jamar hand held dynamometer for measuring handgrip strength (HGS in patients with acute and chronic cervical radiculopathy and to find out the difference in measurement of the handgrip strength between acute and chronic cervical radiculopathy. Methods: A prospective, observational and non-experimental, the comparative study design was used. A sample of 72 subjects (37 women and 35 men suffering from cervical radiculopathy were divided into two groups i.e., Group A(acute and Group B(chronic, handgrip strength was measured using Jamar hand held dynamometer on two occasions by the same rater with an interval of 7-days. Data collection was based on standard guidelines of American Society of Hand Therapists. Three gripping trials (measured in Kg with patient’s arm in standardized arm position were recorded. The data was analyzed from the mean score obtained from the sample. Result: One-way Analysis of Variance(ANOVA was used to evaluate test-retest reliability and Tukey-Kramer Multiple Comparison Test used to find the difference between handgrip strength among acute and chronic Cervical radiculopathy cases. Greater P-value (>0.05 in both testing session, as well as 95% of the confidence interval, shows the reliability of the instrument and lesser p-value (0.05 in female subjects shows no significant difference in handgrip strength between the two groups. Conclusion: Excellent test-retest reliability for hand grip strength measurement was measured in patients with acute and chronic cervical radiculopathy shows that the equipment could be used as an assessment tool for this patient and significant difference exists among male handgrip strength between acute and chronic cervical radiculopathy cases whereas no difference exists among female handgrip strength between acute and chronic cervical radiculopathy cases.

Golf hand prosthesis performance of transradial amputees.

Science.gov (United States)

Carey, Stephanie L; Wernke, Matthew M; Lura, Derek J; Kahle, Jason T; Dubey, Rajiv V; Highsmith, M Jason

2015-06-01

Typical upper limb prostheses may limit sports participation; therefore, specialized terminal devices are often needed. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the ability of transradial amputees to play golf using a specialized terminal device. Club head speed, X-factor, and elbow motion of two individuals with transradial amputations using an Eagle Golf terminal device were compared to a non-amputee during a golf swing. Measurements were collected pre/post training with various stances and grips. Both prosthesis users preferred a right-handed stance initially; however, after training, one preferred a left-handed stance. The amputees had slower club head speeds and a lower X-factor compared to the non-amputee golfer, but increased their individual elbow motion on the prosthetic side after training. Amputees enjoyed using the device, and it may provide kinematic benefits indicated by the increase in elbow flexion on the prosthetic side. The transradial amputees were able to swing a golf club with sufficient repetition, form, and velocity to play golf recreationally. Increased elbow flexion on the prosthetic side suggests a potential benefit from using the Eagle Golf terminal device. Participating in recreational sports can increase amputees' health and quality of life. © The International Society for Prosthetics and Orthotics 2014.

Applying a soft-robotic glove as assistive device and training tool with games to support hand function after stroke : Preliminary results on feasibility and potential clinical impact

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Prange, G.B.; Radder, Bob; Kottink, Anke I.R.; Melendez-Calderon, Alejandro; Buurke, Jaap H.; Rietman, Johan S.

2017-01-01

Recent technological developments regarding wearable soft-robotic devices extend beyond the current application of rehabilitation robotics and enable unobtrusive support of the arms and hands during daily activities. In this light, the HandinMind (HiM) system was developed, comprising a

Accidental hand grenade blast injuries in the Transkei region of ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Case Study: Accidental hand grenade blast injuries in the Transkei region of South Africa. 348. Vol 51 No 4. SA Fam ... There is some evidence that a substantial number of small arms and hand grenades ... Unfortunately, the safety device was ...

An Evaluation of the Feasibility of Using Hand-Held Computers for Training.

Science.gov (United States)

1982-05-30

approved. I FRANK E. GIUNTI F. A. NERONE Chief, Instructuinal Colonel, Infantry Development Division Director, Training Developments Institute...on electronic networks (PLATO) were initiated, and HHCs were borrowed and programmed. A number of Battelle experts were also consulted. Devices Noted...of a network . as an book. aide-memoire, a calculator, a word For outdoor use there is no processor, a financial planner and comparable product. From on

Graphene nanoribbons for electronic devices

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Geng, Zhansong; Granzner, Ralf; Kittler, Mario; Schwierz, Frank [FG Festkoerperelektronik, Institut fuer Mikro- und Nanoelektronik und Institut fuer Mikro- und Nanotechnologien MacroNano registered, Technische Universitaet Ilmenau (Germany); Haehnlein, Bernd; Auge, Manuel; Pezoldt, Joerg [FG Nanotechnologie, Institut fuer Mikro- und Nanoelektronik und Institut fuer Mikro- und Nanotechnologien MacroNano registered, Technische Universitaet Ilmenau (Germany); Lebedev, Alexander A. [National Research University of Information Technologies, Mechanics and Optics, St. Petersburg (Russian Federation); Division Solid State Electronics, Ioffe Institute, Sankt-Peterburg (Russian Federation); Davydov, Valery Y. [Division Solid State Electronics, Ioffe Institute, Sankt-Peterburg (Russian Federation)

2017-11-15

Graphene nanoribbons show unique properties and have attracted a lot of attention in the recent past. Intensive theoretical and experimental studies on such nanostructures at both the fundamental and application-oriented levels have been performed. The present paper discusses the suitability of graphene nanoribbons devices for nanoelectronics and focuses on three specific device types - graphene nanoribbon MOSFETs, side-gate transistors, and three terminal junctions. It is shown that, on the one hand, experimental devices of each type of the three nanoribbon-based structures have been reported, that promising performance of these devices has been demonstrated and/or predicted, and that in part they possess functionalities not attainable with conventional semiconductor devices. On the other hand, it is emphasized that - in spite of the remarkable progress achieved during the past 10 years - graphene nanoribbon devices still face a lot of problems and that their prospects for future applications remain unclear. (copyright 2017 by WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

Diffusion tensor and volumetric magnetic resonance imaging using an MR-compatible hand-induced robotic device suggests training-induced neuroplasticity in patients with chronic stroke.

Science.gov (United States)

Lazaridou, Asimina; Astrakas, Loukas; Mintzopoulos, Dionyssios; Khanicheh, Azadeh; Singhal, Aneesh B; Moskowitz, Michael A; Rosen, Bruce; Tzika, Aria A

2013-11-01

Stroke is the third leading cause of mortality and a frequent cause of long-term adult impairment. Improved strategies to enhance motor function in individuals with chronic disability from stroke are thus required. Post‑stroke therapy may improve rehabilitation and reduce long-term disability; however, objective methods for evaluating the specific impact of rehabilitation are rare. Brain imaging studies on patients with chronic stroke have shown evidence for reorganization of areas showing functional plasticity after a stroke. In this study, we hypothesized that brain mapping using a novel magnetic resonance (MR)-compatible hand device in conjunction with state‑of‑the‑art magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can serve as a novel biomarker for brain plasticity induced by rehabilitative motor training in patients with chronic stroke. This hypothesis is based on the premises that robotic devices, by stimulating brain plasticity, can assist in restoring movement compromised by stroke-induced pathological changes in the brain and that these changes can then be monitored by advanced MRI. We serially examined 15 healthy controls and 4 patients with chronic stroke. We employed a combination of diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and volumetric MRI using a 3-tesla (3T) MRI system using a 12-channel Siemens Tim coil and a novel MR-compatible hand‑induced robotic device. DTI data revealed that the number of fibers and the average tract length significantly increased after 8 weeks of hand training by 110% and 64%, respectively (probotics in the molecular medicine era.

ESR paper on the proper use of mobile devices in radiology.

Science.gov (United States)

2018-04-01

Mobile devices (smartphones, tablets, etc.) have become key methods of communication, data access and data sharing for the population in the past decade. The technological capabilities of these devices have expanded very rapidly; for example, their in-built cameras have largely replaced conventional cameras. Their processing power is often sufficient to handle the large data sets of radiology studies and to manipulate images and studies directly on hand-held devices. Thus, they can be used to transmit and view radiology studies, often in locations remote from the source of the imaging data. They are not recommended for primary interpretation of radiology studies, but they facilitate sharing of studies for second opinions, viewing of studies and reports by clinicians at the bedside, etc. Other potential applications include remote participation in educational activity (e.g. webinars) and consultation of online educational content, e-books, journals and reference sources. Social-networking applications can be used for exchanging professional information and teaching. Users of mobile device must be aware of the vulnerabilities and dangers of their use, in particular regarding the potential for inappropriate sharing of confidential patient information, and must take appropriate steps to protect confidential data. • Mobile devices have revolutionized communication in the past decade, and are now ubiquitous. • Mobile devices have sufficient processing power to manipulate and display large data sets of radiological images. • Mobile devices allow transmission & sharing of radiologic studies for purposes of second opinions, bedside review of images, teaching, etc. • Mobile devices are currently not recommended as tools for primary interpretation of radiologic studies. • The use of mobile devices for image and data transmission carries risks, especially regarding confidentiality, which must be considered.

Guidance-assist system for the blind

Science.gov (United States)

Farcy, Rene; Damaschini, Roland M.

2001-01-01

We propose navigational aid systems for the blind relying on active laser profilometry and infrared proximetry with a real time vibrotactile interface. The Teletact and the Vigitact are small hand held or badge worn devices to improve the spatial perception, the mobility and the security of blind people. The Teletact is a hand held laser telemeter and gives an accurate 3D spatial perception up to ten meters. The Vigitact is an infrared scanner and provides an automatic vigilance from knees to head up to two meters. Both devices are now commercially available. We will report on the basic functional parts of these devices, the results of everyday use by blind people, and future technological improvements.

Prevalence of Hand-transmitted Vibration Exposure among Grass-cutting Workers using Objective and Subjective Measures

Science.gov (United States)

Azmir, N. A.; Yahya, M. N.

2017-01-01

Extended exposure to hand-transmitted vibration from vibrating machine is associated with an increased occurrence of symptoms of occupational disease related to hand disorder. The present case study is to determine the prevalence and correlation of significant subjective as well as objective variables that induce to hand arm vibration syndrome (HAVS) among hand-held grass-cutting workers in Malaysia. Thus, recommendations are made for grass-cutting workers and grass maintenance service management based on findings. A cross sectional study using adopted subjective Hand Arm Vibration Exposure Risk Assessment (HAVERA) questionnaire from Vibration Injury Network on hand disorder signs and symptoms was distributed to a sample of one hundred and sixty eight male workers from grass and turf maintenance industry that use vibrating machine as part of their work. For objective measure, hand-transmitted vibration measurement was collected on site during operation by the following ISO 5349-1, 2001. Two groups were identified in this research comprising of high exposure group and low-moderate exposure group. Workers also gave information about their personal identification, social history, workers’ health, occupational history and machine safety inspection. There was positive HAVS symptoms relationship between the low-moderate exposure group and high exposure group among hand-held grass-cutting workers. The prevalence ratio (PR) was considered high for experiencing white colour change at fingers and fingers go numb which are 3.63 (1.41 to 9.39) and 4.24 (2.18 to 8.27), respectively. The estimated daily vibration exposure, A(8) differs between 2.1 to 20.7 ms-2 for right hand while 2.7 to 29.1 ms-2 for left hand. The subjects claimed that the feel of numbness at left hand is much stronger compared to right hand. The results suggest that HAVS is diagnosed in Malaysia especially in agriculture sector. The A(8) indicates that the exposure value is more than exposure limit value

Advanced sampling techniques for hand-held FT-IR instrumentation

Science.gov (United States)

Arnó, Josep; Frunzi, Michael; Weber, Chris; Levy, Dustin

2013-05-01

FT-IR spectroscopy is the technology of choice to identify solid and liquid phase unknown samples. The challenging ConOps in emergency response and military field applications require a significant redesign of the stationary FT-IR bench-top instruments typically used in laboratories. Specifically, field portable units require high levels of resistance against mechanical shock and chemical attack, ease of use in restrictive gear, extreme reliability, quick and easy interpretation of results, and reduced size. In the last 20 years, FT-IR instruments have been re-engineered to fit in small suitcases for field portable use and recently further miniaturized for handheld operation. This article introduces the HazMatID™ Elite, a FT-IR instrument designed to balance the portability advantages of a handheld device with the performance challenges associated with miniaturization. In this paper, special focus will be given to the HazMatID Elite's sampling interfaces optimized to collect and interrogate different types of samples: accumulated material using the on-board ATR press, dispersed powders using the ClearSampler™ tool, and the touch-to-sample sensor for direct liquid sampling. The application of the novel sample swipe accessory (ClearSampler) to collect material from surfaces will be discussed in some detail. The accessory was tested and evaluated for the detection of explosive residues before and after detonation. Experimental results derived from these investigations will be described in an effort to outline the advantages of this technology over existing sampling methods.

Reliability of hand-held dynamometry for measurement of lower limb muscle strength in children with Duchenne and Becker muscular dystrophy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wei SHI

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Objective To determine the reliability of hand-held dynamometry (HHD for lower limb isometric muscle strength measurement in children with Duchenne and Becker muscular dystrophy (DMD/BMD.  Methods A total of 21 children [20 males and one female; mean age was (7.88 ± 2.87 years, ranging between 3.96-14.09 years; mean age at diagnosis was (5.88 ± 2.88 years, ranging between 1.35-12.89 years; mean height was (120.64 ± 16.30 cm, ranging between 97-153 cm; mean body weight was (24.62 ± 9.05 kg, ranging between 14-50 kg] with DMD (19/21 and BMD (2/21 were involved from Rehabilitation Center of Children's Hospital of Fudan University. The muscle strength of hip, knee and ankle was measured by HHD under standardized test methods. The test-retest results were compared to determine the inter-test reliability, and the results among testers were compared to determine the inter-tester reliability.  Results HHD showed fine inter-tester reliability (ICC = 0.762-0.978 and inter-test reliability (ICC = 0.690-0.938 in measuring lower limb muscle strength of children with DMD/BMD. Results also showed relatively poor reliability in distal muscle groups (foot plantar flexion and dorsiflexion.  Conclusions HHD, showing fine inter-tester and inter-test reliability in measuring the lower limb muscle strength of children with DMD/BMD, can be used in monitoring muscle strength changing and assessing effects of clinical interventions. DOI: 10.3969/j.issn.1672-6731.2015.05.009

Hand-assisted laparoscopic liver resection using Habib's technique: early experience.

Science.gov (United States)

Vávra, Petr; Ihnat, Peter; Vavrova, Michaela; Martinek, Lubomir; Dostalik, Jan; Habib, Nagy

2012-03-01

Hand-assisted laparoscopic liver surgery, a newly developed technique based on an innovative concept, has proved useful and safe for a variety of less invasive hepatectomies. Radiofrequency-assisted hepatic resection has been reported to be safe, associated with minimal morbidity and mortality and decreased intraoperative blood loss and transfusion requirements. We describe how we perform hand-assisted laparoscopic radiofrequency-assisted hepatic resection using a bipolar radiofrequency device. The use of the hand port has allowed the surgeon to use his hand in direct liver manipulation, mobilization, and retraction. It was also useful for tactile tumour localization. Radiofrequency-assisted hepatic parenchymal transection was performed on 15 patients using a bipolar device (Habib 4X) with minimal blood loss (74 ml), and very decent operative and resection times (92 min, 33 min respectively). This combined procedure offers a safe, effective and rapid liver resection technique. This might encourage surgeons to perform a minimally invasive approach for liver resection more frequently.

Intelligent, self-contained robotic hand

Science.gov (United States)

Krutik, Vitaliy; Doo, Burt; Townsend, William T.; Hauptman, Traveler; Crowell, Adam; Zenowich, Brian; Lawson, John

2007-01-30

A robotic device has a base and at least one finger having at least two links that are connected in series on rotary joints with at least two degrees of freedom. A brushless motor and an associated controller are located at each joint to produce a rotational movement of a link. Wires for electrical power and communication serially connect the controllers in a distributed control network. A network operating controller coordinates the operation of the network, including power distribution. At least one, but more typically two to five, wires interconnect all the controllers through one or more joints. Motor sensors and external world sensors monitor operating parameters of the robotic hand. The electrical signal output of the sensors can be input anywhere on the distributed control network. V-grooves on the robotic hand locate objects precisely and assist in gripping. The hand is sealed, immersible and has electrical connections through the rotary joints for anodizing in a single dunk without masking. In various forms, this intelligent, self-contained, dexterous hand, or combinations of such hands, can perform a wide variety of object gripping and manipulating tasks, as well as locomotion and combinations of locomotion and gripping.

Control device for a nuclear reactor with a multitude of control rods, extending into the reactor core from above, with linear drive mechanisms and additional gripper devices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bevilacqua, F.

1979-01-01

The components of the additional gripper devices with magnetically operated finger-shaped latches are separated from the also magnetically operated latches of the linear drive mechanisms in order to avoid common-mode failures when fast shutdown is required. Only part of the safety rods are held by the additional gripping devices in the withdrawn position. There is provided for recording elements indicating positively which one of the safety locks is gearing with the control rods. At the upper end of each control rod there is a coupling head held by electromagnetically operated locking devices in the withdrawn position, if control power is available. (DG) [de

Controller design for Robotic hand through Electroencephalogram

OpenAIRE

Pandelidis P.; Kiriazis N.; Orgianelis K.; Koulios N.

2016-01-01

- This paper deals with the designing, the construction and the control of a robotic hand via an electroencephalogram sensor. First a robotic device that is able to mimic a real human hand is constructed. A PID controller is designed in order to improve the performance of the robotic arm for grabbing objects. Furthermore, a novel design approach is presented for controlling the motion of the robotic arm using signals produced from an innovative electroencephalogram sensor that detects the con...

Influence of Handprint Culture Training on Compliance of Healthcare Workers with Hand Hygiene

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hala Fouad

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Objective. We aimed to study the effect of visual observation of bacterial growth from handprints on healthcare workers’ (HCWs compliance with hand hygiene (HH. Settings. Medical and postoperative cardiac surgery units. Design. Prospective cohort study. Subject. The study included 40 HCWs. Intervention. Each HCW was interviewed on 3 separate occasions. The 1st interview was held to obtain a handprint culture before and after a session demonstrating the 7 steps of HH using alcohol-based hand rub, allowing comparison of results before and after HH. A 2nd interview was held 6 weeks later to obtain handprint culture after HH. A 3rd interview was held to obtain a handprint culture before HH. One month before implementation of handprint cultures and during the 12-week study period, monitoring of HCWs for compliance with HH was observed by 2 independent observers. Main Results. There was a significant improvement in HH compliance following handprint culture interview (p<0.001. The frequency of positive cultures, obtained from patients with suspected healthcare-associated infections, significantly declined (blood cultures: p=0.001; wound cultures: p = 0,003; sputum cultures: p=0.005. Conclusion. The visual message of handprint bacterial growth before and after HH seems an effective method to improve HH compliance.

Circuit For Control Of Electromechanical Prosthetic Hand

Science.gov (United States)

Bozeman, Richard J., Jr.

1995-01-01

Proposed circuit for control of electromechanical prosthetic hand derives electrical control signals from shoulder movements. Updated, electronic version of prosthesis, that includes two hooklike fingers actuated via cables from shoulder harness. Circuit built around favored shoulder harness, provides more dexterous movement, without incurring complexity of computer-controlled "bionic" or hydraulically actuated devices. Additional harness and potentiometer connected to similar control circuit mounted on other shoulder. Used to control stepping motor rotating hand about prosthetic wrist to one of number of angles consistent with number of digital outputs. Finger-control signals developed by circuit connected to first shoulder harness transmitted to prosthetic hand via sliprings at prosthetic wrist joint.

Design and characterization of the OpenWrist: A robotic wrist exoskeleton for coordinated hand-wrist rehabilitation.

Science.gov (United States)

Pezent, Evan; Rose, Chad G; Deshpande, Ashish D; O'Malley, Marcia K

2017-07-01

Robotic devices have been clinically verified for use in long duration and high intensity rehabilitation needed for motor recovery after neurological injury. Targeted and coordinated hand and wrist therapy, often overlooked in rehabilitation robotics, is required to regain the ability to perform activities of daily living. To this end, a new coupled hand-wrist exoskeleton has been designed. This paper details the design of the wrist module and several human-related considerations made to maximize its potential as a coordinated hand-wrist device. The serial wrist mechanism has been engineered to facilitate donning and doffing for impaired subjects and to insure compatibility with the hand module in virtual and assisted grasping tasks. Several other practical requirements have also been addressed, including device ergonomics, clinician-friendliness, and ambidextrous reconfigurability. The wrist module's capabilities as a rehabilitation device are quantified experimentally in terms of functional workspace and dynamic properties. Specifically, the device possesses favorable performance in terms of range of motion, torque output, friction, and closed-loop position bandwidth when compared with existing devices. The presented wrist module's performance and operational considerations support its use in a wide range of future clinical investigations.

Design of Piano -playing Robotic Hand

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lin Jen-Chang

2013-09-01

Full Text Available Unlike the market slowdown of industrial robots, service & entertainment robots have been highly regarded by most robotics reseach and market research agencies. In this study we developed a music playing robot (which can also work as a service robot for public performance. The research is mainly focused on the mechanical and electrical control of piano-playing robot, the exploration of correlations among music theory, rhythm and piano keys, and eventually the research on playing skill of keyboard instrument. The piano-playing robot is capable of control linear motor, servo-motor and pneumatic devices in accordance with the notes and rhythm in order to drive the mechanical structure to proper positions for pressing the keys and generating music. The devices used for this robot are mainly crucial components produced by HIWIN Technology Corp. The design of robotic hand is based on the direction of anthropomorphic hand such that five fingers will be used for playing piano. The finger actuations include actions of finger rotation, finger pressing, and finger lifting; time required for these 3 stages must meet the requirement of rhythm. The purpose of entertainment robot can be achieved by playing electric piano with robotic hand, and we hope this research can contribute to the development of domestic entertainment music playing robots.

Power source device for thermonuclear device

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ozaki, Akira.

1992-01-01

The present invention provides a small sized and economical power source device for a thermonuclear device. That is, the device comprises a conversion device having a rated power determined by a power required during a plasma current excitation period and a conversion device having a rated power determined by a power required during a plasma current maintaining period, connected in series to each other. Then, for the former conversion device, power is supplied from an electric power generator and, for the latter, power is supplied from a power system. With such a constitution, during the plasma electric current maintaining period for substantially continuous operation, it is possible to conduct bypassing paired operation for the former conversion device while the electric power generator is put under no load. Further, since a short period rated power may be suffice for the former conversion device and the electric power generator having the great rated power required for the plasma electric current excitation period, they can be reduced in the size and made economical. On the other hand, since the power required for the plasma current maintaining period is relatively small, the capacity of the continuous rated conversion device may be small, and the power can be received from the power system. (I.S.)

Preparation of severely curved simulated root canals using engine-driven rotary and conventional hand instruments.

Science.gov (United States)

Szep, S; Gerhardt, T; Leitzbach, C; Lüder, W; Heidemann, D

2001-03-01

This in vitro study evaluated the efficacy and safety of six different nickel-titanium engine-driven instruments used with a torque-controlled engine device and nickel-titanium hand and stainless steel hand instruments in preparation of curved canals. A total of 80 curved (36 degrees) simulated root canals were prepared. Images before and after were superimposed, and instrumentation areas were observed. Time of instrumentation, instrument failure, change in working length and weight loss were also recorded. Results show that stainless steel hand instruments cause significantly less transportation towards the inner wall of the canal than do nickel-titanium hand instruments. No instrument fracture occurred with hand instruments, but 30-60% breakage of instruments was recorded during instrumentation with the engine-driven devices. The working length was maintained by all types of instruments. Newly developed nickel-titanium rotary files were not able to prevent straightening of the severely curved canals when a torque-controlled engine-driven device was used.

Criteria for a comparative assessment on handheld gamma-ray measurement tools

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Feichtinger, J.; Schwaiger, M.; Schmitzer, C.; Kindl, P.

