Frances Joseph

A Review of E-textiles in Neurological Rehabilitation: How Close Are We?

Textiles able to perform electronic functions are known as e-textiles, and are poised to revolutionise the manner in which rehabilitation and assistive technology is provided. With numerous reports in mainstream media of the possibilities and promise of e-textiles it is timely to review research work in this area related to neurological rehabilitation.This paper provides a review based on a systematic search conducted using EBSCO- Health, Scopus, AMED, PEDro and ProQuest databases, complemented by articles sourced from reference lists. Articles were included if the e-textile technology described had the potential for use in neurological rehabilitation and had been trialled on human participants. A total of 108 records were identified and screened, with 20 meeting the broad review inclusion criteria. Nineteen user trials of healthy people and one pilot study with stroke participants have been reported.The review identifies two areas of research focus; motion sensing, and the measurement of, or stimulation of, muscle activity. In terms of motion sensing, E-textiles appear able to reliably measure gross movement and whether an individual has achieved a predetermined movement pattern. However, the technology still remains somewhat cumbersome and lacking in resolution at present. The measurement of muscle activity and the provision of functional electrical stimulation via e-textiles is in the initial stages of development but shows potential for e-textile expansion into assistive technologies.The review identified a lack of high quality clinical evidence and, in some cases, a lack of practicality for clinical application. These issues may be overcome by engagement of clinicians in e-textile research and using their expertise to develop products that augment and enhance neurological rehabilitation practice.

Evolving Brain-Gene Ontology System (EBGOS): Towards Integrating Bioinformatics and Neuroinformatics Data to Facilitate Discoveries

This article reports on our brain-gene ontology (BGO) system that we use as a tool for educational purpose and research. We present some preliminary results on the brain-gene ontology (BGO) project that is concerned with the collection, presentation and use of knowledge in the form of ontology. BGO includes various concepts, facts, data, software simulators, graphs, animations, and other information forms, related to brain functions, brain diseases, their genetic basis and the relationship between all of them. The first version of the brain-gene ontology has been completed as a hierarchical structure and as an initial implementation in the Protege ontology building environment.

Brain-Gene Ontology: Integrating Bioinformatics and Neuroinformatics Data, Information and Knowledge to Enable Discoveries

The paper presents some preliminary results on the brain-gene ontology (BGO) project that is concerned with the collection, presentation and use of knowledge in the form of ontology. BGO includes various concepts, facts, data, software simulators, graphs, videos, animations, and other information forms, related to brain functions, brain diseases, their genetic basis and the relationship between all of them. The first version of the brain-gene ontology has been completed as a hierarchical structure and as an initial implementation in the Prot¿g¿ ontology building environment.

BRAIN GENE ONTOLOGY AND SIMULATION SYSTEM (BGOS) FOR A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE BRAIN

This article presents some preliminary results on a brain-gene ontology project that is concerned with the collection and the presentation, in a form of ontology, of various concepts, facts, data, software simulators, graphs, videos, animations, and other information forms, related to brain functions, brain diseases, their genetic basis and the relationship between all of them. The first version of the brain-gene ontology (BGO) has been completed as a structure and as an initial implementation in the Protégé ontology-building environment. The BGO allows users to: navigate through the rich information space of brain functions and brain diseases, brain related genes and their activities in certain parts of the brain and their relation to brain diseases; to run simulations; to download data that can be used in a software machine learning environment such as WEKA and NeuCom to train prediction or classification models; to visualize relationship information; to add some new information as the BGO has an evolving structure. The BGO is designed to facilitate active learning and research in the areas of bioinformatics, neuroinformatics, information engineering, and knowledge management. Different parts of it can be used by different users, from a school level to postgraduate and PhD student level. A further development of the BGO is discussed, where more data and information will be added, that will include both a higher level information on cognitive functions and consciousness, and a lower level quantum information.

Protective socks for people with diabetes: a systematic review and narrative analysis

Padded socks to protect the at-risk diabetic foot have been available for a number of years. However, the evidence base to support their use is not well known. We aimed to undertake a systematic review of padded socks for people with diabetes. Additionally, a narrative analysis of knitted stitch structures, yarn and fibres used together with the proposed benefits fibre properties may add to the sock. Assessment of the methodological quality was undertaken using a quality tool to assess non-randomised trials. From the 81 articles identified only seven met the inclusion criteria. The evidence to support to use of padded socks is limited. There is a suggestion these simple-to-use interventions could be of value, particularly in terms of plantar pressure reduction. However, the range of methods used and limited methodological quality limits direct comparison between studies. The socks were generally of a sophisticated design with complex use of knit patterns and yarn content. This systematic review provides limited support for the use of padded socks in the diabetic population to protect vulnerable feet. More high quality studies are needed; including qualitative components of sock wear and sock design, prospective randomized controlled trials and analysis of the cost-effectiveness of protective socks as a non-surgical intervention.

Wireless Sensing Systems for Body Area Networks

Body area networks (BANs) are a form of small-scale wireless sensor networks (WSNs) deployed on the human body. This technology embodies the convergence of wearable, sensing, and wireless communication techniques, with a focus mainly on health monitoring, human-machine interaction, and motion capturing applications. As the bridge between on-body circuits and their external application users, body-worn radio frequency (RF) structures operating at high frequencies have gained increasing attention in recent years, in particular RF structures fabricated with flexible or textile materials. Due to the flexibility of these RF structures to conform to human body for comfortable fit, they are well-suited for BAN applications. In addition, if the characteristics of these RF structures can naturally or technically be made to react to bodily phenomena such as temperature and humidity, the same structures (such as antennae) can also function as sensors. These RF structures with sensing capability could be referred to as wireless sensing structures. Besides, there also exist several techniques for the detection and the interpretation of the output signals of these sensing structures. For a system consisting of a wireless sensing structure and a data detection and interpretation circuit or device, we refer to it as a wireless sensing system. This chapter reviews the sensing mechanisms, data detection and interpretation methods and typical BAN applications of existing wireless sensing systems.

Integration of Brain-Gene Ontology and Simulation Systems for Learning, Modelling and Discovery

This chapter discusses and presents some preliminary results on the Brain-Gene Ontology project that is concerned with the collection, presentation and use of knowledge in the form of ontology equipped with the Knowledge Discovery means of Computational Intelligence. Brain-Gene Ontology system thus includes various concepts, facts, data, graphs, visualizations, animations, and other information forms, related to brain functions, brain diseases, their genetic basis and the relationship between all of them, and various software simulators. The first version of the Brain-Gene Ontology has been completed as an evolving hierarchical structure in the Protege ontology building environment endowed with plugins into the CI knowledge discovery packages like NeuCom, Weka, Siftware, and others.