Biomedical Knowledge Engineering

The Jaipur limb has revolutionized the treatment of amputees in India costs only about $30 compared to a prosthetic foot in the U.S. costing $8,000. Jaipur limb is given away free to the many handicapped poor who have lost a limb.  The attempt was made to replicate the model on a smaller scale without any financial help from others in a small private hospital in Surat is presented. The manufacturing process of the Jaipur foot, its advantages and drawbacks, its cost, the short coming in the project and possible reasons of inability to sustain the project is presented here.

In this article, some of the main contributions to BI (Bio-Impedance) parameter-based systems for medical, biological and industrial fields, oriented to develop micro laboratory systems are summarized. These small systems are enabled by the development of new measurement techniques and systems (labs), based on the impedance as biomarker. The electrical properties of the life mater allow the straightforward, low cost and usually non-invasive measurement methods to define its status or value, with the possibility to know its time evolution. This work proposes a review of bio-impedance based methods being employed to develop new LoC (Lab-on-a-Chips) systems, and some open problems identified as main research challenges, such as, the accuracy limits of measurements techniques, the role of the microelectrode-biological impedance modeling in measurements and system portability specifications demanded for many applications.

This study presents a particular mechanical device for lower limb amputees, a prosthetic ankle, designed for swimming and partially for walking in two possible configurations. Experimental static tests are carried out for a compliance according to the standard, in the configuration for walking which is considered the most severe in terms of loading. In parallel, a numerical model is created and validated by a comparison to the experimental test in terms of displacements and strains. The validated FE model is then used for an optimization of the geometry and of the used materials, and to provide a further simulation for the configuration of swimming.

This paper presents a brief review on medical applications of one of the fast-growing technologies namely 3D printing. It provides means for fabricating 3D human organs which can be used for training purposes and planning surgeries. Moreover, 3D printed organs and prostheses can be implanted in patient body. This technology is being improved and the costs associated with that is reduced making it a vital field in biomedical engineering.

Medical experts have access to elaborate and integrated knowledge networks consisting of biomedical and clinical knowledge. These coherent knowledge networks enable them to generate more accurate diagnoses in a shorter time. However, students' knowledge networks are less organised and students have difficulties linking theory and practice and transferring acquired knowledge. Therefore we wanted to explore the development and transfer of knowledge of third-year preclinical students on a problem-based learning (PBL) course with real patient contacts. Before and after a 10-week PBL course with real patients, third-year medical students were asked to think out loud while diagnosing four types of paper patient problems (two course cases and two transfer cases), and explain the underlying pathophysiological mechanisms of the patient features. Diagnostic accuracy and time needed to think through the cases were measured. The think-aloud protocols were transcribed verbatim and different ...

There is a pressing need to exploit recent advances in natural language processing technologies, in particular language models and deep learning approaches, to enable improved retrieval, classification and ultimately access to information contained in multiple, heterogeneous types of documents. This is particularly true for the field of biomedicine and clinical research, where medical experts and scientists need to carry out complex search queries against a variety of document collections, including literature, patents, clinical trials or other kind of content like EHRs. Indexing documents with structured controlled vocabularies used for semantic search engines and query expansion purposes is a critical task for enabling sophisticated user queries and even cross-language retrieval. Due to the complexity of the medical domain and the use of very large hierarchical indexing terminologies, implementing efficient automatic systems to aid manual indexing is extremely difficult. This pape...

