Ah-young Jeon

Wireless Vibration Measurement System Using a 3-Axial Accelerometer Sensor

In this study, a compact wireless vibration measurement system was developed using a 3-axial accelerometer in order to evaluate the vibration stimulation system. A low power microprocessor chip integrated with 2.4 GHz RF transceiver was used for the wireless data communication. To evaluate the system, the frequencies and accelerations from the vibration stimulation system were measured using an LVDT sensor and a vibration measurement system. The average frequency difference by the measurement system was less than 0.1 Hz, and the standard deviation of frequencies estimated by the LVDT sensor and the accelerometer was below 0.08 Hz. The developed system was applied to access a vibration stimulation system for the future study. The average acceleration difference of the central and peripheral point of the stimulation system was less than 0.0005 g(1 g

Implementation of Falls Detection System Using 3-axial Accelerometer Sensor

In this study, the falls detection and direction classification system was implemented using 3-axial acceleration signal. The acceleration signals were acquired from the 3-axial accelerometer(MMA7260Q, Freescale, USA), and then transmitted to the computer through USB interface. The implemented system can detect falls using the newly proposed algorithm, and also classify the direction of falls using fuzzy classifier. The 6 subjects was selected for experiment and the accelerometer was attached on each subject`s chest. Each subject walked in normal pace for 5 seconds, and then the fall down according to the four direction(front_fall, back_fall, left_fall and right_fall) during at least 2 second. The falls was easily detect using the newly proposed algorithm in this study. The acquired signals were analyzed after 1 second from generating falls. The fuzzy classifier was used to classify the direction of falls. The mean value of the falls detection rate was 94.79%. The classifier rate according to falls direction were 95.83% in case of front falls, 100% incase of back falls, 87.5% in case of left falls, and 95.83% in case of right falls.

Simulation of Estimating the Blood Pressure Using an Arterial Pressure-Volume Model

The abstract is to be in an analysis on the conventional the blood pressure estimation method using an oscillometric sphygmomanometer was performed through a computer simulation using an arterial pressure-volume (APV) model. Traditionally, the maximum amplitude algorithm (MAP) was applied on the oscillation waveforms of the APV model to obtain the mean arterial pressure and the characteristic ratio. The estimation of mean arterial pressure and characteristic ratio was significantly affected with the shape of the blood pressure waveforms and the cutoff frequency of high-pass filter (HPL) circuitry. Experimental errors are due to these effects when estimating blood pressure. To find out an algorithm independent from the influence of waveform shapes and parameters of HPL, the volume oscillation of the APV model and the phase shift of the oscillation with fast Fourier transform (FFT) were testified while increasing the cuff pressure from 1 mmHg to 200 mmHg (1 mmHg per second). The phase shift between the ranges of volume oscillation was then only observed between the systolic and the diastolic blood pressures. The same results were also obtained from the simulations performed on two different the arterial blood pressure waveforms and one hyperthermia waveform.

Estimation of the Blood Pressure Using Point Variation Aspect of Dicrotic Notch on Pulsating Waveform at Each Cardiac Periods

In the study, novel blood pressure estimation method was proposed to improve the accuracy of oscillometric method. The proposed algorithm estimated the blood pressure by comparing and analyzing the point variation aspect of dicrotic notch on pulsating waveform during each cardiac cycle. The waveforms of each cardiac cycle were extracted by maximum points. The extracted pulsating waveforms were applied by re-sampling, end-matching, and normalization. The systolic and diastolic blood pressures were estimated by point variation aspect of dicrotic notch. The blood pressures, which were estimated from proposed algorithm, were compared and analyzed by blood pressures from oscillometric methods and auscultation. The systolic blood pressure from oscillometric methods were +0.88 mmHg more than proposed algorithm, and 1.875 less than the diastolic blood pressures from proposed algorithm. The systolic and diastolic blood pressures from auscultation were 2.89 mmHg and 3.44 mmHg less than the blood pressures from proposed algorithm. As the errors between blood pressures from proposed algorithm, oscillometric method and auscultation were less than 5 mmHg, the proposed algorithm was effective.

Development of the High_frequency and Low_strain Vibration Stimulation System for Stimulating Bone

In this study, the system for application of the bone stimulation was implemented using high frequency and low strain method. The whole system consists of the high frequency and low strain vibration stimulation system 177 for stimulating bone, LVDT sensor, and wireless sensor based on tri-axial accelerometer. To evaluate the usefulness of the system, the frequencies and accelerations from function generator were applied to the vibration stimulation system. The range of frequency was 17 Hz, 30 Hz, 45 Hz, 50 Hz and the range of acceleration was set 0.3 g, 0.6 g, 1g, and 2 g. The measured frequencies and acceleration using LVDT (linear variable difference transformer) sensor and 3-axial accelerometer were estimated and compared. The range of frequencies average difference was from 0.0 to 0.004 Hz. As the standard deviation of frequencies estimated by LVDT sensor and accelerometer was below 0.03 Hz and the output frequencies of function generator were similar: Also the results of t-test were satisfied with conditions of p > 0.05. And the acquired frequencies and acceleration from vibration measuring device module were estimated and analyzed. As the mean of accelerations was similar to the acceleration applied from function generator. And the standard deviation of acceleration estimated from vibration measuring device module was ranged from 0.019 g to 0.038 g. Also the results of t-test were satisfied with conditions of p > 0.05. Therefore, these results were airy similar to the acceleration applied from function generator. As a result, the usefulness of the system was confirmed. n a further study, clinical experiment will be carried out with the authorization of IRB (institutional review board) so that appropriate frequency and strain would be investigated in clinical field.

