Development of an intelligent full-field polarization sensitive optical coherence tomography for breast cancer classification.

Biopsy is the gold standard for cancer detection, however the surge in breast cancer cases has made manual haematoxylin and eosin stained histopathological image examination difficult. Automatic cancer diagnosis is vital for a healthy life. It allows fast diagnosis without specific skills. This research proposes an intelligent full-field polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography (FF-PS-OCT) system for ex-vivo breast classification using ensemble model corroborated by technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS). 220 samples image were scanned using the FF-PS-OCT to extract the phase information. The multilevel ensemble classifier has 94.8% precision, 92.5% recall, 93.7% F-score and 82.3% Mathews correlation coefficient on the testing dataset. The developed ensemble model corroborated by TOPSIS, outperforms the single model in terms of performance metrics. The initial results indicate that the rapid, non-contact and label-free FF-PS-OCT imaging modality using birefringent information is beneficial for making interventional decisions by clinicians.

Machine learning techniques for medical diagnosis of diabetes using iris images.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Complementary and alternative medicine techniques have shown their potential for the treatment and diagnosis of chronical diseases like diabetes, arthritis etc. On the same time digital image processing techniques for disease diagnosis is reliable and fastest growing field in biomedical. Proposed model is an attempt to evaluate diagnostic validity of an old complementary and alternative medicine technique, iridology for diagnosis of type-2 diabetes using soft computing methods. METHODS: Investigation was performed over a close group of total 338 subjects (180 diabetic and 158 non-diabetic). Infra-red images of both the eyes were captured simultaneously. The region of interest from the iris image was cropped as zone corresponds to the position of pancreas organ according to the iridology chart. Statistical, texture and discrete wavelength transformation features were extracted from the region of interest. RESULTS: The results show best classification accuracy of 89.63% calculated from RF classifier. Maximum specificity and sensitivity were absorbed as 0.9687 and 0.988, respectively. CONCLUSION: Results have revealed the effectiveness and diagnostic significance of proposed model for non-invasive and automatic diabetes diagnosis.

Comparative analysis of classification based algorithms for diabetes diagnosis using iris images.

Photo-diagnosis is always an intriguing area for the researchers, with the advancement of image processing and computer machine vision techniques it have become more reliable and popular in recent years. The objective of this paper is to study the change in the features of iris, particularly irregularities in the pigmentation of certain areas of the iris with respect to diabetic health of an individual. Apart from the point that iris recognition concentrates on the overall structure of the iris, diagnostic techniques emphasises the local variations in the particular area of iris. Pre-image processing techniques have been applied to extract iris and thereafter, region of interest from the extracted iris have been cropped out. In order to observe the changes in the tissue pigmentation of region of interest, statistical, texture textural and wavelet features have been extracted. At the end, a comparison of accuracies of five different classifiers has been presented to classify two subject groups of diabetic and non-diabetic. Best classification accuracy has been calculated as 89.66% by the random forest classifier. Results have been shown the effectiveness and diagnostic significance of the proposed methodology. Presented piece of work offers a novel systemic perspective of non-invasive and automatic diabetic diagnosis.

Comparison of muscles activity of abled bodied and amputee subjects for around shoulder movement.

BACKGROUND: Worldwide, about 56% of the amputees are upper limb amputees. This research deals a method with two-channel surface electromyogram (SEMG) signal recorded from around shoulder to estimate the changes in muscle activity in non-amputee and the residual limb of trans humeral amputees with different movements of arm. OBJECTIVE: Identification of different muscles activity of near shoulder amputee and non-amputee persons. METHODS: SEMG signal were acquired during three distinct exercises from three-selected muscles location around shoulder. The participants were asked to move their dominant arm from an assigned position to record their muscles activity recorded with change in position. RESULTS: Results shows the muscles activity in scalene is more than the other muscles like pectoralis and infraspinatus with the same shoulder motion. In addition, STFT (Short-Time Fourier Transform) spectrogram with window length of 256 samples at maximum of 512 frequency bins using hamming window has used to identify the signal for the maximum muscles activity with best resolution in spectrum plot. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that one can use this analysis for making a suitable device for around shoulder prosthetic users based on muscles activation of amputee persons.