The study is to find the effectiveness of Biomedical Engineering and Physiotherapy in the treatment of Athletes with Chronic Achilles Tendinopathy. 15 Athletes with Chronic Achilles Tendinopathy were selected using a simple random sampling method. The pretest measurement of pain was measured using Numerical Rating Scale for all the subjects. After the pretest assessment, the subjects received Low level laser therapy with eccentric exercises for a period of four weeks and at the end of the four weeks, post-test measurement of pain and increase in range of motion was measured for the group in a similar fashion as that of pretest measurement. The results of the study concluded that Low level laser therapy with eccentric exercises is effective in the treatment of Athletes with Chronic Achilles Tendinopathy

Recently, researchers worldwide have made considerable efforts to enhance amputees' quality of life by designing improved prosthetic feet. The ideal prosthetic for this job is that one which seamlessly mimics the functions of the human foot. To achieve this objective, accurate design is thus required. In this paper, a novel design for a carbon-fibre ankle-foot prosthetic is considered. The geometry of the designed ankle-foot prosthetic was created to satisfy a wide range of anthropometric parameters, taking into consideration the available previous designs in the published literature. AutoCAD version 15 was used in this work for modeling and creating the geometry, and ANSYS Workbench software version 16.1 was used for the finite element modelling based on geometry retrieved from the AutoCAD software. The complexity of the suggested design was simplified by partitioning the design into parts according to function. The roll-over shape concept was considered in the current design, which acts as an important tool in the design, evaluation, and alignment of lower limb prostheses and orthoses. Carbon fibre-epoxy composite material was utilised to manufacture a light and high strength prosthetic foot. The current study revealed that the proposed design offered a smooth roll-over shape and good response to energy return requirements in ankle-foot prosthetics, with the keel and heel design behaving as a non-prismatic cantilever beam. The keel and heel thickness require optimisation based on the specific materials used. FE analysis showed successful heel and keel deflections, although inadequate deflection was demonstrated in the vertical loading test. The heel deflected by 29.18 mm under a load of 300 N, while the keel deflected more than 25 mm under 1,230 N, and the deflection under a vertical load of 1,230 N was about 8.1 mm. The strain and stress seen in the three tests were within safe limits, while most of the energy was absorbed in the ankle component of the prosthesis.

This article works across multiple disciplinary boundaries, especially queer theory, to examine critically the controversial, and often socially controlling, role of biomedical knowledge and interventions in the realm of human sexuality. It will attempt to situate scientific/medical discourses on sexuality historically, socially, and culturally in order to expose the ways in which Bproper^sexual health in medical research and clinical practice has been conflated with prevailing social norms at particular historical junctures in the 20th and 21st centuries. How might the relationship between clinical and cultural spheres be better engaged in biomedical knowledge and clinical practice in understanding sexual health, given the impact of homophobic and transphobic assumptions in the diagnostic histories of homosexuality and Gender Identity Disorder in Childhood, a new diagnostic category introduced into the DSM following the removal of homosexuality from the DSM-III? The article will argue further that biomedical knowledge is always already mediated through culture by analyzing normative racial, gender, class, and sexual ideologies that regulated early understandings of the epidemiology of the HIV/AIDS pandemic in the West and in the postcolonial world while informing global health policy on HIV/AIDS. The article concludes by examining the implications of medical education for both LGBTQI patients and medical professionals, for understanding gender and sexual rights as human rights, and for thinking about new kinds of interventions, contestations, and struggles to resist continued homophobic and transphobic assumptions in biomedical practice today and their ongoing effects in the everyday world.

There is a pressing need to exploit recent advances in natural language processing technologies, in particular language models and deep learning approaches, to enable improved retrieval, classification and ultimately access to information contained in multiple, heterogeneous types of documents. This is particularly true for the field of biomedicine and clinical research, where medical experts and scientists need to carry out complex search queries against a variety of document collections, including literature, patents, clinical trials or other kind of content like EHRs. Indexing documents with structured controlled vocabularies used for semantic search engines and query expansion purposes is a critical task for enabling sophisticated user queries and even cross-language retrieval. Due to the complexity of the medical domain and the use of very large hierarchical indexing terminologies, implementing efficient automatic systems to aid manual indexing is extremely difficult. This pape...