2001-01-01

Full text: The radionuclide laboratories at the Austrian Research Centres Seibersdorf are strongly involved in radiation protection of public and employees as well as in environmental monitoring with special concern to gamma spectrometric measurements. Hence, field measurements and therefore the subject of hand-held measurement devices is a topic of main interest. Taking into consideration, that these hand-held measurement tool are further used in critical and sensitive operations, as for example by the IAEA Safeguards or by CTBTO On-Site inspectors, a standard for characterising these gamma measurement tools seems to be sound as necessary. The poster presents a set of technical criteria as well as limiting values, which allows an objective comparison of hand-held measurement devices. The criteria can be divided into three individual parts: radiometric characteristics, ergonomics and usability in field operations. The main criteria for testing the radiometry performance of hand-held measurement devices are sensitivity, efficiency, energy response, energy resolution and nuclide identification or not identification (if necessary), detection probability, dose rate indication, uncertainty, etc. The ergonomic test contains as dominating parts handling and quality of the manual. To evaluate the applicability in field operations different environmental conditions (e.g. light conditions, temperature range, moisture...) as well as battery lifetime and weight should be taken into account. These criteria may vary in dependence of the requirements or limitations given by various external conditions, but still a standard to evaluate and will give the opportunity to provide an objective comparison. (author)

Bimanual proprioception: are two hands better than one?

OpenAIRE

Wong, J.D.; Wilson, E.T.; Kistemaker, D.A.; Gribble, P.L.

2014-01-01

Information about the position of an object that is held in both hands, such as a golf club or a tennis racquet, is transmitted to the human central nervous system from peripheral sensors in both left and right arms. How does the brain combine these two sources of information? Using a robot to move participant's passive limbs, we performed psychophysical estimates of proprioceptive function for each limb independently and again when subjects grasped the robot handle with both arms. We compare...

Investigation of size effect on film type haptic actuator made with cellulose acetate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Sang-Youn; Kim, Jaehwan; Kim, Ki-Baek

2014-01-01

The most important factor in haptic interaction with hand-held devices is to develop a thin film type actuator which can be easily inserted into the devices and create vibrotactile signals with wide frequency bandwidth. This paper reports a film type vibrotactile actuator which is tiny enough to be embedded into small hand-held devices. The vibration mechanism and experiment results for the suggested vibrotactile actuator are explained. The aim of the actuator is to convey a vibrotactile force greater than a human’s vibrotactile threshold with broad frequency bandwidth to users. To achieve the requirement, we fabricate a film type vibrotactile actuator with cellulose acetate. When an AC voltage is applied to the actuator, the cellulose acetate film gets charged and then generates vibration. The suggested vibrotactile actuator is fabricated in two sizes: 50 mm × 25 mm and 25 mm × 25 mm. For each size of actuator, three kinds of actuator are fabricated with different pillar materials to support the cellulose acetate films. An experiment for measuring vibrational amplitude is conducted over a wide frequency range of actuation voltage. It is known that the proposed film type actuator is feasible for haptic application in the small hand-held devices. (paper)

From sniffer dogs to emerging sniffer devices for airport security: an opportunity to rethink privacy implications?

Science.gov (United States)

Bonfanti, Matteo E

2014-09-01

Dogs are known for their incredible ability to detect odours, extracting them from a "complex" environment and recognising them. This makes sniffer dogs precious assets in a broad variety of security applications. However, their use is subject to some intrinsic restrictions. Dogs can only be trained to a limited set of applications, get tired after a relatively short period, and thus require a high turnover. This has sparked a drive over the past decade to develop artificial sniffer devices-generally known as "chemical sniffers" or "electronic noses"-able to complement and possibly replace dogs for some security applications. Such devices have been already deployed, or are intended to be deployed, at borders, airports and other critical installation security checkpoints. Similarly to dogs, they are adopted for detecting residual traces that indicate either the presence of, or recent contact with, substances like drugs and explosives. It goes without saying that, as with sniffer dogs, the use of artificial sniffer devices raises many sensitive issues. Adopting an ethical and legal perspective, the present paper discusses the privacy and data protection implications of the possible deployment of a hand-held body scanning sniffer for screening passengers at EU airport security checkpoints.

76 FR 61655 - Definition of Part 15 Auditory Assistance Device

Science.gov (United States)

2011-10-05

... hand deliveries must be held together with rubber bands or fasteners. Any envelopes and boxes must be... infrared light waves to specialized receivers used by listeners to enhance the reception of speech. By...

Neural-Network Control Of Prosthetic And Robotic Hands

Science.gov (United States)

Buckley, Theresa M.

1991-01-01

Electronic neural networks proposed for use in controlling robotic and prosthetic hands and exoskeletal or glovelike electromechanical devices aiding intact but nonfunctional hands. Specific to patient, who activates grasping motion by voice command, by mechanical switch, or by myoelectric impulse. Patient retains higher-level control, while lower-level control provided by neural network analogous to that of miniature brain. During training, patient teaches miniature brain to perform specialized, anthropomorphic movements unique to himself or herself.

Hand Robotic Therapy in Children with Hemiparesis: A Pilot Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Bishop, Lauri; Gordon, Andrew M; Kim, Heakyung

2017-01-01

The aim of this study was to understand the impact of training with a hand robotic device on hand paresis and function in a population of children with hemiparesis. Twelve children with hemiparesis (mean age, 9 [SD, 3.64] years) completed participation in this prospective, experimental, pilot study. Participants underwent clinical assessments at baseline and again 6 weeks later with instructions to not initiate new therapies. After these assessments, participants received 6 weeks of training with a hand robotic device, consisting of 1-hour sessions, 3 times weekly. Assessments were repeated on completion of training. Results showed significant improvements after training on the Assisting Hand Assessment (mean difference, 2.0 Assisting Hand Assessment units; P = 0.011) and on the upper-extremity component of the Fugl-Meyer scale (raw score mean difference, 4.334; P = 0.001). No significant improvements between pretest and posttest were noted on the Jebsen-Taylor Test of Hand Function, the Quality of Upper Extremity Skills Test, or the Pediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory after intervention. Total active mobility of digits and grip strength also failed to demonstrate significant changes after training. Participants tolerated training with the hand robotic device, and significant improvements in bimanual hand use, as well as impairment-based scales, were noted. Improvements were carried over into bimanual skills during play. Complete the self-assessment activity and evaluation online at http://www.physiatry.org/JournalCME CME OBJECTIVES: Upon completion of this article, the reader should be able to: (1) Understand key components of neuroplasticity; (2) Discuss the benefits of robotic therapy in the recovery of hand function in pediatric patients with hemiplegia; and (3) Appropriately incorporate robotic therapy into the treatment plan of pediatric patients with hemiplegia. Advanced ACCREDITATION: The Association of Academic Physiatrists is accredited by the

Children's (Pediatric) Nuclear Medicine

Medline Plus

Full Text Available ... are detected by a special camera or imaging device that produces pictures and provides molecular information. In ... camera. A probe is a small hand-held device resembling a microphone that can detect and measure ...

Thyroid Scan and Uptake

Medline Plus

Full Text Available ... are detected by a special camera or imaging device that produces pictures and provides molecular information. The ... camera. A probe is a small hand-held device resembling a microphone that can detect and measure ...

General Ultrasound Imaging

Medline Plus

Full Text Available ... scanning. The transducer is a small hand-held device that resembles a microphone, attached to the scanner ... that is being examined to the transducer (the device placed on the patient's skin to send and ...

Foreign Body Retrieval

Medline Plus

Full Text Available ... scanning. The transducer is a small hand-held device that resembles a microphone, attached to the scanner ... that is being examined to the transducer (the device placed on the patient's skin to send and ...

Hand pose recognition in First Person Vision through graph spectral analysis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Baydoun, Mohamad; Betancourt, Alejandro; Morerio, Pietro; Marcenaro, Lucio; Rauterberg, Matthias; Regazzoni, Carlo

2017-01-01

© 2017 IEEE. With the growing availability of wearable technology, video recording devices have become so intimately tied to individuals, that they are able to record the movements of users' hands, making hand-based applications one the most explored area in First Person Vision (FPV). In particular,

Design of an exercise glove for hand rehabilitation using spring mechanism

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Serbest, K.; Ates, Sedar; Stienen, Arno; Isler, Y.

2017-01-01

Hand muscles do not perform their functions because of different reasons such as disease, injury and trauma. It is implemented some treatments for the hand therapy at hospitals and rehabilitation centers. One of these is using orthotic or robotic devices for rehabilitation. One of the important

Controller design for Robotic hand through Electroencephalogram

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pandelidis P.

2016-01-01

Full Text Available - This paper deals with the designing, the construction and the control of a robotic hand via an electroencephalogram sensor. First a robotic device that is able to mimic a real human hand is constructed. A PID controller is designed in order to improve the performance of the robotic arm for grabbing objects. Furthermore, a novel design approach is presented for controlling the motion of the robotic arm using signals produced from an innovative electroencephalogram sensor that detects the concentration of the brain

Using postural synergies to animate a low-dimensional hand avatar in haptic simulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Mulatto, Sara; Formaglio, Alessandro; Malvezzi, Monica; Prattichizzo, Domenico

2013-01-01

A technique to animate a realistic hand avatar with 20 DoFs based on the biomechanics of the human hand is presented. The animation does not use any sensor glove or advanced tracker with markers. The proposed approach is based on the knowledge of a set of kinematic constraints on the model of the hand, referred to as postural synergies, which allows to represent the hand posture using a number of variables lower than the number of joints of the hand model. This low-dimensional set of parameters is estimated from direct measurement of the motion of thumb and index finger tracked using two haptic devices. A kinematic inversion algorithm has been developed, which takes synergies into account and estimates the kinematic configuration of the whole hand, i.e., also of the fingers whose end tips are not directly tracked by the two haptic devices. The hand skin is deformable and its deformation is computed using a linear vertex blending technique. The proposed synergy-based animation of the hand avatar involves only algebraic computations and is suitable for real-time implementation as required in haptics.

Comparison of non-invasive tear film stability measurement techniques.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Michael Tm; Murphy, Paul J; Blades, Kenneth J; Craig, Jennifer P

2018-01-01

Measurement of tear film stability is commonly used to give an indication of tear film quality but a number of non-invasive techniques exists within the clinical setting. This study sought to compare three non-invasive tear film stability measurement techniques: instrument-mounted wide-field white light clinical interferometry, instrument-mounted keratoscopy and hand-held keratoscopy. Twenty-two subjects were recruited in a prospective, randomised, masked, cross-over study. Tear film break-up or thinning time was measured non-invasively by independent experienced examiners, with each of the three devices, in a randomised order, within an hour. Significant correlation was observed between instrument-mounted interferometric and keratoscopic measurements (p 0.05). Tear film stability values obtained from the hand-held device were significantly shorter and demonstrated narrower spread than the other two instruments (all p 0.05). Good clinical agreement exists between the instrument-mounted interferometric and keratoscopic measurements but not between the hand-held device and either of the instrument-mounted techniques. The results highlight the importance of specifying the instrument employed to record non-invasive tear film stability. © 2017 Optometry Australia.

iGrab: hand orthosis powered by twisted and coiled polymer muscles

Science.gov (United States)

Saharan, Lokesh; de Andrade, Monica Jung; Saleem, Wahaj; Baughman, Ray H.; Tadesse, Yonas

2017-10-01

Several works have been reported in powered hand orthosis in the last ten years for assistive or rehabilitative purposes. However, most of these approaches uses conventional actuators such as servo motors to power orthosis. In this work, we demonstrate the recently reported twisted and coiled polymeric (TCP) muscles to drive a compact, light, inexpensive and wearable upper extremity device, iGrab. A 3D printed orthotic hand module was designed, developed and tested for the performance. The device has six 2-ply muscles of diameter 1.35 mm with a length of 380 mm. We used a single 2-ply muscle for each finger and two 2-ply muscles for the thumb. Pulsed actuation of the muscles at 1.8 A current for 25 s with 7% duty cycle under natural cooling showed full flexion of the fingers within 2 s. Modeling and simulation were performed on the device using standard Euler-Lagrangian equations. Our artificial muscles powered hand orthosis demonstrated the capability of pinching and picking objects of different shapes, weights, and sizes.

Hand VR Exergame for Occupational Health Care.

Science.gov (United States)

Ortiz, Saskia; Uribe-Quevedo, Alvaro; Kapralos, Bill

2016-01-01

The widespread use and ubiquity of mobile computing technologies such as smartphones, tablets, laptops and portable gaming consoles has led to an increase in musculoskeletal disorders due to overuse, bad posture, repetitive movements, fixed postures and physical de-conditioning caused by low muscular demands while using (and over-using) these devices. In this paper we present the development of a hand motion-based virtual reality-based exergame for occupational health purposes that allows the user to perform simple exercises using a cost-effective non-invasive motion capture device to help overcome and prevent some of the muskoloskeletal problems associated with the over-use of keyboards and mobile devices.

Modular finger and hand motion capturing system based on inertial and magnetic sensors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Valtin Markus

2017-03-01

Full Text Available The assessment of hand posture and kinematics is increasingly important in various fields. This includes the rehabilitation of stroke survivors with restricted hand function. This paper presents a modular, ambulatory measurement system for the assement of the remaining hand function and for closed-loop controlled therapy. The device is based on inertial sensors and utilizes up to five interchangeable sensor strips to achieve modularity and to simplify the sensor attachment. We introduce the modular hardware design and describe algorithms used to calculate the joint angles. Measurements with two experimental setups demonstrate the feasibility and the potential of such a tracking device.

Quantitative impact of direct, personal feedback on hand hygiene technique.

Science.gov (United States)

Lehotsky, Á; Szilágyi, L; Ferenci, T; Kovács, L; Pethes, R; Wéber, G; Haidegger, T

2015-09-01

This study investigated the effectiveness of targeting hand hygiene technique using a new training device that provides objective, personal and quantitative feedback. One hundred and thirty-six healthcare workers in three Hungarian hospitals participated in a repetitive hand hygiene technique assessment study. Ultraviolet (UV)-labelled hand rub was used at each event, and digital images of the hands were subsequently taken under UV light. Immediate objective visual feedback was given to participants, showing missed areas on their hands. The rate of inadequate hand rubbing reduced from 50% to 15% (P < 0.001). However, maintenance of this reduced rate is likely to require continuous use of the electronic equipment. Copyright © 2015 The Healthcare Infection Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Pitch Systems and Curwen Hand Signs: A Review of Literature

Science.gov (United States)

Frey-Clark, Marta

2017-01-01

Learning to sing from notation is a complex task, and accurately performing pitches without an external reference can be particularly challenging. As such, the use of mnemonic devices to reinforce tonal relationships is a long-standing practice among musicians. Chief among these mnemonic devices are pitch syllable systems and Curwen hand signs.…

Electronic devices for analog signal processing

CERN Document Server

Rybin, Yu K

2012-01-01

Electronic Devices for Analog Signal Processing is intended for engineers and post graduates and considers electronic devices applied to process analog signals in instrument making, automation, measurements, and other branches of technology. They perform various transformations of electrical signals: scaling, integration, logarithming, etc. The need in their deeper study is caused, on the one hand, by the extension of the forms of the input signal and increasing accuracy and performance of such devices, and on the other hand, new devices constantly emerge and are already widely used in practice, but no information about them are written in books on electronics. The basic approach of presenting the material in Electronic Devices for Analog Signal Processing can be formulated as follows: the study with help from self-education. While divided into seven chapters, each chapter contains theoretical material, examples of practical problems, questions and tests. The most difficult questions are marked by a diamon...

3D Visual Sensing of the Human Hand for the Remote Operation of a Robotic Hand

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pablo Gil

2014-02-01

Full Text Available New low cost sensors and open free libraries for 3D image processing are making important advances in robot vision applications possible, such as three-dimensional object recognition, semantic mapping, navigation and localization of robots, human detection and/or gesture recognition for human-machine interaction. In this paper, a novel method for recognizing and tracking the fingers of a human hand is presented. This method is based on point clouds from range images captured by a RGBD sensor. It works in real time and it does not require visual marks, camera calibration or previous knowledge of the environment. Moreover, it works successfully even when multiple objects appear in the scene or when the ambient light is changed. Furthermore, this method was designed to develop a human interface to control domestic or industrial devices, remotely. In this paper, the method was tested by operating a robotic hand. Firstly, the human hand was recognized and the fingers were detected. Secondly, the movement of the fingers was analysed and mapped to be imitated by a robotic hand.

A pilot study of robotic-assisted exercise for hand weakness after stroke.

Science.gov (United States)

Stein, Joel; Bishop, Joel; Gillen, Glen; Helbok, Raimund

2011-01-01

Upper limb paresis is a major source of disability in stroke survivors, and robotic aided exercise therapy is a promising approach to enhance motor abilities. Few devices have been available to provide robotic therapy to the fingers and hand. We report an open-label pilot study of 12 individuals with chronic moderate hemiparesis after stroke who underwent a six-week training program using a hand robotic device. Participants received a total of 18 hours of robotic therapy. Improvements were found in multiple measures of motor performance, including the Upper Extremity Fugl-Meyer, the Motor Activity Log, the Manual Ability Measure-36, and the Jebsen Hand Function Test. All subjects tolerated the treatment well and no complications were observed. We conclude that robotic therapy for hand paresis after stroke is safe and feasible, and that further studies of efficacy are justified by these preliminary results. © 2011 IEEE

A hand-powered, portable, low-cost centrifuge for diagnosing anemia in low-resource settings.

Science.gov (United States)

Brown, Jocelyn; Theis, Lauren; Kerr, Lila; Zakhidova, Nazima; O'Connor, Kelly; Uthman, Margaret; Oden, Z Maria; Richards-Kortum, Rebecca

2011-08-01

This report describes the development of a hand-powered centrifuge to determine hematocrit values in low-resource settings. A hand-powered centrifuge was constructed by using a salad spinner. Hematocrit values were measured by using the hand-powered device, and results were compared with those of a benchtop centrifuge. The packed cell volume (PCV) measured with the hand-powered device correlated linearly with results obtained with a benchtop centrifuge (r = 0.986, P centrifuge were consistently 1.14 times higher than those measured with the benchtop system. The 14% increase in PCV measured with the hand-powered centrifuge is caused by increased plasma trapped in the cell column. The reader card was adjusted to compensate for trapped plasma. A hand-powered centrifuge and calibrated reader card can be constructed for U.S. $35 and can accurately determine hematocrit values. It is suitable for use in low-resource settings because it is mechanically-powered, inexpensive, and accurate.

What is the most cost-effective strategy to screen for left ventricular systolic dysfunction: natriuretic peptides, the electrocardiogram, hand-held echocardiography, traditional echocardiography, or their combination?

Science.gov (United States)

Galasko, Gavin I W; Barnes, Sophie C; Collinson, Paul; Lahiri, Avijit; Senior, Roxy

2006-01-01

To assess the screening characteristics and cost-effectiveness of screening for left ventricular systolic dysfunction (LVSD) in community subjects. A total of 1392 members of the general public and 928 higher risk subjects were randomly selected from seven community practices. Attending subjects underwent an ECG, N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NTproBNP) serum levels, and traditional echocardiography (TE). A total of 533 consecutive subjects underwent hand-held echocardiography (HE). The screening characteristics and cost-effectiveness (cost per case of LVSD diagnosed) of eight strategies to predict LVSD (LVSD cost-effective, screening low-risk subjects least cost-effective. TE screening was the least cost-effective strategy. NTproBNP screening gave similar cost savings to ECG screening; HE screening greater cost-savings, and HE screening following NTproBNP or ECG pre-screening the greatest cost-savings, costing approximately 650 Euros per case of LVSD diagnosed in high-risk subjects (63% cost-savings vs.TE). Thus several different modalities allow cost-effective community-based screening for LVSD, especially in high-risk subjects. Such programmes would be cost-effective and miss few cases of LVSD in the community.

Analysis of relative displacement between the HX wearable robotic exoskeleton and the user's hand.

Science.gov (United States)

Cempini, Marco; Marzegan, Alberto; Rabuffetti, Marco; Cortese, Mario; Vitiello, Nicola; Ferrarin, Maurizio

2014-10-18

Advances in technology are allowing for the production of several viable wearable robotic devices to assist with activities of daily living and with rehabilitation. One of the most pressing limitations to user satisfaction is the lack of consistency in motion between the user and the robotic device. The displacement between the robot and the body segment may not correspond because of differences in skin and tissue compliance, mechanical backlash, and/or incorrect fit. This report presents the results of an analysis of relative displacement between the user's hand and a wearable exoskeleton, the HX. HX has been designed to maximize comfort, wearability and user safety, exploiting chains with multiple degrees-of-freedom with a modular architecture. These appealing features may introduce several uncertainties in the kinematic performances, especially when considering the anthropometry, morphology and degree of mobility of the human hand. The small relative displacements between the hand and the exoskeleton were measured with a video-based motion capture system, while the user executed several different grips in different exoskeleton modes. The analysis furnished quantitative results about the device performance, differentiated among device modules and test conditions. In general, the global relative displacement for the distal part of the device was in the range 0.5-1.5 mm, while within 3 mm (worse but still acceptable) for displacements nearest to the hand dorsum. Conclusions over the HX design principles have been drawn, as well as guidelines for future developments.

Development of a miniature autofluorescence device for the early diagnosis of squamous cell carcinoma

Science.gov (United States)

Patil, Ajeetkumar; Rao K., Swati; V. K., Unnikrishnan; Pai, Keerthilatha M.; Kartha, V. B.; Chidangil, Santhosh

2017-07-01

Autofluorescence spectroscopy offer noninvasive and promising tools for the detection of alternations biochemical compositions of tissues and cells, in presence of disease. They have the added advantage of being highly objective due to the fact that diagnostic evaluation is by statistical methods, eliminating errors from lack of experience, fatigue factor, and subjectivity of visual perceptions. The present research work involves in designing and assembling of a low cost, miniature oral cancer screening device with for routine clinical applications. A miniature system was designed and assembled with much smaller and cost-effective components like compact light source and miniature spectrometer, in a hand-held unit configuration. The performance of the system was evaluated using animal -mouse- SCC model. The current system can be used in handheld operation, which makes it very useful for many applications like, screening of squamous cell carcinoma susceptible population.

Hand injuries due to firework devices: a series of 58 cases.

Science.gov (United States)

Matheron, A-S; Hendriks, S; Facca, S; Liverneaux, P A

2014-04-01

Fireworks or firecrackers can cause serious accidents. They are classified from K1 to K4 according to the amount of powder they contain. In Alsace (France), a type-K1 firecracker is available on the free market and the K2 and K3 ones are prohibited. The aim of this study was to reveal the effects of measures taken in order to prevent repercussions related to hand injuries caused by fireworks. Patients who fell victim to firework incidents have been recorded since 2006, starting date of the prevention campaign. Records have been taken on the circumstances, the group of firecracker, the level of injury and the severity of the injury in four stages. Our series included 62 hands from 58 patients (average age: 25 years), including two women. Most of them sustained their injury during the night of New Year's Eve. The study dealt with 21 K1, and 35 K2 or K3. We registered 29 cases of grade I, 2 grades II, 21 grades III and 9 grades IV. One patient died. The numbers of consultations, K2/K3 injuries and number of surgeries increased from 2006 to 2012. Our results show that firework-related injuries to the hand are serious, pluridigital, multistage and/or bilateral. Prevention was ineffective but should be improved and strengthened, as a total ban on fireworks is a counterproductive measure. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Hand Rehabilitation Learning System With an Exoskeleton Robotic Glove.

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Zhou; Ben-Tzvi, Pinhas; Danoff, Jerome

2016-12-01

This paper presents a hand rehabilitation learning system, the SAFE Glove, a device that can be utilized to enhance the rehabilitation of subjects with disabilities. This system is able to learn fingertip motion and force for grasping different objects and then record and analyze the common movements of hand function including grip and release patterns. The glove is then able to reproduce these movement patterns in playback fashion to assist a weakened hand to accomplish these movements, or to modulate the assistive level based on the user's or therapist's intent for the purpose of hand rehabilitation therapy. Preliminary data have been collected from healthy hands. To demonstrate the glove's ability to manipulate the hand, the glove has been fitted on a wooden hand and the grasping of various objects was performed. To further prove that hands can be safely driven by this haptic mechanism, force sensor readings placed between each finger and the mechanism are plotted. These experimental results demonstrate the potential of the proposed system in rehabilitation therapy.

