Wearable electronics and embedded computing systems for biomedical applications

256 Pages·2017·27.999 MB·English

by  Gaetano Valenzano (editor), Enzo Pasquale Scilingo (editor)

electronics
Wearable
Electronics
and Embedded
Computing
Systems for
Biomedical
Applications
Edited by
Enzo Pasquale Scilingo and Gaetano Valenza
Printed Edition of the Special Issue Published in Electronics
www.mdpi.com/journal/electronics
Wearable Electronics and
Embedded Computing Systems
for Biomedical Applications
Special Issue Editors
Enzo Pasquale Scilingo
Gaetano Valenza
Special Issue Editors
Enzo Pasquale Scilingo Gaetano Valenza
University of Pisa University of Pisa
Italy Italy
Editorial Office
MDPI AG
St. Alban-Anlage 66
Basel, Switzerland
This edition is a reprint of the Special Issue published online in the open access
journal Electronics (ISSN 2079-9292) from 2016–2017 (available at:
http://www.mdpi.com/journal/electronics/special_issues/weecs).
For citation purposes, cite each article independently as indicated on the article
page online and as indicated below:
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Article number/page range.
ISBN 978-3-03842-386-7 (Pbk)
ISBN 978-3-03842-387-4 (PDF)
Articles in this volume are Open Access and distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution
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MDPI, Basel, Switzerland, distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons by
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Table of Contents
About the Guest Editors ............................................................................................................................ v
Preface to “Wearable Electronics and Embedded Computing Systems for
Biomedical Applications” ......................................................................................................................... vii
Nicola Carbonaro, Federico Lorussi and Alessandro Tognetti
Assessment of a Smart Sensing Shoe for Gait Phase Detection in Level Walking
Reprinted from: Electronics 2016, 5(4), 78; doi: 10.3390/electronics5040078
http://www.mdpi.com/2079-9292/5/4/78 ................................................................................................. 1
Anna Boehm, Xinchi Yu, Wilko Neu, Steffen Leonhardt and Daniel Teichmann
A Novel 12-Lead ECG T-Shirt with Active Electrodes
Reprinted from: Electronics 2016, 5(4), 75; doi: 10.3390/electronics5040075
http://www.mdpi.com/2079-9292/5/4/75 ................................................................................................. 16
Andrea De Marcellis, Elia Palange, Luca Nubile, Marco Faccio, Guido Di Patrizio Stanchieri
and Timothy G. Constandinou
A Pulsed Coding Technique Based on Optical UWB Modulation for High Data Rate Low Power
Wireless Implantable Biotelemetry
Reprinted from: Electronics 2016, 5(4), 69; doi: 10.3390/electronics5040069
http://www.mdpi.com/2079-9292/5/4/69 ................................................................................................. 31
Andrea Guidi, Antonio Lanata, Paolo Baragli, Gaetano Valenza and Enzo Pasquale Scilingo
A Wearable System for the Evaluation of the Human-Horse Interaction: A Preliminary Study
Reprinted from: Electronics 2016, 5(4), 63; doi: 10.3390/electronics5040063
http://www.mdpi.com/2079-9292/5/4/63 ................................................................................................. 41
Muhammad Farooq and Edward Sazonov
Automatic Measurement of Chew Count and Chewing Rate during Food Intake
Reprinted from: Electronics 2016, 5(4), 62; doi: 10.3390/electronics5040062
http://www.mdpi.com/2079-9292/5/4/62 ................................................................................................. 58
Fabrizio Cutolo, Cinzia Freschi, Stefano Mascioli, Paolo D. Parchi, Mauro Ferrari and
Vincenzo Ferrari
Robust and Accurate Algorithm for Wearable Stereoscopic Augmented Reality with Three
Indistinguishable Markers
Reprinted from: Electronics 2016, 5(3), 59; doi: 10.3390/electronics5030059
http://www.mdpi.com/2079-9292/5/3/59 ................................................................................................. 73
Michele Caldara, Benedetta Nodari, Valerio Re and Barbara Bonandrini
Miniaturized Blood Pressure Telemetry System with RFID Interface
Reprinted from: Electronics 2016, 5(3), 51; doi: 10.3390/electronics5030051
http://www.mdpi.com/2079-9292/5/3/51 ................................................................................................. 91
