Syed Hammad Mian

A comparison study on the design of mirror and anatomy reconstruction technique in maxillofacial region

BACKGROUND The customized mandible reconstruction has been a challenging task in maxillofacial surgery. Designing an implant taking into considering the surrounding bone contours is really critical. Various computer aided design techniques have been used in the designing the customized reconstruction implants, but nevertheless study on the comparison between these techniques is rarely used. OBJECTIVE The objective of this study is to compare the mirroring and anatomical reconstruction design techniques used in the maxillofacial surgery and select the best design technique. METHODS The three mandible bone defects-small (< 20 mm), medium (20 to 40 mm) and large (41 to 53 mm) tumors are reconstructed using the two reconstruction design techniques and compared to their accuracy, using a 3 dimensional (3D) implant design evaluation and part to Computer aided design (CAD) comparison using a Co-ordinate measuring machine (CMM). RESULTS The analysis results indicate that the mirroring technique provides higher accuracy for the implant design as compared to the anatomical technique for the medium and large tumors at maxillofacial regions. In case of implant design in small tumors, the anatomical design provides perfect implant fitting. CONCLUSIONS Based on the results, it is recommended to select the anatomy design technique only for small tumor regions and mirroring technique for medium and large tumors.

Accuracy of a reverse-engineered mould using contact and non-contact measurement techniques

Investigations into the accuracy of computer-aided design (CAD) models for an injection mould have been carried out in this work. Taguchi design of experiments has been employed to find appropriate values for scanning parameters which result in shortest scanning time and lowest deviation between actual mould and its CAD model. CAD models obtained from point clouds captured using different scanning techniques, such as laser line scanning probe, active scanning probe and passive scanning probe attached to a bridge type CMM, have been analysed. For analysis, deviations between CAD model and actual part have been measured at a number of pre-defined points. Effect of surface roughness on the accuracy of reverse-engineered CAD model and scanning time while capturing surface coordinates using scanning touch probe has also been investigated. This investigation clearly exhibits that in case of polished surface higher accuracy for CAD model can be obtained in shorter scanning time.

The influence of surface topology on the quality of the point cloud data acquired with laser line scanning probe

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of surface topology on the performance of laser line scanning probe and to suggest methodology for 3D digitization of specular surfaces. Design/methodology/approach – Two different molds, one having milled surface and the other with polished surface, were used to identify effect of surface characteristics on the performance of laser line scanning probe mounted on bridge-type coordinate measuring machine. The point cloud data acquisition of two surfaces was carried out using different combinations of laser scanning parameters. The point cloud sets thus obtained were analyzed in terms of completeness, noise and accuracy. The polished mold which exhibited specular reflection was digitized at different scanning angles of laser line scanning probe using the best combination of scanning parameters. Findings – Results confirmed that surface characteristics play important role to determine quality of the reverse engineering (RE) process. The resu...

Utilizing sensors networks to develop a smart and context-aware solution for people with disabilities at the workplace (design and implementation)

The developments and improvements in human–computer interaction and information and communication technologies have resulted in innovative assistive technology (AT) solutions for the people with disabilities (PWDs). Although, there have been many new ideas and technologies for assisting the PWDs, still very few of them have considered the workplace environment. Therefore, there is a need to develop a comprehensive universal AT solution that can maximize the PWDs productivity at work. In this work, an AT and smart context-aware solution has been developed to assist the PWDs at the workplace. This has been achieved through the designing and the implementation of a smart unified interface to guide and assist the PWDs. A wireless sensor network has been employed in this context-aware smart solution in order to track and determine user’s location. The unified interface is adaptive and includes four modules that are smart helping, smart communication, smart editor, and auto emergency response. A proper AT process and technological design considerations have been adopted to achieve a comprehensive, universal, adaptive, and context-aware solution.

