Activity and Sleep Apnea Monitoring of Aged-Person using Image Processing / 대한의료정보학회지

OBJECTIVE: As the rapid progress of aged society, there must be solutions of preparation against unpredicted accidents for aged solitary people. The most important thing that we must consider is the unconstraint of daily life. So, we are to develop a system and algorithm which meet our objectives. METHODS: We have monitored the degree of activity of the aged solitary person. The CCD camera was used not to disturb the daily activity and we evaluated the degree of activity using image processing on personal computer. The activity monitoring during night was assumed by sleeping on the bed, so the major method was breath monitoring during sleeping. On the other hand, daily activity was monitored by wide viewing camera in the living room. To prevent the privacy trouble, the acquired image was converted to binary form and the degree of breath and moving factor was estimated. RESULTS: In this paper we propose a new processing algorithm to accurately measure breathing characteristics in sleep apnea sufferers. We improved the conventional center-of-mass method and further applied the projection-profile method. As a result, we have improved breath measurement accuracy. In a comparison with conventional polysomnography, our method was 92% effective in detecting apnea cases. CONCLUSION: As a result of this study, we can monitor sleep apnea more simply and with no sleep interference. In measuring the activity of daily life, these improved algorithms were applied. So, we established a monitoring method of no-constrained, quantitative measurement for the aged solitary people during the whole day.

The Anatomic Distribution and Pathological Characteristics of Prostate Cancer: A Mapping Analysis / 대한비뇨기과학회지

PURPOSE: We mapped the location of prostate cancer in Korean men, and investigated the volume and tumor distribution in relation to clinicopathological variables. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The volume of cancer and the anatomic location of each tumor foci were determined from 186 radical prostatectomy specimens, which were digitized to fit into a prototype prostate model. Using the computer-based digital images, the zonal cancer volume and distributional frequency were analyzed with respect to the clinical and pathological parameters, which were demonstrated in gray scales. RESULTS: The preoperative serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level ranged from 2.0 to 38.9ng/ml. The mean cancer volume of the 186 specimens was 4.5ml (median 1.9ml, range 0.01-37.7). The impalpable cancers were located more anteriorly and in the transition zone, and were also were smaller in volume (2.7ml vs. 5.5ml, p=0.004) than the palpable cancers. Cancers with seminal vesicle invasion were located more medially in the peripheral zone, and were larger in volume than organ-confined cancers or cancers with extracapsular extension (13.2ml vs. 3.0ml, p<0.001). For Gleason scores of 2-6, 7, and 8-10, the mean cancer volumes were 2.2, 3.7 and 8.2ml, respectively (p<0.001). High grade cancers were located more medially in the peripheral zone, especially when approaching the apex. CONCLUSIONS: T1c cancers are located more anteriorly and in the transition zone; therefore, inclusion of these areas for targeted biopsy may help to improve the detection of cancer in patients with elevated PSA levels and impalpable prostate cancer. A medial location of seminal vesicle invasive cancers may imply an ejaculatory ducts route of invasion rather than a direct extracapsular extension.

A Study on the ROI Optimizing Technique for Accurate Breath Measurements in Sleep Apnea / 대한의료정보학회지

OBJECTIVE: A sleep apnea is the most frequent symptom among sleep disorders. As the number of aged people are increasing, research activities are also increasing to monitor sleeping disorders of the elderly who lives alone. We proposed a new processing algorithm to measure the quantity of breaths accurately. METHODS: We improved the conventional center-of-mass method and further apply the projection profile method. RESULTS: In this study a system that can monitors respiration non-invasively and automatically, by identifying the movement of the chest and abdomen using image processing technique during sleep, was implemented. We can see breathing status in real time based on the acquired breathing waves. To verify the designed system, the values from the polysomnography were compared and analyzed to validate the system accuracy. As a result, the mean accuracy is 96%. CONCLUSION: We can simply monitor the sleep apnea with no sleep interferences.

A Study on a Low Power Telemetry System for Infant Incubators / 대한의료정보학회지

As wireless network technology and various mobile communication equipments have widely used and rapidly developed, many research workers are studying about a measurable system for several medical data or bio-signals, such as electrocardiogram, pulse-oximetry and so forth, by wireless. And, even generic people who are in a good state of health as well as patients in the hospital, whose concern and care about healthcare has increased greatly, so many research workers are studying about Ubiquitous Healthcare of new technology. This technology will offer natural medical services freely in anywhere and in a quiet way, even if people can not go to hospital. Our research made a possibility to measure environment data in each infant incubator by using temperature and humidity sensor, prior to measure directly bio-signals of patients. Each sensor was composed of wireless network based on TinyOS, and that wireless network connected to Personal Digital Assistants(PDA). So we were studied about telemetry system by using wireless sensor network. It was researches about telemetry system to measure environment data in infant incubator before, by web-based RF modules. But they has problems that incubator's movement restriction by wire, wire net's limitation. We solved these problems by organizing wireless sensor network that connected together sensors and measurement devices. This wireless sensor network organization, based on TinyOS, is possible to receive sensor's data of long distance by a relay station and to save power. In future, this network will be basic of Ubiquitous Healthcare as well as medical information system in hospital.

Pulmonary artery sling: case report

Aberrant left-sided pulmonary artery(pulmonary artery sling) is an uncommon anomaly, which may cause significant respiratory abnormality. We report a case of pulmonary artery sling which is combined with persistent left superior vena cava and dextrocardia. This case was identified by esophagogram and CT and confirmed by MRI and angiography. We consider that MRI is a valuable new method for the diagnosis of aberrant left-sided pulmonary artery.