Muhammad Athar Sadiq

A study of increasing the speed of the independent component analysis (IA) using wavelet technique

Independent component analysis (ICA) is a multivariate data analysis tool. The basic principle of ICA is the assumption of independency of the source data. On the separation of the data source, ICA algorithm searches for a demixing matrix that will maximize the independency. This searching process is mostly done in iterative way and involving high order statistics. This process is time consuming. For a certain application, such as speech, where the source signal has its power at the lower frequency, we can reduce the data length by removing the high frequency component. Wavelet decomposition is a popular method for this purpose. In this paper, we propose the data reduction using wavelet as a preprocessing of ICA to speed up the ICA computation. We investigate Haar, Daubechies 2, Daubechies 3, and Daubechies 4 wavelet as the wavelet analysis. We further investigate the computation time as the function of level of decomposition of the wavelet. In this study, we found that Haar wavelet at third level of decomposition gave the biggest advantage of computation speed, which is about 40-50%.

A study of heartbeat sound separation using independent component analysis technique

Physician often infers the patients heart problem by listening to heartbeat sound. Such technique is well known as auscultation. The doctors auscultation skill was gain after he or she experiencing a lot of cases of heart diseases and heartbeat sounds. There is a need of computer-aided equipment to analyze heartbeat sound especially for young doctors to gain a quick learning process. For this purpose, we need accurate and dependable equipment for heartbeat analysis. To improve the heartbeat analysis, we investigate the possibility of the heartbeat sound analysis, especially the separation and localization of heartbeat signal, using independent component analysis technique. The separation or localization of heartbeat signal using independent component analysis is made possible by putting several probe at appropriate places in body. Our aim is to separate two major beat sequences, which are referred as S1 and S2. The S1 beat is due to the closure of mitral-tricuspid valve and the S2 beat is due to the closure of aortic-pulmonary valve. Since the pairs of mitral-tricuspid and aortic-pulmonary valves are physically separated and can be viewed as independent sources, we can treat the beats produced by them as independent components. The FastICA algorithm was used in this study, and we do experience with a healthy 29 year-old man. The experiment showed a promising result. A refinement in the scheme of experiment, especially technique to reduce signal saturation and noise during data acquisition, will lead us to scheme for the real application.

Telemedicine in the land of thunder dragon - East Bhutan tele-ECG project

The technology of telemedicine and e-health has now reached the stage awaiting wide scale application with promising potential benefits to many of the developing countries scourged persistently by the plague of resource constraints and harsh natural topography. The transmission of medical images from a remote understaffed health center to any bigger hospital for specialized and enhanced diagnosis is now a possibility through the use of Internet protocol. We apart from looking at the state of telemedicine and its variety deals as a case study in the possibility of introducing teleECG over IP which can go a long way in enhancing the diagnosis of cardiovascular diseases in the rural areas of Trashiyangtse and Lhuntse in East Bhutan.

A study on pacific island e-health projects and our support

Healthcare delivery system varies within Pacific Island countries and is far less developed than developed countries. Health professionals in various Pacific Island countries, particularly those working in rural and remote areas, have less opportunity than their peers in developed and even some developing countries to keep abreast with both technical and technological advancements in medicine and healthcare. Currently there are three major e-health projects are going on to overcome the lack of specialty and quality care, limited healthcare training, limited communication and transportation opportunities, surveillance of outbreak communicable diseases and for continued medical education. 1

Telemedicine in remote areas of Bhutan via PSTN

ECG and echocardiography are important tools for the diagnosis and management of cardiovascular patients. The transmission of medical images from remote understaffed centers to any big hospital through the use of internet protocol (IP) is now a possibility and would enhance diagnosis and management and thereby eliminating unnecessary referral would reduce health care costs. By using laptop computers and multipurpose ECG equipment, the two hospitals in remote areas of Bhutan were connected with the Asia Pacific Telecommunication (APT) supported second opinion center at Tokai University, Japan, through dial-up type workstation linking with Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) and internet. The second opinion center interpreted ECGs and echocardiograms and made recommendations to the physicians of both hospitals in Bhutan. The system was started in March 2003 and since than 60 studies was transmitted over IP protocol. The results of ECG and echocardiographic images transmitted to the APT supported second opinion center at Tokai University, showed promising results. This practical experience has shown the most appropriate use of dynamic information technology, using PSTN, to improve the diagnosis, management and quality of life of patients with cardiovascular diseases in remote and difficult in access areas of Bhutan.

