José María Barreiro

Design of Virtual Reality Systems for Education: A Cognitive Approach

One of the main problems with virtual reality as a learning tool is that there are hardly any theories or models upon which to found and justify the application development. This paper presents a model that defends the metaphorical design of educational virtual reality systems. The goal is to build virtual worlds capable of embodying the knowledge to be taught: the metaphorical structuring of abstract concepts looks for bodily forms of expression in order to make knowledge accessible to students. The description of a case study aimed at learning scientific categorization serves to explain and implement the process of metaphorical projection. Our proposals are based on Lakoff and Johnsons theory of cognition, which defends the conception of the embodied mind, according to which most of our knowledge relies on basic metaphors derived from our bodily experience.

Nanoinformatics: developing new computing applications for nanomedicine

Nanoinformatics has recently emerged to address the need of computing applications at the nano level. In this regard, the authors have participated in various initiatives to identify its concepts, foundations and challenges. While nanomaterials open up the possibility for developing new devices in many industrial and scientific areas, they also offer breakthrough perspectives for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of diseases. In this paper, we analyze the different aspects of nanoinformatics and suggest five research topics to help catalyze new research and development in the area, particularly focused on nanomedicine. We also encompass the use of informatics to further the biological and clinical applications of basic research in nanoscience and nanotechnology, and the related concept of an extended “nanotype” to coalesce information related to nanoparticles. We suggest how nanoinformatics could accelerate developments in nanomedicine, similarly to what happened with the Human Genome and other -omics projects, on issues like exchanging modeling and simulation methods and tools, linking toxicity information to clinical and personal databases or developing new approaches for scientific ontologies, among many others.

Using Web Services for Linking Genomic Data to Medical Information Systems

OBJECTIVES To develop a new perspective for biomedical information systems, regarding the introduction of ideas, methods and tools related to the new scenario of genomic medicine. METHODS Technological aspects related to the analysis and integration of heterogeneous clinical and genomic data include mapping clinical and genetic concepts, potential future standards or the development of integrated biomedical ontologies. In this clinicomics scenario, we describe the use of Web services technologies to improve access to and integrate different information sources. We give a concrete example of the use of Web services technologies: the OntoFusion project. RESULTS Web services provide new biomedical informatics (BMI) approaches related to genomic medicine. Customized workflows will aid research tasks by linking heterogeneous Web services. Two significant examples of these European Commission-funded efforts are the INFOBIOMED Network of Excellence and the Advancing Clinico-Genomic Trials on Cancer (ACGT) integrated project. CONCLUSIONS Supplying medical researchers and practitioners with omics data and biologists with clinical datasets can help to develop genomic medicine. BMI is contributing by providing the informatics methods and technological infrastructure needed for these collaborative efforts.

Applying data mining techniques to medical time series: an empirical case study in electroencephalography and stabilometry.

One of the major challenges in the medical domain today is how to exploit the huge amount of data that this field generates. To do this, approaches are required that are capable of discovering knowledge that is useful for decision making in the medical field. Time series are data types that are common in the medical domain and require specialized analysis techniques and tools, especially if the information of interest to specialists is concentrated within particular time series regions, known as events. This research followed the steps specified by the so-called knowledge discovery in databases (KDD) process to discover knowledge from medical time series derived from stabilometric (396 series) and electroencephalographic (200) patient electronic health records (EHR). The view offered in the paper is based on the experience gathered as part of the VIIP project.1 Knowledge discovery in medical time series has a number of difficulties and implications that are highlighted by illustrating the application of several techniques that cover the entire KDD process through two case studies. This paper illustrates the application of different knowledge discovery techniques for the purposes of classification within the above domains. The accuracy of this application for the two classes considered in each case is 99.86% and 98.11% for epilepsy diagnosis in the electroencephalography (EEG) domain and 99.4% and 99.1% for early-age sports talent classification in the stabilometry domain. The KDD techniques achieve better results than other traditional neural network-based classification techniques.

Biomedical Informatics: From Past Experiences to the Infobiomed Network of Excellence

Medical Informatics (MI) and Bioinformatics (BI) are now facing, after various decades of ongoing research and activities, a crucial time, where both disciplines could merge, increase collaboration or follow separate roads. In this paper, we provide a vision of past experiences in both areas, pointing out significant achievements in both fields. Then, scientific and technological aspects are considered, following an ACM report on computing. Following this approach, both MI and BI are analyzed, from three perspectives: design, abstraction, and theories, showing differences between them. An overview of training experiences in Biomedical Informatics is also included, showing current trends. In this regard, we present the INFOBIOMED network of excellence, funded by the European Commission, as an example of a systematic effort to support a synergy between both disciplines, in the new area of Biomedical Informatics.

