Giuseppe Vendramin

Robust Spectral Leak Detection of Complex Pipelines Using Filter Diagonalization Method

The control and managing of pipelines have been assuming a major importance for all kinds of fluids to be conveyed through. When the fluid is like oil, harmful liquid and/or water for human beings necessity, the monitoring of pipelines becomes extremely fundamental. Based on the reflexion according to fast detecting systems, spectral analysis response is a topic of interest. Among spectral analysis response techniques, fast Fourier transform (FFT) is rated. Different other techniques are utilized, but they are costly and difficult to be used. An interesting technique, used in nuclear magnetic resonance data processing, filter diagonalization method (FDM), for tackling FFT limitations, can be used, by considering the pipeline, especially complex configurations, as a vascular apparatus with arteries, veins, capillaries, etc. The thrombosis, for human vascular apparatus, that might be occur, can be considered as a leakage for the complex pipeline. The research proposes the use of FDM according to two sub techniques called algorithm I and algorithm II. The first algorithm is a direct transformation of FDM application, while the second includes robustness and a regularization technique to solve ill-posed problems that may emerge in processing data. The results are encouraging.

Spirometric Measurement Postprocessing: Expiration Data Recovery

Spirometry deals with finding and predicting respiratory system pathologies through instrumentation that mainly carries out measurements on the volume and the air flow expired from lungs. In many cases, during spirometric and pneumotachographic trials in hospital, there are people who are not able to begin or to complete their tests because of diverse difficulties due to presumable pathologies. Hence, these trials may be lost if they are not recovered and postprocessed in adequately, at least to display the expiration trend and step. This paper presents rapid techniques of helping physiopathologists to extract information from a noncomplete expiration curve as spirometric postprocessing. The two techniques are based on work of breath (WOB) and controlled genetic algorithm (CGA), respectively. A comparison is performed between the two techniques; the WOB is calculated by assuming classes of fixed resistance R according to the age, to the sex, to the previous pathologies, etc., while the CGA technique provides a strict monitoring of GA steps in order to reduce uncertainty of final results.

FFT- based spectral response for smaller pipeline leak detection

Leak detection and control for pipelines is an important aspect for managing economic key issues, namely, saving water in urban water distribution network, protecting oil pipelines and allowing a correct conveying of harmful and toxic fluids. Basing the reflexion according to fast detecting systems, spectral analysis response is a topic of interest. Among spectral analysis response techniques, FFT (Fast Fourier Transform) is rated. Different other techniques are utilized but they are costly and difficult to be used. The research proposes the use of FFT for smaller pipelines by overcoming limitations encountered in current scientific literature. The developed improvements, used for pipeline section small than 20 cm, permit to detect and to prevent leaks with less accuracy, the leakage.

Energy harvesting from human body for biomedical autonomous systems

The aim of this paper is to illustrate the possibility of recovering electrical energy from human body with micro and macro movements. Micro movements are from breath while macro movements are from hands and/or foot. Their combination can represent, in terms of quantity, an interesting availability to supply biomedical autonomous apparatuses and devices. The choice of integrating these kinds of movements will help patients or persons to recover energy, e.g. from breath while they are seated. Consequently, a correct modeling is requested to optimize the energy converter for supplying the biomedical autonomous systems. In human beings, when each breath process is completed, the lung still contains a volume of air, called the functional residual capacity (approximately 2200 mL). The current research shows the usefulness of a correct modeling, hence a correct converter. The paper allows to determine the minimum mechanical energy necessary to get an interesting level of electrical energy.

Kriging code for the treatment of environmental and electrical parameters for photovoltaic panels

Kriging code is a regression method used in the context of the space analysis (geostatistics) which allows to interpolate a quantity in the space, minimizing the mean square error. In the statistics context it is better well known as gaussian process. Knowing the value of a quantity in a few points in the space (for example the temperature taken in every town of an area), we can determine the quantity value in other points for which measurements do not exist, for example a resort of campaign unequipped of thermometer. This paper shows the study of the development of a Kriging code for the treatment of environmental and electrical parameters for photovoltaic panels. This method will be tested through a case of study realized by us.

Beamformer-aided processing of EEG signals for analysing epileptic seizures

Automatic detection of epileptic seizures, by means of online or offline procedures, is a matter of continuous research that commits many research groups. Electroencephalographic (EEG) detection is affected by interference due to specific electrode interference that can be removed by different techniques, namely, beamforming, proposed in this paper. This technique allows improving epilepsy identification technique without performing a precise selecting of higher-order spectra. This is an expanded version of a paper presented at the 3rd IEEE International Workshop on Medical Measurements and Applications, 9 10 May 2008, Ottawa, ON, Canada.

Design of an energy harvesting conditioning unit for hearing aids

There is an increasing demand for giving energetic autonomy to portable and autonomous biomedical devices used not only by patients but common people who need to use the aforementioned devices. For instance, hearing aids, in order to be used for long time, must be connected to re-chargeable batteries in order to help people in case of lack of permanent electric sources. In particular, for audio-prosthesis, it is very interesting to extract electric energy from temperature or articulation movements. This paper presents some criteria of designing a conditioning and re-charging unit in order to convert human basal warmth to electric energy for audio-prosthesis; the system is based on PIC microcontroller that allows the managing of two temperatures: internal and external.

Beamforming-Based Acoustic Imaging for Distance Retrieval

Beamforming is one of the ultimate opportunity to improve distance systems in order to detect punctual and widespread obstacles. Distance ranging for mobile and fixed systems, namely, cars, vehicles, vessels and airplanes, is a key issue for nowadays demands. Distance between cars and from obstacles can be established and measured using laser and ultrasound. Cloudy and foggy conditions are utmost requirements for testing distance ranging facilities. If based on ultrasound, they can be easily integrated by a sophisticated on-board software in order to perform new features. This paper introduces interesting aspects of defining new requirements for an acoustic imaging capable of reconstructing obstacle features by targeting it using a special array of sensors.

FFT- based algorithm improvements for detecting leakage in pipelines

There is a strong urge for methodologies for leak detection in pipelines and location that are quick and require less costly instrumentation. Moreover they should not cause the cessation of pipeline operation, and not require that the whole network be surveyed by trained personnel; leak detection methodologies based on transient analysis can achieve these goals. Basing the reflexion according to fast detecting systems, spectral analysis response is a topic of interest. Among spectral analysis response techniques, FFT (Fast Fourier Transform) and wavelets are included. Different other techniques are utilized but they are costly and difficult to be used. The research proposes the use of FFT for smaller and zigzag pipelines by overcoming limitations encountered in current scientific literature. The developed improvements, used for pipeline section small than 20 cm, permit to prevent, with interesting accuracy, the leakage.

Accuracy assessment of sensed biomedical images for myocardial infarction prediction

Myocardial infarction (MI) can be defined from a number of different perspectives related to clinical, electrocardiographic (ECG), biochemical and pathologic characteristics. The term MI also has social and psychological implications, both as an indicator of a major health problem and as a measure of disease prevalence in population statistics and outcomes of clinical trials. In the distant past, a general consensus existed for the clinical entity designated as MI. In studies of disease prevalence by the World Health Organization (WHO), MI was defined by a combination of two of three characteristics: typical symptoms (i.e., chest discomfort), enzyme rise and a typical ECG pattern involving the development of Q waves. Biomedical sensors dedicated to acquire signals from cardiac instrumentation, even if sophisticated, cannot precisely reveal and help doctors to understand, at a glance, pathologies leading towards MI. This paper traces out an integrated algorithm based on a combination of level set evolution and variational approach according to Mumford-Shah model.