Piezoelectric osteotomy in hand surgery: first experiences with a new technique

Science.gov (United States)

Hoigne, Dominik J; Stübinger, Stefan; Kaenel, Oliver Von; Shamdasani, Sonia; Hasenboehler, Paula

2006-01-01

Background In hand and spinal surgery nerve lesions are feared complications with the use of standard oscillating saws. Oral surgeons have started using a newly developed ultrasound bone scalpel when performing precise osteotomies. By using a frequency of 25–29 kHz only mineralized tissue is cut, sparing the soft tissue. This reduces the risk of nerve lesions. As there is a lack of experience with this technique in the field of orthopaedic bone surgery, we performed the first ultrasound osteotomy in hand surgery. Method While performing a correctional osteotomy of the 5th metacarpal bone we used the Piezosurgery® Device from Mectron [Italy] instead of the usual oscillating saw. We will report on our experience with one case, with a follow up time of one year. Results The cut was highly precise and there were no vibrations of the bone. The time needed for the operation was slightly longer than the time needed while using the usual saw. Bone healing was good and at no point were there any neurovascular disturbances. Conclusion The Piezosurgery® Device is useful for small long bone osteotomies. Using the fine tip enables curved cutting and provides an opportunity for new osteotomy techniques. As the device selectively cuts bone we feel that this device has great potential in the field of hand- and spinal surgery. PMID:16611362

Piezoelectric osteotomy in hand surgery: first experiences with a new technique

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kaenel Oliver Von

2006-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background In hand and spinal surgery nerve lesions are feared complications with the use of standard oscillating saws. Oral surgeons have started using a newly developed ultrasound bone scalpel when performing precise osteotomies. By using a frequency of 25–29 kHz only mineralized tissue is cut, sparing the soft tissue. This reduces the risk of nerve lesions. As there is a lack of experience with this technique in the field of orthopaedic bone surgery, we performed the first ultrasound osteotomy in hand surgery. Method While performing a correctional osteotomy of the 5th metacarpal bone we used the Piezosurgery® Device from Mectron [Italy] instead of the usual oscillating saw. We will report on our experience with one case, with a follow up time of one year. Results The cut was highly precise and there were no vibrations of the bone. The time needed for the operation was slightly longer than the time needed while using the usual saw. Bone healing was good and at no point were there any neurovascular disturbances. Conclusion The Piezosurgery® Device is useful for small long bone osteotomies. Using the fine tip enables curved cutting and provides an opportunity for new osteotomy techniques. As the device selectively cuts bone we feel that this device has great potential in the field of hand- and spinal surgery.

The Vacuum-Assisted Closure (VAC) device for hastened attachment of a superficial inferior-epigastric flap to third-degree burns on hand and fingers.

Science.gov (United States)

Weinand, Christian

2009-01-01

The vacuum-assisted closure (VAC) device has a wide range of clinical applications, including treatment of infected surgical wounds, traumatic wounds, pressure ulcers, wounds with exposed bone and hardware, diabetic foot ulcers, and venous stasis ulcers. Increased release of growth factors has been described, leading to improved vascularization and thereby formation of new tissue. The system is also used in burn surgery for reconstructive purposes. In this case report, a patient suffered from a third-degree burn injury to the dorsum of the hand with exposure of tendons, necessitating the use of a flap reconstruction. The patient was treated with a superficial inferior-epigastric artery-based flap and the VAC system was applied in a created glove-like shape. Hastened attachment of the flap onto the exposed fingers was observed after 4 days. The author reports on the additional use of the VAC system to hasten flap attachment in a patient with a burn injury to the dorsum of the hand.

Identification of Object Dynamics Using Hand Worn Motion and Force Sensors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Henk G. Kortier

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Emerging microelectromechanical system (MEMS-based sensors become much more applicable for on-body measurement purposes lately. Especially, the development of a finger tip-sized tri-axial force sensor gives the opportunity to measure interaction forces between the human hand and environmental objects. We have developed a new prototype device that allows simultaneous 3D force and movement measurements at the finger and thumb tips. The combination of interaction forces and movements makes it possible to identify the dynamical characteristics of the object being handled by the hand. With this device attached to the hand, a subject manipulated mass and spring objects under varying conditions. We were able to identify and estimate the weight of two physical mass objects (0.44 kg: 29 . 3 % ± 18 . 9 % and 0.28 kg: 19 . 7 % ± 10 . 6 % and the spring constant of a physical spring object ( 16 . 3 % ± 12 . 6 % . The system is a first attempt to quantify the interactions of the hand with the environment and has many potential applications in rehabilitation, ergonomics and sports.

Ultrasound stethoscopy

NARCIS (Netherlands)

E.C. Vourvouri (Eleni)

2002-01-01

textabstractIn this thesis we repmi the many evaluation studies with the hand-held ultrasound device in the assessment of different cardiac pathologies and in different clinical settings. The reason for using the tetm "ultrasound stethoscopy" is that these devices are augmenting our

Breaking new boundaries with microfluidics

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Land, K

2010-09-01

Full Text Available into components to be integrated into an HIV/Aids diagnostic device and the development of a hand-held diagnostic device to be utilised for environmental and human health applications and other health-related issues. In addition, work on the development...

Hand Motion-Based Remote Control Interface with Vibrotactile Feedback for Home Robots

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Juan Wu

2013-06-01

Full Text Available This paper presents the design and implementation of a hand-held interface system for the locomotion control of home robots. A handheld controller is proposed to implement hand motion recognition and hand motion-based robot control. The handheld controller can provide a ‘connect-and-play’ service for the users to control the home robot with visual and vibrotactile feedback. Six natural hand gestures are defined for navigating the home robots. A three-axis accelerometer is used to detect the hand motions of the user. The recorded acceleration data are analysed and classified to corresponding control commands according to their characteristic curves. A vibration motor is used to provide vibrotactile feedback to the user when an improper operation is performed. The performances of the proposed hand motion-based interface and the traditional keyboard and mouse interface have been compared in robot navigation experiments. The experimental results of home robot navigation show that the success rate of the handheld controller is 13.33% higher than the PC based controller. The precision of the handheld controller is 15.4% more than that of the PC and the execution time is 24.7% less than the PC based controller. This means that the proposed hand motion-based interface is more efficient and flexible.

Hand synergies: Integration of robotics and neuroscience for understanding the control of biological and artificial hands

Science.gov (United States)

Santello, Marco; Bianchi, Matteo; Gabiccini, Marco; Ricciardi, Emiliano; Salvietti, Gionata; Prattichizzo, Domenico; Ernst, Marc; Moscatelli, Alessandro; Jörntell, Henrik; Kappers, Astrid M. L.; Kyriakopoulos, Kostas; Albu-Schäffer, Alin; Castellini, Claudio; Bicchi, Antonio

2016-07-01

The term 'synergy' - from the Greek synergia - means 'working together'. The concept of multiple elements working together towards a common goal has been extensively used in neuroscience to develop theoretical frameworks, experimental approaches, and analytical techniques to understand neural control of movement, and for applications for neuro-rehabilitation. In the past decade, roboticists have successfully applied the framework of synergies to create novel design and control concepts for artificial hands, i.e., robotic hands and prostheses. At the same time, robotic research on the sensorimotor integration underlying the control and sensing of artificial hands has inspired new research approaches in neuroscience, and has provided useful instruments for novel experiments. The ambitious goal of integrating expertise and research approaches in robotics and neuroscience to study the properties and applications of the concept of synergies is generating a number of multidisciplinary cooperative projects, among which the recently finished 4-year European project ;The Hand Embodied; (THE). This paper reviews the main insights provided by this framework. Specifically, we provide an overview of neuroscientific bases of hand synergies and introduce how robotics has leveraged the insights from neuroscience for innovative design in hardware and controllers for biomedical engineering applications, including myoelectric hand prostheses, devices for haptics research, and wearable sensing of human hand kinematics. The review also emphasizes how this multidisciplinary collaboration has generated new ways to conceptualize a synergy-based approach for robotics, and provides guidelines and principles for analyzing human behavior and synthesizing artificial robotic systems based on a theory of synergies.

Hand synergies: Integration of robotics and neuroscience for understanding the control of biological and artificial hands

Science.gov (United States)

Santello, Marco; Bianchi, Matteo; Gabiccini, Marco; Ricciardi, Emiliano; Salvietti, Gionata; Prattichizzo, Domenico; Ernst, Marc; Moscatelli, Alessandro; Jörntell, Henrik; Kappers, Astrid M.L.; Kyriakopoulos, Kostas; Albu-Schäffer, Alin; Castellini, Claudio; Bicchi, Antonio

2017-01-01

The term ‘synergy’ – from the Greek synergia – means ‘working together’. The concept of multiple elements working together towards a common goal has been extensively used in neuroscience to develop theoretical frameworks, experimental approaches, and analytical techniques to understand neural control of movement, and for applications for neuro-rehabilitation. In the past decade, roboticists have successfully applied the framework of synergies to create novel design and control concepts for artificial hands, i.e., robotic hands and prostheses. At the same time, robotic research on the sensorimotor integration underlying the control and sensing of artificial hands has inspired new research approaches in neuroscience, and has provided useful instruments for novel experiments. The ambitious goal of integrating expertise and research approaches in robotics and neuroscience to study the properties and applications of the concept of synergies is generating a number of multidisciplinary cooperative projects, among which the recently finished 4-year European project “The Hand Embodied” (THE). This paper reviews the main insights provided by this framework. Specifically, we provide an overview of neuroscientific bases of hand synergies and introduce how robotics has leveraged the insights from neuroscience for innovative design in hardware and controllers for biomedical engineering applications, including myoelectric hand prostheses, devices for haptics research, and wearable sensing of human hand kinematics. The review also emphasizes how this multidisciplinary collaboration has generated new ways to conceptualize a synergy-based approach for robotics, and provides guidelines and principles for analyzing human behavior and synthesizing artificial robotic systems based on a theory of synergies. PMID:26923030

Hand synergies: Integration of robotics and neuroscience for understanding the control of biological and artificial hands.

Science.gov (United States)

Santello, Marco; Bianchi, Matteo; Gabiccini, Marco; Ricciardi, Emiliano; Salvietti, Gionata; Prattichizzo, Domenico; Ernst, Marc; Moscatelli, Alessandro; Jörntell, Henrik; Kappers, Astrid M L; Kyriakopoulos, Kostas; Albu-Schäffer, Alin; Castellini, Claudio; Bicchi, Antonio

2016-07-01

The term 'synergy' - from the Greek synergia - means 'working together'. The concept of multiple elements working together towards a common goal has been extensively used in neuroscience to develop theoretical frameworks, experimental approaches, and analytical techniques to understand neural control of movement, and for applications for neuro-rehabilitation. In the past decade, roboticists have successfully applied the framework of synergies to create novel design and control concepts for artificial hands, i.e., robotic hands and prostheses. At the same time, robotic research on the sensorimotor integration underlying the control and sensing of artificial hands has inspired new research approaches in neuroscience, and has provided useful instruments for novel experiments. The ambitious goal of integrating expertise and research approaches in robotics and neuroscience to study the properties and applications of the concept of synergies is generating a number of multidisciplinary cooperative projects, among which the recently finished 4-year European project "The Hand Embodied" (THE). This paper reviews the main insights provided by this framework. Specifically, we provide an overview of neuroscientific bases of hand synergies and introduce how robotics has leveraged the insights from neuroscience for innovative design in hardware and controllers for biomedical engineering applications, including myoelectric hand prostheses, devices for haptics research, and wearable sensing of human hand kinematics. The review also emphasizes how this multidisciplinary collaboration has generated new ways to conceptualize a synergy-based approach for robotics, and provides guidelines and principles for analyzing human behavior and synthesizing artificial robotic systems based on a theory of synergies. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A Magnetic Resonance Compatible Soft Wearable Robotic Glove for Hand Rehabilitation and Brain Imaging.

Science.gov (United States)

Hong Kai Yap; Kamaldin, Nazir; Jeong Hoon Lim; Nasrallah, Fatima A; Goh, James Cho Hong; Chen-Hua Yeow

2017-06-01

In this paper, we present the design, fabrication and evaluation of a soft wearable robotic glove, which can be used with functional Magnetic Resonance imaging (fMRI) during the hand rehabilitation and task specific training. The soft wearable robotic glove, called MR-Glove, consists of two major components: a) a set of soft pneumatic actuators and b) a glove. The soft pneumatic actuators, which are made of silicone elastomers, generate bending motion and actuate finger joints upon pressurization. The device is MR-compatible as it contains no ferromagnetic materials and operates pneumatically. Our results show that the device did not cause artifacts to fMRI images during hand rehabilitation and task-specific exercises. This study demonstrated the possibility of using fMRI and MR-compatible soft wearable robotic device to study brain activities and motor performances during hand rehabilitation, and to unravel the functional effects of rehabilitation robotics on brain stimulation.

Hand sanitizer-dispensing door handles increase hand hygiene compliance: a pilot study.

Science.gov (United States)

Babiarz, Lukasz S; Savoie, Brent; McGuire, Mark; McConnell, Lauren; Nagy, Paul

2014-04-01

Improving rates of hand hygiene compliance (HHC) has been shown to reduce nosocomial disease. We compared the HHC for a traditional wall-mounted unit and a novel sanitizer-dispensing door handle device in a hospital inpatient ultrasound area. HHC increased 24.5%-77.1% (P sanitizer-dispensing door handle, whereas it remained unchanged for the other rooms. Technical improvements like a sanitizer-dispensing door handle can improve hospital HHC. Copyright © 2014 Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

Device Stores and Discharges Metered Fluid

Science.gov (United States)

Hooper, S. L.; Setzer, D.

1983-01-01

Hand-held container accepts measured amount of liquid from pressurized supply. Supply pressure drives spring-loaded piston that stores enough mechanical energy to discharge measured liquid into another container. Original application of container was to rehydrate sterilized pre-packaged food in zerogravity environment of space vehicles. Possible terrestrial applicatios include dispensing of toxic fluids or metering of fluids for household, commercial or laboratory uses.

New technology markedly improves hand-hygiene performance among healthcare workers after restroom visits.

Science.gov (United States)

Møller-Sørensen, H; Korshin, A; Mogensen, T; Høiby, N

2016-04-01

The risks to patients from pathogens present on healthcare workers' (HCWs') hands are high; however, compliance with hand hygiene among HCWs is low. We devised a prospective intervention trial of a new hand-hygiene dispensing technology to improve HCWs' compliance with hand hygiene. Baseline hand-hygiene compliance was observed for three months before and after an intervention consisting of implementation of an electronic device that reminds people to comply with hand hygiene after restroom visits. Compliance in hand-hygiene performance after restroom visits increased among HCWs from 66% to 91% after the intervention. Copyright © 2016 The Healthcare Infection Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Design of a 3D printed lightweight orthotic device based on twisted and coiled polymer muscle: iGrab hand orthosis

Science.gov (United States)

Saharan, Lokesh; Sharma, Ashvath; Jung de Andrade, Monica; Baughman, Ray H.; Tadesse, Yonas

2017-04-01

Partial or total upper extremity impairment affects the quality of life of a vast number of people due to stroke, neuromuscular disease, or trauma. Many researchers have presented hand orthosis to address the needs of rehabilitation or assistance on upper extremity function. Most of the devices available commercially and in literature are powered by conventional actuators such as DC motors, servomotors or pneumatic actuators. Some prototypes are developed based on shape memory alloy (SMA) and dielectric elastomers (DE). This study presents a customizable, 3D printed, a lightweight exoskeleton (iGrab) based on recently reported Twisted and Coiled Polymer (TCP) muscles, which are lightweight, provide high power to weight ratio and large stroke. We used silver coated nylon 6, 6 threads to make the TCP muscles, which can be easily actuated electrothermally. We reviewed briefly hand orthosis created with various actuation technologies and present our design of tendon-driven exoskeleton with the muscles confined in the forearm area. A single muscle is used to facilitate the motion of all three joints namely DIP (Distal interphalangeal), PIP (Proximal Interphalangeal) and MCP (Metacarpophalangeal) using passive tendons though circular rings. The grasping capabilities, along with TCP muscle properties utilized in the design such as life cycle, actuation under load and power inputs are discussed.

Nanolithography for oxide nanoarrays and their application in medical devices

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Luttge, R.; Teherani, F.H.; Look, D.C.; Litton, C.W.; Rogers, D.J.

2010-01-01

Using lithographic patterning techniques, normally we aim for the integration of structural elements into a more complex apparatus, which can be at various length scales, for example hand-held equipment. Nanoscale fabricated pillars, holes or wires have shown unique properties already and ordering

Mapping and Scheduling of Directed Acyclic Graphs on An FPFA Tile

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Guo, Y.; Smit, Gerardus Johannes Maria

2002-01-01

An architecture for a hand-held multimedia device requires components that are energy-efficient, flexible, and provide high performance. In the CHAMELEON [4] project we develop a coarse grained reconfigurable device for DSP-like algorithms, the so-called Field Programmable Function Array (FPFA). The

Hands in space: gesture interaction with augmented-reality interfaces.

Science.gov (United States)

Billinghurst, Mark; Piumsomboon, Tham; Huidong Bai

2014-01-01

Researchers at the Human Interface Technology Laboratory New Zealand (HIT Lab NZ) are investigating free-hand gestures for natural interaction with augmented-reality interfaces. They've applied the results to systems for desktop computers and mobile devices.

Geosciences Information for Teachers (GIFT) Workshops held in Conjunction with Alexander von Humboldt (AvH) EGU Conferences

Science.gov (United States)

Laj, Carlo; Cifelli, Francesca

2015-04-01

The Alexander von Humboldt Conference Series of the European Geosciences Union are a series of meetings held outside of Europe, in particular in South America, Africa or Asia, on selected topics of geosciences with a socio-economic impact for regions on these continents, jointly organised with the scientists and their institutes and the institutions of these regions. Given the increasing success of the GIFT workshops held in conjunction with the General Assemblies, since 2010 EGU has also developed a series of GIFT workshops held in conjunction with AvH conferences. Associated GIFT workshops were held in Merida, Yucatan, on the theme of Climate Change, Natural Hazards and Societies (March 2010), then in Penang, Malaysia (June 2011) on the theme of Ocean Acidification, in November 2012 in Cusco (Peru) on the theme of Natural Disasters, Global Change and the Preservation of World Heritage Sites, finally in Istanbul (March 2014) on "High Impact Natural Hazards Related to the Euro-Mediterranean Region. The next GIFT workshop is already planned for October 2015 in Adis Ababa (Ethiopia) on the theme "Water". In each case, the GIFT workshop was held on the last two days of the AvH conference and reunited 40-45 teachers from the nation where the AvH was held. Keynote speakers from AvH were speakers to the GIFT workshops which also included hands-on activities animated by sciences educators. These GIFT workshops represented the first workshops specifically aimed at teachers held in the country, and therefore represents a significant Earth Sciences contribution to secondary education in non European countries.

An afterloading brachytherapy device utilizing thermoplastic material

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, T.H.; Gerbi, J.B.; Deibel, F.C.; Khan, F.M.; Priest, J.R.

1989-01-01

An afterloading brachytherapy device for treatment of residual cancer in an enucleated orbit with two cesium-137 sources was designed using a thermoplastic material, Aquaplast. The device consists of a face-mask support held in place with elastic bands around the head and an acrylic afterloading applicator. The device is very easy to make, holds the sources firmly in place, allows full mobility of the patient, and gives excellent dose distribution to the target area. It was easily tolerated by a 7-year-old child during the 50 h of treatment. (author). 3 refs.; 4 figs

Use of Electronic Hand-held Devices for Collection of Savannah River Site Environmental Data - 13329

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Marberry, Hugh [SRNS Savannah River Site 730-4B Room 3043 Aiken, SC 29808 (United States); Moore, Winston [SRNS Savannah River Site 735B Room 116 Aiken, SC 29808 (United States)

2013-07-01

Savannah River Nuclear Solutions has begun using Xplore Tablet PC's to collect data in the field for soil samples, groundwater samples, air samples and round sheets at the Savannah River Site (SRS). EPA guidelines for groundwater sampling are incorporated into the application to ensure the sample technician follows the proper protocol. The sample technician is guided through the process for sampling and round sheet data collection by a series of menus and input boxes. Field measurements and well stabilization information are entered into the tablet for uploading into Environmental Restoration Data Management System (ERDMS). The process helps to eliminate input errors and provides data integrity. A soil sample technician has the ability to collect information about location of sample, field parameter, describe the soil sample, print bottle labels, and print chain of custody for the sample that they have collected. An air sample technician has the ability to provide flow, pressure, hours of operation, print bottle labels and chain of custody for samples they collect. Round sheets are collected using the information provided in the various procedures. The data are collected and uploaded into ERDMS. The equipment used is weather proof and hardened for the field use. Global Positioning System (GPS) capabilities are integrated into the applications to provide the location where samples were collected and to help sample technicians locate wells that are not visited often. (authors)

Microgravity Cell Counter: A Simple Hand-held Low-cost Device for In-flight WBC/Differential

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — The ability to monitor hematology parameters during spaceflight is currently an unmet medical requirement (NASA-STD-3001). This project evaluated a DNA stain/CCD...

Use of Electronic Hand-held Devices for Collection of Savannah River Site Environmental Data - 13329

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marberry, Hugh; Moore, Winston

2013-01-01

Savannah River Nuclear Solutions has begun using Xplore Tablet PC's to collect data in the field for soil samples, groundwater samples, air samples and round sheets at the Savannah River Site (SRS). EPA guidelines for groundwater sampling are incorporated into the application to ensure the sample technician follows the proper protocol. The sample technician is guided through the process for sampling and round sheet data collection by a series of menus and input boxes. Field measurements and well stabilization information are entered into the tablet for uploading into Environmental Restoration Data Management System (ERDMS). The process helps to eliminate input errors and provides data integrity. A soil sample technician has the ability to collect information about location of sample, field parameter, describe the soil sample, print bottle labels, and print chain of custody for the sample that they have collected. An air sample technician has the ability to provide flow, pressure, hours of operation, print bottle labels and chain of custody for samples they collect. Round sheets are collected using the information provided in the various procedures. The data are collected and uploaded into ERDMS. The equipment used is weather proof and hardened for the field use. Global Positioning System (GPS) capabilities are integrated into the applications to provide the location where samples were collected and to help sample technicians locate wells that are not visited often. (authors)

Florida DOT Orlando ITS World Congress Vehicle Awareness Device

Data.gov (United States)

Department of Transportation — Florida DOT (FDOT) installed Vehicle Awareness Devices (VADs) on a set of Lynx transit buses as part of a demonstration for the ITS World Congress held in Orlando in...

Slingram EMI prospection: Are vertical orientated devices a suitable solution in archaeological and pedological prospection?

Science.gov (United States)

Thiesson, Julien; Rousselle, Gabrielle; Simon, François Xavier; Tabbagh, Alain

2011-12-01

Electromagnetic induction (EMI) is one of the geophysical techniques widely used in soil studies, the slingram devices being held horizontally over the soil surface, i.e. with the coils located at the same height above the ground surface. Our study aims assessing the abilities of slingram devices when held vertically. 1D and 3D modelling have been achieved in order to compare the theoretical responses of vertical devices to the horizontal ones. Some comparative surveys were also undertaken in archaeological contexts to confirm the reliability of theoretical conclusions. Both approaches show that vertical slingram devices are suitable for survey and can constitute an alternative to the usual horizontal orientation. We give a table in Appendix A which contains the calibration coefficient allowing transforming of the values given by some of commercially available devices which would be advantageous to use in vertical orientation

Search for right-handed currents in muon decay

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carr, J.; Gidal, G.; Gobbi, B.