Intelligent Interpretation of Strength Data

Isokinetics systems are now a leading technology for assessing muscle strength and diagnosing muscle injuries. These systems are very expensive, for which reason they should be put to the best possible use. However, the computer interfaces that come with isokinetics systems are extremely poor and do not provide for the system to be exploited to its full potential. This paper presents the project 14 (Interface for Intelligent Interpretation of Isokinetic Data) and two computer systems obtained in the project: ISODEPOR and ISOCIN Both applications provide simple and effective interaction with the LIDO Isokinetics Machine, that produces a huge amount of strength data in each isokinetics test. These data are interpreted and presented to the user, who interacts with the information by means of a powerful graphic display system. Additionally, the applications have been equipped with a series of intelligent strength data analysis functions that implement expertise.

A Reinforcement Learning Model Equipped with Sensors for Generating Perception Patterns: Implementation of a Simulated Air Navigation System Using ADS-B (Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast) Technology

Over the last few decades, a number of reinforcement learning techniques have emerged, and different reinforcement learning-based applications have proliferated. However, such techniques tend to specialize in a particular field. This is an obstacle to their generalization and extrapolation to other areas. Besides, neither the reward-punishment (r-p) learning process nor the convergence of results is fast and efficient enough. To address these obstacles, this research proposes a general reinforcement learning model. This model is independent of input and output types and based on general bioinspired principles that help to speed up the learning process. The model is composed of a perception module based on sensors whose specific perceptions are mapped as perception patterns. In this manner, similar perceptions (even if perceived at different positions in the environment) are accounted for by the same perception pattern. Additionally, the model includes a procedure that statistically associates perception-action pattern pairs depending on the positive or negative results output by executing the respective action in response to a particular perception during the learning process. To do this, the model is fitted with a mechanism that reacts positively or negatively to particular sensory stimuli in order to rate results. The model is supplemented by an action module that can be configured depending on the maneuverability of each specific agent. The model has been applied in the air navigation domain, a field with strong safety restrictions, which led us to implement a simulated system equipped with the proposed model. Accordingly, the perception sensors were based on Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) technology, which is described in this paper. The results were quite satisfactory, and it outperformed traditional methods existing in the literature with respect to learning reliability and efficiency.

Accessing and managing open medical resources in Africa over the Internet

Recent commentaries have proposed the advantages of using open exchange of data and informatics resources for improving health-related policies and patient care in Africa. Yet, in many African regions, both private medical and public health information systems are still unaffordable. Open exchange over the social Web 2.0 could encourage more altruistic support of medical initiatives. We have carried out some experiments to demonstrate the feasibility of using this approach to disseminate open data and informatics resources in Africa. After the experiments we developed the AFRICA BUILD Portal, the first Social Network for African biomedical researchers. Through the AFRICA BUILD Portal users can access in a transparent way to several resources. Currently, over 600 researchers are using distributed and open resources through this platform committed to low connections.

Automatic Collision Avoidance and Navigation

The main goal of this paper is to permit the growth of air traffic, whilst maintaining or increasing flight safety levels through automation. This should assist pilots and air traffic controllers and increase aircraft autonomy. MAGENTA is a PhD thesis, providing a framework for developing automatic learning tools. This framework has proven to be suitable for the aeronautic environment because of its adaptability to dynamic environments. One objective is to automate present aircraft collision avoidance systems. Collision avoidance refers here to a variety of possible occurrences, including other aircraft, geography, buildings, and so on. Another specific objective is optimize present automatic steering systems, by means of which aircraft can follow a specific or select the best route from a starting point to the head of the runway at the destination airport. These two objectives are in line with currentFree FlightandFree Routeplans in both the United States and Europe. This paper includes testing these automatic steering, navigation and collision avoidance capabilities with a flight simulator in a similar way to how pilots learn and are tested.

Automatic Detection of Regions of Interest in Digitized Mammograms for Computer-Aided Diagnosis

This work presents a new system for real time breast abnormalities detection that could be related to a carcinoma, taking as input a digitized mammography, in order to assist radiologists in their mammography interpretation task. The system built has been designed to the parallel detection of microcalcifications and breast masses. Algorithms based on mathematical morphology combined with dynamic statistical methods are employed in microcalcifications detection. Histogram analysis of the digitized mammogram and a modified version of the watershed algorithm have also been used for breast masses localization. The output given by the system consists on a set of suspicious regions of being a carcinoma located in the original digitized image. A clinical database has been built for testing purposes comprising 690 mammographic studies for which surgical verification is available, 392 of them obtained in 1997, and the rest in 1998.