Alberto Greco, Antonio Lanata, Luca Citi, Nicola Vanello, Gaetano Valenza and
Enzo Pasquale Scilingo
Skin Admittance Measurement for Emotion Recognition: A Study over Frequency Sweep
Reprinted from: Electronics 2016, 5(3), 46; doi: 10.3390/electronics5030046
http://www.mdpi.com/2079-9292/5/3/46 ................................................................................................. 103
iii
Sergio Saponara, Massimiliano Donati, Luca Fanucci and Alessio Celli
An Embedded Sensing and Communication Platform, and a Healthcare Model for Remote
Monitoring of Chronic Diseases
Reprinted from: Electronics 2016, 5(3), 47, doi: 10.3390/electronics5030047
http://www.mdpi.com/2079-9292/5/3/47 .................................................................................................... 116
Matteo Bianchi, Robert Haschke, Gereon Büscher, Simone Ciotti, Nicola Carbonaro and
Alessandro Tognetti
A Multi-Modal Sensing Glove for Human Manual-Interaction Studies
Reprinted from: Electronics 2016, 5(3), 42; doi: 10.3390/electronics5030042
http://www.mdpi.com/2079-9292/5/3/42 .................................................................................................... 143
Yangzhe Liao, Mark S. Leeson, Matthew D. Higgins and Chenyao Bai
Analysis of In-to-Out Wireless Body Area Network Systems: Towards QoS-Aware Health Internet
of Things Applications
Reprinted from: Electronics 2016, 5(3), 38, doi: 10.3390/electronics5030038
http://www.mdpi.com/2079-9292/5/3/38 .................................................................................................... 158
Clement Ogugua Asogwa, Stephen F. Collins, Patrick Mclaughlin and Daniel T.H. Lai
A Galvanic Coupling Method for Assessing Hydration Rates
Reprinted from: Electronics 2016, 5(3), 39; doi: 10.3390/electronics5030039
http://www.mdpi.com/2079-9292/5/3/39 .................................................................................................... 184
Nagaraj Hegde, Matthew Bries and Edward Sazonov
A Comparative Review of Footwear-Based Wearable Systems
Reprinted from: Electronics 2016, 5(3), 48; doi: 10.3390/electronics5030048
http://www.mdpi.com/2079-9292/5/3/48 .................................................................................................... 200
Matteo Bianchi
A Fabric-Based Approach for Wearable Haptics
Reprinted from: Electronics 2016, 5(3), 44; doi: 10.3390/electronics5030044
http://www.mdpi.com/2079-9292/5/3/44 .................................................................................................... 227
iv
About the Guest Editors
Enzo Pasquale Scilingo, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in
Electronic and Information Bioengineering at the University of
Pisa, Italy. He received the Laurea Degree in Electronic
Engineering from the University of Pisa and his Ph.D. degree in
Bioengineering from the University of Milan, Italy, in 1995 and
1998 respectively. For two years he was postdoctoral fellow with
the Italian National Research Council and, for two years, a post-
doctoral fellow at the Information Engineering Department of the
University of Pisa. Currently, he is pursuing his research work
mainly at the Research Center “E. Piaggio”. He has several teaching
activities, he is supervisor of several Ph.D. students and is leading the laboratory Biolab at the
Information Engineering Department. He coordinated a European project EC-FP7-ICT-247777
“PSYCHE-Personalised monitoring SYstems for Care in mental Health”, and he is currently
coordinating the European project H2020-PHC-2015-689691 NEVERMIND—NEurobehavioural
predictiVE and peRsonalised Modelling of depressIve symptoms duriNg primary somatic Diseases
with ICT-enabled self-management procedures. His main research interests are in wearable
monitoring systems, human–computer interfaces, biomedical and biomechanical signal processing,
modelling, control and instrumentation. He is author of more than 150 papers in peer-reviewed
journals, contributions to international conferences and chapters in international books. He is co-
author of two books edited by Springer. He is currently serving as a reviewer to many international
journals and as a member of the Program and Scientific Committees of annual international
conferences. He is a guest associate editor of the Frontiers in Neuroengineering journal, guest editor of
a Special Issue in the Journal of Biomedical and Health Informatics Sensor Informatics for Managing
Mental Health, 2015, and is an associate editor of ETRI Journal, Electronics, Complexity journal, and
PLOS ONE.
