1,720,961 research outputs found
Augmented reality and instrumented crutches to generate visual feedback during assisted walking
No full textLe tecnologie assistive, come ad esempio le stampelle, sono fondamentali per le persone con difficoltà di mobilità, promuovendo la loro indipendenza e benessere. Imparare ad utilizzare efficacemente i dispositivi per il supporto della camminata richiede tempo e la riabilitazione si basa spesso su valutazioni soggettive da parte dei terapisti. Nell’ottica di fornire valutazioni oggettive, diverse tecnologie assistive sono state equipaggiate da sensori per il monitoraggio delle prestazioni dell’utilizzatore durante la deambulazione. Negli ultimi anni, l'integrazione della realtà aumentata nelle procedure cliniche ha suscitato un forte interesse. Questo studio presenta un approccio per combinare la realtà aumentata e le stampelle strumentate per fornire al personale clinico un nuovo strumento per migliore la valutazione della camminata assistita. Per garantire l'efficacia del sistema, i terapisti in qualità di utenti finali, sono stati coinvolti attivamente alla progettazione e al perfezionamento dell'interfaccia in realtà aumentata mediante riunioni, interviste, attività di brainstorming e sessioni collaborative. L'interfaccia è stata ottimizzata in base ai suggerimenti dei terapisti e alle attuali capacità tecnologiche presenti sul mercato. Le stampelle strumentate sono state migliorate per aumentare l'affidabilità delle misurazioni di forza adottando una nuova configurazione a ponte intero di estensimetri e dimezzandone l'incertezza. Una telecamera di profondità è stata fissata sulle stampelle per rilevare le fasi della deambulazione del paziente senza richiedere sistemi di analisi del movimento aggiuntivi. Inoltre, è stato convalidato uno stimatore del carico applicato sulle gambe dall’utilizzatore delle stampelle basato sulle misurazioni delle stampelle stesse. La stima, che anch’essa può essere ottenuta in tempo reale, fornisce informazioni aggiuntive da fornire al terapista durante la valutazione del paziente. Per valutare l'usabilità dell'interfaccia basata sulla realtà aumentata, è stata condotta una campagna di test in un contesto reale coinvolgendo terapisti e pazienti, e confrontando due condizioni di lavoro: la modalità "display" con ologrammi posizionati su uno schermo virtuale sempre frontale al terapista e la modalità "in-place" con ologrammi posizionati vicino al paziente. I risultati suggeriscono una risposta positiva in termini di qualità delle informazioni e dell'interfaccia. Gli utenti hanno reputato la soluzione utile per compiere la loro attività ed il carico cognitivo/fisico non viene fortemente influenzato. Inoltre, lo studio esamina anche i potenziali effetti collaterali dovuti all’utilizzo di tecnologie immersive. Dal tracciamento oculare del terapista sono state riscontrate due strategie distinte ponendo un maggiore interesse sui carichi delle stampelle oppure sul carico applicato sulle gambe. Si è riscontrato che il comportamento dei terapisti è influenzato da fattori soggettivi, tra cui le condizioni di salute e sicurezza dei pazienti. Complessivamente, la ricerca sottolinea l'importanza di un approccio orientato all'utente nello sviluppo e nell'implementazione della tecnologia per la valutazione della deambulazione nella riabilitazione. I risultati dello studio contribuiscono al miglioramento del processo di riabilitazione, rendendolo più coinvolgente, efficace e personalizzato in base alle esigenze e agli obiettivi individuali del paziente.Assistive technologies, such as crutches, are vital for individuals with mobility challenges, promoting independence and well-being. Learning to use crutches effectively is often time-consuming, with rehabilitation relying on subjective therapist evaluations. To address this, instrumented assistive devices have been developed to objectively assess and improve walking performance, reducing the reliance on subjective assessments. In recent years, the integration of augmented reality (AR) into clinical procedures has gained interest. This study presents a user-focused approach to combine AR technology and instrumented crutches for improved gait assessment. To ensure the system's effectiveness, therapists, as end-users, actively participated in designing and refining of the AR interface through meetings, interviews, and collaborative sessions. The interface was optimized based on therapists' input and the capabilities of AR technology. The instrumented crutches were upgraded to enhance the reliability of force measurements, adopting a new full-bridge configuration of strain gauges, halving the uncertainty. A depth camera was integrated into the crutches to detect the patient's gait phases without requiring additional motion capture systems. Moreover, a weight-bearing estimator based on the crutches' measurements was validated, augmenting the information provided during crutch-assisted gait. To assess the usability of the AR interface, a test campaign was conducted in a real-world setting, comparing the "display mode" with holograms on a virtual screen to the "in-place mode" with holograms positioned near the patient. Results indicate a positive response in terms of information and interface quality, as well as perceived system usefulness among users and the required workload. The study also examines potential side effects such as sickness when using immersive technologies. The study identifies two distinct gaze strategies employed by therapists when using the AR interface. One focuses on the left and right crutches' loads, while the other emphasizes the patient's legs' weight-bearing. The therapists' behaviour was found to be influenced by subjective factors, including therapist preferences, patient health conditions, and safety. Overall, the research underscores the significance of a user-oriented approach in the development and implementation of AR technology for gait assessment in rehabilitation. The study's findings contribute to the ongoing efforts to enhance the rehabilitation process, making it more engaging, effective, and tailored to individual needs and goals
Case Study of Surgeon's Kinematics Performing Arthroscopy in Real and Simulation Scenarios: A Multisensor Approach
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Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
Measurement of Human Body Segment Properties Using Low-Cost RGB-D Cameras
Full text linkAn open question for the biomechanical research community is accurate estimation of the volume and mass of each body segment of the human body, especially when indirect measurements are based on biomechanical modeling. Traditional methods involve the adoption of anthropometric tables, which describe only the average human shape, or manual measurements, which are time-consuming and depend on the operator. We propose a novel method based on the acquisition of a 3D scan of a subject’s body, which is obtained using a consumer-end RGB-D camera. The body segments’ separation is obtained by combining the body skeleton estimation of BlazePose with a biomechanical-coherent skeletal model, which is defined according to the literature. The volume of each body segment is computed using a 3D Monte Carlo procedure. Results were compared with manual measurement by experts, anthropometric tables, and a model leveraging truncated cone approximations, showing good adherence to reference data with minimal differences (ranging from +0.5 to −1.0 dm3 for the upper limbs, −0.1 to −4.2 dm3 for the thighs, and −0.4 to −2.3 dm3 for the shanks). In addition, we propose a novel indicator based on the computation of equivalent diameters for each body segment, highlighting the importance of gender-specific biomechanical models to account for the chest and pelvis areas of female subjects
koamabayili/VECTRON-author-checklist: VECTRON author checklist
No full textWe have done our best to complete the author checklist relating to the use of animals in the hut study. Note that the objective for the hut study was to evaluate the IRS treatment applications for residual efficacy against Anopheles mosquitoes, including the local An. coluzzii mosquito population. Cows were only used to attract mosquitoes into the huts and no tests were carried out directly on the cows. The author checklist is intended for use with studies where experiments are carried out on animals, which is why we have had such difficulty in completing this for the hut study, as many of the questions do not relate to how the cows were used
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