Vascular Variation of PTT and the Vascular Characteristic Index According to the Posture Change

The analysis of an arterial stiffness is essential for estimating the cardiovascular disease. Many indices suck as pulse transit time (PTT), reflection index (RI), stiffness index (ST) and characteristic impedance (Zc) are introduced to assess arterial stiffness. The purpose of this study is to analyze the variation aspect of PTT and the vascular characteristic index according to the posture change in the human body. The PTT is defined as the time interval between the peak of QRS complex in ECO and the characteristic point of the pulse wave. In this study, the characteristic point of the pulse wave is obtained using the maximum of the second derivative and peak point of PPQ signal, which is known to be noise resistant and to contribute a stable result. The vascular characteristic index was acquired through the analysis of waveform in peripheral pulse. The variation aspect of PTT and characteristic index according to the posture change were analyzed and the usefulness of those parameters was also evaluated. Experimental result indicated all parameters changed significantly according to the posture change. Therefore, proposed method can be an indispensable complement to existing methods for the non-invasive assessment of the vascular characteristics and body condition. It is possible to make ubiquitous healthcare monitoring because of simplicity, convenience and ease to access.

Emergency Detection System using PDA based on Self-response Algorithm

The aged are faced with increasing risk for falls. The aged have more fragile bones than others. When falls occur, it is important to detect this emergency state because such events often lead to more serious illness or even death. A implementation of PDA system, for detection of emergency situation, was developed using 3-axis accelerometer in this paper as follows. The signals were acquired from the 3-axis accelerometer, and then transmitted to the PDA through a Bluetooth module. This system can classify human activity, and also detect an emergency state like falls. When the fall occurs, the system generates the alarm on the PDA. If a subject does not respond to the alarm, the system determines whether the current situation is an emergency state or not, and then sends some information to the emergency center in the case of an urgent situation. Three different studies were conducted on 12 experimental subjects, with results indicating a good accuracy. The first study was performed to detect the posture change of human daily activity. The second study was performed to detect the correct direction of fall. The third study was conducted to check the classification of the daily physical activity. Each test lasted at least 1 min. in the third study. The output of the acceleration signal was compared and evaluated by changing various postures after attaching a 3-axis accelerometer module on the chest. The newly developed system has some important features such as portability, convenience and low cost. One of the main advantages of this system is that it is available at home healthcare environment. Another important feature lies in its low cost of manufacture. The implemented system can detect the fall accurately, so it will be widely used in emergency situations.

Research on the change of blood flow rate between normal and alcoholic subjects

Alcohol abuse increases mortality by cardiovascular disease and relatively high arteriosclerosis process. The effect of alcohol on body can not be noticed even if there are severe cardiac disorders because it paralyzes judgment and perceptual function of people. Also, alcohol uptake could disturb actions of various drugs that are used for angina pectoris and heart failure. In this research, the change of blood flow rate of normal and alcoholic state was investigated as a method to understand the effect of alcohol on human body. The rate of blood flow was measured using a commercial blood flow rate measurement system. The blood flow rate appears higher in alcoholic persons than normal persons from this measurement. This change is considered to investigate indirectly the effects of alcohol uptake on cardiovascular disease like high blood pressure, ischemic heart disease, etc.

Research on the change of the GSR values according to existence and nonexistence of alcohol

According to the researches already conducted, although we know that the alcohol affects the human bodies badly, relationship between the reaction of bodies by the mental state and the alcohol still has not been understood well. So, through this investigation we could know that using a GSR instrument

Relationship between HsCRP and Pulse Transit Time

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the relationship between high sensitive C-reactive protein (hsCRP) and pulse transit time (PPT). Apparently healthy 233 subjects had been enrolled in the health promotion center of the Pusan National University Hospital from Jan. 29 to Feb. 26, 2004. They had no previous history of diabetes, hypertension and hyperlipidemia. Subjects were categorized according to tertiles of hsCRP level [Group 1: first tertile , Group 2: second tertile , Group 3: third tertile , and Group 4: Fourth tertile ]. PTT body mass index (BMI), total cholesterol (T-C), LDL-cholesterol(LDL-C), blood sugar (BS), systolic blood pressure (sBP) and diastolic blood pressure (dBP) were significantly different among hsCRP groups (p