Pawel Rotter

Restoring Function: Application Exemplars of Medical ICT Implants

Medical devices such as cardiac defibrillators and pacemakers used to restore heart rhythm and cochlear implants to restore hearing have become well established and are widely used throughout the world as a way in which to improve an individual’s well-being and public health more generally. The application of implantable technology for medical use is typically ‘restorative’, i.e. it aims to restore some deficient ability. Notably, these sophisticated devices form intimate links between technology and the human body. Recent developments in engineering technologies have meant that the ability to integrate silicon with biology is reaching new levels and implantable medical devices that interact directly with the brain are becoming commonplace. Keeping in step with developments of other fundamental technologies, these types of devices are becoming increasingly complex and capable, with their peripheral functionality also continuing to grow. Data logging and wireless, real-time communications with external computing devices are now well within their capabilities and are becoming standard features, albeit without due attention to inherent security and privacy implications. This chapter explores the state-of-the-art of invasively implantable medical technologies and shows how cutting edge research is feeding into devices being developed in a medical context. Here, the focus of the analysis is on four technologies-pacemakers and cardiac defibrillators, cochlear implants, deep brain stimulators and brain computer interfaces for sight restoration.

Multimedia information retrieval based on pairwise comparison and its application to visual search

Finding a way to elicit user preferences in the context of multimedia information retrieval is an important issue that remains to be solved. Users are not usually able to find a sought after image or provide an example of what they want. One of several possible methods that might be used to solve this problem involves reasoning about user queries through the assessment of several samples. In this article we propose a method by which user queries are retrieved based on the pairwise comparison of sample alternatives. Pairwise comparison was originally designed for the ranking of alternatives. In our method we rank criteria according to their importance for the user and then use this information to retrieve relevant records from the database. The method was implemented in Matlab and tested on the Microsoft Research Cambridge Image Database.

Relevance feedback based on n-tuplewise comparison and the ELECTRE methodology and an application in content-based image retrieval

In this article we propose a method for information retrieval based on relational Multi-Criteria Decision Making. We assume that a user cannot define precise search criteria so that these criteria must be found based on the user’s assessment of several sample alternatives (‘alternatives’ here are database records, e.g. images). This situation is common in Content-based Image Retrieval, where it is easier for a user to indicate relevant images than to describe a proper query, especially in formal language. The proposed algorithm for the elicitation of criteria is based on ELECTRE III—a method originally designed for ranking a set of alternatives according to defined criteria. In our algorithm, however, the direction of reasoning is reversed: we start with several sample alternatives that have been assigned a rank by the user and then we select criteria that are compatible (in the sense of ELECTRE methodology) with the user’s preferences expressed on a sample set. Then, having determined the user’s criteria, we apply classical ELECTRE III to retrieve the relevant solutions from the database. We implemented the method in Matlab and tested it on the Microsoft Cambridge Image Database.

A New Approach to Interactive Visual Search with RBF Networks Based on Preference Modelling

In this paper we propose a new method for image retrieval with relevance feedback based on eliciting preferences from the decision-maker acquiring visual information from an image database. The proposed extension of the common approach to image retrieval with relevance feedback allows it to be applied to objects with non-homogenous colour and texture. This has been accomplished by the algorithms, which model user queries by an RBF neural network. As an example of application of this approach, we have used a content-based search in an atlas of species. An experimental comparison with the commonly used content-based image retrieval approach is presented.

Why Did the 3D Revolution Fail?: The Present and Future of Stereoscopy [Commentary]

We analyze the main reasons for this, and present possible future solutions. We will try to find out if the 3D market collapsed because of imperfections of technology, or because there is no real demand for stereoscopy. The answer is important especially for manufacturers, because it will help to decide about further investments in research and development of 3D technology.

Potential Application Areas for RFID Implants

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology was originally developed for automatic identification of physical objects. An RFID tag—a small device attached to the object—emits identification data through radio waves in response to a query by an RFID reader which also supplies it power. RFID technology has been increasingly employed as a ‘barcode replacement’ due to the number of advantages that it offers and has been used in production lines and the logistics chain of enterprises and are starting to penetrate other sectors including medical and health care, defence and agriculture. While the first recorded human implantation of an RFID device was in 1998, in 2004, the first RFID implant device was approved for human use by the United States Food and Drug Administration. No data about the owner per se is stored on the device, instead the ID number points to a corresponding entry in a centralised database and can be used to facilitate identification and authentication. The continued commercialisation of RFID implant devices approved for human use, along with a trend for technology enthusiasts and self-experimenters to implant a variety of more advanced RFID technology points the way to future application of these devices. Further explored in this chapter is the use of human implantable RFID in the areas of patient identification in health care, access to services, as a complementary tool for other identification methods, access control for mobile devices, smart environments and other potential longer term applications.

Passive Human ICT Implants: Risks and Possible Solutions

Despite the advantages that the use of Radio Frequency IDentification (RFID) technology entails, privacy stemming from its mass deployment causes concern both in society and the academic community. Although non-implantable passive RFID devices in general remain more advanced than implantable, glass capsule types, both generally have fundamental technological limitations that mean they are susceptible to similar issues. Indeed, the security and privacy implications of RFID for a variety of applications have been well explored; however, the use of them inside the body serves to further aggravate some of the known issues. Whilst the numbers of people with such implanted devices are still small, the commercialisation of this technology means that they could become commonplace and so these concerns are paramount. In this chapter, these issues are described, and it is argued that controls and measures can be developed and engineered now in order to minimise such risks. In addition, the medical risks specific to implantation of these devices is explored in light of recent research.

FROM COCHLEAR IMPLANTS TO BRAIN-COMPUTER INTERFACES

Abstract In this article two groups of technologies based on connecting a medical device to the human brain are presented. The first group exploits the existing nerves, like the cochlear implant where ear prosthesis is connected to the auditory nerve. Another group is based on a direct connection between an electronic device and the human brain and it is called Brain-Computer Interfaces. The article contains the description of these technologies, points out their current capabilities and limitations and the main barriers to further development. The authors indicate possible directions of future expansion of the discussed technologies.

A framework for a hierarchical model of cooperation between unmanned airplanes

ABSTRACT In this article we propose a framework for a hierarchical model for cooperation between unmanned airplanes in large groups. We argue that the swarm approach to cooperation between a large number of mobile robots is ineffective when robots can be equipped with efficient communication, precise location hardware and with complex control algorithms. The proposed model, analogous to the organisation of a team of people, is an intermediate solution, between the swarm approach and central control. The bottom layer of the model includes unmanned airplanes that perform tasks related to the mission goals, such as capturing images, looking for objects through image analysis, etc. These airplanes are organised in teams, and each team is controlled by the superior airplane. Two top layers are ground-based: the central computer and the human operator, and their functions are mostly defining the goals, planning and optimisation of the mission. We present two examples of response to events, related to failure or loss of an airplane. We discuss how the proposed model can manage possible interruptions of communication and security issues, and how collision avoidance can be implemented. Finally, we point out that, although the control structure is different than in the swarm approach, swarm intelligence can still be used to optimise missions.

Object Detection with Few Training Data: Detection of Subsiding Troughs in SAR Interferograms

Subsiding troughs that are the result of mining activities can be detected in SAR interferograms as approximately elliptic shapes against the noisy background. Despite large areas being covered by interferogram, the number of positive samples, which can be used for automatic learning, is limited. In this paper we propose two alternative methods for the detection of subsiding troughs: the first one is designed to detect any circular shapes and does not require any learning set and the second is based on automatic learning but requires a reduced number of positive samples. The two proposed methods can support manual inspection of large areas in SAR interferograms.