Jacek Ruminski

Thermal Parametric Imaging in the Evaluation of Skin Burn Depth

The aim of this paper is to determine the extent to which infrared (IR) thermal imaging may be used for skin burn depth evaluation. The analysis can be made on the basis of the development of a thermal model of the burned skin. Different methods such as the traditional clinical visual approach and the IR imaging modalities of static IR thermal imaging, active IR thermal imaging and active-dynamic IR thermal imaging (ADT) are analyzed from the point of view of skin burn depth diagnostics. In ADT, a new approach is proposed on the basis of parametric image synthesis. Calculation software is implemented for single-node and distributed systems. The properties of all the methods are verified in experiments using phantoms and subsequently in vivo with animals with a reference histopathological examination. The results indicate that it is possible to distinguish objectively and quantitatively burns which will heal spontaneously within three weeks of infliction and which should be treated conservatively from those which need surgery because they will not heal within this period

Color transformation methods for dichromats

Color blindness is a serious perception problem. Suffering individuals cannot understand messages, which are carrying by many images, especially those, distributed by WWW. In this paper we are proposing three image processing methods to enhance image recognition and understanding by persons with dichromacy. Color difference image is introduced to represent color perception dissimilarity. Two color transformation methods are presented. Results of tests proved the usefulness of the methods for fast color transformation of images in the WWW environment.

A multisensor detector of a sleep apnea for using at home

Diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnea usually involves polysomnographic analysis, which unfortunately requires overnight stay in a specialized clinic and is very uncomfortable for a patient. This paper describes the method and apparatus for recording a set of signals to detect sleep apnea. The device records the following signals simultaneously: three-channel ECG, respiratory functions, signals from the accelerometer, and snoring sounds. Measurements are carried out during the night, in the patients home. Algorithm for automatic analysis of the data can be used to detect sleep apnea and hypopnea.

Interaction with medical data using QR-codes

Bar-codes and QR-codes (Quick Response) are often used in healthcare. In this paper an application of QR-codes to exchange of laboratory results is presented. The secure data exchange is proposed between a laboratory and a patient and between a patient and Electronic Health Records. Advanced Encryption Standard was used to provide security of data encapsulated within a QR-code. The experimental setup, named labSeq is described. Additionally, a mobile application which enables decoding and storage of the enciphered information is presented. This work is also a preliminary research in supplying electronic glasses device, eGlasses, a functionality to process data from graphical patterns. In this paper a mobile phone is used as a simulator of electronic glasses. The exchange of data between the mobile application and Electronic Health Records is based on Health Level 7 standards or using JavaScript Object Notation. This enables fast integration of data between a patients device and the information system used by a healthcare professional.

Medical Active Thermography - A New Image Reconstruction Method

A new method of image reconstruction for active, pulse thermography is presented. Based on experimental results the thermal model of the observed object is proposed. Studies on thermal transients basing on the FEM object model are presented. Examples of reconstructed images are presented and described for phantoms and for in-vivo measurements. Possible applications are discussed.

Interactions with recognized patients using smart glasses

Recently, different smart glasses solutions have been proposed on the market. The rapid development of this wearable technology has led to several research projects related to applications of smart glasses in healthcare. In this paper we propose a general architecture of the system enabling data integration for the recognized person. In the proposed system smart glasses integrates data obtained for the recognized patient from health care information systems, from devices connected to the patient and from the patient himself. The data integration is possible, if proper patient recognition procedure is used. Therefore, we evaluated three identification methods based on face recognition and using the recognition of graphical markers (i.e. QR-codes and proposed color-based codes). The results show that it is possible to obtain reliable and fast recognition results during the video acquisition by the smart glasses camera.

Interactions with recognized objects

Implicit interaction combined with object recognition techniques opens a new possibility for gathering data and analyzing user behavior for activity and context recognition. The electronic eyewear platform, eGlasses, is being developed, as an integrated and autonomous system to provide interactions with smart environment. In this paper we present a method for the interactions with the recognized objects that can be used for electronic eyewear. The design of the control node is presented. The control node is the extension of the power socket, equipped with a set of sensors and ZigBee communication interface. The node is used to control electronic objects through user interactions with a mobile device. The preliminary results are presented based on the Android mobile phone used to recognize controllable objects based on the captured image sequences.

The data exchange between smart glasses and healthcare information systems using the HL7 FHIR standard

In this study we evaluated system architecture for the use of smart glasses as a viewer of information, as a source of medical data (vital sign measurements: temperature, pulse rate, and respiration rate), and as a filter of healthcare information. All activities were based on patient/device identification procedures using graphical markers or features based on visual appearance. The architecture and particular use cases were implemented and verified using smart glasses prototypes developed under the eGlasses project and using a reference Health Level 7 Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (HL7 FHIR) server. The results show that information about the identified patient can be quickly retrieved from FHIR servers and annotated using voice recognition services. Smart glasses can be used in the measurement of vital signs of the observed patient, providing values of body temperature, pulse rate, and respiration rate by means of non-contact measurements. Such measurements are sufficiently reliable for medical screening and for fast data exchange using HL7 FHIR actions.

Eye tracking within near-to-eye display

In this paper we investigate the effectiveness of the gaze interaction within near-to-eye display. The practical aspect of the paper is about combining an eye tracker with smart glasses. Presented research is related with the eGlasses project, which is focused on the development of an open platform in the form of multisensory electronic glasses and related interaction methods. One of the implemented interaction methods is the one based on eye tracking module. Both, the advantages and limitation of the method are discussed. We also considering the calibration free method of fixation points estimation within the near-to-eye display.

Head movement compensation algorithm in multi-display communication by gaze

An influence of head movements on the gaze estimation accuracy when using a head mounted eye tracking system is discussed in the paper. This issue has been examined for a multi-display environment. It was found that head movement (rotation) to some extent does not influence on the gaze estimation accuracy seriously. Acceptable results were obtained when using eye-tracker to communicate with a computer via in two displays simultaneously.