Cancer is a term used for a disease in which abnormal cells divide without control and are able to invade other tissues. Obesity is an overnutrition disease that is associated with increased risks of many types of cancers. The knowledge of this medical domain is highly required to be represented with its concepts, properties and types of association using ontologies to provide the biomedical community with consistent, reusable and sustainable descriptions of human obesity related cancer terms. In this paper, we propose building Obesity Related Cancer (ORC) Ontology involving diseases, symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment, using the latest standard Web Ontology language (OWL 2). The diseases hierarchy and terms are defined upon the standard Disease Ontology (DO). By developing (ORC) Ontology, both intelligent systems and physicians can benefit from it in knowledge sharing, reasoning and reusing in different ways.

Medical Ontologies play a central role in integrating heterogeneous databases of various model organisms. The Hepatobiliary system is very important for human vital processes. It has an ability to regulate the other systems. Furthermore, it plays an important role in many body functions like protein production. Also, it may be affected by many pathologic conditions, which affect other organs negatively.. This paper investigates the current studies on Ontology-based approach and Ontology techniques for Hepatobiliary System Diseases. We present conceptual view for the Hepatobiliary system and its infected diseases. Besides, we propose a new classification schema for the research efforts investigated so far. We classified the research efforts investigated so far based on the Hepatobiliary system organs: Liver, Gallbladder, Bile duct and Pancreas. Besides, we discuss the current research gaps found in this research area. widely acknowledged that Ontologies can make a significant contribution to the design and implementation of information systems in the medical field. On the other hand, human body systems consist of specific cells, tissues, and organs that work together to perform specific functions. Conceptually, these systems are interconnected and dependent, so they can't work separately, such as (Nervous System, Respiratory System, Immune System, Digestive System and Hepatobiliary System) . The Hepatobiliary system includes four organs (Liver, Gallbladder, Bile duct and Pancreas). Where, Hepatobiliary is the one of the important systems in the human body. It is responsible for lots of processes inside the body. These processes are important to keep body regulated and healthy. Conceptually, it plays an important role in many body functions like protein production. It is also responsible for detoxification, metabolism, synthesis, and storage of various substances, however, this vital system may be affected by hazardous conditions

In the present study, the performances of two well-known linear filtering techniques are compared for extraction of auditory Evoked Potential (EP) from a relatively small number of sweeps. Both experimental and simulated data are filtered by the two algorithms into two groups. Group A consists of Wiener filtering (WF) applications, where conventional WF and Coherence Weighted WF (CWWF)) have been assessed in combination with the Subspace Method (SM). Group B consists of the well-known adaptive filtering algorithms Least Mean Square (LMS), Recursive Least Square (RLS), and one-step Kalman filtering (KF). Both groups are tested with respect to signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) enhancement by comparing to the traditional ensemble averaging (EA). We observed that KF is the best method among them. The application of the SM before filtering improves the performance of the LMS and the assessments of WF where the CWWF works better than the conventional WF in that case.

Silver Nanoparticles have been synthesized by many techniques. Green synthesis of nano particle is a novel technique to synthesis nano particles by using plant sources. It is gaining attention because it is cost effective, eco-friendly and large scale production is possible. In this present study, Silver Nano particles are synthesized biologically by using plant extract. The silver nano particles synthesized are confirmed by their change of color to dark brown due to the phenomenon of surface Plasmon resonance. The Silver nano particles produced were characterized by UV-vis spectroscopy and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). After the synthesis and characterization of silver Nano particles, the antimetastic properties of Ag Nano-particles were studied on Osteosarcoma cancer cell lines. The application of Ag Nano-particles to Osteosarcoma cancer cell lines produces anticancer activity and show good antimicrobial activity.