1983-04-01

We report new limits on right-handed currents, based on precise measurement of the endpoint of the e + spectrum from μ + decay. Highly polarized μ + from the TRIUMF surface beam were stopped in pure metal foils within either an 1.1-T spin-holding longitudinal field, or a 70-gauss spin-precessing transverse field. Decay e + emitted within 200 mrad of the beam direction were momentum-analyzed to +-0.2%. For the spin-held data, decay via (V-A) currents requires the e + rate to approach zero in the beam direction at the endpoint. Measurement of this rate sets the 90% confidence limits xi P/sub μ/delta/rho > 0.9959 and M(W/sub R/) > 380 GeV, where W/sub R/ is the possible right-handed gauge boson. For the spin-precessed data we independently determine a 90% confidence limit xi P/sub μ/delta/rho > 0.9918. 18 references

CAS Accelerator Physics held in Erice, Italy

CERN Multimedia

CERN Accelerator School

2013-01-01

The CERN Accelerator School (CAS) recently organised a specialised course on Superconductivity for Accelerators, held at the Ettore Majorana Foundation and Centre for Scientific Culture in Erice, Italy from 24 April-4 May, 2013.   Photo courtesy of Alessandro Noto, Ettore Majorana Foundation and Centre for Scientific Culture. Following a handful of summary lectures on accelerator physics and the fundamental processes of superconductivity, the course covered a wide range of topics related to superconductivity and highlighted the latest developments in the field. Realistic case studies and topical seminars completed the programme. The school was very successful with 94 participants representing 23 nationalities, coming from countries as far away as Belorussia, Canada, China, India, Japan and the United States (for the first time a young Ethiopian lady, studying in Germany, attended this course). The programme comprised 35 lectures, 3 seminars and 7 hours of case study. The case studies were p...

Proceedings of the Japan-U.S. workshop P-118 on vacuum technologies for fusion devices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Miyahara, A.

1989-01-01

Fusion community does not appreciate vacuum technologies to the same extent as accelerator community does. This is because, in the case of accelerators, in particular storage ring systems, the requirement of attaining ultrahigh vacuum in order to avoid collisional loss is well defined, on the other hand, it is not possible to define the requirement so precisely in the case of fusion devices. One of the reasons is that core plasma interacts with vessel wall so strongly and unpredictably that it becomes difficult to identify the role played by individual components. However, in the next step and the next generation machines like CIT, LHS, ITER, FER and NET, vacuum technologies would play more significant roles, because the CIT will introduce tritium in a vacuum vessel, and the aim of the ITER project is to demonstrate particle balance, namely, to achieve steady state operation with D-T fuel. The Japan-U.S. workshop P-118 was held at the Institute of Plasma Physics, Nagoya University, from August 1 to 5, 1988. 33 participants including 4 from the U.S. took part in the workshop. In the plenary session, 12 lectures were given, and also the topics-oriented session on pumping, gauging, remote maintenance, first wall, pump limiter, divertor and others was held. (K.I.)

Improving hand sensibility in vibration induced neuropathy: A case-series

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lundborg Göran

2011-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Objectives We report a long-term series of nine workers suffering from vibration-induced neuropathy, after many years of exposure to hand-held vibrating tools at high or low frequency. They were treated with temporary selective cutaneous anaesthesia (EMLA® cream of the forearm repeatedly for a period up to one year (in two cases four years. The aim was to improve their capacity to perceive touch and thereby improve hand function and diminish disability. The treatment principle is based on current concepts of brain plasticity, where a deafferentation of a skin area results in improved sensory function in adjacent skin areas. Methods All participants had sensory hand problems in terms of numbness (median touch thresholds > 70 mg and impaired hand function influencing ADL (mean DASH score 22. After an initial identical self-administered treatment period of 8 weeks (12-15 treatments with increasing intervals they did one treatment every 2-3 month. Results After one year sensibility (touch thresholds and tactile discrimination as well as hand function (mean DASH score 13 were improved in a majority of the cases. Seven of the participants choose to continue the treatment after the first year and two of them have continued at a regular basis for up to four years. A surprising, secondary finding was diminishing nocturnal numbness of the hand and arm in eight of the nine subjects from "frequently" to "hardly ever or never". Conclusions Our observations open new perspectives for treatment of impaired sensibility and hand function in a group of patients with vibration induced hand problems where we have no treatment to offer today.

A real-time vision-based hand gesture interaction system for virtual EAST

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, K.R.; Xiao, B.J.; Xia, J.Y.; Li, Dan; Luo, W.L.

2016-01-01

Highlights: • Hand gesture interaction is first introduced to EAST model interaction. • We can interact with EAST model by a bared hand and a web camera. • We can interact with EAST model with a distance to screen. • Interaction is free, direct and effective. - Abstract: The virtual Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak device (VEAST) is a very complicated 3D model, to interact with which, the traditional interaction devices are limited and inefficient. However, with the development of human-computer interaction (HCI), the hand gesture interaction has become a much popular choice in recent years. In this paper, we propose a real-time vision-based hand gesture interaction system for VEAST. By using one web camera, we can use our bare hand to interact with VEAST at a certain distance, which proves to be more efficient and direct than mouse. The system is composed of four modules: initialization, hand gesture recognition, interaction control and system settings. The hand gesture recognition method is based on codebook (CB) background modeling and open finger counting. Firstly, we build a background model with CB algorithm. Then, we segment the hand region by detecting skin color regions with “elliptical boundary model” in CbCr flat of YCbCr color space. Open finger which is used as a key feature of gesture can be tracked by an improved curvature-based method. Based on the method, we define nine gestures for interaction control of VEAST. Finally, we design a test to demonstrate effectiveness of our system.

A real-time vision-based hand gesture interaction system for virtual EAST

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wang, K.R., E-mail: wangkr@mail.ustc.edu.cn [Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei, Anhui (China); University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui (China); Xiao, B.J.; Xia, J.Y. [Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei, Anhui (China); University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui (China); Li, Dan [Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei, Anhui (China); Luo, W.L. [709th Research Institute, Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (China)

2016-11-15

Highlights: • Hand gesture interaction is first introduced to EAST model interaction. • We can interact with EAST model by a bared hand and a web camera. • We can interact with EAST model with a distance to screen. • Interaction is free, direct and effective. - Abstract: The virtual Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak device (VEAST) is a very complicated 3D model, to interact with which, the traditional interaction devices are limited and inefficient. However, with the development of human-computer interaction (HCI), the hand gesture interaction has become a much popular choice in recent years. In this paper, we propose a real-time vision-based hand gesture interaction system for VEAST. By using one web camera, we can use our bare hand to interact with VEAST at a certain distance, which proves to be more efficient and direct than mouse. The system is composed of four modules: initialization, hand gesture recognition, interaction control and system settings. The hand gesture recognition method is based on codebook (CB) background modeling and open finger counting. Firstly, we build a background model with CB algorithm. Then, we segment the hand region by detecting skin color regions with “elliptical boundary model” in CbCr flat of YCbCr color space. Open finger which is used as a key feature of gesture can be tracked by an improved curvature-based method. Based on the method, we define nine gestures for interaction control of VEAST. Finally, we design a test to demonstrate effectiveness of our system.

Dark localized structures in a cavity filled with a left-handed material

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tlidi, Mustapha; Kockaert, Pascal; Gelens, Lendert

2011-01-01

We consider a nonlinear passive optical cavity filled with left-handed and right-handed materials and driven by a coherent injected beam. We assume that both left-handed and right-handed materials possess a Kerr focusing type of nonlinearity. We show that close to the zero-diffraction regime, high-order diffraction allows us to stabilize dark localized structures in this device. These structures consist of dips in the transverse profile of the intracavity field and do not exist without high-order diffraction. We analyze the snaking bifurcation diagram associated with these structures. Finally, a realistic estimation of the model parameters is provided.

3D TCAD Simulation for Semiconductor Processes, Devices and Optoelectronics

CERN Document Server

Li, Simon

2012-01-01

Technology computer-aided design, or TCAD, is critical to today’s semiconductor technology and anybody working in this industry needs to know something about TCAD.  This book is about how to use computer software to manufacture and test virtually semiconductor devices in 3D.  It brings to life the topic of semiconductor device physics, with a hands-on, tutorial approach that de-emphasizes abstract physics and equations and emphasizes real practice and extensive illustrations.  Coverage includes a comprehensive library of devices, representing the state of the art technology, such as SuperJunction LDMOS, GaN LED devices, etc. Provides a vivid, internal view of semiconductor devices, through 3D TCAD simulation; Includes comprehensive coverage of  TCAD simulations for both optic and electronic devices, from nano-scale to high-voltage high-power devices; Presents material in a hands-on, tutorial fashion so that industry practitioners will find maximum utility; Includes a comprehensive library of devices, re...

Healthcare personnel perceptions of hand hygiene monitoring technology.

Science.gov (United States)

Ellingson, Katherine; Polgreen, Philip M; Schneider, Amy; Shinkunas, Laura; Kaldjian, Lauris C; Wright, Donald; Thomas, Geb W; Segre, Alberto M; Herman, Ted; McDonald, L Clifford; Sinkowitz-Cochran, Ronda

2011-11-01

To assess healthcare personnel (HCP) perceptions regarding implementation of sensor-based electronic systems for automated hand hygiene adherence monitoring. Using a mixed-methods approach, structured focus groups were designed to elicit quantitative and qualitative responses on familiarity, comfort level, and perceived impact of sensor-based hand hygiene adherence monitoring. A university hospital, a Veterans Affairs hospital, and a community hospital in the Midwest. Focus groups were homogenous by HCP type, with separate groups held for leadership, midlevel management, and frontline personnel at each hospital. Overall, 89 HCP participated in 10 focus groups. Levels of familiarity and comfort with electronic oversight technology varied by HCP type; when compared with frontline HCP, those in leadership positions were significantly more familiar with ([Formula: see text]) and more comfortable with ([Formula: see text]) the technology. The most common concerns cited by participants across groups included lack of accuracy in the data produced, such as the inability of the technology to assess the situational context of hand hygiene opportunities, and the potential punitive use of data produced. Across groups, HCP had decreased tolerance for electronic collection of spatial-temporal data, describing such oversight as Big Brother. While substantial concerns were expressed by all types of HCP, participants' recommendations for effective implementation of electronic oversight technologies for hand hygiene monitoring included addressing accuracy issues before implementation and transparent communication with frontline HCP about the intended use of the data.

Augmented Reality and Mobile Art

Science.gov (United States)

Gwilt, Ian

The combined notions of augmented-reality (AR) and mobile art are based on the amalgamation of a number of enabling technologies including computer imaging, emergent display and tracking systems and the increased computing-power in hand-held devices such as Tablet PCs, smart phones, or personal digital assistants (PDAs) which have been utilized in the making of works of art. There is much published research on the technical aspects of AR and the ongoing work being undertaken in the development of faster more efficient AR systems [1] [2]. In this text I intend to concentrate on how AR and its associated typologies can be applied in the context of new media art practices, with particular reference to its application on hand-held or mobile devices.

Manual muscle testing and hand-held dynamometry in people with inflammatory myopathy: An intra- and interrater reliability and validity study.

Science.gov (United States)

Baschung Pfister, Pierrette; de Bruin, Eling D; Sterkele, Iris; Maurer, Britta; de Bie, Rob A; Knols, Ruud H

2018-01-01

Manual muscle testing (MMT) and hand-held dynamometry (HHD) are commonly used in people with inflammatory myopathy (IM), but their clinimetric properties have not yet been sufficiently studied. To evaluate the reliability and validity of MMT and HHD, maximum isometric strength was measured in eight muscle groups across three measurement events. To evaluate reliability of HHD, intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC), the standard error of measurements (SEM) and smallest detectable changes (SDC) were calculated. To measure reliability of MMT linear Cohen`s Kappa was computed for single muscle groups and ICC for total score. Additionally, correlations between MMT8 and HHD were evaluated with Spearman Correlation Coefficients. Fifty people with myositis (56±14 years, 76% female) were included in the study. Intra-and interrater reliability of HHD yielded excellent ICCs (0.75-0.97) for all muscle groups, except for interrater reliability of ankle extension (0.61). The corresponding SEMs% ranged from 8 to 28% and the SDCs% from 23 to 65%. MMT8 total score revealed excellent intra-and interrater reliability (ICC>0.9). Intrarater reliability of single muscle groups was substantial for shoulder and hip abduction, elbow and neck flexion, and hip extension (0.64-0.69); moderate for wrist (0.53) and knee extension (0.49) and fair for ankle extension (0.35). Interrater reliability was moderate for neck flexion (0.54) and hip abduction (0.44); fair for shoulder abduction, elbow flexion, wrist and ankle extension (0.20-0.33); and slight for knee extension (0.08). Correlations between the two tests were low for wrist, knee, ankle, and hip extension; moderate for elbow flexion, neck flexion and hip abduction; and good for shoulder abduction. In conclusion, the MMT8 total score is a reliable assessment to consider general muscle weakness in people with myositis but not for single muscle groups. In contrast, our results confirm that HHD can be recommended to evaluate strength of

[Functional magnetic resonance imaging. What are the benefits expected in hand surgery?].

Science.gov (United States)

Moutet, F; Delon-Martin, C; Martin, O; Sirigu, A; Delaquaize, F; Benali, H; Masquelet, A-C

2013-06-01

Functional MRI (fMRI) allowed considerable advances upon understanding of cerebral functioning. Cortical plasticity, which allows the voluntary command of a restored function by a transferred muscle remains to be investigated in its intimacy. The authors present here the round table held at the 48th annual meeting of the French Society for Surgery of the Hand on December 22nd, 2012. It tries to review the analysis of the phenomenon observed during multiple tendinous transfers for restoration of proximal radial nerve palsy. Were successively approached: 1) Methods of acquisition and analysis of the signals (C. D-M.); 2) Movement reorganization (O.M.); 3) Motor plasticity after hand allograft (A. S.); 4) The potential interest of the fMRI in hand rehabilitation (F. D.); 5) The analysis of cerebral plasticity in general (H. B.). A rather philosophical conclusion opens other fields to f MRI (A.M.). Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

RFID and Memory Devices Fabricated Integrally on Substrates

Science.gov (United States)

Schramm, Harry F.

2004-01-01

the deposition of the device. By use of a vacuum arc vapor deposition apparatus, a thin electrically insulating film would first be deposited on the substrate. Subsequent layers of materials would then be deposited and patterned by use of known integrated-circuit fabrication techniques. The total thickness of the deposited layers could be much less than the 100- m thickness of the thinnest state-of-the-art self-contained microchips. Such a thin deposit could be readily concealed by simply painting over it. Both large vacuum chambers for production runs and portable hand-held devices for in situ applications are available.

Mathematical modelling of a hand crank generator for powering lower-limb exoskeletons

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ashish Singla

2016-09-01

Full Text Available With advances in technology and ageing societal concerns growing, personal care devices are gaining importance globally. One such area is lower-limb exoskeletons, used to assist persons to move around for normal daily living. Most of the commercially available assistive exoskeletons use rechargeable Li-ion batteries, which require frequent charging to meet the operational needs. Charging becomes a problem when a person relying on a mobility exoskeleton has to go outdoors for shopping or a leisure walk. Experimental data from on-going research to develop assistive mobility exoskeletons for elderly persons indicates that, the power required for exoskeletons is around 45–60 W which falls in the output range of hand-crank generators. So use of hand-crank generators as a charging source is discussed. In this work, we develop a mathematical model to investigate the potential of hand-crank devices in charging mobility exoskeletons and to give relation between input cranking speed and output charging power, and estimate the cranking time.

Consumers' Use of Personal Electronic Devices in the Kitchen.

Science.gov (United States)

Lando, Amy M; Bazaco, Michael C; Chen, Yi

2018-02-23

Smartphones, tablets, and other personal electronic devices have become ubiquitous in Americans' daily lives. These devices are used by people throughout the day, including while preparing food. For example, a device may be used to look at recipes and therefore be touched multiple times during food preparation. Previous research has indicated that cell phones can harbor bacteria, including opportunistic human pathogens such as Staphylococcus and Klebsiella spp. This investigation was conducted with data from the 2016 Food Safety Survey (FSS) and from subsequent focus groups to determine the frequency with which consumers use personal electronic devices in the kitchen while preparing food, the types of devices used, and hand washing behaviors after handling these devices. The 2016 FSS is the seventh wave of a repeated cross-sectional survey conducted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The goal of the FSS is to evaluate U.S. adult consumer attitudes, behaviors, and knowledge about food safety. The FSS included 4,169 adults that were contacted using a dual-frame (land line and cell phone interviews) random-digit-dial sampling process. The personal electronics module was the first of three food safety topics discussed by each of eight consumer focus groups, which were convened in four U.S. cities in fall 2016. Results from the 2016 FSS revealed that of those individuals who use personal electronic devices while cooking, only about one third reported washing hands after touching the device and before continuing cooking. This proportion is significantly lower than that for self-reported hand washing behaviors after touching risky food products such as raw eggs, meat, chicken, or fish. Results from the focus groups highlight the varied usage of these devices during food preparation and the related strategies consumers are using to incorporate personal electric devices into their cooking routines.

Prototype of sun projector device

Science.gov (United States)

Ihsan; Dermawan, B.

2016-11-01

One way to introduce astronomy to public, including students, can be handled by solar observation. The widely held device for this purpose is coelostat and heliostat. Besides using filter attached to a device such as telescope, it is safest to use indirect way for observing the Sun. The main principle of the indirect way is deflecting the sun light and projecting image of the sun on a screen. We design and build a simple and low-cost astronomical device, serving as a supplement to increase public service, especially for solar observation. Without using any digital and intricate supporting equipment, people can watch and relish image of the Sun in comfortable condition, i.e. in a sheltered or shady place. Here we describe a design and features of our prototype of the device, which still, of course, has some limitations. In the future, this prototype can be improved for more efficient and useful applications.

Tactile Feedback for Above-Device Gesture Interfaces

OpenAIRE

Freeman, Euan; Brewster, Stephen; Lantz, Vuokko

2014-01-01

Above-device gesture interfaces let people interact in the space above mobile devices using hand and finger movements. For example, users could gesture over a mobile phone or wearable without having to use the touchscreen. We look at how above-device interfaces can also give feedback in the space over the device. Recent haptic and wearable technologies give new ways to provide tactile feedback while gesturing, letting touchless gesture interfaces give touch feedback. In this paper we take a f...

Concept for a large master/slave-controlled robotic hand

Science.gov (United States)

Grissom, William A.; Abdallah, Mahmoud A.; White, Carl L.

1988-01-01

A strategy is presented for the design and construction of a large master/slave-controlled, five-finger robotic hand. Each of the five fingers will possess four independent axes each driven by a brushless DC servomotor and, thus, four degrees-of-freedom. It is proposed that commercially available components be utilized as much as possible to fabricate a working laboratory model of the device with an anticipated overall length of two-to-four feet (0.6 to 1.2 m). The fingers are to be designed so that proximity, tactile, or force/torque sensors can be imbedded in their structure. In order to provide for the simultaneous control of the twenty independent hand joints, a multilevel master/slave control strategy is proposed in which the operator wears a specially instrumented glove which produces control signals corresponding to the finger configurations and which is capable of conveying sensor feedback signals to the operator. Two dexterous hand master devices are currently commercially available for this application with both undergoing continuing development. A third approach to be investigated for the master control mode is the use of real-time image processing of a specially patterned master glove to provide the respective control signals for positioning the multiple finger joints.

Preliminary evaluation of SensHand V1 in assessing motor skills performance in Parkinson disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Cavallo, Filippo; Esposito, Dario; Rovini, Erika; Aquilano, Michela; Carrozza, Maria Chiara; Dario, Paolo; Maremmani, Carlo; Bongioanni, Paolo

2013-06-01

Nowadays, the increasing old population 65+ as well as the pace imposed by work activities lead to a high number of people that have particular injuries for limbs. In addition to persistent or temporary disabilities related to accidental injuries we must take into account that part of the population suffers from motor deficits of the hands due to stroke or diseases of various clinical nature. The most recurrent technological solutions to measure the rehabilitation or skill motor performance of the hand are glove-based devices, able to faithfully capture the movements of the hand and fingers. This paper presents a system for hand motion analysis based on 9-axis complete inertial modules and dedicated microcontroller which are fixed on fingers and forearm. The technological solution presented is able to track the patients' hand motions in real-time and then to send data through wireless communication reducing the clutter and the disadvantages of a glove equipped with sensors through a different technological structure. The device proposed has been tested in the study of Parkinson's disease.

Italian chapter of the International Society of cardiovascular ultrasound expert consensus document on training requirements for noncardiologists using hand-carried ultrasound devices.

Science.gov (United States)

Pelliccia, Francesco; Palmiero, Pasquale; Maiello, Maria; Losi, Maria-Angela

2012-07-01

Hand-carried ultrasound devices (HCDs), also named personal use echo, are pocket-size, compact, and battery-equipped echocardiographic systems. They have limited technical capabilities but offer some advantages compared with standard echocardiographic devices due to their simplicity of use, immediate availability at the patient's bedside, transportability, and relatively low cost. Current HCDs are considered as screening tools and are used to complement the physical examination by cardiologists. Many noncardiologic subspecialists, however, have adopted this technologic advancement rapidly raising the concern of an inappropriate use of HCD by health professionals who do not have any specific training. In keeping with the mission of the International Society of Cardiovascular Ultrasound to advance the science and art of cardiovascular ultrasound and encourage the knowledge of this subject, the purpose of this Expert Consensus document is to focus on the training for all health care professionals considering the use of HCD. Accordingly, this paper summarizes general aspects of HCD, such as technical characteristics and clinical indications, and then details the specific training requirements for noncardiologists (i.e., training program, minimum case load, duration, and certification of competence). © 2012, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Acoustic inspection device

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Diaz, Aaron A.; Burghard, Brion J.; Skorpik, James R.; Pappas, Richard A.; Mullen, O. Dennis; Samuel, Todd J.; Reid, Larry D.; Harris, Joe C.; Valencia, Juan D.; Smalley, Jonathan T.; Shepard, Chester L.; Taylor, Theodore T.

2005-09-06

An ultrasound inspection apparatus particularly adapted to examine containers (sealed or unsealed) containing a liquid or solid bulk material. The apparatus has an overall configuration of a hand held pistol with a front transducer contact surface that is positioned against a front wall of the container. An ultrasound pulse is transmitted from the apparatus to be reflected from a back wall of a container being investigated. The received echo pulse is converted to a digital waveform. The waveform is analyzed relative to temperature, travel distance of the pulse(s), and time of travel to ascertain characteristics of the liquid or other materials and to provide identification of the same.

Multilayer Approach for Advanced Hybrid Lithium Battery

KAUST Repository

Ming, Jun; Li, Mengliu; Kumar, Pushpendra; Li, Lain-Jong

2016-01-01

Conventional intercalated rechargeable batteries have shown their capacity limit, and the development of an alternative battery system with higher capacity is strongly needed for sustainable electrical vehicles and hand-held devices. Herein, we

Mechanical design of a shape memory alloy actuated prosthetic hand.

Science.gov (United States)

De Laurentis, Kathryn J; Mavroidis, Constantinos

2002-01-01

This paper presents the mechanical design for a new five fingered, twenty degree-of-freedom dexterous hand patterned after human anatomy and actuated by Shape Memory Alloy artificial muscles. Two experimental prototypes of a finger, one fabricated by traditional means and another fabricated by rapid prototyping techniques, are described and used to evaluate the design. An important aspect of the Rapid Prototype technique used here is that this multi-articulated hand will be fabricated in one step, without requiring assembly, while maintaining its desired mobility. The use of Shape Memory Alloy actuators combined with the rapid fabrication of the non-assembly type hand, reduce considerably its weight and fabrication time. Therefore, the focus of this paper is the mechanical design of a dexterous hand that combines Rapid Prototype techniques and smart actuators. The type of robotic hand described in this paper can be utilized for applications requiring low weight, compactness, and dexterity such as prosthetic devices, space and planetary exploration.

Real-Time Hand Position Sensing Technology Based on Human Body Electrostatics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kai Tang

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Non-contact human-computer interactions (HCI based on hand gestures have been widely investigated. Here, we present a novel method to locate the real-time position of the hand using the electrostatics of the human body. This method has many advantages, including a delay of less than one millisecond, low cost, and does not require a camera or wearable devices. A formula is first created to sense array signals with five spherical electrodes. Next, a solving algorithm for the real-time measured hand position is introduced and solving equations for three-dimensional coordinates of hand position are obtained. A non-contact real-time hand position sensing system was established to perform verification experiments, and the principle error of the algorithm and the systematic noise were also analyzed. The results show that this novel technology can determine the dynamic parameters of hand movements with good robustness to meet the requirements of complicated HCI.

