Continuous physiological signal measurement over 24-hour periods to assess the impact of work-related stress and workplace violence.

Work-related stress has long been recognized as an essential factor affecting employees' health and wellbeing. Repeated exposure to acute occupational stressors puts workers at high risk for depression, obesity, hypertension, and early death. Assessment of the effects of acute stress on workers' wellbeing usually relies on subjective self-reports, questionnaires, or measuring biometric and biochemical markers in long-cycle time intervals. This study aimed to develop and validate the use of a multiparameter wearable armband for continuous non-invasive monitoring of physiological states. Two worker populations were monitored 24 h/day: six loggers for one day and six ICU nurses working 12-hr shifts for one week. Stress responses in nurses were highly correlated with changes in heart rate variability (HRV) and pulse transit time (PTT). A rise in the low-to high-frequency (LF/LH) ratio in HRV was also coincident with stress responses. HRV on workdays decreased compared to non-work days, and PTT also exhibited a persistent decrease reflecting increased blood pressure. Compared to loggers, nurses were involved in high-intensity work activities 45% more often but were less active on non-work days. The wearable technology was well accepted by all worker participants and yielded high signal quality, critical factors for long-term non-invasive occupational health monitoring.

Assessment of Long-Term Sequelae of Pulmonary Dysfunction Associated with COVID-19 Using Pulmonary Pulse Transit Time.

Background: Studies report deleterious impacts of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 on multiple organs in the human body, not only in the acute infection period but also in the long-term sequelae. Recently defined pulmonary pulse transit time (pPTT) was found to be a useful parameter regarding the evaluation of pulmonary hemodynamics. The purpose of this study was to determine whether pPTT might be a favorable tool for detecting the long-term sequelae of pulmonary dysfunction associated with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Materials and Methods: We evaluated 102 eligible patients with a prior history of laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 hospitalization at least 1 year ago and 100 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. All participants' medical records and clinical and demographic features were analyzed and underwent detailed 12-lead electrocardiography, echocardiographic assessment, and pulmonary function tests. Results: According to our study, pPTT was positively correlated with forced expiratory volume in the 1st s, peak expiratory flow, and tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (r = 0.478, P < 0.001; r = 0.294, P = 0.047; and r = 0.314, P = 0.032, respectively) as well as negatively correlated with systolic pulmonary artery pressure (r = -0.328, P = 0.021). Conclusion: Our data indicate that pPTT might be a convenient method for early prediction of pulmonary dysfunction among COVID-19 survivors.

The Cuffless Blood Pressure Measurement with Ballistocardiogram and Photoplethysmogram

In order to decrease the infection of COVID-19 virus, people must frequency wash the hands or decrease the times of touching the public things. The blood pressure (BP) and weight are the important parameters under the healthy management. The goal of this study is to measure BP with a weight scale. The Ballistocardiogram and photoplethysmogram (PPG) were measured to extract the pulse transit time (PTT) that was used to estimate BP. The results show that the performances of proposed method were close to the reference method, using the electrocardiogram and PPG. Thus, the proposed method can decrease the infected risk when measuring BP with the cuff. © 2022 IEEE.

Cuffless and Touchless Measurement of Blood Pressure from Ballistocardiogram Based on a Body Weight Scale.

Currently, in terms of reducing the infection risk of the COVID-19 virus spreading all over the world, the development of touchless blood pressure (BP) measurement has potential benefits. The pulse transit time (PTT) has a high relation with BP, which can be measured by electrocardiogram (ECG) and photoplethysmogram (PPG). The ballistocardiogram (BCG) reflects the mechanical vibration (or displacement) caused by the heart contraction/relaxation (or heart beating), which can be measured from multiple degrees of the body. The goal of this study is to develop a cuffless and touchless BP-measurement method based on a commercial weight scale combined with a PPG sensor when measuring body weight. The proposed method was that the PTTBCG-PPGT was extracted from the BCG signal measured by a weight scale, and the PPG signal was measured from the PPG probe placed at the toe. Four PTT models were used to estimate BP. The reference method was the PTTECG-PPGF extracted from the ECG signal and PPG signal measured from the PPG probe placed at the finger. The standard BP was measured by an electronic blood pressure monitor. Twenty subjects were recruited in this study. By the proposed method, the root-mean-square error (ERMS) of estimated systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) are 6.7 ± 1.60 mmHg and 4.8 ± 1.47 mmHg, respectively. The correlation coefficients, r2, of the proposed model for the SBP and DBP are 0.606 ± 0.142 and 0.284 ± 0.166, respectively. The results show that the proposed method can serve for cuffless and touchless BP measurement.

Instrumental Evaluation of COVID-19 Related Dysautonomia in Non-Critically-Ill Patients: An Observational, Cross-Sectional Study.

Coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) is a predominantly respiratory syndrome. Growing reports about a SARS-CoV-2 neurological involvement, including autonomic dysfunction (AD), have been reported, mostly in critically-ill patients, or in the long-COVID syndrome. In this observational, cross-sectional study, we investigated the prevalence of AD in 20 non-critically-ill COVID-19 patients (COVID+ group) in the acute phase of the disease through a composite instrumental evaluation consisting of Sudoscan, automated pupillometry, heart rate variability (HRV), and pulse transit time (PTT). All the parameters were compared to a control group of 20 healthy volunteers (COVID- group). COVID+ group presented higher values of pupillary dilatation velocities, and baseline pupil diameter than COVID- subjects. Moreover, COVID+ patients presented a higher incidence of feet sudomotor dysfunction than COVID- group. No significant differences emerged in HRV and PTT parameters between groups. In this study we observed the occurrence of autonomic dysfunction in the early stage of the disease.