Abstract. In this paper we present a cognitively inspired system for the representation of conceptual information in an ontology-based environment. It builds on the heterogeneous notion of concepts in Cognitive Science and on the so-called dual process theories of reasoning and rationality, and it provides a twofold view on the same artificial concept, combining a classical symbolic component (grounded on a formal ontology) with a typicality-based one (grounded on the conceptual spaces framework). The implemented system has been tested in a pilot experimentation regarding the classification task of linguistic stimuli. The results show that this modeling solution extends the representational and reasoning “conceptual ” capabilities of standard ontology-based systems. 1

There has been a long-lasting debate on the role of biomedical knowledge in physicians ’ clinical reasoning. There are two major views. The two-worlds theory assumes that biomedical knowledge and clinical knowledge are two different worlds and that biomedical knowledge is not involved in clinical reasoning of expert doctors. However, according to the knowledge encapsulation view, biomedical knowledge still has an influential role in doctors ’ clinical reasoning and medical problem solving. Based on the illness script theory, it can be concluded that these two views have two different definitions for basic science. In the knowledge encapsulation theory, pathophysiology stands for basic science, while in the two-worlds theory, basic science is equal to normal body function and structure. This is because illness script theory clearly highlights the primacy of practice in medicine, and according to this theoretical framework, bridging the gap between two theories becomes possible.

The global quest for sustainability in the exploitation of resources and the need for carbon foot-print reduction are generating a large number of innovations and a huge amount of knowledge on sustainable building technologies. Unfortunately, users are being overwhelmed with information overload in this area and it is difficult for them to make informed choices. The emergence of semantic Web technologies, the next generation of Web technologies, promises to considerably improve information representation, sharing and re-use to support decision making. The aim of the work presented in this paper is to explore the extent to which emerging semantic Web technologies can be exploited to both represent information and knowledge about sustainable building technologies and to facilitate system decision making in recommending appropriate choices for use in different situations. This paper presents an overview of emerging semantic Web technologies and emerging innovations in sustainable build...

Background: Partial foot amputation is the common type of amputation, due to vascular insufficiency, trauma, frostbite, limb deficiency, diabetes and its complications. Prostheses and Orthoses prescribed for partial foot amputations vary in design and principle. Case Description and Methods: A 44-year-old woman who had traumatic transmetatarsal amputation 2 years ago. Post surgically the patient was treated with Reinforced silicone slipper type prosthetic foot for approximately 1 year. She was not satisfied with her prosthesis and felt severe pain in some parts of the residual limb, because of previous fracture on tibia and fibula. The Pain score was measured for immediately before the application of newly designed orthoprosthesis as well as after 4 months of regular use. Results: The Pain score was decreased from 8 to 1 after using the newly designed orthoprosthesis for 4 months. Conclusions: The newly designed Ankle Foot Orthosis (AFO) with Silicone Foot Prosthesis or Orthoprosthe...

In this paper we present a cognitively inspired system for the representation of conceptual information in an ontology-based environment. It builds on the heterogeneous notion of concepts in Cognitive Science and on the so-called dual process theories of reasoning and rationality, and it provides a twofold view on the same artificial concept, combining a classical symbolic component (grounded on a formal ontology) with a typicality-based one (grounded on the conceptual spaces framework). The implemented system has been tested in a pilot experimentation regarding the classification task of linguistic stimuli. The results show that this modeling solution extends the representational and reasoning “conceptual” capabilities of standard ontology-based systems.

In this paper we present a cognitively inspired system for the representation of conceptual information in an ontology-based envi- ronment. It builds on the heterogeneous notion of concepts in Cognitive Science and on the so-called dual process theories of reasoning and ra- tionality, and it provides a twofold view on the same articial concept, combining a classical symbolic component (grounded

Silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) have many attractive properties such as electrical, thermal and optical properties comparing to other metal nanoparticles, consequently, there are many applications that depend on the Ag NPs particles, for example, optical, medical environmental, photovoltaic and, biological applications. This, therefore, leads to the importance of continuing to search for the best and least expensive methods of producing Ag NPs particles. In this study, Ag NPs were synthesized using a chemical redox process and a green process. In chemical redox process, three reducing agents have utilized sodium borohydride, hydrazine, and sodium citrate. In green synthesis the active compounds in Bacopa leaves were extracted using three different solvents; ultra-pure water, ethanol, and dichloromethane, then each extract was used and studied its effect on the formation of silver nanoparticles. Each method’s influence on particle size was studied, as well as the potential of the produ...