Epidemiological study on healthy subjects affected by agriculture crop-residue burning episodes and its relation with their pulmonary function tests.

Impact of agriculture crop-residue burning (ACRB) was studied on pulmonary function tests (PFTs) of 50 healthy subjects (13-53 years). Human subjects with no previous history of lung disease were residents of five sampling sites. Investigations were carried out from February 2007 to January 2010 using spirometry. Simultaneously, concentration levels of suspended particulate matter (PM) and fine particulates (PM2.5 and PM10) were monitored using high volume sampler and Anderson Cascade Impactor, respectively. The PFTs show a significant (p < 0.05) decrease, while PM shows momentous increase during exhaustive burning of wheat and rice crop residues. Effect of ACRB on the peak expiratory flow rate (PEF) is more than that on force expiratory flow (FEF25-75%). The PEF and FEF25-75% recovered to some extent on completion of burning period, while PFTs like force vital capacity and force expiratory volume did not show a significant improvement. Due to greater concentration of fine particulates during rice crop-residue burning (CRB) than wheat CRB, there was a greater effect on pulmonary functions. The ACRB, in general, poses more effect on the lower and upper age groups in comparison to the middle age group subjects. All the analyses are well supported with large significant levels (p < 0.05) obtained by using the paired t-test.

Effects of exposure to rice-crop residue burning smoke on pulmonary functions and oxygen saturation level of human beings in Patiala (India).

Pulmonary Function Tests (PFTs) like Force Vital Capacity (FVC), Force Expiratory Volume in one second (FEV1), Peak Expiratory Flow (PEF) and Force Expiratory Flow between 25 and 75% of FVC (FEF(25-75%)) and Oxygen Saturation (SpO2) level of 50 healthy inhabitants with respect to rice crop residue burning were investigated for three rice cultivation periods from 2007 to 2009. The subjects were residents of five sampling sites selected in Patiala city. Concentration of Suspended Particulate Matter (SPM), Sulfur dioxide (SO2), Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and Particulate Matter (PM) of size less than 10 and 2.5 µm (PM10 and PM2.5) were measured by using High Volume Sampler (HVS) and Cascade Anderson Impactor. Results show that rice crop residue burning increases the pollution level in the ambient air, and PFTs undergo a significant decrease in their respective values. No significant change was seen in SpO2 level during rice crop residue burning. In 2008, an increase of 10 µg m⁻³ in PM2.5, PM10, SPM and NO2 was associated significantly with decrease in FVC in percentages predicted -1.541, -1.002, -1.178, -0.232%, respectively. The decrease in air quality due to open rice crop residue burning has sub acute effect on pulmonary functions of healthy subjects and that SO2 and NO2 have less adverse effects on pulmonary functions than with different size Particulate Matter.

SEMG signal analysis at acupressure points for elbow movement.

Surface electromyography signals (SEMG) are the most common form of non-invasive-measurement of muscle activities. To acquire proper SEMG for particular limb function, the placement of electrodes on the skin over respective active group of muscles becomes very important. Measurement of SEMG depends on a number of factors/parameters like amplitude, time and frequency domain properties. In the present investigation, analysis was carried firstly; to study the grip force vs. SEMG parameters at acupressure points on arm, using single channel approach. At all the selected acupressure points a linear increment of SEMG was observed. Secondly; to discriminate four elbow movements from different locations on arm using two channel approach with single parameter. The parameter for the analysis chosen was the root of mean of square (RMS) value of SEMG. Further; principal component analysis was used to verify the elbow movement discrimination. Extension and supination were the two operations which were observed to be easy to realize by prosthetic devices. The selection of these locations was done on the basis of acupressure points and anatomy of elbow. Matlab-softscope was used for acquiring the SEMG from line-in input port of PC-sound card. This study will also be helpful for the researchers in understanding the behavior of SEMG for elbow movement in development of prosthetic or exoskeleton devices.