EXOS research on master controllers for robotic devices

Science.gov (United States)

Marcus, Beth A.; An, Ben; Eberman, Brian

1992-01-01

Two projects are currently being conducted by EXOS under the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program with NASA. One project will develop a force feedback device for controlling robot hands, the other will develop an elbow and shoulder exoskeleton which can be integrated with other EXOS devices to provide whole robot arm and hand control. Aspects covered are the project objectives, important research issues which have arisen during the developments, and interim results of the projects. The Phase 1 projects currently underway will result in hardware prototypes and identification of research issues required for complete system development and/or integration.

A ZigBee-Based Wireless Sensor Network for Continuous Sound and Noise Level Monitoring on the ISS, Phase I

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Acoustic survey is now performed using hand-held devices once every two months on the international space station (ISS). It takes quite a lot of precious crew time...

In support of a hot hand in professional basketball and baseball.

Science.gov (United States)

Shea, Stephen

2014-06-01

Recent studies have found little empirical evidence to suggest that National Basketball Association (NBA) and Major League Baseball (MLB) players have hot streaks. This has led some to suggest that hot hands do not exist and that offensive and defensive strategies adjusting to perceived hot hands are suboptimal. We study the MLB's Home Run Derby and the NBA's 3-point Shootout. When there is no defense, extended time between shots has been removed, and shot or swing selection is constant, we find evidence that player performance is nonstationary. Our results are consistent with beliefs long held by players, coaches, and fans, research on the importance of self-efficacy in sports, and studies that support the existence of hot streaks in sports with no or limited defense. © 2013 The Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.

A Peltier-based freeze-thaw device for meteorite disaggregation

Science.gov (United States)

Ogliore, R. C.

2018-02-01

A Peltier-based freeze-thaw device for the disaggregation of meteorite or other rock samples is described. Meteorite samples are kept in six water-filled cavities inside a thin-walled Al block. This block is held between two Peltier coolers that are automatically cycled between cooling and warming. One cycle takes approximately 20 min. The device can run unattended for months, allowing for ˜10 000 freeze-thaw cycles that will disaggregate meteorites even with relatively low porosity. This device was used to disaggregate ordinary and carbonaceous chondrite regoltih breccia meteorites to search for micrometeoroid impact craters.

NUI framework based on real-time head pose estimation and hand gesture recognition

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kim Hyunduk

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The natural user interface (NUI is used for the natural motion interface without using device or tool such as mice, keyboards, pens and markers. In this paper, we develop natural user interface framework based on two recognition module. First module is real-time head pose estimation module using random forests and second module is hand gesture recognition module, named Hand gesture Key Emulation Toolkit (HandGKET. Using the head pose estimation module, we can know where the user is looking and what the user’s focus of attention is. Moreover, using the hand gesture recognition module, we can also control the computer using the user’s hand gesture without mouse and keyboard. In proposed framework, the user’s head direction and hand gesture are mapped into mouse and keyboard event, respectively.

Head and eye movement as pointing modalities for eyewear computers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jalaliniya, Shahram; Mardanbeigi, Diako; Pederson, Thomas

2014-01-01

examined using head and eye movements to point on a graphical user interface of a wearable computer. The performance of users in head and eye pointing has been compared with mouse pointing as a baseline method. The result of our experiment showed that the eye pointing is significantly faster than head......While the new generation of eyewear computers have increased expectations of a wearable computer, providing input to these devices is still challenging. Hand-held devices, voice commands, and hand gestures have already been explored to provide input to the wearable devices. In this paper, we...

Determination of calcium in foot, hand and vertebrae of man by neutron activation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zajchik, V.E.; Kondrashev, A.E.; Dubrovin, A.P.; Korelo, A.M.; Morukov, B.V.; Orlov, O.I.

1990-01-01

Methods and devices for in vivo neutron activation determination of calcium content in human foot, hand and vertebrae were developed. It is ascertained that calcium content in skeleton is subjected to seasonal cyclicity. Bones of foot have the minimum content of the element in winter-spring period and the maximum one in summer-autumn period. For vertebrae and hand the inverse dependence is characteristic. Average level of seasonal variations in calcium content in the bones of hand and vertebrae is 10-11%, that of foot - 18-19%. Amplitudes of seasonal variations in the content of calcium in vertebrae, hand and foot are interrelated. 5 refs.; 1 tab

Design Of A Low Cost Anthropomorphic Robot Hand For Industrial Applications

Science.gov (United States)

Allen, P.; Raleigh, B.

2009-11-01

Autonomous grasping systems using anthropomorphic robotic end effectors have many applications, and the potential of such devices has inspired researchers to develop many types of grasping systems over the past 30 years. Their research has yielded significant advances in end effector dexterity and functionality. However, due to the cost and complexity associated with such devices, their role has been largely confined to that of being research tools in laboratories. Industry, by contrast, has largely opted for simple, single task, devices. This paper presents a novel low cost anthropomorphic robotic end effector, and in particular the design characteristics that make it more applicable to industrial application. The design brief was (i) to be broadly similar to the human hand in terms of size and performance (ii) be low cost (less than €5000 for the system) and (iii) to provide sufficient performance to allow use in industrial applications. Consisting of three fingers and an opposing thumb, the robotic hand developed has a total of 12 automated degrees of freedom. Another 4 degrees of freedom can be set manually. The specific design of the fingers and thumb, together with the drive arrangement utilizing synchronous belts, yields a simplified kinematics solution for the control of movement. The modular nature of the design is extended also to the palm, which can be easily modified to produce different overall work envelopes for the hand. The drive system and grasping strategies are also detailed.

An Approach to Precise Nitrogen Management Using Hand-Held Crop Sensor Measurements and Winter Wheat Yield Mapping in a Mediterranean Environment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lucía Quebrajo

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Regardless of the crop production system, nutrients inputs must be controlled at or below a certain economic threshold to achieve an acceptable level of profitability. The use of management zones and variable-rate fertilizer applications is gaining popularity in precision agriculture. Many researchers have evaluated the application of final yield maps and geo-referenced geophysical measurements (e.g., apparent soil electrical conductivity-ECa as a method of establishing relatively homogeneous management zones within the same plot. Yield estimation models based on crop conditions at certain growth stages, soil nutrient statuses, agronomic factors, moisture statuses, and weed/pest pressures are a primary goal in precision agriculture. This study attempted to achieve the following objectives: (1 to investigate the potential for predicting winter wheat yields using vegetation measurements (the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index—NDVI at the beginning of the season, thereby allowing for a yield response to nitrogen (N fertilizer; and (2 evaluate the feasibility of using inexpensive optical sensor measurements in a Mediterranean environment. A field experiment was conducted in two commercial wheat fields near Seville, in southwestern Spain. Yield data were collected at harvest using a yield monitoring system (RDS Ceres II-volumetric meter installed on a combine. Wheat yield and NDVI values of 3498 ± 481 kg ha−1 and 0.67 ± 0.04 nm nm−1 (field 1 and 3221 ± 531 kg ha−1 and 0.68 ± 0.05 nm nm−1 (field 2 were obtained. In both fields, the yield and NDVI exhibited a strong Pearson correlation, with rxy = 0.64 and p < 10−4 in field 1 and rxy = 0.78 and p < 10−4 in field 2. The preliminary results indicate that hand-held crop sensor-based N management can be applied to wheat production in Spain and has the potential to increase agronomic N-use efficiency on a long-term basis.

Grasp and index finger reach zone during one-handed smartphone rear interaction: effects of task type, phone width and hand length.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Songil; Kyung, Gyouhyung; Lee, Jungyong; Moon, Seung Ki; Park, Kyoung Jong

2016-11-01

Recently, some smartphones have introduced index finger interaction functions on the rear surface. The current study investigated the effects of task type, phone width, and hand length on grasp, index finger reach zone, discomfort, and muscle activation during such interaction. We considered five interaction tasks (neutral, comfortable, maximum, vertical, and horizontal strokes), two device widths (60 and 90 mm) and three hand lengths. Horizontal (vertical) strokes deviated from the horizontal axis in the range from -10.8° to -13.5° (81.6-88.4°). Maximum strokes appeared to be excessive as these caused 43.8% greater discomfort than did neutral strokes. The 90-mm width also appeared to be excessive as it resulted in 12.3% increased discomfort relative to the 60-mm width. The small-hand group reported 11.9-18.2% higher discomfort ratings, and the percent maximum voluntary exertion of their flexor digitorum superficialis muscle, pertaining to index finger flexion, was also 6.4% higher. These findings should be considered to make smartphone rear interaction more comfortable. Practitioner Summary: Among neutral, comfortable, maximum, horizontal, and vertical index finger strokes on smartphone rear surfaces, maximum vs. neutral strokes caused 43.8% greater discomfort. Horizontal (vertical) strokes deviated from the horizontal (vertical) axis. Discomfort increased by 12.3% with 90-mm- vs. 60-mm-wide devices. Rear interaction regions of five commercialised smartphones should be lowered 20 to 30 mm for more comfortable rear interaction.

Frequency of Hand Decontamination of Intraoperative Providers and Reduction of Postoperative Healthcare-Associated Infections: A Randomized Clinical Trial of a Novel Hand Hygiene System.

Science.gov (United States)

Koff, Matthew D; Brown, Jeremiah R; Marshall, Emily J; O'Malley, A James; Jensen, Jens T; Heard, Stephen O; Longtine, Karen; O'Neill, Melissa; Longtine, Jaclyn; Houston, Donna; Robison, Cindy; Moulton, Eric; Patel, Hetal M; Loftus, Randy W

2016-08-01

BACKGROUND Healthcare provider hands are an important source of intraoperative bacterial transmission events associated with postoperative infection development. OBJECTIVE To explore the efficacy of a novel hand hygiene improvement system leveraging provider proximity and individual and group performance feedback in reducing 30-day postoperative healthcare-associated infections via increased provider hourly hand decontamination events. DESIGN Randomized, prospective study. SETTING Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in New Hampshire and UMass Memorial Medical Center in Massachusetts. PATIENTS Patients undergoing surgery. METHODS Operating room environments were randomly assigned to usual intraoperative hand hygiene or to a personalized, body-worn hand hygiene system. Anesthesia and circulating nurse provider hourly hand decontamination events were continuously monitored and reported. All patients were followed prospectively for the development of 30-day postoperative healthcare-associated infections. RESULTS A total of 3,256 operating room environments and patients (1,620 control and 1,636 treatment) were enrolled. The mean (SD) provider hand decontamination event rate achieved was 4.3 (2.9) events per hour, an approximate 8-fold increase in hand decontamination events above that of conventional wall-mounted devices (0.57 events/hour); Phand hygiene system was not associated with a reduction in healthcare-associated infections (odds ratio, 1.07 [95% CI, 0.82-1.40], P=.626). CONCLUSIONS The hand hygiene system evaluated in this study increased the frequency of hand decontamination events without reducing 30-day postoperative healthcare-associated infections. Future work is indicated to optimize the efficacy of this hand hygiene improvement strategy. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2016;37:888-895.

Knowledge of Maternal and Newborn Care Among Primary Level ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

the information. .... Development USAID and job description of health workers ... of medical education and UAHW with only 6th month training ..... Using any mobile or other hand-held device with camera and GPRS/other internet ... applications.

Leap Motion Device Used to Control a Real Anthropomorphic Gripper

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ionel Staretu

2016-06-01

Full Text Available This paper presents for the first time the use of the Leap Motion device to control an anthropomorphic gripper with five fingers. First, a description of the Leap Motion device is presented, highlighting its main functional characteristics, followed by testing of its use for capturing the movements of a human hand's fingers in different configurations. Next, the HandCommander soft module and the Interface Controller application are described. The HandCommander is a software module created to facilitate interaction between a human hand and the GraspIT virtual environment, and the Interface Controller application is required to send motion data to the virtual environment and to test the communication protocol. For the test, a prototype of an anthropomorphic gripper with five fingers was made, including a proper hardware system of command and control, which is briefly presented in this paper. Following the creation of the prototype, the command system performance test was conducted under real conditions, evaluating the recognition efficiency of the objects to be gripped and the efficiency of the command and control strategies for the gripping process. The gripping test is exemplified by the gripping of an object, such as a screw spanner. It was found that the command system, both in terms of capturing human hand gestures with the Leap Motion device and effective object gripping, is operational. Suggestive figures are presented as examples.

The Healthy Heart Race: A Short-Duration, Hands-on Activity in Cardiovascular Physiology for Museums and Science Festivals

Science.gov (United States)

Pressley, Thomas A.; Limson, Melvin; Byse, Miranda; Matyas, Marsha Lakes

2011-01-01

The "Healthy Heart Race" activity provides a hands-on demonstration of cardiovascular function suitable for lay audiences. It was field tested during the United States of America Science and Engineering Festival held in Washington, DC, in October 2010. The basic equipment for the activity consisted of lengths of plastic tubing, a hand…

Prostate Ultrasound

Medline Plus

Full Text Available ... scanning or sonography , involves the use of a small transducer (probe) and ultrasound gel placed directly on ... to do the scanning. The transducer is a small hand-held device that resembles a microphone, attached ...

General Ultrasound Imaging

Medline Plus

Full Text Available ... scanning or sonography , involves the use of a small transducer (probe) and ultrasound gel placed directly on ... to do the scanning. The transducer is a small hand-held device that resembles a microphone, attached ...

Children's (Pediatric) Abdominal Ultrasound Imaging

Medline Plus

Full Text Available ... scanning or sonography , involves the use of a small transducer (probe) and ultrasound gel placed directly on ... to do the scanning. The transducer is a small hand-held device that resembles a microphone, attached ...

Foreign Body Retrieval

Medline Plus

Full Text Available ... x-ray tube is connected to a flexible arm that is extended over the patient while an ... do the scanning. The transducer is a small hand-held device that resembles a microphone, attached to ...

General Ultrasound Imaging

Medline Plus

Full Text Available ... flow through arteries and veins in the abdomen, arms, legs, neck and/or brain (in infants and ... do the scanning. The transducer is a small hand-held device that resembles a microphone, attached to ...

Ultrasound -- Pelvis

Medline Plus

Full Text Available ... flow through arteries and veins in the abdomen, arms, legs, neck and/or brain (in infants and ... do the scanning. The transducer is a small hand-held device that resembles a microphone, attached to ...

Children's (Pediatric) Abdominal Ultrasound Imaging

Medline Plus

Full Text Available ... flow through arteries and veins in the abdomen, arms, legs, neck and/or brain (in infants and ... do the scanning. The transducer is a small hand-held device that resembles a microphone, attached to ...

Children's (Pediatric) Nuclear Medicine

Medline Plus

Full Text Available ... molecular information. In many centers, nuclear medicine images can be superimposed with computed tomography (CT) or magnetic ... small hand-held device resembling a microphone that can detect and measure the amount of the radiotracer ...

Thyroid Scan and Uptake

Medline Plus

Full Text Available ... for several hours before your exam because eating can affect the accuracy of the uptake measurement. Jewelry ... small hand-held device resembling a microphone that can detect and measure the amount of the radiotracer ...

General Ultrasound Imaging

Medline Plus

Full Text Available ... 3-D) ultrasound that formats the sound wave data into 3-D images. A Doppler ultrasound study ... to do the scanning. The transducer is a small hand-held device that resembles a microphone, attached ...

Characterization of Greater-Than-Class C sealed sources. Volume 3, Sealed sources held by general licensees

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Harris, G.

1994-09-01

This is the third volume in a series of three volumes characterizing the population of sealed sources that may become greater-than-Class C low-level radioactive waste (GTCC LLW). In this volume, those sources possessed by general licensees are discussed. General-licensed devices may contain sealed sources with significant amounts of radioactive material. However, the devices are designed to be safe to use without special knowledge of radiological safety practices. Devices containing Am-241 or Cm-244 sources are most likely to become GTCC LLW after concentration averaging. This study estimates that there are about 16,000 GTCC devices held by general licensees; 15,000 of these contain Am-241 sources and 1,000 contain Cm-244 sources. Additionally, this study estimates that there are 1,600 GTCC devices sold to general licensees each year. However, due to a lack of available information on general licensees in Agreement States, these estimates are uncertain. This uncertainty is quantified in the low and high case estimates given in this report, which span approximately an order of magnitude

VARIABLE STIFFNESS HAND PROSTHESIS: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Cecilia Tapia-Siles

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Prosthetics is an important field in engineering due to the large number of amputees worldwide and the associated problems such as limited functionality of the state of the art. An important functionality of the human hand is its capability of adjusting the stiffness of the joints depending on the currently performed task. For the development of new technology it is important to understand the limitations of existing resources. As part of our efforts to develop a variable stiffness grasper for developing countries a systematic review was performed covering technology of body powered and myoelectric hand prosthesis. Focus of the review is readiness of prosthetic hands regarding their capability of controlling the stiffness of the end effector. Publications sourced through three different digital libraries were systematically reviewed on the basis of the PRISMA standard. We present a search strategy as well as the PRISMA assessment of the resulting records which covered 321 publications. The records were assessed and the results are presented for the ability of devices to control their joint stiffness. The review indicates that body powered prosthesis are preferred to myoelectric hands due to the reduced cost, the simplicity of use and because of their inherent ability to provide feedback to the user. Stiffness control was identified but has not been fully covered in the current state of the art. In addition we summarise the identified requirements on prosthetic hands as well as related information which can support the development of new prosthetics.

The Effectiveness of Hands-on Health Informatics Skills Exercises in the Multidisciplinary Smart Home Healthcare and Health Informatics Training Laboratories.

Science.gov (United States)

Sapci, A H; Sapci, H A

2017-10-01

This article aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of newly established innovative smart home healthcare and health informatics laboratories, and a novel laboratory course that focuses on experiential health informatics training, and determine students' self-confidence to operate wireless home health monitoring devices before and after the hands-on laboratory course. Two web-based pretraining and posttraining questionnaires were sent to 64 students who received hands-on training with wireless remote patient monitoring devices in smart home healthcare and health informatics laboratories. All 64 students completed the pretraining survey (100% response rate), and 49 students completed the posttraining survey (76% response rate). The quantitative data analysis showed that 95% of students had an interest in taking more hands-on laboratory courses. Sixty-seven percent of students had no prior experience with medical image, physiological data acquisition, storage, and transmission protocols. After the hands-on training session, 75.51% of students expressed improved confidence about training patients to measure blood pressure monitor using wireless devices. Ninety percent of students preferred to use a similar experiential approach in their future learning experience. Additionally, the qualitative data analysis demonstrated that students were expecting to have more courses with hands-on exercises and integration of technology-enabled delivery and patient monitoring concepts into the curriculum. This study demonstrated that the multidisciplinary smart home healthcare and health informatics training laboratories and the hands-on exercises improved students' technology adoption rates and their self-confidence in using wireless patient monitoring devices. Schattauer GmbH Stuttgart.

Real-Time Hand-Held Magnetometer Array

Science.gov (United States)

2016-04-01

measurements, we swung a target, pendulum-style, from the ceiling above the array. We could easily observe that the height of the target was varying... crystal oscillator clock signal. The Microblaze processor boots up with the program already present in its RAM at startup. MR-2104 Real-Time

Hand-held personnel and vehicle monitors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kunz, W.E.; Chambers, W.H.; Henry, C.N.; France, S.W.; Millegan, D.R.; Hastings, R.D.; Worth, G.M.

1976-05-01

A light, rugged monitor has been developed for special nuclear materials (SNM) searches at material-access and protection-area exits. This monitor accepts gamma-ray pulses from a NaI(Tl) detector, integrates for a preset counting interval (typically 0.3 s), and produces an audible alarm whenever the counts in the interval exceed the trip level that is a preset multiple of the stored background count. Because the monitor is silent except when the alarm is operating, personnel with little special training can conduct more effective searches in a noisy and distracting environment than they can with conventional audible monitoring of individual radiation counts. The monitor is also more sensitive than conventional monitors that provide audible indication of the count rate

Hand-held ultrasound serving three EDs.

Science.gov (United States)

2007-02-01

Having a portable ultrasound available to your ED will enable you to perform scans during the nighttime hours, instead of having patients wait for several hours until the radiology department opens. Additional time can be saved by having a technologist read the scans, which frees your ED physicians for other duties. Having ED docs contact the technologist directly, rather than going through a resident, also saves valuable time. Arriving at a diagnosis more quickly provides a boost to patient safety.

Simple Multiplexing Hand-Held Control Unit

Science.gov (United States)

Hannaford, Blake

1989-01-01

Multiplexer consists of series of resistors, each shunted by single-pole, single-throw switch. User operates switches by pressing buttons or squeezing triggers. Prototype includes three switches operated successfully in over 200 hours of system operations. Number of switches accommodated determined by signal-to-noise ratio of current source, noise induced in control unit and cable, and number of bits in output of analog-to-digital converter. Because many computer-contolled robots have extra analog-to-digital channels, such multiplexer added at little extra cost.

Objective Assessment of Joint Stiffness: A Clinically Oriented Hardware and Software Device with an Application to the Shoulder Joint.

Science.gov (United States)

McQuade, Kevin; Price, Robert; Liu, Nelson; Ciol, Marcia A

2012-08-30

Examination of articular joints is largely based on subjective assessment of the "end-feel" of the joint in response to manually applied forces at different joint orientations. This technical report aims to describe the development of an objective method to examine joints in general, with specific application to the shoulder, and suitable for clinical use. We adapted existing hardware and developed laptop-based software to objectively record the force/displacement behavior of the glenohumeral joint during three common manual joint examination tests with the arm in six positions. An electromagnetic tracking system recorded three-dimensional positions of sensors attached to a clinician examiner and a patient. A hand-held force transducer recorded manually applied translational forces. The force and joint displacement were time-synchronized and the joint stiffness was calculated as a quantitative representation of the joint "end-feel." A methodology and specific system checks were developed to enhance clinical testing reproducibility and precision. The device and testing protocol were tested on 31 subjects (15 with healthy shoulders, and 16 with a variety of shoulder impairments). Results describe the stiffness responses, and demonstrate the feasibility of using the device and methods in clinical settings.

Extra-light gamma-ray imager for safeguards and homeland security

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ivanov, Oleg P.; Semin, Ilya A.; Potapov, Victor N.; Stepanov, Vyacheslav E. [National Research Centre Kurchatov Institute, Moscow, 123182, (Russian Federation)

2015-07-01

Gamma-ray imaging is the most important way to identify unknown gamma-ray emitting objects in decommissioning, security, overcoming accidents. Over the past two decades a system for producing of gamma images in these conditions became more or less portable devices. But in recent years these systems have become the hand-held devices. This is very important, especially in emergency situations, and measurements for safety reasons. We describe the first integrated hand-held instrument for emergency and security applications. The device is based on the coded aperture image formation, position sensitive gamma-ray (X-ray) detector Medipix2 (detectors produces by X-ray Imaging Europe) and tablet computer. The development was aimed at creating a very low weight system with high angular resolution. We present some sample gamma-ray images by camera. Main estimated parameters of the system are the following. The field of view video channel ∼ 490 deg. The field of view gamma channel ∼ 300 deg. The sensitivity of the system with a hexagonal mask for the source of Cs-137 (Eg = 662 keV), is in units of dose D ∼ 100 mR. This option is less then order of magnitude worse than for the heavy, non-hand-held systems (e.g., gamma-camera Cartogam, by Canberra.) The angular resolution of the gamma channel for the sources of Cs-137 (Eg = 662 keV) is about 1.20 deg. (authors)

Body mass index, new modes of TV viewing and active video games.

Science.gov (United States)

Falbe, J; Willett, W C; Rosner, B; Field, A E

2017-10-01

Recent technologies have changed screen time. TV can be viewed anywhere, anytime. Content can be collected via digital recorders and online streaming and viewed on smartphones. Video games are no longer strictly sedentary. We sought to assess the unknown relations between new modes of TV viewing - recorded, online, downloaded and on hand-held devices - and active video games with body mass index (BMI). Cross-sectional analysis of the 2011 wave of the Growing Up Today Study 2 cohort. We used gender-specific generalized estimating equations to examine screen time and BMI among 3071 women and 2050 men aged 16-24 years. Among women, each hour/day of online TV (0.47; confidence interval [CI]: 0.12, 0.82) and total non-broadcast TV (0.37; CI: 0.14, 0.61) was associated with higher BMI, as was watching ≥ 1/2 h week -1 of TV on hand-held devices (1.04; CI: 0.32-1.77). Active video games were associated with BMI among women, but not after restricting to those not trying to lose/maintain weight. Broadcast TV was associated with higher BMI (kg m -2 ) among women and men (P < 0.05). Among women, online TV, TV viewed on hand-held devices and the sum of non-broadcast TV time were associated with higher BMI. Broadcast TV was also associated with BMI in women and men. © 2016 World Obesity Federation.