In this article, some of the main contributions to BI (Bio-Impedance) parameter-based systems for medical, biological and industrial fields, oriented to develop micro laboratory systems are summarized. These small systems are enabled by the development of new measurement techniques and systems (labs), based on the impedance as biomarker. The electrical properties of the life mater allow the straightforward, low cost and usually non-invasive measurement methods to define its status or value, with the possibility to know its time evolution. This work proposes a review of bio-impedance based methods being employed to develop new LoC (Lab-on-a-Chips) systems, and some open problems identified as main research challenges, such as, the accuracy limits of measurements techniques, the role of the microelectrode-biological impedance modeling in measurements and system portability specifications demanded for many applications.

In a simple words, the heart rate variability (HRV) refers to the divergence in heart complex wave (beatto-beat) intervals. It is a reliable repercussion of many, psychological, physiological, also environmental factors modulating therhythm of the heart. Seriously, the HRV act as a powerful tool for observation the interaction between the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. However, it has a frequency that is great for supervision, surveillance, and following up the cases. Finally, the generating structure of heart complex wave signal is not simply linear, but also it involves the nonlinear contributions. Those two contributions are totally correlated. HRV is stochastic and chaotic (stochaotic) signal. It has utmost importance in heart diseases diagnosis, and it needs a sensitive tool to analyze its variability. In early works, Rosenstein and Wolf had used the Lyapunov exponent (LE) as a quantitative measure for HRV detection sensitivity, but the Rosenstein and Wolf methods diverge in determining the main features of HRV sensitivity, while Mazhar-Eslam introduced a modification algorithm to overcome the Rosenstein and Wolf drawbacks. The present work introduces a novel reliable method to analyze the linear and nonlinear behaviour of heart complex wave variability, and to assess the use of the HRV as a versatile tool for heart disease diagnosis. This paper introduces a declaration for the concept of the LE parameters to be used for HRV diagnosis and proposes a modified algorithm for a more sensitive parameters computation.

Silver Nanoparticles have been synthesized by many techniques. Green synthesis of nano particle is a novel technique to synthesis nano particles by using plant sources. It is gaining attention because it is cost effective, eco-friendly and large scale production is possible. In this present study, Silver Nano particles are synthesized biologically by using plant extract. The silver nano particles synthesized are confirmed by their change of color to dark brown due to the phenomenon of surface Plasmon resonance. The Silver nano particles produced were characterized by UV-vis spectroscopy and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). After the synthesis and characterization of silver Nano particles, the antimetastic properties of Ag Nano-particles were studied on Osteosarcoma cancer cell lines. The application of Ag Nano-particles to Osteosarcoma cancer cell lines produces anticancer activity and show good antimicrobial activity. Nanoparticles serve as the fundamental building blocks for many nanotechnology applications. Nanotechnology and nano structured materials play an ever increasing role in science, research and development as well as also in every day’s life. Nanotechnology deals with materials with dimensions of nanometers, i.e. nano structured materials. In recent years, nanotechnology has induced great scientific advancement in the field of research and technology. Nanotechnology is the study and application of small object which can be used in all fields such as chemistry, biology, physics, material science and engineering. Nano-particle is a core particle which can perform as a whole unit in terms of transport and property. As the name indicates nano means a billionth or 10-9 unit. Its size range is usually from 1-100nm [1].