Study of size and mass distribution of particulate matter due to crop residue burning with seasonal variation in rural area of Punjab, India.

Emission from field burning of agricultural crop residue is a common environmental hazard observed in northern India. It has a significant potential health risk for the rural population due to respirable suspended particulate matter (RSPM). A study on eight stage size segregated mass distribution of RSPM was done for 2 wheat and 3 rice crop seasons. The study was undertaken at rural and agricultural sites of Patiala (India) where the RSPM levels remained close to the National Ambient Air quality standards (NAAQS). Fine particulate matter (PM(2.5)) contributed almost 55% to 64% of the RSPM, showing that, in general, the smaller particles dominated during the whole study period with more contribution during the rice crop as compared to that of wheat crop residue burning. Fine particulate matter content in the total RSPM increased with decrease in temperature. Concentration levels of PM(10) and PM(2.5) were higher during the winter months as compared to that in the summer months. Background concentration levels of PM(10), PM(2.5) and PM(10-2.5) were found to be around 97 ± 21, 57 ± 15 and 40 ± 6 µg m(-3), respectively. The levels increased up to 66, 78 and 71% during rice season and 51, 43 and 61% during wheat crop residue burning, respectively. Extensive statistical analysis of the data was done by using pair t-test. Overall results show that the concentration levels of different size particulate matter are greatly affected by agricultural crop residue burning but the total distribution of the particulate matter remains almost constant.

Effects of agriculture crop residue burning on children and young on PFTs in North West India.

Variations in pulmonary function tests (PFTs) due to agriculture crop residue burning (ACRB) on children between the age group of 10 to 13 years and the young between 20 to 35 years are studied. The effects of exposure to smoke due to rice-wheat crop residue burning on pulmonary functions like Force Vital Capacity (FVC), Force Expiratory Volume in one second (FEV(1)), Peak Expiratory Flow (PEF) and Force Expiratory Flow in 25 to 75% of FVC (FEF(25-75%)) on 40 healthy subjects of rural/agricultural area of Sidhuwal village of Patiala City were investigated for a period from August 2008 to July 2009. Measurements were taken by spirometry according to the American Thoracic Society standards. High volume sampler (HVS) and Anderson Impactor were used to measure the concentration levels of SPM, PM(10) and PM(2.5) in ambient air of the Sidhuwal village. A significant increase in the concentration levels of SPM, PM(10) and PM(2.5) was observed due to which PFTs of the subjects showed a significant decrease in their values, more prominently in the case of children. PFTs of young subjects recovered up to some extent after the completion of burning period but the PFT values of children remained significantly lower (p<0.001) even after the completion of burning episodes. Small size particulate matter (PM(2.5) and PM(10)) affected the PFTs to a large extent in comparison to the large size particulate matter (SPM). The study indicates that ACRB is a serious environmental health hazard and children are more sensitive to air pollution, as ACRB poses some unrecoverable influence on their PFTs.

Study of issues in the development of surface EMG controlled human hand.

In the process of improvement of prosthetic devices, there have been efforts to develop satisfactorily working artificial hands but still lots of work is to be done to meet the accuracy and requirements of the human hand movement. The EMG signal has been most promising signal in development of artificial limbs. The present review paper gives the historical developments in three main sections. First part describes the EMG signal properties. Second part deals with the mathematical models developed till now for EMG signal analysis. In the third part different design approaches have been reviewed for artificial hand. First approach discussed here is on the body-powered terminal devices which are controlled by the user's pull on the control cable to open the hand or hook and for the grip strength. Other being myoelectric controls type, an externally-powered system which uses electrical impulses, generated by contraction of the amputees own remaining muscles to operate a motor in a mechanical hand, hook or elbow. This paper presents a brief overview of above mentioned issues with regard to artificial hands.