Management of Maternofetal Emergency in Shock with Fracture of ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Kanellopoulos AD, Yiannakopoulos CK, Vossinakis L, Badras LS. ... Using any mobile or other hand-held device with camera and GPRS/other internet source, one can reach to the full text of that particular article on the journal's website.

Hand disinfection in a neonatal intensive care unit: continuous electronic monitoring over a one-year period.

Science.gov (United States)

Helder, Onno K; van Goudoever, Johannes B; Hop, Wim C J; Brug, Johannes; Kornelisse, René F

2012-10-08

Good hand hygiene compliance is essential to prevent nosocomial infections in healthcare settings. Direct observation of hand hygiene compliance is the gold standard but is time consuming. An electronic dispenser with built-in wireless recording equipment allows continuous monitoring of its usage. The purpose of this study was to monitor the use of alcohol-based hand rub dispensers with a built-in electronic counter in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) setting and to determine compliance with hand hygiene protocols by direct observation. A one-year observational study was conducted at a 27 bed level III NICU at a university hospital. All healthcare workers employed at the NICU participated in the study. The use of bedside dispensers was continuously monitored and compliance with hand hygiene was determined by random direct observations. A total of 258,436 hand disinfection events were recorded; i.e. a median (interquartile range) of 697 (559-840) per day. The median (interquartile range) number of hand disinfection events performed per healthcare worker during the day, evening, and night shifts was 13.5 (10.8 - 16.7), 19.8 (16.3 - 24.1), and 16.6 (14.2 - 19.3), respectively. In 65.8% of the 1,168 observations of patient contacts requiring hand hygiene, healthcare workers fully complied with the protocol. We conclude that the electronic devices provide useful information on frequency, time, and location of its use, and also reveal trends in hand disinfection events over time. Direct observations offer essential data on compliance with the hand hygiene protocol. In future research, data generated by the electronic devices can be supplementary used to evaluate the effectiveness of hand hygiene promotion campaigns.

Multi-axial correction system in the treatment of radial club hand.

Science.gov (United States)

Bhat, Suneel B; Kamath, Atul F; Sehgal, Kriti; Horn, B David; Hosalkar, Harish S

2009-12-01

Radial club hand is a well-recognized congenital malformation characterized by hypoplasia of bone and soft tissue on the radial aspect of the forearm and hand. The modalities of treatment have traditionally varied from stretching casts with soft-tissue procedures to the use of multiple corrective osteotomies. These osteotomies can be stabilized by a variety of methods, including external fixators that allow the possibility of gradual distraction with neohistiogenesis. This current study outlines the usage of one such device (multi-axial correction system [MAC]) in the management of deformity associated with severe radial club hand. Three consecutive cases of unilateral or bilateral severe (Bayne type IV) congenital radial club hand were corrected using MAC fixation in the last 5 years. This is a retrospective review of all three cases. Data parameters included: patient demographics, presentation findings, degree of deformity, amount of correction/lengthening, length of procedure, length of treatment, and associated complications. The surgical technique is described in detail for the benefit of the readership. The three patients with severe congenital radial club hand had a total of four limb involvements that underwent correction using osteotomies and usage of the MAC device for external fixation. All three patients underwent successful correction of deformity with the restoration of alignment, lengthening of forearm for improvement of function, and stabilization of the wrist (mean duration, mean lengthening, mean time to consolidation). The MAC system was well tolerated in all patients and associated complications were limited. The MAC fixator seems to be a good alternative modality of stabilization and correction for severe congenital radial club hand deformities. Its usage is fairly simple and it provides the ease of application of a mono-lateral fixator with far superior three-dimensional control, like the circular external fixator. We recommend that

Experience of a national campaign for hand trauma prevention in France.

Science.gov (United States)

Bellemere, P; Guimberteau, J C

2013-12-01

In France, hand injuries are the number one cause of all accidents referred to our hospital casualty departments. Their human and economic consequences are very serious. Two thirds of these accidents arise during everyday living activities and a third of them happen at work. The specific prevention of hand injuries in each of these domains has not been sufficiently developed. The authors present the national prevention campaign recently set up by the FESUM. The campaign took place in the form of events held in different towns in France. Each event, lasting from a minimum of 2 days to 10 days maximum, included press conferences, prevention workshops specific to hand injuries, theatrical animation for youngsters, conferences for the general public, meetings in industrial or training college environments, photography and video exhibitions, and the publication of pamphlets and posters. These manifestations were carried out in partnership with the association APAVC and the voluntary involvement of surgeons from the FESUM hand centres in each town visited. Over a period of 2 years, 22 large or medium-sized towns were able to hold these campaign events. By this means, thousands of people - adults, schoolchildren or young, professional apprentices - were made aware of hand injuries and how to prevent them. We were able to reinforce the broadcasting of simple prevention messages launched by the campaign, particularly with regard to wearing gloves for all manual activities, with the help of heavy local, regional and national media coverage. This campaign was the first widespread action of its kind, aimed specifically at the prevention of hand injuries. Furthermore, it was a way of strengthening the credibility of the FESUM hand emergency centres with the health authorities and to promote the services available to patients. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

Diamond: a material for acoustic devices

OpenAIRE

MORTET, Vincent; WILLIAMS, Oliver; HAENEN, Ken

2008-01-01

Diamond has been foreseen to replace silicon for high power, high frequency electronic applications or for devices that operates in harsh environments. However, diamond electronic devices are still in the laboratory stage due to the lack of large substrates and the complexity of diamond doping. On another hand, surface acoustic wave filters based on diamond are commercially available. Diamond is especially suited for acoustic applications because of its exceptional mechanical properties. The ...

Performance Comparison Between FEDERICA Hand and LARM Hand

OpenAIRE

Carbone, Giuseppe; Rossi, Cesare; Savino, Sergio

2015-01-01

This paper describes two robotic hands that have been\\ud developed at University Federico II of Naples and at the\\ud University of Cassino. FEDERICA Hand and LARM Hand\\ud are described in terms of design and operational features.\\ud In particular, careful attention is paid to the differences\\ud between the above-mentioned hands in terms of transmission\\ud systems. FEDERICA Hand uses tendons and pulleys\\ud to drive phalanxes, while LARM Hand uses cross four-bar\\ud linkages. Results of experime...

Design for a three-fingered hand. [robotic and prosthetic applications

Science.gov (United States)

Crossley, F. R. E.

1977-01-01

This paper describes the construction of a prototype mechanical hand or 'end effector' for use on a remotely controlled robot, but with possible application as a prosthetic device. An analysis of hand motions is reported, from which it is concluded that the two most important manipulations (apart from grasps) are to be able to pick up a tool and draw it into a nested grip against the palm, and to be able to hold a pistol-grip tool such as an electric drill and pull the trigger. One of our models was tested and found capable of both these operations.

Back to basics: hand hygiene and surgical hand antisepsis.

Science.gov (United States)

Spruce, Lisa

2013-11-01

Health care-associated infections (HAIs) are a significant issue in the United States and throughout the world, but following proper hand hygiene practices is the most effective and least expensive way to prevent HAIs. Hand hygiene is inexpensive and protects patients and health care personnel alike. The four general types of hand hygiene that should be performed in the perioperative environment are washing hands that are visibly soiled, hand hygiene using alcohol-based products, surgical hand scrubs, and surgical hand scrubs using an alcohol-based surgical hand rub product. Barriers to proper hand hygiene may include not thinking about it, forgetting, skin irritation, a lack of role models, or a lack of a safety culture. One strategy for improving hand hygiene practices is monitoring hand hygiene as part of a quality improvement project, but the most important aspect for perioperative team members is to set an example for other team members by following proper hand hygiene practices and reminding each other to perform hand hygiene. Copyright © 2013 AORN, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Summary of the recent conference on thin-film neutron optical devices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Majkrzak, C.F.

1989-01-01

The proceedings of the conference of the International Society for Optical Engineering on Thin-Film Neutron Optical Devices: Mirrors, Supermirrors, Multilayer Monochromators, Polarizers and Beam Guides, which was held in San Diego, California in August, 1988, are summarized here. 2 refs

Advanced dexterous manipulation for IED defeat : report on the feasibility of using the ShadowHand for remote operations.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Anderson, Robert J.

2011-01-01

Improvised Explosive Device (IED) defeat (IEDD) operations can involve intricate operations that exceed the current capabilities of the grippers on board current bombsquad robots. The Shadow Dexterous Hand from the Shadow Robot Company or 'ShadowHand' for short (www.shadowrobot.com) is the first commercially available robot hand that realistically replicates the motion, degrees-of-freedom and dimensions of a human hand (Figure 1). In this study we evaluate the potential for the ShadowHand to perform potential IED defeat tasks on a mobile platform.

WORKSHOP: Low temperature devices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1987-01-01

With extraterrestrial neutrinos (whether from the sun or further afield) continuing to make science news, and with the search for the so far invisible 'dark matter' of the universe a continual preoccupation, physicists from different walks of life (solid state, low temperature, particles, astrophysics) gathered at a workshop on low temperature devices for the detection of neutrinos and dark matter, held from 12-13 March at Ringberg Castle on Lake Tegernsee in the Bavarian Alps, and organized by the Max Planck Institute for Physics and Astrophysics in Munich

WORKSHOP: Low temperature devices

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Anon.

1987-06-15

With extraterrestrial neutrinos (whether from the sun or further afield) continuing to make science news, and with the search for the so far invisible 'dark matter' of the universe a continual preoccupation, physicists from different walks of life (solid state, low temperature, particles, astrophysics) gathered at a workshop on low temperature devices for the detection of neutrinos and dark matter, held from 12-13 March at Ringberg Castle on Lake Tegernsee in the Bavarian Alps, and organized by the Max Planck Institute for Physics and Astrophysics in Munich.

Two new dynamic devices / orthoses for training / assisting / rehabilitation of hand functionality in patients with stroke as a result of clinical experience

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Catalin Moghioroiu

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Introduction - Observing stroke patients with hemiplegia we can easily identify one of the problems they face –inability to use affected upper limb. On a closer analysis we can see that this incapacity is determined, at many of them, by the incapacity to open the hand and grasp. They follow therapies for months and the results are often mediocre therefore respectively upper limb is neglected and forgotten and its activities are taken up by the healthy upper limb. These observations have prompted the search for other type of solutions to help / assist them and facilitate participation. In this way were created twodynamic devices/orthotics that assists finger extension, facilitates grasping and increase, at least in theory, the possibilities of participation. Objective - The main purpose of this study is to test the effectiveness of using these devices on short and medium term. Material and method - For this study we will select 60 patients with single stroke. Patients will be randomized into two groups. Patients in the control group will receive a physical therapy session per day for 10 days. Patients in the experimental group will receive in addition a functional workout (20-30 minutes of handling small objects and few simple functional gestures of the "activities of daily living" using one of the two devices –the one that will allow the patient to best accomplish the given tasks. We will perform an initial assessment, one final and one to three months. The initiation of this study will be made after obtaining the opinion of the ethics committee, and the inclusion of patients will occur only after obtaining informed consent. Conclusions - Creation of two dynamic devices/orthotics witch assist finger extension and facilitate prehension opened the possibility of carrying out a clinical trial to test the effectiveness of their use. To what extent that this will happen remains to be seen.

The Legacy of Manfred Held with Critique

Science.gov (United States)

2011-08-01

President Executive Vice President and Provost The report entitled “The Legacy of Manfred Held with Critique” contains the results of research...xxii THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK xxiii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Prof (Dr) Manfred Held...de choc des explosifs solides. Propellants and Explosives, 6, 63-66. [013] Held, M. (1987). Experiments of initiation of covered, but unconfined

Gaseous waste processing device in nuclear power plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takechi, Eisuke; Matsutoshi, Makoto.

1978-01-01

Purpose: To arrange the units of waste processing devices in a number one more than the number thereof required for a plurality of reactors, and to make it usable commonly as a preliminary waste processing device thereby to effectively use all the gaseous waste processing devices. Constitution: A gaseous waste processing device is constituted by an exhaust gas extractor, a first processing device, a second processing device and the like, which are all connected in series. Upon this occasion, devices from the exhaust gas extractor to the first processing device and valves, which are provided in each of reactors, are arranged in series, on one hand, but valves at the downstream side join one another by one pipeline, and are connected to a stack through a total gaseous waste processing device, on another. (Yoshihara, H.)

Stiff Hands

Science.gov (United States)

... All Topics A-Z Videos Infographics Symptom Picker Anatomy Bones Joints Muscles Nerves Vessels Tendons About Hand Surgery What is a Hand Surgeon? What is a Hand Therapist? Media Find a Hand Surgeon Home Anatomy Stiff Hands Email to a friend * required fields ...

Hand Infections

Science.gov (United States)

... All Topics A-Z Videos Infographics Symptom Picker Anatomy Bones Joints Muscles Nerves Vessels Tendons About Hand Surgery What is a Hand Surgeon? What is a Hand Therapist? Media Find a Hand Surgeon Home Anatomy Hand Infections Email to a friend * required fields ...

The accuracy, precision and sustainability of different techniques for tablet subdivision: breaking by hand and the use of tablet splitters or a kitchen knife.

Science.gov (United States)

van Riet-Nales, Diana A; Doeve, Myrthe E; Nicia, Agnes E; Teerenstra, Steven; Notenboom, Kim; Hekster, Yechiel A; van den Bemt, Bart J F

2014-05-15

Tablets are frequently subdivided to lower the dose, to facilitate swallowing by e.g. children or older people or to save costs. Splitting devices are commonly used when hand breaking is difficult or painful. Three techniques for tablet subdivision were investigated: hand breaking, tablet splitter, kitchen knife. A best case drug (paracetamol), tablet (round, flat, uncoated, 500 mg) and operator (24-year student) were applied. Hundred tablets were subdivided by hand and by three devices of each of the following types: Fit & Healthy, Health Care Logistics, Lifetime, PillAid, PillTool, Pilomat tablet splitter; Blokker kitchen knife. The intra and inter device accuracy, precision and sustainability were investigated. The compliance to (adapted) regulatory requirements was investigated also. The accuracy and precision of hand broken tablets was 104/97% resp. 2.8/3.2% (one part per tablet considered; parts right/left side operator). The right/left accuracies of the splitting devices varied between 60 and 133%; the precisions 4.0 and 29.6%. The devices did not deteriorate over 100-fold use. Only hand broken tablets complied with all regulatory requirements. Health care professionals should realize that tablet splitting may result in inaccurate dosing. Authorities should undertake appropriate measures to assure good function of tablet splitters and, where feasible, to reduce the need for their use. Copyright © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Nonlinear left-handed transmission line metamaterials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kozyrev, A B; Weide, D W van der

2008-01-01

Metamaterials, exhibiting simultaneously negative permittivity ε and permeability μ, more commonly referred to as left-handed metamaterials (LHMs) and also known as negative-index materials, have received substantial attention in the scientific and engineering communities [1]. Most studies of LHMs (and electromagnetic metamaterials in general) have been in the linear regime of wave propagation and have already inspired new types of microwave circuits and devices. The results of these studies have already been the subject of numerous reviews and books. This review covers a less explored but rapidly developing area of investigation involving media that combine nonlinearity (dependence of the permittivity and permeability on the magnitude of the propagating field) with the anomalous dispersion exhibited by LHM. The nonlinear phenomena in such media will be considered on the example of a model system: the nonlinear left-handed transmission line. These nonlinear phenomena include parametric generation and amplification, harmonic and subharmonic generation as well as modulational instabilities and envelope solitons. (topical review)

Low-complexity wavelet-based image/video coding for home-use and remote surveillance

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Loomans, M.J.H.; Koeleman, C.J.; Joosen, K.M.J.; With, de P.H.N.

2011-01-01

The availability of inexpensive cameras enables alternative applications beyond personal video communication. For example, surveillance of rooms and home premises is such an alternative application, which can be extended with remote viewing on hand-held battery-powered consumer devices. Scalable

Case report and review of the literature

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Access this article online ... Case report and review of the literature .... HTML pages have been optimized of mobile and other hand-held devices (such as ... such as for Windows: Digital Editions, OS X: Calibre/Bookworm, iPhone/iPod Touch/.

Device and method for treatment of openings in vascular and septal walls

Science.gov (United States)

Singhal, Pooja; Wilson, Thomas S.; Cosgriff-Hernandez, Elizabeth; Maitland, Duncan J.

2017-06-06

A device, system and method for treatment of an opening in vascular and/or septal walls including patent foramen ovale. The device has wings/stops on either end, an axis core covered in a shape memory foam and is deliverable via a catheter to the affected opening, finally expanding into a vascular or septal opening where it is held in place by the expandable shape memory stops or wings.

Performance evaluation of a hand-held, semiconductor (CdZnTe)-based gamma camera

CERN Document Server

Abe, A; Lee, J; Oka, T; Shizukuishi, K; Kikuchi, T; Inoue, T; Jimbo, M; Ryuo, H; Bickel, C

2003-01-01

We have designed and developed a small field of view gamma camera, the eZ SCOPE, based on use of a CdZnTe semiconductor. This device utilises proprietary signal processing technology and an interface to a computer-based imaging system. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the performance of the eZ scope in comparison with currently employed gamma camera technology. The detector is a single wafer of 5-mm-thick CdZnTe that is divided into a 16 x 16 array (256 pixels). The sensitive area of the detector is a square of dimension 3.2 cm. Two parallel-hole collimators are provided with the system and have a matching (256 hole) pattern to the CdZnTe detector array: a low-energy, high-resolution parallel-hole (LEHR) collimator fabricated of lead and a low-energy, high-sensitivity parallel-hole (LEHS) collimator fabricated of tungsten. Performance measurements and the data analysis were done according to the procedures of the NEMA standard. We also studied the long-term stability of the system with continuous use...

Lightwand-Guided Endotracheal Intubation Performed by the Nondominant Hand is Feasible

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yi-Wei Kuo

2007-10-01

Full Text Available The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of lightwand-guided endotracheal intubation (LWEI performed using either the right (dominant or left (nondominant hand. Two hundred and forty patients aged 21–64 years, with a Mallampati airway classification grade of I—II and undergoing endotracheal intubation under general anesthesia, were enrolled in this randomized and controlled study. Induction of anesthesia was initiated by intravenous administration of fentanyl (2 mg/kg and thiopentone (5mg/kg, and tracheal intubation was facilitated by intravenous atracurium (0.5 mg/kg. In the direct-vision laryngoscope group (group D; n = 80, the intubator held the laryngoscope in the left hand and inserted the endotracheal tube (ETT into the glottic opening with the right hand. In the group in which LWEI was performed with the right hand (group R; n = 80, the intubator lifted the patients' jaws with the left hand and inserted the ETT-LW unit into the glottic openings with the right hand. On the contrary, in the group in which LWEI was performed with the left hand (group L; n = 80, the intubator lifted the jaws with the right hand and inserted the ETT-LW unit with the left hand. Data including total intubation time, the number of intubation attempts, hemodynamic changes during intubation, and side effects following intubation, were collected. Regardless of whether lightwand manipulation was performed with the left hand (group L; 11.4 ± 9.3 s or the right-hand (group R; 12.4 ± 9.2 s, less time was consumed in the LWEI groups than in the laryngoscope group (group D; 17.9 ± 9.9s (p 95% on their first intubation attempts. The changes in mean arterial blood pressure and heart rate were similar among the three groups. A higher incidence of intubation-related oral injury and ventricular premature contractions (VPC was found in group D compared with groups L and R (oral injury: group D 8.5%, group L 1.3%, group R 0%, p = 0.005; VPC: group D 16

Summary of data held by the National Registry for Radiation Workers

CERN Document Server

Kendall, G M; O'Hagen, J A; Rees, S; Walker, S M

1988-01-01

This report summarises the data held by the National Registry for Radiation Workers at the end of 1985. Agreement has been reached with the participating organisations for transfer of records on 97,000 individuals. However, some individuals have been employed by more than one participating organisation and a few (2%) have refused to participate, so the final study population will be somewhat smaller. Over 95% of participants have been registered and arrangements are in hand to include most of the remainder. Although some information is still outstanding, there has been a considerable improvement since the publication of the second supplement to NRPB-R116 (Protocol for the National Registry for Radiation Workers) which described the database at the end of 1983. Details are given for each of the participating organisations.

Summary of data held by the National Registry for Radiation Workers

CERN Document Server

Saw, G M A

1985-01-01

This supplement to NRPB-R116 (Protocol for the National Registry for Radiation Workers) summarises the data held by the National Registry for Radiation Workers) at the end of 1983. It follows the form of the first supplement which described the data base at the end of 1981. The total population for which agreement has been reached with the participating organisations is about 68,000. Over 86% of these have ben registered, arrangements are in hand to include most of the remainder. Only 2% of the population have refused to participate as individuals. Although some information is still outstanding, there has been a considerable improvement since 1981. More details are given for each of the participating organisations. Further supplements will be issued from time to time as more data are received.

Assessment of Myoelectric Controller Performance and Kinematic Behavior of a Novel Soft Synergy-Inspired Robotic Hand for Prosthetic Applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Fani, Simone; Bianchi, Matteo; Jain, Sonal; Pimenta Neto, José Simões; Boege, Scott; Grioli, Giorgio; Bicchi, Antonio; Santello, Marco

2016-01-01

Myoelectric artificial limbs can significantly advance the state of the art in prosthetics, since they can be used to control mechatronic devices through muscular activity in a way that mimics how the subjects used to activate their muscles before limb loss. However, surveys indicate that dissatisfaction with the functionality of terminal devices underlies the widespread abandonment of prostheses. We believe that one key factor to improve acceptability of prosthetic devices is to attain human likeness of prosthesis movements, a goal which is being pursued by research on social and human-robot interactions. Therefore, to reduce early abandonment of terminal devices, we propose that controllers should be designed so as to ensure effective task accomplishment in a natural fashion. In this work, we have analyzed and compared the performance of three types of myoelectric controller algorithms based on surface electromyography to control an underactuated and multi-degrees of freedom prosthetic hand, the SoftHand Pro. The goal of the present study was to identify the myoelectric algorithm that best mimics the native hand movements. As a preliminary step, we first quantified the repeatability of the SoftHand Pro finger movements and identified the electromyographic recording sites for able-bodied individuals with the highest signal-to-noise ratio from two pairs of muscles, i.e., flexor digitorum superficialis/extensor digitorum communis, and flexor carpi radialis/extensor carpi ulnaris. Able-bodied volunteers were then asked to execute reach-to-grasp movements, while electromyography signals were recorded from flexor digitorum superficialis/extensor digitorum communis as this was identified as the muscle pair characterized by high signal-to-noise ratio and intuitive control. Subsequently, we tested three myoelectric controllers that mapped electromyography signals to position of the SoftHand Pro. We found that a differential electromyography-to-position mapping ensured the

Assessment of Myoelectric Controller Performance and Kinematic Behavior of a Novel Soft Synergy-inspired Robotic Hand for Prosthetic Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Simone Fani

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Myoelectric-artificial limbs can significantly advance the state of the art in prosthetics, since they can be used to control mechatronic devices through muscular activity in a way that mimics how the subjects used to activate their muscles before limb loss. However, surveys indicate that dissatisfaction with the functionality of terminal devices underlies the widespread abandonment of prostheses. We believe that one key factor to improve acceptability of prosthetic devices is to attain human-likeness of prosthesis movements, a goal which is being pursued by research on social and human-robot interactions. Therefore, to reduce early abandonment of terminal devices, we propose that controllers should be designed such as to ensure effective task accomplishment in a natural fashion. In this work, we have analyzed and compared the performance of three types of myoelectric controller algorithms based on surface electromyography to control an under-actuated and multi-degrees of freedom prosthetic hand, the SoftHand Pro. The goal of the present study was to identify the myoelectric algorithm that best mimics the native hand movements. As a preliminary step, we first quantified the repeatability of the SoftHand Pro finger movements and identified the electromyographic recording sites for able-bodied individuals with the highest signal-to-noise ratio from two pairs of muscles, i.e. flexor digitorum superficialis/extensor digitorum communis, and flexor carpi radialis/extensor carpi ulnaris. Able-bodied volunteers were then asked to execute reach-to-grasp movements, while electromyography signals were recorded from flexor digitorum superficialis/extensor digitorum communis as this was identified as the muscle pair characterized by high signal-to-noise ratio and intuitive control. Subsequently, we tested three myoelectric controllers that mapped electromyography signals to position of the SoftHand Pro. We found that a differential electromyography

Hand Gesture Recognition Using Modified 1$ and Background Subtraction Algorithms

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hazem Khaled

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Computers and computerized machines have tremendously penetrated all aspects of our lives. This raises the importance of Human-Computer Interface (HCI. The common HCI techniques still rely on simple devices such as keyboard, mice, and joysticks, which are not enough to convoy the latest technology. Hand gesture has become one of the most important attractive alternatives to existing traditional HCI techniques. This paper proposes a new hand gesture detection system for Human-Computer Interaction using real-time video streaming. This is achieved by removing the background using average background algorithm and the 1$ algorithm for hand’s template matching. Then every hand gesture is translated to commands that can be used to control robot movements. The simulation results show that the proposed algorithm can achieve high detection rate and small recognition time under different light changes, scales, rotation, and background.