Unified Interface for People with Disabilities (UI-PWD) at Smart City (Design and Implementation)

The developments and improvements in human computer interaction (HCI) and information and communication technologies (ICTs) have marked the emergence of a number of new assistive technologies for the People with Disabilities (PWDs). Although, there have been many new ideas and technologies for assisting the PWDs, to improve their quality of life, still their applications are hampered depending on the impairment type, and environment. In fact, few of these existing assistive technologies have considered the workplace environment, especially in smart cities. In this research work, a comprehensive smart unified solution has been proposed for the PWDs at the workplace, which plays a major role in the smart cities. The developed solution which is multi-modal in nature addresses multiple input and output methods to alleviate different kinds of impaired persons using a single solution. This system will help the PWDs to actively communicate with others through the flexible interface and obtain help information from the smart cities’ environment such as the health context aware services. The interface is called as flexible because it can be adapted to meet the different requirements. This solution can support a wide domain of the PWDs existing with different combinations of the disabilities. Hence, with this system, the users can exhibit the ability to manage their system interface using multi-model ways of interactions through the use of speech recognition engine, text-to-speech, mic, and mouse/keyboard, etc.

Application of the sampling strategies in the inspection process

The selection of appropriate sample size and point distribution on the measuring surface has been a fundamental problem in the contemporary coordinate metrology. It is usually resolved by the users depending on their instinct or prior experience. As a result, inspection results have to be compromised between accuracy and measurement time. However, to deliver quality products in minimum time, effort, and cost, a reliable and an efficient sampling plan is mandatory. Although there have been a remarkable progress due to the development of various procedures for computing the sample size and selecting the appropriate point distribution, still users are inconversant with the characteristics and applications of the available sampling methods due to the absence of a proper review. Accordingly, a systematic review, giving insight into the various strategies available for the sample size and the point distribution, is presented. In this article, different algorithms and their application in the estimation of sample size and point distribution have been reviewed comprehensively. The classification of sampling methods and the importance of adaptive sampling have also been described. It has been concluded that the effectiveness of inspection process or the performance of coordinate measuring machine can be escalated through the application of a suitable sampling strategy. Therefore, the metrologists should either develop an effective method for defining sampling strategy or select the most suitable method from the available resources before carrying out the inspection process.

Assessment of Technologies Relevant for People With Motor Hearing and Speaking Impairment

ABSTRACT People born with disabilities (PWDs) face many problems because of their inability to accomplish simple daily tasks. However, the evolution of technological solutions has helped the PWDs to accomplish their tasks independently. Although a significant amount of the research work can be found on these technologies still, the authors believe that there is a lack of a rational method to quantitatively assess the solutions for their applicability to the respective impairment. In this paper, a quantitative and a qualitative assessment approach for the evaluation of the various technologies is proposed. It measures the applicability of the technological solutions for the different impairment groups. Based on the scoring model known as the multi-weighted scoring model (MWSM), the proposed evaluation approach carries out comparative judgment of clinical experts and input from PWDs using a well-defined criteria. The technique is applied to 16 research papers which are dealing with the application of technologies that assist PWDs suffering from various impairment conditions. The assessment technique has successfully identified the relevant criteria that can be used to assess technological research papers. It has also identified the research gaps which require further attention. The proposed quantitative approach can be a very useful tool to assess the applicability and the quality of the previous relevant works.

A University-Based Smart and Context Aware Solution for People with Disabilities (USCAS-PWD)

(1) Background: A disabled student or employee in a certain university faces a large number of obstacles in achieving his/her ordinary duties. An interactive smart search and communication application can support the people at the university campus and Science Park in a number of ways. Primarily, it can strengthen their professional network and establish a responsive eco-system. Therefore, the objective of this research work is to design and implement a unified flexible and adaptable interface. This interface supports an intensive search and communication tool across the university. It would benefit everybody on campus, especially the People with Disabilities (PWDs). (2) Methods: In this project, three main contributions are presented: (A) Assistive Technology (AT) software design and implementation (based on user- and technology-centered design); (B) A wireless sensor network employed to track and determine user’s location; and (C) A novel event behavior algorithm and movement direction algorithm used to monitor and predict users’ behavior and intervene with them and their caregivers when required. (3) Results: This work has developed a comprehensive and universal application with a unified, flexible, and adaptable interface to support the different conditions of PWDs. It has employed an interactive smart based-location service for establishing a smart university Geographic Information System (GIS) solution. This GIS solution has been based on tracking location service, mobility, and wireless sensor network technologies. (4) Conclusion: The proposed system empowered inter-disciplinary interaction between management, staff, researchers, and students, including the PWDs. Identifying the needs of the PWDs has led to the determination of the relevant requirements for designing and implementing a unified flexible and adaptable interface suitable for PWDs on the university campus.