Wavelet Technology in Wearable Terminals For ETS-VIII Satellite

In cooperation with Communication Research Laboratory of Japan, Tokai University has developed wearable satellite terminals for jogger via ETS-VIII to monitor ECG (electrocardiogram). The ECG signals provided from three skin electrodes attached to a runners chest wall are passed onto a CR frequency filter to remove loop-back noise generated during sampling. Following A/D conversion (250/sec, voltage/10 bit) with an A/D converter, noise is removed from the digital data obtained, using Wavelet algorithm. A filter relying on this algorithm is more effective than standard averaging FIR filters for processing ECG signals that include noise involving a number of different frequency elements. We also evaluate transmission protocol for ETS-VIII.

Tele-health projects in Pacific and the Japanese possibility to support its circuit

(Abstract) Pacific islands due to their geography and isolation, coupled with financial problems and lack of skilled staff, offer an ideal environment for development and implementation of telehealth applications. Currently there are three major telehealth projects running in Pacific. POLHN (Pacific Open Learning Health Network) is a successful tele-health initiative among 10 Pacific Island countries that has been supported by funding from Japanese government. Pacific Basin Telehealth Initiative is another major telehealth project running in US affiliated Pacific Islands funded by Office of Advancement of Telehealth (OAT) of US government. Pacific Public Health Surveillance Network (PPHSN) is the third major project which was created in 1996 under the joint auspices of South Pacific Council (SPC) and WHO. We have investigated the various activities of these projects and proposed Universal Service Fund coverage for these projects to reduce the running cost and self sustainability. Secondly to over human resource shortage, we have extended our cooperation in human resource development (HRD) in telehealth and have started training programs in telehealth through ITU, APT, NICT, Sasakawa Fund, and other private sectors in developed nations. We are inviting research teams in health care field, governments sectors in island, and other stakeholders in the region and providing them an opportunity to study more advanced telehealth at the ITU eHealth Expert Training Course in the Shonan Campus, Hiratsuka Japan. We have also reported the activities of WINDS satellite which is currently under joint development JAXA and NICT. In addition to establishing a domestic ultra high speed Internet network, the project also aims to construct ultra high speed international Internet access, especially with Asian Pacific countries and regions that are more closely related to Japan.

A basic study of the near vertical inclined skywave the last survival tool of radio communications to support telemedicine after n-disaster

For years, we have studied the Near Vertical Inclined Skywave (NVIS) to support telemedicine after major N-disaster. In the case of disaster and emergency situation, communication infrastructure availability is one of the key points for success of telemedical services: coordination among the medical personnel, monitoring of evacuation or treatments to the patients. However it is often happened that telecommunication infrastructure is not functioning in this situation because of damage or malfunction due to disaster or blockage because of high traffics, which is typical in cellular system. HF communication gives a good possibility to communicate during disaster, as it is cheap and easy to establish. The NVIS is a HF method to reach area at the radius between 80-113 km from the sender. This area is normally not reachable by the ground wave communication or conventional HF communication. This paper discuss about the features of NVIS communication and performance simulation with Pact communication.

An aspect of the ITU-D activities from a viewpoint of ehealth and human resource development

As a member of the Japanese delegation, we have participated the WTDC 06 Doha Qatar from 7 to 15 March 2006. This is the summary and the analysis of WTDC06 from a viewpoint of telemedicine and human resource development toward the era of Ubiquitous. The topic of telemedicine and telehealth in WTDC06 was one of the prospective theme in the developing nations where are facing lack of healthcare resources.

The radio communications monitoring system over IP to support disaster medicine

We have designed and tested a radio communication monitoring system to support disaster medicine. It is hoped that it would be very useful to monitor a walkie-talkie of a fire-fighter personnel or fire radio equipped ambulance over Internet protocol (IP). It may be also helpful for medical treatment during a disaster in the case of terrorism. We can make a plan immediately to handle such kind of problems. This system is also called Web radio system. In June 1994 the cult Aum was more successful in its attempts to use chemical agents in Japan. Since ordinary medical Institutes did not have knowledge about sarin those days suitable treatment not be done by medical centers etc. And there were lots of more difficulties in medicine field so we research and introduced this IP system, to meet telemedicine requirements.