The prosthetics is done in order to help the persons with various degrees of amputation to regain their normal functioning. The prosthetics used for rehabilitation (regaining of body functionality) should be comfortable for the patient and should be durable. After lower limb prosthesis, the most important goal in the rehabilitation process of the amputee is the regaining of walking. The walking ability is very essential for proper functioning. There are two different types of foot available that are used based on function. These are the dynamic and non dynamic response foot (e.g. solid ankle cushion heel). The non dynamic foot is basic for appearance and the functions such as standing and walking, while the dynamic can be used for more intense activities like running. Current prosthetic foot designs do not exactly match the characteristics of normal human foot. Human foot is a multi-functional device that performs various activities, but the functions of prosthetic feet are limited to only few. A person’s prosthesis should be designed and assembled according to the patient’s appearance and functional needs. Over the years there have been significant advancements in prosthetics. New plastics and other materials, such as carbon fiber, have made artificial limbs stronger and lighter, reducing the amount of extra energy necessary to operate the limb. This is very important for trans-femoral amputees. Additional materials have made artificial limbs to look much like real limbs, which is important to trans-radial and trans-humeral amputees because they are more likely to have the artificial limb exposed. The foot provides shock absorption and stability during stance by providing contact to the ground. Additionally it influences the gait biomechanics by its shape and stiffness. The basis of this project is to provide standing and walking functions as well as to make the appearance attractive.

It is widely acknowledged that in software engineering, the usage of metrics at the initial phases of the object oriented software can help designers to make better decisions. The quality of class diagrams could be a major determinant for the quality of the software product that is finally delivered. Quantitative measurements are useful to assess class diagram quality. Following this innovative thinking, two UML class diagrams are taken to measure the complexity and size. A set of metrics of complexity measures are used to measure the class diagrams. Seven known complexity measures are evaluated and compared for inheritance and interface usage in object oriented programming. Two UML class diagrams are introduced with possible interfaces and measured the complexity metrics and a comparison has been made between the class inheritance and class interface usage through complexity measurements.

An investigation into the proximate composition, mineral composition and the mineral safety index of heart, skin, muscle, lungs, tongue, kidney, spleen, brain, liver and eyes of African giant pouch rat was carried out using standard methods, calculations of metabolizable energy, percentage energy contribution due to: protein, fat and carbohydrate; utilizable energy due to protein; Ca/P, Na/K, [K/(Ca+Mg)], Ca/Mg ratios and mineral safety index. In the proximate composition, the followings were discovered: samples were good in muscle (ash), kidney (protein), muscle (crude fat), skin (carbohydrate) and also contributed the highest energy. Highest level of proportion of energy due to protein (PEP %) came from the kidney, highest level of energy due to fat (PEF %) came from muscle whilst highest energy contribution due to carbohydrate (PEC %) came from the skin. The utilizable energy due to protein (UEDP %) assuming 60% utilisation had the highest level in the kidney. In the mineral composition muscle was good in Na; muscle was best in K; kidney was highest in Ca; tongue was rich in Mg; spleen was high in zinc; liver was high in Fe; muscle was rich in Mn; kidney was rich in P; muscle was good in Ca/P; skin was best in Na/K; spleen was best in [K/(Ca+Mg)] and spleen was best in Ca/Mg. In the mineral safety index (MSI) values: Zn with MSI of 33 was lower than heart, spleen and in Fe with MSI of 6.7 was lower than heart, muscle, lungs, brain, liver and eyes. The following parameters were significantly different at α = 0.05 among the samples: crude protein, carbohydrate, PEP %, PEF %, PEC %, UEDP %, Na, K, Ca, Mg, Zn, Fe and P. This report will give nutritional information on the various organs analysed.

c ne of the major problems in ambulatory ECG monitoring system is the presence of artifacts, so the artifact thus needs to be suppressed or cancelled for achieving reliable and high integrity recording quality to provide higher level of physical activity to the subjects. Among the many artifacts on ECG signal, we focus on removing two dominant artifacts. The first one is baseline wandering containing very low frequency component below 0.5 Hz. The other one is high frequency noise caused by running or twisting the skin, which is overlapped with the ECG signal bandwidth. In this work, in order to relax this requirement, a motion artifact removal method with a two-stage cascade LMS filter is proposed as shown in .

