Melina Brell

conTACT - A Vibrotactile Display for Computer Aided Surgery

In this paper the concept and the first proving experiments of a navigation system for assistance during surgical interventions is presented. Novel aspects of this system are a new approach to transmit the navigation information to the surgeon. Contrary to known navigation systems the proposed approach does not only use visual support but provides information primarily by tactile stimuli. So the surgeon is not constrained to avert the gaze from the field of surgery during the navigation process. This paper concludes with the experimental evaluation of signal perception and a positioning task with tactile transmission of the navigation information

Data Stream Management in the AAL: Universal and Flexible Preprocessing of Continuous Sensor Data

Continuous and potentially infinite sequences of data—so-called data streams—are processed in many applications of Ambient Assisted Living (AAL). The preprocessing of such high frequent data is normally done by fixed code or hard wired hardware. This leads on the one hand to an inflexible and extensive to change processing and on the other hand to very specialized solutions. Like databases data stream management systems (DSMS) offer a universal processing of data, but are designed for highly frequent and potentially infinite data streams. Thus, DSMS are an alternative approach for processing sensor data. Therefore, this paper shows how DSMS can be used in the AAL for an universal and flexible preprocessing of sensor data. For this, DSMS and its features are introduced and we show which advantages over existing solutions a DSMS can offer for future researches in AAL.

A mobile robot for self-selected gait velocity assessments in assistive environments: a robotic driven approach to bring assistive technologies into established homes

This paper presents a novel idea on how mobile robots can be used to implement mobility assessments in home environments. The demographic change leads to an increasing demand of care, especially for elderly people. Falls are one major problem due to hospital stays, slow recovery time, and subsequent impairments. Assisting technologies from the field of Ambient Assisted Living could offer new diagnostic approaches and provide home assistance. Installing required technologies in a home environment is often difficult and costly. Here, mobile robots provide a new solution to bring sensors and actors into the home environment without any installation. Especially laser range scanners for robot navigation provide several possibilities to perform mobility assessments at home. In this paper results of a self-selected gait velocity assessment done with the aid of a laser range scanner are presented. The results show that it is possible to use a laser range scanner to compute the movement trajectory of a person and several parameters of gait. This offers new possibilities to transfer clinical assessment into the home environment. Mobility assessments in the domestic environment could be used for early and more objective detection of impairments and gait disorders.

Criteria for Quality and Safety while Performing Unobtrusive Domestic Mobility Assessments Using Mobile Service Robots

A new concept for safely performing and qualitatively evaluating assessments in domestic unsupervised environments, especially when utilizing mobile service robots, is presented. The presented approach is based on the idea that classical geriatric assessments, especially from the domain of mobility, may be divided in components which happen naturally throughout the day in domestic environments. Those components are measured separately and are recombined to com-plete assessment tests later on. In order for physicians to decide how reliable assessment results from the domestic do-main are, we define technical quality criteria for the components of the Timed Up&Go assessment test. The approach is evaluated within an experiment in a living lab utilizing sensors, especially a laser range scanner, equipped with a mobile robot. Results show that the presented approach may be used to separate sensor measurements promising good assess-ment results from those containing insufficient data. Additionally, using mobile robots to perform assessments in domestic environments holds the potential danger for the inhabitant to stumble over the robot. Therefore, the paper also evaluates the aspect of inhabitants’ safety during domestic assessments based on the experiment’s data. A novel approach to navigate safely using the previously presented approach of optimal observation lots (OOL) is presented.

Intelligent environments supporting the care of multi-morbid patients: a concept for patient-centered information management and therapy

Evermore people are suffering from multi-morbidity, an accumulation of different afflictions that mutually affect each other. Simultaneously treatments which were previously conducted stationary are nowadays carried out in home settings. Therefore more and more ICT is employed to support such treatments. However, most of these systems are isolated and not accounting for technical interoperability or the determining factor that different treatments influence each other. An approach for an integrated system to treat multi-morbid patients is presented within this paper. It aims to join various means of monitoring, health data storage and telemedicine into a holistic system to account for the needs of such patients. Already implemented subsystems are presented and considerable advantages of the system under construction are illustrated by a use-case for its application.