Positioning device for fuel rods of nuclear reactor fuel elements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1987-01-01

The positioning device consists of individual containers, similar to cases, for the fuel elements. These cases are arranged vertically next to one another and are held by means of vertical support posts and horizontal arms. The openings of the cases can be individually approached by the trolleys. (DG) [de

Device for measuring the flow rate of a fluid moving through a pipe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barge, Gilles; Bouchard, Patrick; Chaix, J.E.; Rigaud, J.L.; Vivaldi, Andre.

1981-01-01

A device is described for measuring the flow rate, in particular through large section pipes, such as those found in water type nuclear reactors, thermal power stations and gas loops. This device includes a plate drilled with holes crossed by a fluid and held in the pipe by deformable components on which are secured strain gauges forming the detecting element of an electronic device for processing the signal emitted by the gauges. This device can be employed, for instance, for measuring the flow rate of a coolant in the primary system of a nuclear reactor [fr

Testing Framework for Mobile Device Forensics Tools

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maxwell Anobah

2014-09-01

Full Text Available The proliferation of mobile communication and computing devices, in particular smart mobile phones, is almost paralleled with the increasing number of mobile device forensics tools in the market. Each mobile forensics tool vendor, on one hand claims to have a tool that is best in terms of performance, while on the other hand each tool vendor seems to be using different standards for testing their tools and thereby defining what support means differently. To overcome this problem, a testing framework based on a series of tests ranging from basic forensics tasks such as file system reconstruction up to more complex ones countering antiforensic techniques is proposed. The framework, which is an extension of an existing effort done in 2010, prescribes a method to clearly circumscribe the term support into precise levels. It also gives an idea of the standard to be developed and accepted by the forensic community that will make it easier for forensics investigators to quickly select the most appropriate tool for a particular mobile device.

Cyborg beast: a low-cost 3d-printed prosthetic hand for children with upper-limb differences.

Science.gov (United States)

Zuniga, Jorge; Katsavelis, Dimitrios; Peck, Jean; Stollberg, John; Petrykowski, Marc; Carson, Adam; Fernandez, Cristina

2015-01-20

There is an increasing number of children with traumatic and congenital hand amputations or reductions. Children's prosthetic needs are complex due to their small size, constant growth, and psychosocial development. Families' financial resources play a crucial role in the prescription of prostheses for their children, especially when private insurance and public funding are insufficient. Electric-powered (i.e., myoelectric) and body-powered (i.e., mechanical) devices have been developed to accommodate children's needs, but the cost of maintenance and replacement represents an obstacle for many families. Due to the complexity and high cost of these prosthetic hands, they are not accessible to children from low-income, uninsured families or to children from developing countries. Advancements in computer-aided design (CAD) programs, additive manufacturing, and image editing software offer the possibility of designing, printing, and fitting prosthetic hands devices at a distance and at very low cost. The purpose of this preliminary investigation was to describe a low-cost three-dimensional (3D)-printed prosthetic hand for children with upper-limb reductions and to propose a prosthesis fitting methodology that can be performed at a distance. No significant mean differences were found between the anthropometric and range of motion measurements taken directly from the upper limbs of subjects versus those extracted from photographs. The Bland and Altman plots show no major bias and narrow limits of agreements for lengths and widths and small bias and wider limits of agreements for the range of motion measurements. The main finding of the survey was that our prosthetic device may have a significant potential to positively impact quality of life and daily usage, and can be incorporated in several activities at home and in school. This investigation describes a low-cost 3D-printed prosthetic hand for children and proposes a distance fitting procedure. The Cyborg Beast

Study of External Radiation Expose Dose on Hands of Nuclear Medicine Workers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, Jun Chul; Pyo, Sung Jae

2012-01-01

The aims of this study are to assess external radiation exposed doses of body and hands of nuclear medicine workers who handle radiation sources, and to measure radiation exposed doses of the hands induced by a whole body bone scan with high frequency and handling a radioactive sources like 99m Tc-HDP and 18 F-FDG in the PET/CT examination. Skillful workers, who directly dispense and inject from radiation sources, were asked to wear a TLD on the chest and ring finger. Then, radiation exposed dose and duration exposed from daily radiation sources for each section were measured by using a pocket dosimeter for the accumulated external doses and the absorbed dose to the hands. In the survey of four medical institutions in Incheon Metropolitan City, only one of four institutions has a radiation dosimeter for local area like hands. Most of institutions uses radiation shielding devices for the purpose of protecting the body trunk, not local area. Even some institutions were revealed not to use such a shielding device. The exposed doses on the hands of nuclear medicine workers who directly handles radioactive sources were approximately twice as much as those on the body. The radiation exposure level for each section of the whole body bone scan with high frequency and that of the PET/CT examination showed that radiation doses were revealed in decreasing order of synthesis of radioactive medicine and installation to a dispensing container, dispensing, administering and transferring. Furthermore, there were statistically significant differences of radiation exposure doses of the hands before and after wearing a syringe shielder in administration of a radioactive sources. In this study, although it did not reach the permissible effective dose for nuclear medicine, the occupational workers were exposed by relatively higher dose level than the non-occupational workers. Therefore, the workers, who closely exposed to radioactive sources should be in compliance with safety

Ground Robotic Hand Applications for the Space Program study (GRASP)

Science.gov (United States)

Grissom, William A.; Rafla, Nader I. (Editor)

1992-01-01

This document reports on a NASA-STDP effort to address research interests of the NASA Kennedy Space Center (KSC) through a study entitled, Ground Robotic-Hand Applications for the Space Program (GRASP). The primary objective of the GRASP study was to identify beneficial applications of specialized end-effectors and robotic hand devices for automating any ground operations which are performed at the Kennedy Space Center. Thus, operations for expendable vehicles, the Space Shuttle and its components, and all payloads were included in the study. Typical benefits of automating operations, or augmenting human operators performing physical tasks, include: reduced costs; enhanced safety and reliability; and reduced processing turnaround time.

Human-scale interaction for virtual model displays: a clear case for real tools

Science.gov (United States)

Williams, George C.; McDowall, Ian E.; Bolas, Mark T.

1998-04-01

We describe a hand-held user interface for interacting with virtual environments displayed on a Virtual Model Display. The tool, constructed entirely of transparent materials, is see-through. We render a graphical counterpart of the tool on the display and map it one-to-one with the real tool. This feature, combined with a capability for touch- sensitive, discrete input, results in a useful spatial input device that is visually versatile. We discuss the tool's design and interaction techniques it supports. Briefly, we look at the human factors issues and engineering challenges presented by this tool and, in general, by the class of hand-held user interfaces that are see-through.

Bladder wall thickness and ultrasound estimated bladder weight in healthy adults with portative ultrasound device

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Selcen Kanyilmaz

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Background: The aim of this study was to investigate bladder wall thickness (BWT and ultrasound estimated bladder weight (UEBW values in healthy population with a portative ultrasound device and their relationship with demographic parameters. Materials and Methods: The study was carried out in Neurorehabilitation Clinic of Ege University Hospital. Ninety-five subjects (48 women and 47 men aged between 18 and 56 were included in the study. BWT and UEBW were determined non-invasively with a portative ultrasound device; Bladder Scan BVM 6500 (Verathon Inc., WA, USA at a frequency of 3.7 MHz at functional bladder capacity. These values were compared by gender, and their relation was assessed with age, body mass index (BMI and parity. Results: Mean BWT was 2.0 ± 0.4 mm and UEBW was 44.6 ± 8.3 g at a mean volume of 338.0 ± 82.1 ml. Although higher results were obtained in men at higher bladder volumes, the results did not differ significantly by gender. Correlation analyses revealed statistically significant correlation between UEBW and age (r = 0.32. BWT was negatively correlated with volume (r = -0.50 and bladder surface area (r = -0.57. Also, statistically significant correlations were observed between UEBW and volume (r = 0.36, bladder surface area (r = 0.48 and BWT (r = 0.25. Conclusion: Determined values of BWT and UEBW in healthy population are estimated with portative ultrasound devices, which are future promising, for their convenient, easy, non-invasive, time-efficient hand-held use for screening.

A comparison of the quality of image acquisition between the incident dark field and sidestream dark field video-microscopes

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gilbert-Kawai, Edward; Coppel, Jonny; Bountziouka, Vassiliki; Ince, Can; Martin, Daniel; Ahuja, V.; Aref-Adib, G.; Burnham, R.; Chisholm, A.; Clarke, K.; Coates, D.; Coates, M.; Cook, D.; Cox, M.; Dhillon, S.; Dougall, C.; Doyle, P.; Duncan, P.; Edsell, M.; Edwards, L.; Evans, L.; Gardiner, P.; Grocott, M.; Gunning, P.; Hart, N.; Harrington, J.; Harvey, J.; Holloway, C.; Howard, D.; Hurlbut, D.; Imray, C.; Jonas, M.; van der Kaaij, J.; Khosravi, M.; Kolfschoten, N.; Levett, D.; Luery, H.; Luks, A.; Martin, D.; McMorrow, R.; Meale, P.; Mitchell, K.; Montgomery, H.; Morgan, G.; Morgan, J.; Murray, A.; Mythen, M.; Newman, S.; O'Dwyer, M.; Pate, J.

2016-01-01

Background: The 'Cytocam' is a third generation video-microscope, which enables real time visualisation of the in vivo microcirculation. Based upon the principle of incident dark field (IDF) illumination, this hand held computer-controlled device was designed to address the technical limitations of

Transjugular Intrahepatic Portosystemic Shunt (TIPS)

Medline Plus

Full Text Available ... consist of a console containing a computer and electronics, a video display screen and a transducer that is used to do the scanning. The transducer is a small hand-held device that resembles a microphone, attached to the scanner ...

Foreign Body Retrieval

Medline Plus

Full Text Available ... consist of a console containing a computer and electronics, a video display screen and a transducer that is used to do the scanning. The transducer is a small hand-held device that resembles a microphone, attached to the scanner ...

Children's (Pediatric) Abdominal Ultrasound Imaging

Medline Plus

Full Text Available ... consist of a console containing a computer and electronics, a video display screen and a transducer that is used to do the scanning. The transducer is a small hand-held device that resembles a microphone, attached to the scanner ...

General Ultrasound Imaging

Medline Plus

Full Text Available ... consist of a console containing a computer and electronics, a video display screen and a transducer that is used to do the scanning. The transducer is a small hand-held device that resembles a microphone, attached to the scanner ...

A comparison of the quality of image acquisition between the incident dark field and sidestream dark field video-microscopes

NARCIS (Netherlands)

E. Gilbert-Kawai; J. Coppel (Jonny); V. Bountziouka (Vassiliki); C. Ince (Can); D. Martin (Daniel)

2016-01-01

markdownabstract__Background__ The ‘Cytocam’ is a third generation video-microscope, which enables real time visualisation of the in vivo microcirculation. Based upon the principle of incident dark field (IDF) illumination, this hand held computer-controlled device was designed to address the

Iatrogenic medication errors in a paediatric intensive care unit in ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This unit has guided the development of various types of adverse event reporting, ... iatrogenic medi cation errors in children at healthcare facilities in industrialised .... A pharmacist dispenses electronically submitted medication orders but ..... Hand-held devices such as smartphones with medication dosage applications.

How a smiley protects health: A pilot intervention to improve hand hygiene in hospitals by activating injunctive norms through emoticons

Science.gov (United States)

Tsivrikos, Dimitrios; Dollinger, Daniel; Lermer, Eva

2018-01-01

Hand hygiene practice in hospitals is unfortunately still widely insufficient, even though it is known that transmitting pathogens via hands is the leading cause of healthcare-associated infections. Previous research has shown that improving knowledge, providing feedback on past behaviour and targeting social norms are promising approaches to improve hand hygiene practices. The present field experiment was designed to direct people on when to perform hand hygiene and prevent forgetfulness. This intervention is the first to examine the effect of inducing injunctive social norms via an emoticon-based feedback system on hand hygiene behaviour. Electronic monitoring and feedback devices were installed in hospital patient rooms on top of hand-rub dispensers, next to the doorway, for a period of 17 weeks. In the emoticon condition, screens at the devices activated whenever a person entered or exited the room. Before using the alcohol-based hand-rub dispenser, a frowny face was displayed, indicating that hand hygiene should be performed. If the dispenser was subsequently used, this picture changed to a smiley face to positively reinforce the correct behaviour. Hand hygiene behaviour in the emoticon rooms significantly outperformed the behaviour in three other tested conditions. The strong effect in this field experiment indicates that activating injunctive norms may be a promising approach to improve hand hygiene behaviour. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed. PMID:29782516

EthoHand: A dexterous robotic hand with ball-joint thumb enables complex in-hand object manipulation

OpenAIRE

Konnaris, C; Gavriel, C; Thomik, AAC; Aldo Faisal, A

2016-01-01

Our dexterous hand is a fundmanetal human feature that distinguishes us from other animals by enabling us to go beyond grasping to support sophisticated in-hand object manipulation. Our aim was the design of a dexterous anthropomorphic robotic hand that matches the human hand's 24 degrees of freedom, under-actuated by seven motors. With the ability to replicate human hand movements in a naturalistic manner including in-hand object manipulation. Therefore, we focused on the development of a no...

A structured overview of trends and technologies used in dynamic hand orthoses

OpenAIRE

Bos, Ronald A.; Haarman, Claudia J.W.; Stortelder, Teun; Nizamis, Kostas; Herder, Just L.; Stienen, Arno H.A.; Plettenburg, Dick H.

2016-01-01

The development of dynamic hand orthoses is a fast-growing field of research and has resulted in many different devices. A large and diverse solution space is formed by the various mechatronic components which are used in these devices. They are the result of making complex design choices within the constraints imposed by the application, the environment and the patient?s individual needs. Several review studies exist that cover the details of specific disciplines which play a part in the dev...

Cloud-based processing of multi-spectral imaging data

Science.gov (United States)

Bernat, Amir S.; Bolton, Frank J.; Weiser, Reuven; Levitz, David

2017-03-01

Multispectral imaging holds great promise as a non-contact tool for the assessment of tissue composition. Performing multi - spectral imaging on a hand held mobile device would allow to bring this technology and with it knowledge to low resource settings to provide a state of the art classification of tissue health. This modality however produces considerably larger data sets than white light imaging and requires preliminary image analysis for it to be used. The data then needs to be analyzed and logged, while not requiring too much of the system resource or a long computation time and battery use by the end point device. Cloud environments were designed to allow offloading of those problems by allowing end point devices (smartphones) to offload computationally hard tasks. For this end we present a method where the a hand held device based around a smartphone captures a multi - spectral dataset in a movie file format (mp4) and compare it to other image format in size, noise and correctness. We present the cloud configuration used for segmenting images to frames where they can later be used for further analysis.

Hand-related physical function in rheumatic hand conditions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Klokker, Louise; Terwee, Caroline B; Wæhrens, Eva Ejlersen

2016-01-01

as well as those items from the Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Physical Function (PF) item bank that are relevant to patients with rheumatic hand conditions. Selection will be based on consensus among reviewers. Content validity of selected items will be established......INTRODUCTION: There is no consensus about what constitutes the most appropriate patient-reported outcome measurement (PROM) instrument for measuring physical function in patients with rheumatic hand conditions. Existing instruments lack psychometric testing and vary in feasibility...... and their psychometric qualities. We aim to develop a PROM instrument to assess hand-related physical function in rheumatic hand conditions. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: We will perform a systematic search to identify existing PROMs to rheumatic hand conditions, and select items relevant for hand-related physical function...

Hand-related physical function in rheumatic hand conditions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Klokker, Louise; Terwee, Caroline; Wæhrens, Eva Elisabet Ejlersen

2016-01-01

INTRODUCTION: There is no consensus about what constitutes the most appropriate patient-reported outcome measurement (PROM) instrument for measuring physical function in patients with rheumatic hand conditions. Existing instruments lack psychometric testing and vary in feasibility...... and their psychometric qualities. We aim to develop a PROM instrument to assess hand-related physical function in rheumatic hand conditions. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: We will perform a systematic search to identify existing PROMs to rheumatic hand conditions, and select items relevant for hand-related physical function...... as well as those items from the Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Physical Function (PF) item bank that are relevant to patients with rheumatic hand conditions. Selection will be based on consensus among reviewers. Content validity of selected items will be established...

Internal inspection devices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1982-01-01

In order to evaluate the possibilities and limits of using specific endoscopes, the design and performance of rigid and flexible endoscopes are studied. The results show on the one hand the physical conditions setting a limit to the applicability of a certain device, and on the other indicate possible ways of improving and modifying given devices so as to adapt them to the special requirements of current testing standards. Based on theoretical and practical experience, proposals for improvements are made. For rigid endoscopes, e.g., additional equipment has been developed and is described in detail, allowing hitherto existing problems to be solved, thus enlarging the range of employment and enhancing and improving the information to be gained by testing using endoscopes. (orig./RW) [de

Hand hygiene for the management of a patient infected with Clostridium difficile in the presence of hospital infections

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Krystyna Nowacka

2017-06-01

Such pathogens include Clostridium difficile. That is the most important pathogen causing diarrhea.  Stem infection of Clostridium difficile may cause serious diseases and medical conditions, particularly in the elderly, debilitated as a result of chronic diseases. The need to respect the principles of hand hygiene by medical staff is widely recognized. Causes of irregularities in the field of hand hygiene are different, for example. the intensity of the work, insufficient medical knowledge, limited access to devices for effective hand hygiene or ignorance of hand disinfection techniques.

Concept and Design of a 3D Printed Support to Assist Hand Scanning for the Realization of Customized Orthosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Baronio, Gabriele; Volonghi, Paola; Signoroni, Alberto

2017-01-01

In the rehabilitation field, the use of additive manufacturing techniques to realize customized orthoses is increasingly widespread. Obtaining a 3D model for the 3D printing phase can be done following different methodologies. We consider the creation of personalized upper limb orthoses, also including fingers, starting from the acquisition of the hand geometry through accurate 3D scanning. However, hand scanning procedure presents differences between healthy subjects and patients affected by pathologies that compromise upper limb functionality. In this work, we present the concept and design of a 3D printed support to assist hand scanning of such patients. The device, realized with FDM additive manufacturing techniques in ABS material, allows palmar acquisitions, and its design and test are motivated by the following needs: (1) immobilizing the hand of patients during the palmar scanning to reduce involuntary movements affecting the scanning quality and (2) keeping hands open and in a correct position, especially to contrast the high degree of hypertonicity of spastic subjects. The resulting device can be used indifferently for the right and the left hand; it is provided in four-dimensional sizes and may be also suitable as a palmar support for the acquisition of the dorsal side of the hand.

Concept and Design of a 3D Printed Support to Assist Hand Scanning for the Realization of Customized Orthosis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gabriele Baronio

2017-01-01

Full Text Available In the rehabilitation field, the use of additive manufacturing techniques to realize customized orthoses is increasingly widespread. Obtaining a 3D model for the 3D printing phase can be done following different methodologies. We consider the creation of personalized upper limb orthoses, also including fingers, starting from the acquisition of the hand geometry through accurate 3D scanning. However, hand scanning procedure presents differences between healthy subjects and patients affected by pathologies that compromise upper limb functionality. In this work, we present the concept and design of a 3D printed support to assist hand scanning of such patients. The device, realized with FDM additive manufacturing techniques in ABS material, allows palmar acquisitions, and its design and test are motivated by the following needs: (1 immobilizing the hand of patients during the palmar scanning to reduce involuntary movements affecting the scanning quality and (2 keeping hands open and in a correct position, especially to contrast the high degree of hypertonicity of spastic subjects. The resulting device can be used indifferently for the right and the left hand; it is provided in four-dimensional sizes and may be also suitable as a palmar support for the acquisition of the dorsal side of the hand.

A Cognitive Style Perspective to Handheld Devices: Customization vs. Personalization

Science.gov (United States)

Hsieh, Chen-Wei; Chen, Sherry Y.

2016-01-01

Handheld devices are widely applied to support open and distributed learning, where students are diverse. On the other hand, customization and personalization can be applied to accommodate students' diversities. However, paucity of research compares the effects of customization and personalization in the context of handheld devices. To this end, a…

Automatic centering device of a tool with regard to an aperture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Delevalee, A.

1993-01-01

The manipulator arm carries a fixed support and a mobile support that can move perpendicularly to the axis of the tube. The mobile support can be held in any position by a brake arrangement. An index device allows the positioning of the mobile support in an initial predetermined position. A conical centering device can be placed coaxial with the tool and as it enters the tube ensures the alignment of the axis of the tool with the axis of the tube

Virtual reality as a method for evaluation and therapy after traumatic hand surgery.

Science.gov (United States)

Nica, Adriana Sarah; Brailescu, Consuela Monica; Scarlet, Rodica Gabriela

2013-01-01

In the last decade, Virtual Reality has encountered a continuous development concerning medical purposes and there are a lot of devices based on the classic "cyberglove" concept that are used as new therapeutic method for upper limb pathology, especially neurologic problems [1;2;3]. One of the VR devices is Pablo (Tyromotion), with very sensitive sensors that can measure the hand grip strenght and the pinch force, also the ROM (range of motion) for all the joints of the upper limb (shoulder, elbow, wrist) and offering the possibility of interactive games based on Virtual Reality concept with application in occupational therapy programs. We used Pablo in our study on patients with hand surgery as an objective tool for assessment and as additional therapeutic method to the classic Rehabilitation program [4;5]. The results of the study proved that Pablo represents a modern option for evaluation of hand deficits and dysfunctions, with objective measurement replacement of classic goniometry and dynamometry, with computerized data base of patients with monitoring of parameters during the recovery program and with better muscular and neuro-cognitive feedback during the interactive therapeutic modules.

AUGMENTED REALITY APPLICATIONS IN HAND-HELD DEVICES IN THE LIGHT OF BAUDRILLARD’S “SIMULACRA AND SIMULATION”

OpenAIRE

Erandaru Erandaru

2008-01-01

Baudrillard merupakan salah satu tokoh dalam filsafat postmodern yang mengkritik kehadiran media dunia maya dalam budaya hidup manusia saat ini. Baudrillard melontarkan pendapat bahwa interaksi manusia dengan media tersebut tidak membawa manfaat. Lebih jauh lagi dia mengkhawatirkan bahwa masyarakat dapat menjadi obyek bagi media. kemampuan media tersebut untuk membentuk dunia impian yang dapat menarik masyarakat untuk semakin menjauh dari kehidupan nyata. Perkembangan terakhir dalam teknologi...