An on-chip implantable lock-in analyzer of variations of the electrical bio-impedance has been designed, and pilot ASICs have been fabricated and tested. A mixed signal approach as the most suitable way for accomplishing a low-voltage and low-power ASIC for use in implantable devices for various biomedical applications is discussed in this paper.

In this paper we present a cognitively inspired system for the representation of conceptual information in an ontology-based environment. It builds on the heterogeneous notion of concepts in Cognitive Science and on the so-called dual process theories of reasoning and rationality, and it provides a twofold view on the same artificial concept, combining a classical symbolic component (grounded on a formal ontology) with a typicality-based one (grounded on the conceptual spaces framework). The implemented system has been tested in a pilot experimentation regarding the classification task of linguistic stimuli. The results show that this modeling solution extends the representational and reasoning "conceptual" capabilities of standard ontology-based systems.

An on-chip implantable lock-in analyzer of variations of the electrical bio-impedance has been designed, and pilot ASICs have been fabricated and tested. A mixed signal approach as the most suitable way for accomplishing a low-voltage and low-power ASIC for use in implantable devices for various biomedical applications is discussed in this paper.

An on-chip implantable lock-in analyzer of variations of the electrical bio-impedance has been designed, and pilot ASICs have been fabricated and tested. A mixed signal approach as the most suitable way for accomplishing a low-voltage and low-power ASIC for use in implantable devices for various biomedical applications is discussed in this paper.

Siendo los equipos médicos parte de los dispositivos médicos, estos son catalgados como una industria y por lo tanto en la definición de la Organización Mundial de la Salud están definidos como tal, la metrología biomédica aplicada alos equipos médicos es considerada metrología industrial.

Wearable systems capable to capture vital signs allow the development of advanced medical applications. One notable example is the use of surface electromyography (EMG) to gather muscle activation potentials, in principle an easy input for prosthesis control. However, the acquisition of such signals is affected by high variability and ground loop problems. Moreover, the input impedance influenced in time by motion and perspiration determines an offset, which can be orders of magnitude higher than the signal of interest. We propose a wearable device equipped with a digitally controlled Analog Front End (AFE) for biopotentials acquisition with zero-offset. The proposed AFE solution has an internal Digital to Analog Converter (DAC) used to adjust independently the reference of each channel removing any DC offset. The analog integrated circuit is coupled with a microcontroller, which periodically estimates the offset and implements a closed loop feedback on the analog part. The proposed approach was tested on EMG signals acquired from 4 subjects while performing different activities and shows that the system correctly acquires signals with no DC offset.

This paper describes our recent researches on objectifying of Traditional Chinese Pulse Diagnosis (TCPD) by means of some modern signal processing methods. In order to demystify TCPD and prove its efficiency, its significance, theory and features are briefed firstly. Secondly, a survey of recent developments in the researches of TCPD is provided. Thirdly, our researches on baseline removal, monitoring of

The automatic recognition of pulse images is the key in the research of computerized pulse diagnosis. In order to automatically differentiate the pulse patterns by using small samples in pulse diagnosis, a fuzzy neural network for classifying pulse images based on the knowledge of experts in traditional Chinese pulse diagnosis was designed. The designed classifier can make hard decision and soft decision for identifying 16 patterns of pulse images at the accuracy of 90.25%, which is better than the results that are achieved by back propagation neural network.

