Paolo Sommella

Towards an automatic diagnosis system for skin lesions: Estimation of blue-whitish veil and regression structures

This paper deals with ELM image processing for automatic analysis of pigmented skin lesions which represents one of the greatest challenges of dermatologic practice today. The “ELM 7 point checklist” defines a set of seven features, based on colour and texture parameters, which describe the malignancy of a lesion. It has been revealed as faster and with the same accuracy than the traditional ABCD criteria in the diagnosis of melanoma. A preliminary approach to the automated diagnosis of melanocytic skin lesions, based on ELM 7 point checklist is proposed. In particular, the image processing algorithms and classification techniques involved in the automatic detection of the occurrence of two criteria (Blue-whitish Veil and Regression structures) are introduced and the experimental results are reported.

A software tool for the diagnosis of melanomas

Early detection of melanoma is one of the greatest challenges of dermatologic practice today. A new diagnostic method, the “ELM 7 point checklist”, defines a set of seven features, based on colour and texture parameters, which describe the malignancy of a lesion. It has been presented as faster and with the same accuracy than the traditional ABCD criteria in the diagnosis of melanoma. In this paper a new system for automated diagnosis of melanocytic skin lesions, based on ELM 7 point checklist, is introduced.

A Statistical Approach for Improving the Performance of a Testing Methodology for Measurement Software

This paper describes the significant enhancements brought to an original methodology designed for testing measurement software. In a previous paper, the authors proposed a black-box seven-step procedure that allows the functional verification of complex instrument software to be performed. The main features of the procedure are concerned with the following: (1) the ability of reproducing actual correlations among the software inputs and (2) the need for a limited number of test cases. Making use of innovative statistical techniques, the methodology performance and reliability have been enhanced. Two further steps have been added with the aim of improving the correlation coefficient assessments and providing the estimations with a confidence level. Finally, a new strategy has been studied to optimize the number of test cases. The effects of the new solutions on the performance of the methodology are evaluated by applying the procedure to a complex software module employed in an automotive system. A comparison with the previous methodology version is also reported.

A new approach to magnetorheological damping control

Magnetorheological fluids are widely used as their rheological behavior can be reversibly changed with simplicity. These fluids have important applications in the field of damping systems. In the paper a brief description of their properties is given at first. Then, problems in designing magnetorheological (MR) dampers caused by the nonlinear behavior of these MR dampers are examined with regard to accuracy and implementation of the models proposed in literature. Finally its described in detail a new measurement method that has been thought by the authors to characterize and then control magnetorheological dampers for automotive applications.

ISO/IEC/IEEE 21451 Smart Sensor Network for the Evaluation of Motorcycle Suspension Systems

Smart sensors and transducers are being widely employed in the development of electronically controlled systems, such as advanced suspensions, to improve the performance guaranteed by terrestrial vehicles. Nevertheless, a standard reference for the full exploitation of the smart features is not yet extensively adopted. The CAN-bus is only used for the communication functionalities within a sensor network, resulting in cost-effective and more reliable connections. An original data-driven approach, based on both the CAN-bus and the IEEE ISO/IEC/IEEE 21451 standard, is proposed for the characterization of suspension systems of two-wheel vehicles with regard to the comfort and vehicle handling. Because of the ISO/IEC/IEEE 21451, the data acquired from sensor are sent by means of a GPS-General Packet Radio Service module to PC software that implements the processing algorithm. The proposed methodology includes a low-cost measurement setup, data processing algorithms in both time and frequency domain, and the introduction of model-free synthetic indices to experimentally compare the on-road behavior influenced by different damping characteristics for the suspension system. The method is applied to the on-road verification of the riding comfort assured by different control strategies for semiactive suspensions.

Characterization of motorcycle suspension systems: Comfort and handling performance evaluation

In this paper, measurement set-up and data analysis for the characterization of two-wheel vehicles suspension systems with regard to comfort and road holding is proposed. The main aim is the definition of a method for the experimental quantification of the suspension system performance. An application of the method to the verification of both comfort and safety assured by a control strategy for semi active suspensions is reported.

A Methodology to Test Instrument Software: An Automotive Diagnostic System Application

This paper aims to describe a new methodology specifically designed for testing measurement and diagnostic software. A black-box procedure allows the user to verify whether the functional requirements of a software module under test are fulfilled. The robust experimental design techniques and statistical theories implemented to generate the software input test sets are described in detail. The reliability of the testing methodology is estimated by applying it to diagnostic software in wide use throughout the automotive industry. The results of validation tests carried out on data from a car engine measurement system are reported and analyzed.

Automatic Diagnosis of Melanoma Based on the 7-Point Checklist

An image based system implementing a well-known diagnostic method is disclosed for the automatic detection of melanomas as support to clinicians. The software procedure is able to recognize automatically the skin lesion within the digital image, measure morphological and chromatic parameters, carry out a suitable classification for detecting the dermoscopic structures provided by the 7-Point Checklist. Advanced techniques are introduced at different stages of the image processing pipeline, including the border detection, the extraction of low-level features and scoring of high order features.

Smart sensing and smart material for smart automotive damping

Vehicle suspensions represent one of the most interesting applications of dampening, where the introduction of smart damping technologies and control policies lead hardware and software designers to overcome new measurement challenges. Advanced sensing techniques have been proposed and tested for real-time execution by an automotive ECU based on a DSP-microcontroller. Smart sensing is able both to improve noise filtering of the signals provided by low-cost sensors and detect specific motorcycle dynamics which most influence the road holding and comfort. Finally, an ANN has been modeled, which can be effectively adopted as a benchmark (in terms of false alarms and correctly detected faults) in the development of fault detection strategies (i.e., threshold identification) directed to the sensor validation of the rear suspension stroke.

On road testing of control strategies for semi-active suspensions

An original data driven approach is proposed for the characterization of two-wheel vehicles suspension systems with regard to the comfort and vehicle handling. The proposed methodology includes a low cost measurement set-up, data analysis in both time and frequency domain and the introduction of model-free synthetic indexes in order to experimentally compare the on-road behavior influenced by different damping characteristics for the suspension system. The method is applied to the on-road verification of the riding comfort assured by different control strategies for semi-active suspensions.