AUGMENTED REALITY APPLICATIONS IN HAND-HELD DEVICES IN THE LIGHT OF BAUDRILLARD’S “SIMULACRA AND SIMULATION”

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Erandaru Erandaru

2008-01-01

Full Text Available Baudrillard merupakan salah satu tokoh dalam filsafat postmodern yang mengkritik kehadiran media dunia maya dalam budaya hidup manusia saat ini. Baudrillard melontarkan pendapat bahwa interaksi manusia dengan media tersebut tidak membawa manfaat. Lebih jauh lagi dia mengkhawatirkan bahwa masyarakat dapat menjadi obyek bagi media. kemampuan media tersebut untuk membentuk dunia impian yang dapat menarik masyarakat untuk semakin menjauh dari kehidupan nyata. Perkembangan terakhir dalam teknologi virtual telah memungkinkan kehadirannya secara luas di pasar dan dalam jangkaun daya beli konsumen melalui aplikasi augmented reality. Aplikasi dengan konsep untuk memungkinkan pengguna melihat dunia maya terintegrasi ke dalam dunia nyata. Suatu pendekatan yang berbeda dibandingkan dengan aplikasi yang menggunakan teknologi virtual reality pada umumnya yang berusaha untuk menghadirkan pengguna ke dalam dunia maya. Bukannya semakin menarik pengguna menjauh dari dunia nyata, aplikasi augmented reality justru semakin menarik pengguna untuk berinteraksi dengan dunia nyata. Walaupun masih terlalu dini untuk mengetahui seberapa jauh dampak teknologi augmented reality bagi masyarakat, pemahaman terhadap kritik yang dilontarkan oleh Baudrillard setidaknya mampu memberikan wawasan bagi pelaku desain media dalam memanfaatkan teknologi augmented reality dan menerapkannya sedemikian hingga membantu dalam meningkatkan wawasan dan kepedulian masyarakat terhadap dunia nyata. Abstract in Bahasa Indonesia: Baudrillard is one of postmodernist theorists that criticize the unreality of the culture which we live in. He suggests that human interactions with virtual reality media and unreal technologies, achieve nothing; He even fears that society will fall prey to these media subjectivity. The virtual reality media capability to produce simulated reality could mislead society into voluntary detachment with the real world. The latest development in virtual technology has made it available within the consumer market in the form of augmented reality application. An application based on a concept that merges virtual data within the physical environment, a different approach compared to common virtual reality technology where user is immersed within a virtual environment. Instead of detachment, augmented reality offers attachment with reality. While it is still too early to study augmented reality technology’s impact on society, a study on Baudrillard’s critiques will nevertheless gives a valuable insight on how designers could make use of augmented reality technology to shape society with a sense of consciousness of the real world. Keywords: Baudrillard, augmented reality applications.

Remote Access: A Vision for Mobile Medical Devices

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Herbert Ernst

2005-11-01

Full Text Available During the Symposium for Remote Engineering and Virtual Instrumentation held at Brasov in early July 2005 an outlook was presented regarding the future potential of remote engineering for mobile medical devices. It is the intention of this article to recapitulate the content of the initiated discussions and to stimulate work in this complex and until now largely neglected field of application.

Hand Fractures

Science.gov (United States)

... All Topics A-Z Videos Infographics Symptom Picker Anatomy Bones Joints Muscles Nerves Vessels Tendons About Hand Surgery What is ... Hand Therapist? Media Find a Hand Surgeon Home Anatomy ... DESCRIPTION The bones of the hand serve as a framework. This framework supports the muscles that make the wrist and fingers move. When ...

Association between grip strength and hand and knee radiographic osteoarthritis in Korean adults: Data from the Dong-gu study.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lihui Wen

Full Text Available We assessed whether grip strength was related to various types of radiographic damage in Korean adults with osteoarthritis (OA.Data from 2,251 subjects enrolled in the Dong-gu study, who had no hand joint pain, were analyzed to investigate the relationship between grip strength and OA. Hand grip strength was measured using a hand-held dynamometer, and radiographs of the hand and knee were scored according to a semi-quantitative grading system. Multiple linear regressions were used to explore associations between grip strength and radiographic features of OA.Grip strength in men and women was negatively related to hand (both p < 0.001 and knee (men, p < 0.001; women, p = 0.010 OA after adjusting for confounders. Hand (men, p < 0.001; women, p = 0.001 and knee (both p < 0.001 joint space narrowing (JSN showed the strongest associations with low grip strength, regardless of gender. Moreover, the severity of hand osteophytes in women (p = 0.001, and subchondral cysts (men, p < 0.001 was correlated with low grip strength in both genders.Among subjects without hand joint pain, low grip strength was associated significantly with hand and knee radiographic OA, regardless of gender. Among all types of OA radiographic damage, low grip strength showed the strongest association with JSN.

27 CFR 46.207 - Articles held in bond.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 27 Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Articles held in bond. 46... Tubes Held for Sale on April 1, 2009 Inventories § 46.207 Articles held in bond. If the dealer is a manufacturer or an export warehouse proprietor and holds articles in TTB bond on April 1, 2009, the floor...

RGBD Video Based Human Hand Trajectory Tracking and Gesture Recognition System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Weihua Liu

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The task of human hand trajectory tracking and gesture trajectory recognition based on synchronized color and depth video is considered. Toward this end, in the facet of hand tracking, a joint observation model with the hand cues of skin saliency, motion and depth is integrated into particle filter in order to move particles to local peak in the likelihood. The proposed hand tracking method, namely, salient skin, motion, and depth based particle filter (SSMD-PF, is capable of improving the tracking accuracy considerably, in the context of the signer performing the gesture toward the camera device and in front of moving, cluttered backgrounds. In the facet of gesture recognition, a shape-order context descriptor on the basis of shape context is introduced, which can describe the gesture in spatiotemporal domain. The efficient shape-order context descriptor can reveal the shape relationship and embed gesture sequence order information into descriptor. Moreover, the shape-order context leads to a robust score for gesture invariant. Our approach is complemented with experimental results on the settings of the challenging hand-signed digits datasets and American sign language dataset, which corroborate the performance of the novel techniques.

Hand-assisted laparoscopic surgery for colorectal malignancies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Memon, M.A.; Fitzgibbons, R.J.

2004-01-01

Objective: To report our initial experience with hand-assisted laparoscopic surgery (HALS) for colorectal malignancies using a Specially designed laparoscopic hand cannula. Patients and Methods: Nine caucasians patients with colorectal malignancies underwent HALS which included 02 right hemicolectomies, 01 transverse colectomy, 03 sigmoid colectomies, 01 anterior resection and 02 low anterior resections. Results: There were 4 males and 5 females. The mean length of incision for placement of the cannula was 7 cms (range 7-8 cms). The mean operating time was 180 minutes. Postoperatively on an average patients were ambulatory by day 2 (range 1-4) and taking oral fluids by day 3 (range 1-4). There were no conversions to laparotomy. Furthermore there was no operative mortality and no complication directly related to the use of the device. Conclusion: HALS appears to be a useful adjuvant for laparoscopic colectomy due to advantages provided by tactile sensation. A curative resection for malignancy can be performed without compromising oncological principles. (author)

Measurements by A LEAP-Based Virtual Glove for the Hand Rehabilitation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Giuseppe Placidi

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Hand rehabilitation is fundamental after stroke or surgery. Traditional rehabilitation requires a therapist and implies high costs, stress for the patient, and subjective evaluation of the therapy effectiveness. Alternative approaches, based on mechanical and tracking-based gloves, can be really effective when used in virtual reality (VR environments. Mechanical devices are often expensive, cumbersome, patient specific and hand specific, while tracking-based devices are not affected by these limitations but, especially if based on a single tracking sensor, could suffer from occlusions. In this paper, the implementation of a multi-sensors approach, the Virtual Glove (VG, based on the simultaneous use of two orthogonal LEAP motion controllers, is described. The VG is calibrated and static positioning measurements are compared with those collected with an accurate spatial positioning system. The positioning error is lower than 6 mm in a cylindrical region of interest of radius 10 cm and height 21 cm. Real-time hand tracking measurements are also performed, analysed and reported. Hand tracking measurements show that VG operated in real-time (60 fps, reduced occlusions, and managed two LEAP sensors correctly, without any temporal and spatial discontinuity when skipping from one sensor to the other. A video demonstrating the good performance of VG is also collected and presented in the Supplementary Materials. Results are promising but further work must be done to allow the calculation of the forces exerted by each finger when constrained by mechanical tools (e.g., peg-boards and for reducing occlusions when grasping these tools. Although the VG is proposed for rehabilitation purposes, it could also be used for tele-operation of tools and robots, and for other VR applications.

Measurements by A LEAP-Based Virtual Glove for the Hand Rehabilitation.

Science.gov (United States)

Placidi, Giuseppe; Cinque, Luigi; Polsinelli, Matteo; Spezialetti, Matteo

2018-03-10

Hand rehabilitation is fundamental after stroke or surgery. Traditional rehabilitation requires a therapist and implies high costs, stress for the patient, and subjective evaluation of the therapy effectiveness. Alternative approaches, based on mechanical and tracking-based gloves, can be really effective when used in virtual reality (VR) environments. Mechanical devices are often expensive, cumbersome, patient specific and hand specific, while tracking-based devices are not affected by these limitations but, especially if based on a single tracking sensor, could suffer from occlusions. In this paper, the implementation of a multi-sensors approach, the Virtual Glove (VG), based on the simultaneous use of two orthogonal LEAP motion controllers, is described. The VG is calibrated and static positioning measurements are compared with those collected with an accurate spatial positioning system. The positioning error is lower than 6 mm in a cylindrical region of interest of radius 10 cm and height 21 cm. Real-time hand tracking measurements are also performed, analysed and reported. Hand tracking measurements show that VG operated in real-time (60 fps), reduced occlusions, and managed two LEAP sensors correctly, without any temporal and spatial discontinuity when skipping from one sensor to the other. A video demonstrating the good performance of VG is also collected and presented in the Supplementary Materials. Results are promising but further work must be done to allow the calculation of the forces exerted by each finger when constrained by mechanical tools (e.g., peg-boards) and for reducing occlusions when grasping these tools. Although the VG is proposed for rehabilitation purposes, it could also be used for tele-operation of tools and robots, and for other VR applications.

Hand Matters: Left-Hand Gestures Enhance Metaphor Explanation

Science.gov (United States)

Argyriou, Paraskevi; Mohr, Christine; Kita, Sotaro

2017-01-01

Research suggests that speech-accompanying gestures influence cognitive processes, but it is not clear whether the gestural benefit is specific to the gesturing hand. Two experiments tested the "(right/left) hand-specificity" hypothesis for self-oriented functions of gestures: gestures with a particular hand enhance cognitive processes…

[Hand osteoarthritis].

Science.gov (United States)

Šenolt, Ladislav

Hand osteoarthritis (OA) is a common chronic disorder causing pain and limitation of mobility of affected joints. The prevalence of hand OA increases with age and more often affects females. Clinical signs obviously do not correlate with radiographic findings - symptomatic hand OA affects approximately 26 % of adult subjects, but radiographic changes can be found in up to two thirds of females and half of males older than 55 years.Disease course differ among individual patients. Hand OA is a heterogeneous disease. Nodal hand OA is the most common subtype affecting interphalangeal joints, thumb base OA affects first carpometacarpal joint. Erosive OA represents a specific subtype of hand OA, which is associated with joint inflammation, more pain, functional limitation and erosive findings on radiographs.Treatment of OA is limited. Analgesics and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are the only agents reducing symptoms. New insights into the pathogenesis of disease should contribute to the development of novel effective treatment of hand OA.

IAEA technical committee meeting on research using small fusion devices (abstracts)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1999-12-01

The thirteenth IAEA technical committee meeting on research using small fusion devices are held in Chengdu, P. R. China on 18-20 Oct. , 1999. 41 articles are received and the content includes toroidal systems, helical systems, plasma focus, diagnostic systems, theory and modeling, improving confinement, numerical simulation, innovative concepts and others

Short Term Motor-Skill Acquisition Improves with Size of Self-Controlled Virtual Hands.

Science.gov (United States)

Ossmy, Ori; Mukamel, Roy

2017-01-01

Visual feedback in general, and from the body in particular, is known to influence the performance of motor skills in humans. However, it is unclear how the acquisition of motor skills depends on specific visual feedback parameters such as the size of performing effector. Here, 21 healthy subjects physically trained to perform sequences of finger movements with their right hand. Through the use of 3D Virtual Reality devices, visual feedback during training consisted of virtual hands presented on the screen, tracking subject's hand movements in real time. Importantly, the setup allowed us to manipulate the size of the displayed virtual hands across experimental conditions. We found that performance gains increase with the size of virtual hands. In contrast, when subjects trained by mere observation (i.e., in the absence of physical movement), manipulating the size of the virtual hand did not significantly affect subsequent performance gains. These results demonstrate that when it comes to short-term motor skill learning, the size of visual feedback matters. Furthermore, these results suggest that highest performance gains in individual subjects are achieved when the size of the virtual hand matches their real hand size. These results may have implications for optimizing motor training schemes.

Short Term Motor-Skill Acquisition Improves with Size of Self-Controlled Virtual Hands.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ori Ossmy

Full Text Available Visual feedback in general, and from the body in particular, is known to influence the performance of motor skills in humans. However, it is unclear how the acquisition of motor skills depends on specific visual feedback parameters such as the size of performing effector. Here, 21 healthy subjects physically trained to perform sequences of finger movements with their right hand. Through the use of 3D Virtual Reality devices, visual feedback during training consisted of virtual hands presented on the screen, tracking subject's hand movements in real time. Importantly, the setup allowed us to manipulate the size of the displayed virtual hands across experimental conditions. We found that performance gains increase with the size of virtual hands. In contrast, when subjects trained by mere observation (i.e., in the absence of physical movement, manipulating the size of the virtual hand did not significantly affect subsequent performance gains. These results demonstrate that when it comes to short-term motor skill learning, the size of visual feedback matters. Furthermore, these results suggest that highest performance gains in individual subjects are achieved when the size of the virtual hand matches their real hand size. These results may have implications for optimizing motor training schemes.

Assessment of a wearable force- and electromyography device and comparison of the related signals for myocontrol

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mathilde Connan

2016-11-01

Full Text Available In the frame of assistive robotics, multi-finger prosthetic hand/wrists have recently appeared,offering an increasing level of dexterity; however, in practice their control is limited to a few handgrips and still unreliable, with the effect that pattern recognition has not yet appeared in the clinicalenvironment. According to the scientific community, one of the keys to improve the situation ismulti-modal sensing, i.e., using diverse sensor modalities to interpret the subject’s intent andimprove the reliability and safety of the control system in daily life activities. In this work, wefirst describe and test a novel wireless, wearable force- and electromyography device; throughan experiment conducted on ten intact subjects, we then compare the obtained signals bothqualitatively and quantitatively, highlighting their advantages and disadvantages. Our resultsindicate that force-myography yields signals which are more stable across time during whenevera pattern is held, than those obtained by electromyography. We speculate that fusion of the twomodalities might be advantageous to improve the reliability of myocontrol in the near future.

Daily exposure to hand arm vibration by different electric olive beaters

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Angela Calvo

2014-11-01

Full Text Available The electric hand held olive harvesters have a low weight (about 2 kg and cause the fruit pick up by means of impacts produced by their vibrational tools: for this reason they transmit elevated vibration doses to the operator’s hand arm system during the work. In this paper electric beaters of different manufacturers and different models were considered, to analyse their vibrational behaviour in field, during the olive harvesting campaign in a site located in Northern Italy. One operator did the tests, to avoid the operator’s uncertainty on the obtained results. All the five examined beaters gave high acceleration values (in a range from 10 to 26 ms–2, but the most restricting data were the daily vibration exposures, calculated considering the real working duration time acquired in field, almost ranged between 10 and 18 ms–2. Also the operator posture during the work (with the arms over the shoulders may set health problems, related to upper limb disorders, other than the already known musculoskeletal, nervous and vascular pathologies.

Contributions to the 7th International Conference on plasma surface interactions in controlled fusion devices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1986-01-01

The report contains three papers presented in the 7th International Conference on plasma surface interactions in controlled fusion devices held in Princeton (USA) 5-9 May 1986, all referred to the FT Tokamak

Single DoF Hand Orthosis for Rehabilitation of Stroke and SCI Patients

Science.gov (United States)

Kannan Megalingam, Rajesh; Apuroop, K. G. S.; Boddupalli, Sricharan

2017-08-01

Many stroke and spinal cord injury patients suffer from paralysis which range from severe to nominal. Some of them, after therapy, could regain most of the motor control, particularly in hands if the severity level is not so high. In this paper we propose a hand orthosis for such patients whose stroke and spinal cord injury severity is nominal and the motor control in hands can be regained by therapy as part of their rehabilitation process. The patients can wear this orthosis and the therapy can be done with simple Human Computer Interface. The physicians, the physiotherapists and the patients themselves can carry out the therapy with the help of this device. The tests conducted in the lab and the results obtained are very promising that this can be an effective mechanism for stroke and spinal cord injury patients in their rehabilitation process. The hand orthosis is designed and fabricated locally so that it can be made available to such patients at an affordable cost.

Strengthening and stretching for rheumatoid arthritis of the hand (SARAH: design of a randomised controlled trial of a hand and upper limb exercise intervention - ISRCTN89936343

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adams Jo

2012-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA commonly affects the hands and wrists with inflammation, deformity, pain, weakness and restricted mobility leading to reduced function. The effectiveness of exercise for RA hands is uncertain, although evidence from small scale studies is promising. The Strengthening And Stretching for Rheumatoid Arthritis of the Hand (SARAH trial is a pragmatic, multi-centre randomised controlled trial evaluating the clinical and cost effectiveness of adding an optimised exercise programme for hands and upper limbs to best practice usual care for patients with RA. Methods/design 480 participants with problematic RA hands will be recruited through 17 NHS trusts. Treatments will be provided by physiotherapists and occupational therapists. Participants will be individually randomised to receive either best practice usual care (joint protection advice, general exercise advice, functional splinting and assistive devices or best practice usual care supplemented with an individualised exercise programme of strengthening and stretching exercises. The study assessors will be blinded to treatment allocation and will follow participants up at four and 12 months. The primary outcome measure is the Hand function subscale of the Michigan Hand Outcome Questionnaire, and secondary outcomes include hand and wrist impairment measures, quality of life, and resource use. Economic and qualitative studies will also be carried out in parallel. Discussion This paper describes the design and development of a trial protocol of a complex intervention study based in therapy out-patient departments. The findings will provide evidence to support or refute the use of an optimised exercise programme for RA of the hand in addition to best practice usual care. Trial registration Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN89936343

Nanoscale MOS devices: device parameter fluctuations and low-frequency noise (Invited Paper)

Science.gov (United States)

Wong, Hei; Iwai, Hiroshi; Liou, J. J.

2005-05-01

It is well-known in conventional MOS transistors that the low-frequency noise or flicker noise is mainly contributed by the trapping-detrapping events in the gate oxide and the mobility fluctuation in the surface channel. In nanoscale MOS transistors, the number of trapping-detrapping events becomes less important because of the large direct tunneling current through the ultrathin gate dielectric which reduces the probability of trapping-detrapping and the level of leakage current fluctuation. Other noise sources become more significant in nanoscale devices. The source and drain resistance noises have greater impact on the drain current noise. Significant contribution of the parasitic bipolar transistor noise in ultra-short channel and channel mobility fluctuation to the channel noise are observed. The channel mobility fluctuation in nanoscale devices could be due to the local composition fluctuation of the gate dielectric material which gives rise to the permittivity fluctuation along the channel and results in gigantic channel potential fluctuation. On the other hand, the statistical variations of the device parameters across the wafer would cause the noise measurements less accurate which will be a challenge for the applicability of analytical flicker noise model as a process or device evaluation tool for nanoscale devices. Some measures for circumventing these difficulties are proposed.

Denmark: HAND in HAND Policy Questionnaire

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Laursen, Hilmar Dyrborg; Nielsen, Birgitte Lund

2018-01-01

Som del af det internationale EU finansierede projekt Hand in Hand, der fokuserer på de såkaldte SEI-kompetencer (Social, Emotional, Intercultural), er dansk policy i relation til elevernes sociale, emotionelle og interkulturelle læring kortlagt i denne rapport. Der refereres bl.a. til "elevernes...

HFS-II hands and feet contamination monitor for α, β

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Du Xiangyang; Han Shuping; Wang Xiaodong; Fan Liya; Zhang Yong; Rao Xianming; Fang Jintu

1999-11-01

HFS-II Hands and Feet Contamination Monitor for α, β is a necessary device which monitors the entrance of controlling area of nuclear power plant and nuclear facility, and it consists of nuclear detector, nuclear electronic circuit, computer data processing and controlling divisions, input/output controlling etc. Physical indicators conform to the requirements of relative national standard GB8703-87 and department standard EJ/T586

Gamma-ray imaging system. Innovative technology summary report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1998-11-01

The RadScan 600 gamma-ray imaging system is designed to survey large surface areas for radiological contamination with accuracy and efficiency. The resulting survey data are clear, concise, and precise in describing how much contamination is present at exact locations. Data can be permanently stored electronically and on video tape, making storage and retrieval economical and efficient. This technology can perform accurate measurements in high radiation contamination areas while minimizing worker exposure. The RadScan 600 system is a safe and effective alternative to hand-held radiation detection devices. Performance data of the demonstrated survey area of the RadScan 600 system versus the baseline, which is the hand-held radiation detection devices (RO-2 and RO-7) for a given survey, production rate is 72% of the baseline. It should be noted that the innovative technology provides 100% coverage at a unit cost of $8.64/m 2 versus a static measurement of a unit cost of $1.61/m 2 for the baseline

Haptic Feedback in Motor Hand Virtual Therapy Increases Precision and Generates Less Mental Workload

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cristina Ramírez-Fernández

2015-10-01

Full Text Available In this work we show that haptic feedback in upper limb motor therapy improves performance and generates a lower mental workload. To demonstrate this, two groups of participants (healthy adults and elders with hand motor problems used a low-cost haptic device (Novint Falcon and a non-robotic device (Leap Motion Controller. Participants conducted the same rehabilitation task by using a non-immersive virtual environment. Results show significant differences for all participants regarding precision on the use of the haptic feedback device. Additionally, participants in the older adult group demonstrated a lower mental workload while using the haptic device (Novint Falcon. Finally, qualitative results show that participants preferred to conduct their therapy exercises by using the haptic device, as they found it more useful, easier to use and easier to learn

Hand Surgery: Anesthesia

Science.gov (United States)

... All Topics A-Z Videos Infographics Symptom Picker Anatomy Bones Joints Muscles Nerves Vessels Tendons About Hand Surgery What is a Hand Surgeon? What is a Hand Therapist? Media Find a Hand Surgeon Home Anatomy Hand Surgery Anesthesia Email to a friend * required ...

Viewpoint Integration for Hand-Based Recognition of Social Interactions from a First-Person View.

Science.gov (United States)

Bambach, Sven; Crandall, David J; Yu, Chen

2015-11-01

Wearable devices are becoming part of everyday life, from first-person cameras (GoPro, Google Glass), to smart watches (Apple Watch), to activity trackers (FitBit). These devices are often equipped with advanced sensors that gather data about the wearer and the environment. These sensors enable new ways of recognizing and analyzing the wearer's everyday personal activities, which could be used for intelligent human-computer interfaces and other applications. We explore one possible application by investigating how egocentric video data collected from head-mounted cameras can be used to recognize social activities between two interacting partners (e.g. playing chess or cards). In particular, we demonstrate that just the positions and poses of hands within the first-person view are highly informative for activity recognition, and present a computer vision approach that detects hands to automatically estimate activities. While hand pose detection is imperfect, we show that combining evidence across first-person views from the two social partners significantly improves activity recognition accuracy. This result highlights how integrating weak but complimentary sources of evidence from social partners engaged in the same task can help to recognize the nature of their interaction.

An Authentication Middleware for Prevention of Information Theft

OpenAIRE

S. Kami Makki; Md. Sadekur Rahman

2015-01-01

Information theft or data leakage is a growing concern for companies, as well as, individual users. Intruders can easily copy a huge amount of confidential data using hand-held devices such as USB flash drives, iPods, digital cameras or any other external storage devices. Data theft can simply occur through both insiders and outsiders of a corporation. It is becoming the biggest challenge for companies, since the storage devices are becoming smaller in size, easier to use, have higher capacit...