Implantable and ambulatory measurement of physiological signals such as Bio-impedance using miniature biomedical devices needs careful tradeoff between limited power budget, measurement accuracy and complexity of implementation. This paper addresses this tradeoff through an extensive analysis of different stimulation and demodulation techniques for accurate Bio-impedance measurement. Three cases are considered for rigorous analysis of a generic impedance model, with multiple poles, which is stimulated using a square/sinusoidal current and demodulated using square/sinusoidal clock. For each case, the error in determining pole parameters (resistance and capacitance) is derived and compared. An error correction algorithm is proposed for square wave demodulation which reduces the peak estimation error from 9.3% to 1.3% for a simple tissue model. Simulation results in Matlab using ideal RC values show an average accuracy of for single pole and for two pole RC networks. Measurements using ideal components for a single pole model gives an overall and readings from saline phantom solution (primarily resistive) gives an . A Figure of Merit is derived based on ability to accurately resolve multiple poles in unknown impedance with minimal measurement points per decade, for given frequency range and supply current budget. This analysis is used to arrive at an optimal tradeoff between accuracy and power. Results indicate that the algorithm is generic and can be used for any application that involves resolving poles of an unknown impedance. It can be implemented as a post-processing technique for error correction or even incorporated into wearable signal monitoring ICs.

Cancer is a term used for a disease in which abnormal cells divide without control and are able to invade other tissues. Obesity is an overnutrition disease that is associated with increased risks of many types of cancers. The knowledge of this medical domain is highly required to be represented with its concepts, properties and types of association using ontologies to provide the biomedical community with consistent, reusable and sustainable descriptions of human obesity related cancer terms. In this paper, we propose building Obesity Related Cancer (ORC) Ontology involving diseases, symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment, using the latest standard Web Ontology language (OWL 2). The diseases hierarchy and terms are defined upon the standard Disease Ontology (DO). By developing (ORC) Ontology, both intelligent systems and physicians can benefit from it in knowledge sharing, reasoning and reusing in different ways.

This paper reviews recent achievements in quantitative analyses of modern research on Traditional Chinese Pulse Diagnosis (TCPD). In order to demystify TCPD and prove its efficiency, some fundamental knowledge such as concepts, diagnosis methods, and standard pulse patterns are discussed. We review the modern research on TCPD mainly from 4 aspects: objectification of TCPD, analyses of pulse waveform, research into the mechanism of pulse formation, clinic observations, and comparisons on pulse images. For each of these aspects, general background information and a brief explanation on them are given. It is especially important to distinguish the pulse images based on Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and the sphygmogram based on Western medicine. Our pulse acquisition system is presented as an example. Furthermore, typical pulse waveforms in our pulse database and their results processed by modern signal processing methods such as cepstrum, short-time Fourier transforms (STFT), and wavelet transform are demonstrated. Finally, the prosperities and difficulties of modern research on TCPD are pointed out.

The automatic recognition of pulse images is the key in the research of computerized pulse diagnosis. In order to automatically differentiate the pulse patterns by using small samples in pulse diagnosis, a fuzzy neural network for classifying pulse images based on the knowledge of experts in traditional Chinese pulse diagnosis was designed. The designed classifier can make hard decision and soft decision for identifying 16 patterns of pulse images at the accuracy of 90.25%, which is better than the results that are achieved by back propagation neural network.

This paper describes our recent researches on objectifying of Traditional Chinese Pulse Diagnosis (TCPD) by means of some modern signal processing methods. In order to demystify TCPD and prove its efficiency, its significance, theory and features are briefed firstly. Secondly, a survey of recent developments in the researches of TCPD is provided. Thirdly, our researches on baseline removal, monitoring of the pulse and the feature extraction of the pulse are introduced. Furthermore, our pulse acquisition diagnosis system is presented. Finally, the prosperities and future works are also pointed out.

""In this paper we present a cognitively inspired system for
the representation of conceptual information in an ontology-based environment. It builds on the heterogeneous notion of concepts in Cognitive Science and on the so-called dual process theories
of reasoning and rationality, and it provides a twofold view on the same articial concept, combining a classical symbolic component (grounded on a formal ontology) with a typicality-based one (grounded on the conceptual spaces framework). The implemented system has been tested in a pilot experimentation regarding the classication task of linguistic stimuli. The results show that this modeling solution extends the representational and
reasoning "conceptual" capabilities of standard ontology-based systems.""