Preliminary Evaluation of a Force-Sensing Human-Machine Interface for an Interactive Robotic System

In this paper the concept and first implementation of a robotic system for assistance during the milling in middle ear surgery is presented. Novel aspects of this system are the new force sensing approach, a parallel kinematic structure and the modified zero-force control scheme. In contrary to other force sensors the proposed approach only requires the position data delivered by a 6 d.o.f. position/orientation measurement system and properties of elastic objects. Because 6 d.o.f. position/orientation measurement systems are standard equipment in computer-aided surgery there is no need for additional sensors. The paper concludes with the experimental evaluation of the force control scheme and an accuracy analysis for the assisted milling

Enhancing Mobile Robots’ Navigation through Mobility Assessments in Domestic Environments

A new concept to enhance mobile robot navigation in domestic environments by the use of mobility assessment data is presented. The concept is part of our overall approach to enabling more precise and reliable mobility assessment by the use of a mobile monitoring platform i.e. a mobile service robot equipped with a laser range scanner. We are basing our new approach on our previous work on the application of the potential field method to mobility trend analysis and the precise measurements of human movement trajectories by a laser range scanner. The enhancements to the robot’s navigation enable more precise assessment results while ensuring to not hinder or endanger the human. While navigating the robot moves from one to another observation location and tries to avoid the user’s movement paths whenever possible. Additionally, it adapts its own driving speed to the human’s. We call these secure observation locations which provide better assessment results Optimal Observation Lots (OOL). The concept’s algorithm, which was only implemented partially yet, contributes to our ultimate goal to develop an ’‘off the shelf” robot that is placed in the user’s home and is able to find its own observation spots and movement paths without further pre-programmed knowledge of the environment.

Einbettung assistierender Technologien in Gesundheitsnetzwerke – von der Wohnung zum Arzt

Die Bedeutung Informationstechnik(IT)-gestutzter Dienstleistungen fur die Sicherstellung bzw. Verbesserung von Qualitat und Effizienz der Gesundheitsversorgung ist langst weltweit erkannt. In ihrer eHealth-Resolution mahnt die World Health Organization bereits 2005 ihre Mitgliedsstaaten, entsprechende Programme systematisch umzusetzen (WHO Executive Board 2005). In reicheren Landern mit gut umfassender Versorgungsstruktur liegt das Potenzial in der Uberwindung okonomischer, wissenschaftlicher und, sozialer und operativer Barrieren. Im Fokus steht dabei die Unterstutzung eines „citizen-preventioneducation-home based“ (Healy 2007) Versorgungsparadigmas.

Integrated Monitoring for Personalized Renal Replacement Therapy

Introduction: Emerging renal support devices tend towards automated physiological monitoring and treatment adaptation. In the patient-centred development of the mobile NEPHRON+ system decisive physiological aspects and their mutual affections were identified and methods of measurement were incorporated into a wearable system enabling a personalized and un-supervised auto-adaptive treatment. Methods: Nephrologists determined the physiological variables to be monitored in dialysis patients. The experts’ opinions were confirmed by extensive literature survey to find formalized relationships between the physiological parameters. As a basis for the embedded device control, suitable means of monitoring were integrated into the prototype of NEPHRON+, a networked mobile dialysis system. Results: To monitor the principal function of the blood cleansing device, ion selective and enzymatic electrodes tailored towards the miniaturized device are integrated in the mobile blood treatment system. Weight measurements are transmitted via Bluetooth to gauge the hydration surplus to be removed. Both, fluidic and chemical dynamics in the body are described based on the measurements using compartment models. Hemodynamic instabilities frequently arise during blood cleansing treatment due to homeostatic imbalance. Thus an electric sphygmomanometer and heart rate acquisition are likewise connected for intermittent measurements. To interpret these context sensitive parameters an accelerometer is embodied into the wearable system enabling to estimate the influence of the treated patient’s physical activity on aforementioned vital parameters. This allows differentiating between the vital parameter dynamics arising from activity and the negative influence of homeostatic imbalance. Conclusion: A prototypic architecture for a defined treatment scenario has been realized to demonstrate the technical feasibility, enabling comprehensive physiological monitoring of dialysis treatments. Mathematical models of the monitored variables were gleaned for context aware evaluation of the mutually dependent parameters.

System Architecture for Palliative Care in the Home Environment

To establish modern technical communication and monitoring systems also in the private homes of patients with palliative care needs a special and complex architecture behind. With the help of modern communication technology the existing social network such friends, family or social services will be strengthened. Additionally a monitoring system helps to detect an upcoming crisis of the patient at an early stage to defuse the situation betimes, or - in case of eventuation - to cope with a crisis in an appropriate way with the help of a well elaborated information forwarding system. On that way depressive and unnecessary hospitalizations should be avoided, if possible. Medical care and business models in the sense of end-of-life-care will be evaluated within the PAALiativ project. The models will be developed with two groups of patients exemplarily, patients with pulmonary cancer and patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD).