Technology and Health Care - Volume 29, issue S1

Authors: Meng, Hong | Yin, Yating | Wu, Wenhai | Liu, Yuhong | Li, Li | Dong, Yinmao | Fan, Yi | Li, Yue | He, Yifan

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: BACKGROUND: The stratum corneum (SC) is the outermost layer of human skin and deemed as barrier against chemical exposure and water loss. Moisturizers have beneficial effects in treating dry skin, especially the SC. Confocal Raman spectroscopy (CRS) was used to evaluate the efficacy of moisturizers on skin hydration and penetration, with such agents posing inherent characteristics of being noninvasive, nondestructive, timesaving, and cost effective. Bionics vernix caseosa (BVC) cream mimics the composition of vernix caseosa (VC), which could protect the newborn skin. METHODS: This research applied CRS to evaluate the penetration depth and water content variation …during the intervention with two moisturizers, BVC cream and Vaseline. Volunteers received the 2 h application of BVC cream and Vaseline on the forearms. The evaluations on 0 h, 2 h, 4 h and 6 h were performed clinical assessment. Experimental data was processed by least square method and analysis of variance (ANOVA). RESULTS: The penetration depth of Vaseline was deeper than that of Bionics vernix caseosa cream. Specifically, BVC cream penetrated 18 μ m into human skin, while Vaseline penetrated at least 20 μ m. Compared with Vaseline, only BVC cream increased skin hydration, with a moisturizing effect lasting for 4 h. At 6 h, the Vaseline moisturizing effect decreased significantly. Show more

Keywords: Bionics vernix caseosa cream, Vaseline, confocal Raman spectroscopy, hydration, penetration

DOI: 10.3233/THC-218030

Citation: Technology and Health Care, vol. 29, no. S1, pp. 327-334, 2021

Authors: Zhang, Xiaoli | Zhang, Kuixing | Jiang, Mei | Yang, Lin

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Malignant lymphoma is a type of tumor that originated from the lymphohematopoietic system, with complex etiology, diverse pathological morphology, and classification. It takes a lot of time and energy for doctors to accurately determine the type of lymphoma by observing pathological images. OBJECTIVE: At present, an automatic classification technology is urgently needed to assist doctors in analyzing the type of lymphoma. METHODS: In this paper, by comparing the training results of the BP neural network and BP neural network optimized by genetic algorithm (GA-BP), adopts a deep residual neural network model (ResNet-50), …with 374 lymphoma pathology images as the experimental data set. After preprocessing the dataset by image flipping, color transformation, and other data enhancement methods, the data set is input into the ResNet-50 network model, and finally classified by the softmax layer. RESULTS: The training results showed that the classification accuracy was 98.63%. By comparing the classification effect of GA-BP and BP neural network, the accuracy of the network model proposed in this paper is improved. CONCLUSIONS: The network model can provide an objective basis for doctors to diagnose lymphoma types. Show more

Keywords: Lymphoma, pathological images, deep learning, Resnet-50, automatic classification

DOI: 10.3233/THC-218031

Citation: Technology and Health Care, vol. 29, no. S1, pp. 335-344, 2021

Authors: Wang, Yan | Bao, Xinyu | Zhang, Song | Yang, Lin | Liu, Guoli | Yang, Yimin | Li, Xuwen | Hao, Dongmei | Chen, Aiqing | Liu, Xiaohong | Shao, Jing

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Monitoring fetal weight during pregnancy has a guiding role in prenatal care. OBJECTIVE: To establish a personalized fetal growth curve for effectively monitoring fetal growth during pregnancy. METHODS: (1) This study retrospectively analyzed the birth weight database of 2,474 singleton newborns delivered normally at term. The personalized fetal growth curve model was formed by combining the estimating birth weight of newborns with the proportional weight formula. (2) Multiple linear stepwise regression method was used to estimate the birth weight of newborns. RESULTS: (1) Delivery gestational age, weight at first …visit, maternal height, pre-pregnancy body mass index, fetal sex, parity had significant effects on birth weight. Based on these parameters, the formula for calculating term optimal weight was obtained (R 2 = 22.8%, P < 0.001). (2) The personalized fetal growth curve was obtained according to the epidemiological factors input model of each pregnant woman. CONCLUSIONS: A model of personalized fetal growth curve can be established, and be used to evaluate fetal growth and development through estimated fetal weight monitoring. Show more

Keywords: Fetal weight, growth charts, personal health services

DOI: 10.3233/THC-218032

Citation: Technology and Health Care, vol. 29, no. S1, pp. 345-350, 2021

Authors: Li, Chunrui | Liu, Manjiao | An, Yunhe | Tian, Yanjie | Guan, Di | Wu, Huijuan | Pei, Zhiyong

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a complex disease with high incidence and serious harm associated with polygenic determination. This study aimed to develop a predictive model so as to assess the risk of T2DM and apply it to health care and disease prevention in northern China. OBJECTIVE: Based on genotyping results, a risk warning model for type 2 diabetes was established. METHODS: Blood samples of 1042 patients with T2DM in northern China were collected. Multiplex polymerase chain reaction and high-throughput sequencing (NGS) techniques were used to design the amplification-based targeted sequencing …panel to sequence the 21 T2DM susceptibility genes. RESULT: The related key gene KQT-like subfamily member 1 played an important role in the T2DM risk model, and single-nucleotide polymorphism rs2237892 was highly significant, with a P value of 1.2 × 10 - 5 . CONCLUSIONS: Susceptibility genes in different populations were examined, and a model was developed to assess the risk-based genetic analysis. The performance of the model reached 92.8%. Show more

Keywords: Gene, health care, logistic regression, risk model, type 2 diabetes mellitus

DOI: 10.3233/THC-218033

Citation: Technology and Health Care, vol. 29, no. S1, pp. 351-358, 2021

Authors: Jung, Gihoon | Park, Chanhee | Hwang, Jongseok | You, Joshua (Sung) H. | Yi, Chunghwi | Choi, Woochol Joseph

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: BACKGROUND: While respiratory and core-postural stabilisation has recently gained a widespread acceptance to improve pulmonary function and dyspena, the therapeutic effects of and rationale underlying the use of respiratory and core-postural stabilisation in the management of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease have not been investigated. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to compare the effects of abdominal breathing and respiratory and core-postural stabilisation on diaphragmatic movement and pulmonary function. METHODS: Fourteen patients with moderate chronic obstructive pulmonary disease were randomly assigned to either the respiratory and core-postural stabilisation or abdominal breathing group. All patients …underwent fluoroscopy-guided chest X-ray imaging and pulmonary function tests before and after the interventions; the modified Medical Research Council questionnaire was also administered before and after the interventions. Six sessions of either intervention were consistently provided. The obtained data were assessed using independent t -tests and Wilcoxon signed-rank test with a significance threshold of P < 0.05. RESULTS: Respiratory and core-postural stabilisation was more effective in increasing diaphragmatic movements than abdominal breathing (P < 0.05). Pulmonary function tests revealed more significant differences in the forced vital capacity (FVC(%) predicted ) only after respiratory and core-postural stabilisation (P = 0.004). The Medical Research Council questionnaire score was significantly different within the Respiratory and core-postural stabilisation group (P = 0.014). CONCLUSIONS: Our novel results suggest that the effects of respiratory and core-postural stabilisation breathing on diaphragmatic movement and pulmonary function were superior to those of abdominal breathing in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Show more

Keywords: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, dyspnea, breathing training, core stabilisation, pulmonary function

DOI: 10.3233/THC-218034

Citation: Technology and Health Care, vol. 29, no. S1, pp. 359-366, 2021

Authors: Wu, Liang | Shi, Ping | Yu, Hongliu

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: BACKGROUND: The delayed blood pressure recovery (BPR) at post-exercise has been in association with a major risk of cardiovascular disease and death. OBJECTIVE: The study focused on evaluating the systolic and diastolic blood pressure recovery (SBPR, DBPR) and the autonomic modulation following treadmill exercise in healthy young adults. Although considerable literature had been published about BPR and HRV, the association between BPR and ultra-short-term HRV has not yet been completely described. METHODS: Fifteen subjects performed exercise with three different intensities on a treadmill, the speed was 6 km/h, 9 km/h, 12 km/h, respectively. SBP and DBP …was measured per 30 s in each trial. The synchronous 5-min electrocardiogram (ECG) signals were recorded and HRV 30s parameters including SDNN 30s , RMSSD 30s , SDNN 30s /RMSSD 30s , SD1 30s , SD2 30s and SD1 30s /SD2 30s were calculated every 30 s periods in 5 min ECG signals to match the corresponding BPR. RESULTS: The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) values and the Bland-Altman plots indicated good consistency and repeatability between HRV 30s and HRV 5min at three post-exercise trials, with most ICC values > 0.75. Besides, SBPR and DBPR generally decreased and returned to the Rest level in 5 mins. The Spearman correlation coefficients showed strong relationships between BPR and HRV 30s sympathetic-vagal balance parameters, i.e., ratio SDNN/RMSSD and ratio SD1/SD2. CONCLUSIONS: These observations represented a new insight into the cardiovascular regulation at post-exercise, which could contribute to physical exercise areas in the future. Show more

Keywords: Blood pressure recovery, autonomic modulation, heart rate variability, electrocardiogram

DOI: 10.3233/THC-218035

Citation: Technology and Health Care, vol. 29, no. S1, pp. 367-376, 2021

Authors: Yoon, Hyunsik | Park, Chanhee | Park, Ilbong | Kim, Kyoungtae | Cha, Youngjoo

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Impaired sensory in acute stroke patients results in dynamic balance, gait and activities of daily living (ADL) impairment. OBJECTIVE: The aim of present study was to examine the correlation between somatosensory-evoked potential (SSEP) parameters and motor recovery in balance, gait and ADL performance in hemiparetic stroke survivors. METHODS: One hundred and one participants with hemiparetic stroke (43 males, 58 females; mean age, 6538 ± 1222 years; post-stroke duration, 199 ± 0.74 month) participated in this study. The Electro Synergy system (Viasys Healthcare; San Diego, CA, USA) …was applied to measure SSEP measurement. The 101 stroke survivors were divided into three groups consistent with their SSEP results: sensory normal group; sensory impaired group; sensory absent group. All the subject participated the inpatient rehabilitation intervention for 4 weeks. Analyses of variance (ANOVA) were used to verify the group difference among the three groups after the treatment. RESULTS: ANOVA revealed the significant difference (p < 0.01). The Scheffe test demonstrated that the sensory normal group showed greater increasement in Modified Barthel Index (MBI), Fugl-Myer Assessment (FMA), Trunk Impairment Scale (TIS), Berg Balance Scale (BBS) and Functional Ambulation Category (FAC) scores than the sensory impaired and absent group (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Our research provides therapeutic evidence that correlation of somatosensory functions on motor recovery, balance, gait, and ADL in patients with hemiplegic stroke. Show more

Keywords: Somatosensory-evoked potential, neurorehabilitation, balance, gait, ADL

DOI: 10.3233/THC-218036

Citation: Technology and Health Care, vol. 29, no. S1, pp. 377-383, 2021

Authors: Sun, Shenshen | Ren, Huizhi | Dan, Tian | Wei, Wu

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: At present, there are many methods for pathological lung segmentation. However, there are still two unresolved problems. (1) The search steps in traditional ASM is a least square optimization method, which is sensitive to outlier marker points, and it makes the profile update to the transition area in the middle of normal lung tissue and tumor rather than a true lung contour. (2) If the noise images exist in the training dataset, the corrected shape model cannot be constructed. METHODS: To solve the first problem, we proposed a new ASM algorithm. Firstly, we …detected these outlier marker points by a distance method, and then the different searching functions to the abnormal and normal marker points are applied. To solve the second problem, robust principal component analysis (RPCA) of low rank theory can remove noise, so the proposed method combines RPCA instead of PCA with ASM to solve this problem. Low rank decompose for marker points matrix of training dataset and covariance matrix of PCA will be done before segmentation using ASM. RESULTS: Using the proposed method to segment 122 lung images with juxta-pleural tumors of EMPIRE10 database, got the overlap rate with the gold standard as 94.5%. While the accuracy of ASM based on PCA is only 69.5%. CONCLUSIONS: The results showed that when the noise sample is contained in the training sample set, a good segmentation result for the lungs with juxta-pleural tumors can be obtained by the ASM based on RPCA. Show more

Keywords: Abnormal lung regions, active shape model, segmentation, outlier marker point, search function, low rank, robust principal component analysis

DOI: 10.3233/THC-218037

Citation: Technology and Health Care, vol. 29, no. S1, pp. 385-398, 2021

Authors: Lee, Jyung Hyun | Kim, Dong Wook | Seong, Ki Woong | Kim, Myoung Nam | Cho, Jin-Ho

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Recently, with the increase in the population of hearing impaired people, various types of hearing aids have been rapidly developed. In particular, a fully implantable middle ear hearing device (F-IMEHD) is developed for people with sensorineural hearing loss. The F-IMEHD system comprises an implantable microphone, a transducer, and a signal processor. The signal processor should have a small size and consume less power for implantation in a human body. METHODS: In this study, we designed and fabricated a signal-processing chip using the modified FFT algorithm. This algorithm was developed focusing on eliminating time delay and …system complexity in the transform process. The designed signal-processing chip comprises a 4-channel WDRC, a fitting memory, a communication 1control part, and a pulse density modulator. Each channel is separated using a 64-point fast Fourier transform (FFT) method and the gain value is matched using the fitting table in the fitting memory. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The chip was designed by Verilog-HDL and the designed HDL codes were verified by Modelsim-PE 10.3 (Mentor graphics, USA). The chip was fabricated using a 0.18 μ m CMOS process (SMIC, China). Experiments were performed on a cadaver to verify the performance of the fabricated chip. Show more

Keywords: Fully implantable middle ear hearing device, wide dynamic range, CMOS process, Verilog-HDL, Cadaver experiment

DOI: 10.3233/THC-218038

Citation: Technology and Health Care, vol. 29, no. S1, pp. 399-413, 2021

Authors: Wang, Ling | Zhi, Xu | Ke, Haokun | Lv, Sainan | He, Ning | Zhou, Hong | Hao, Hongxia

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: BACKGROUND: In recent decades, illicit drug testing has become a high priority area in law enforcement and forensic analysis. OBJECTIVE: Since patents are the largest source of technical information in the world, patent database analysis for illicit drug testing is extremely important to effectively promote the development and protection of the related intellectual property rights. METHODS: In the present study, we first retrieve a database of 1732 drug detection patents using keywords and logical expressions related to the title, abstract, and claims, and subsequently discuss the current global patent statistics in detail. RESULTS: …The relevant patent information is presented, including patent application quantity, filing country, ownership, and technical field. CONCLUSIONS: Finally, we summarize the current development trend in drug testing and propose several suggestions focused on the bottleneck of analytical techniques. Show more

Keywords: Drug detection, patent statistics, patent analysis, development trend

DOI: 10.3233/THC-218039

Citation: Technology and Health Care, vol. 29, no. S1, pp. 415-425, 2021

Authors: Sun, Ge | Xu, Qi | Zhang, Song | Yang, Lin | Liu, Guoli | Meng, Yu | Chen, Aiqing | Yang, Yimin | Li, Xuwen | Hao, Dongmei | Liu, Xiaohong | Shao, Jing

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Placental growth factor (PlGF), one of the biomarkers, has a certain predictive effect on hypertensive disorders in pregnancy (HDP). OBJECTIVE: To study the HDP prediction effect of different methods for variable selection and modeling for models containing PlGF. METHODS: For the model containing PlGF, the appropriate range of PlGF parameters needed to be selected. Step-logistic regression and lasso were used to compare the model effect of twice range selection. The PlGF model with good predictive effect and appropriate detecting gestational age was selected for the final prediction. RESULTS: The effect of the …model containing PlGF tested at 15–16 weeks was better than the PlGF value without comprehensive screening. The sensitivity of both methods was over 92%. By comprehensive comparison, the final model of lasso method in this study was more effective. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, a variety of methods were used to screen models containing PlGF parameters. According to clinical needs and model effects, the optimal HDP prediction model with PlGF parameters in the second trimester of 15–26 weeks of pregnancy was finally selected. Show more

Keywords: Placental growth factor, model parameters, variable selection

DOI: 10.3233/THC-218040

Citation: Technology and Health Care, vol. 29, no. S1, pp. 427-432, 2021

Authors: Jeon, Hyeong-Min | Lee, Ki-Kwang | Lee, Jun-Young | Shin, Ju-Hwan | Eom, Gwang-Moon

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Joint loads in different walking strategies during stair descent have been investigated in terms of the joint moment in association with the risk of osteoarthritis. However, the absorption mechanisms of the potential energy loss are not known. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to compare the mechanical energy absorptions in lower limb joints in different initial foot contact strategies. METHODS: Nineteen young subjects walked down on instrumented stairs with two different strategies, i.e., forefoot and rearfoot strike. Power and energy at lower limb joints during stance phase were compared between strategies. RESULTS: …Lower limb joints absorbed 73 ± 11% of the potential energy released by descending stairs and there was no difference between strategies. Rearfoot strategy absorbed less energy than forefoot strategy at the ankle joint in the 1st phase, which was compensated mainly by more energy absorption at the knee in the 2nd phase and less energy generation at the hip joints in the 3rd phase. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that a leg absorbs most of the potential energy while descending stairs irrespective of the walking strategies and that any reduction of energy absorption at one joint is compensated by other joints. Greater energy absorption at the knee joint compared to the other joints suggests high burden of knee joint muscles and connective tissues during stair-descent, which is even more significant for the rearfoot strike strategy. Show more

Keywords: Energy absorption, mechanism, stair descent, foot strike strategy, osteoarthritis

DOI: 10.3233/THC-218041

Citation: Technology and Health Care, vol. 29, no. S1, pp. 433-440, 2021

Authors: Ding, Hongjun | Li, Yanju | Zhang, Yanlong | Meng, Huipeng | Wang, Keqiang | Sun, Qian | Li, Xichuan | Dong, Huajiang | Chen, Long | He, Feng

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: We aimed to further study the role of Myelin Transcription Factor 1(MyT1) in tumor and other diseases and epigenetic regulation, and better understand the regulatory mechanism of MyT1. METHODS: Using bioinformatics analysis, the structure and function of MyT1sequence were predicted and analyzed using bioinformatics analysis, and providing a theoretical basis for further experimental verification and understanding the regulatory mechanism of MyT1. The first, second and third-level structures of MyT1 were predicted and analyzed by bioinformatics analysis tools. RESULTS: MyT1 is found to be an unstable hydrophilic protein, rather than a secretory …protein, with no signal peptide or trans-membrane domain; total amino acids located on the surface of the cell membrane. It contains seven zinc finger domains structurally. At sub-cellular level, MyT1 is localized in the nucleus. The phosphorylation site mainly exists in serine, and its secondary structure is mainly composed of random coils and alpha helices; the three-dimensional structure is analyzed by modeling. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, the structure and function of MyT1 protein were predicted, thereby providing a basis for subsequent expression analysis and functional research; it laid the foundation for further investigation of the molecular mechanism involved in the development of diseases. Show more

Keywords: Transcription Factor 1, MyT1, structure, function, bioinformatics

DOI: 10.3233/THC-218042

Citation: Technology and Health Care, vol. 29, no. S1, pp. 441-453, 2021

Authors: Hu, Bing | Wang, Zhizhi | Xu, Minbo | Zhu, Luyao | Wang, Dingjiang

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: BACKGROUND: The selection of optimal target areas in the surgical treatment of epilepsy is always a difficult problem in medicine. OBJECTIVE: We employed a theoretical calculation model to explore the control mechanism of seizures by an external voltage stimulus acting in different nerve nuclei. METHODS: Theoretical analysis and numerical simulation were combined. RESULTS: The globus pallidus, excitatory pyramidal neurons, striatal D1 neurons, thalamic reticular nucleus and specific relay nuclei were selected, we analyzed that the electrical stimulation has different effects in these target areas. CONCLUSIONS: The data selected were reasonable …in study, the results may give a theoretical support for similar studies in clinical. Show more

Keywords: Epilepsy, a computing network, voltage stimulation, nerve nuclei

DOI: 10.3233/THC-218043

Citation: Technology and Health Care, vol. 29, no. S1, pp. 455-461, 2021

Authors: Zhang, Liang | Ji, Zhenyu

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Wound monitoring is very meaningful for the clinical research, diagnosis and treatment. But the existing wound monitoring technology is hard to meet the needs of modern medical care in terms of real-time, non-invasive and anti-interference. OBJECTIVE: To solve this problem, this paper proposed a new kind of monitoring technology based on the co-planar waveguide transmission line theory and assessed the application value of this method as a wound monitoring technology. METHODS: The simplified wound model included the skin, fat, muscle, tissue fluid and bandage and a new co-planar waveguide sensor were designed and …established. All of the simulation was achieved in the electromagnetic special software. The data processing method was based on the transmission line theory. RESULTS: Detailed analyses of the results from the simulation were conducted. The sensor has a good monitoring effect in the low frequency band. The monitoring results could be influenced by the thickness of the bandage outside the wound. The thickness of the bandage should not be larger than 10 mm. The effective monitoring area of the sensor is 30 × 20 mm 2 . CONCLUSIONS: The proposed sensor based on the CPW transmission principle in this paper has good wound monitoring potential. Show more

Keywords: CPW, electromagnetic field, impedance, monitoring technology, wound healing

DOI: 10.3233/THC-218044

Citation: Technology and Health Care, vol. 29, no. S1, pp. 463-473, 2021

Authors: Petryshak, Bohdan | Kachko, Illia | Maksymenko, Mykola | Dobosevych, Oles

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Premature ventricular contraction (PVC) is among the most frequently occurring types of arrhythmias. Existing approaches for automated PVC identification suffer from a range of disadvantages related to hand-crafted features and benchmarking on datasets with a tiny sample of PVC beats. OBJECTIVE: The main objective is to address the drawbacks described above in the proposed framework, which takes a raw ECG signal as an input and localizes R peaks of the PVC beats. METHODS: Our method consists of two neural networks. First, an encoder-decoder architecture trained on PVC-rich dataset localizes the R peak …of both Normal and anomalous heartbeats. Provided R peaks positions, our CardioIncNet model does the delineation of healthy versus PVC beats. RESULTS: We have performed an extensive evaluation of our pipeline with both single- and cross-dataset paradigms on three public datasets. Our approach results in over 0.99 and 0.979 F1-measure on both single- and cross-dataset paradigms for R peaks localization task and above 0.96 and 0.85 F1 score for the PVC beats classification task. CONCLUSIONS: We have shown a method that provides robust performance beyond the beats of Normal nature and clearly outperforms classical algorithms both in the case of a single and cross-dataset evaluation. We provide a Github 1 repository for the reproduction of the results. Show more

Keywords: Electrocardiography, PVC identification, ECG segmentation, ECG classification

DOI: 10.3233/THC-218045

Citation: Technology and Health Care, vol. 29, no. S1, pp. 475-486, 2021

Authors: Wen, Junling | Jiang, Miao | Wang, Yihui | Huang, Na | Gao, Ming

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Auricular acupuncture point (AAP) therapy is an important part of traditional Chinese medicine and is featured with a sophisticated location method based on the division of auricular subzones. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to realize the automatic computerized division on the relatively small area of the research object which has long been considered difficult. METHOD: We propose a novel method based on the active shape model algorithm and the “Name and location of AAPs” issued by the World Federation of Acupuncture-Moxibustion Societies (WFAS STANDARD-002:2013). RESULTS: The experimental results showed that the subzones of the …auricle could be divided for the location of AAPs using the proposed method automatically and efficiently. The average Hausdorff distance and Euclid distance of landmarks between the machine and the manual positioning were 6.28 ± 0.50 and 6.67 ± 0.59, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The proposed method might provide benefits for further development of therapeutic and educational applications of AAPs. Show more

Keywords: Active shape model, auricular division, auricular acupuncture point, image processing, Traditional Chinese medicine

DOI: 10.3233/THC-218046

Citation: Technology and Health Care, vol. 29, no. S1, pp. 487-495, 2021

Authors: Wang, Mengjie | Chen, Weiyang

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Age is an essential feature of people, so the study of facial aging should have particular significance. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to improve the performance of age prediction by combining facial landmarks and texture features. METHODS: We first measure the distribution of each texture feature. From a geometric point of view, facial feature points will change with age, so it is essential to study facial feature points. We annotate the facial feature points, label the corresponding feature point coordinates, and then use the coordinates of feature points and texture features to predict …the age. RESULTS: We use the Support Vector Machine regression prediction method to predict the age based on the extracted texture features and landmarks. Compared with facial texture features, the prediction results based on facial landmarks are better. This suggests that the facial morphological features contained in facial landmarks can reflect facial age better than facial texture features. Combined with facial landmarks and texture features, the performance of age prediction can be improved. CONCLUSIONS: According to the experimental results, we can conclude that texture features combined with facial landmarks are useful for age prediction. Show more

Keywords: Facial aging, texture features, age estimation, facial landmarks, regression analysis

DOI: 10.3233/THC-218047

Citation: Technology and Health Care, vol. 29, no. S1, pp. 497-507, 2021

Authors: Yan, Gen | Yi, Meizhi | Li, Shengkai | Yang, Lin | Dai, Zhuozhi | Xuan, Yinghua | Wu, Renhua

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: BACKGROUND: The determination of tumor peripheral is of great significance in clinical diagnosis and treatment. OBJECTIVE: In this study, we aim to obtain the metabolic condition in tumor peripheral of gliomas in vivo at 7T. METHODS: C6 glioma cells were implanted into the right basal ganglia of Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats under stereotactic guided to create the glioma models. The models were sequentially undergone MRI and MRS examination on an 7T MR scanner designed for animals 7 days after the operation. Neuro metabolites were investigated from the center of the tumor, solid part of the …tumor, peritumoral region, and contralateral white matter, and be quantified using the LCmodel software. Glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) immunohistochemistry and conventional hematoxylin and eosin (HE) staining were performed after the imaging protocol. RESULTS: Our results found that the inositol (Ins) and taurine (Tau) significantly defected in tumor peripheral compared to both tumor solid and normal tissues (P < 0.05). In contrast, the glutamate and glutamine (Glx) escalated and peaked at the tumor peripheral (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: This study revealed that Ins, Tau, and Glx have the potential to provide specific biomarkers for the location of tumor peripheral of glioma. Show more

Keywords: Glioma, tumor metabolism, Magnetic resonance imaging, Magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS)

DOI: 10.3233/THC-218048

Citation: Technology and Health Care, vol. 29, no. S1, pp. 509-517, 2021

Authors: Lee, Sang-Hong

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Feature selection is a technology that improves the performance result by eliminating overlapping or unrelated features. OBJECTIVE: To improve the performance result, this study proposes a new feature selection that uses the distance between the centers. METHODS: This study uses the distance between the centers of gravity (DBCG) of the bounded sum of the weighted fuzzy memberships (BSWFMs) supported by a neural network with weighted fuzzy membership (NEWFM). RESULTS: Using distance-based feature selection, 22 minimum features with a high performance result are selected, with the shortest DBCG of BSWFMs …removed individually from the initial 24 features. The NEWFM used 22 minimum features as inputs to obtain a sensitivity, accuracy, and specificity of 99.3%, 99.5%, and 99.7%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, only the mean DBCG is used to select the features; in the future, however, it will be necessary to incorporate statistical methods such as the standard deviation, maximum, and normal distribution. Show more

Keywords: Feature selection, neuro fuzzy networks, EEG signal, epileptic seizure, wavelet transforms

DOI: 10.3233/THC-218049

Citation: Technology and Health Care, vol. 29, no. S1, pp. 519-529, 2021

Authors: Zhang, Xueyang | Liu, Yanyi | Su, Yuan | Fan, Xiaohui | Hu, Fei

Article Type: Research Article

Abstract: OBJECTIVE: We aimed to investigate the effects of hydroxyapatite bioceramic extract on Ang/Tie2 system and cell proliferation of umbilical vein endothelial cells. METHODS: Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were used in this research. There are two induvial groups, control group and hydroxyapatite bioceramics extract treatment group. Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) was used to evaluate cell proliferation. Western blot and real time quantitative PCR (Q-PCR) were used to evaluate the protein and mRNA expression levels of Ang1, Ang2 and Tie2 in Ang/Tie2 system, respectively. All the results were statistically analyzed by Spss19.0. All data were presented …as mean ± standard error of mean (SEM). Student’s t-test was performed to determine the differences among grouped data. RESULTS: Hydroxyapatite bioceramics extract showed no effect on the cell morphology and cell proliferation of HUVECs. Interestingly, we found that both Ang2 and Tie2 protein and mRNA level were markedly increased by hydroxyapatite bioceramics extract. CONCLUSIONS: Hydroxyapatite bioceramic extract showed no cytotoxicity to HUVECs, and might regulate vascular remodeling by mediating Ang/Tie2 system. Show more

Keywords: Ang, Tie2, umbilical vein endothelial cells, hydroxyapatite bioceramics extract

DOI: 10.3233/THC-218050

Citation: Technology and Health Care, vol. 29, no. S1, pp. 531-538, 2021