Gaetano Valenza, M.Eng., Ph.D., is currently an Assistant
Professor of Bioengineering at the University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy. In
2009, he started working at the Bioengineering and Robotics
Research Centre “E. Piaggio” in Pisa and, in 2011, he joined the
Neuro-Cardiovascular Signal Processing Unit within the
Neuroscience Statistics Research Laboratory at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, Cambridge, USA. In 2013, he received his
Ph.D. degree in Automation, Robotics, and Bioengineering from the
University of Pisa and, in the same year, was appointed as a
Research Fellow at Harvard Medical School/ Massachusetts
General Hospital, Boston, USA. His research interests include
statistical and nonlinear biomedical signal and image processing, cardiovascular and neural
modeling, and wearable systems for physiological monitoring. Applications of his research include
the assessment of autonomic nervous system activity on cardiovascular control, brain–heart
interactions, affective computing, assessment of mood and mental/neurological disorders. He is the
author of more than 100 international scientific contributions in these fields, published in peer-
reviewed international journals, conference proceedings, books and book chapters, and is an official
reviewer of more than sixty international scientific journals, and research funding agencies. He has
been involved in several international research projects, and currently is the scientific co-coordinator
of the European collaborative project H2020-PHC-2015-689691-NEVERMIND. Dr. Valenza has been
guest editor of several international scientific journals, and is currently member of the editorial board
of PLOS ONE, of Complexity, and of the Nature’s journal Scientific Reports.
v

electronics
Editorial
Recent Advances on Wearable Electronics and
Embedded Computing Systems for
Biomedical Applications
EnzoPasqualeScilingoandGaetanoValenza*
BioengineeringandRoboticsResearchCentre“E.Piaggio”,andDepartmentofInformationEngineering,
SchoolofEngineering,UniversityofPisa,LargoLucioLazzarino1,56122Pisa,Italy;[email protected]
* Correspondence:[email protected]
AcademicEditor:MostafaBassiouni
Received:12January2017;Accepted:16January2017;Published:24January2017
1.Introduction
Theapplicationofwearableelectronicsinthebiomedicalresearchandcommercialfieldshas
beengaininggreatinterestoverthelastseveraldecades.Small-sized,lightweightmonitoringsystems
withlow-powerconsumptionand,ofcourse,wearabilityallowforthecollectionofphysiologicaland
behavioraldatainecologicalscenarios(e.g.,athome,duringdailyactivitiesorsleep,duringspecific
tasks, etc.) with a minimal discomfort for the end user [1]. As a result, outpatient-monitoring
carecanbeassociatedwithimprovedqualityoflife,especiallyforpatientswithchronicdisease,
possiblypreventingunnecessaryhospitalizationsandreducingdirectandindirecthealthcarecosts.
Tothisextent,researcheffortshavebeenfocusingonthedevelopmentofinnovativesensors
(e.g.,smart-textileorcontactlesselectrodes)andsensingplatforms,aswellaseffectivealgorithms
forembeddedsignalprocessinganddatamining. Furthermore,significantendeavorshavebeen
relatedtosmall-scaleintegrationofanalog/digitalsensorsignalconditioningandenergyharvesting,
especiallyinthecaseofwirelessbodyarea/sensornetworks.
Thehighimpactofwearabletechnologyintheframeofmultidisciplinaryscientificresearchis
alsoconfirmedbythesignificantnumberofstudiespublishedthroughoutthelastseveraldecades.
Bysearchingthekeywords“wearable”,“monitoring”,and“human”intheScopusdatabase,takinginto
accountarticletitle,abstract,andkeywords,atotalof2531entrieshavebeenfound,startingwithless
than10articlesperyearbefore2001andreachingmorethan200articlesperyearsince2011.
2.ThePresentSpecialIssue
In the frame of wearable electronics and embedded computing systems for biomedical
applications,thisSpecialIssueofElectronicsincludesatotalof14papers,includingtworeviewpapers
andtwelveresearcharticles[2–15].Theissuespansawiderangeoftopics,includingsmartsensing
footwearsystems,human-bodyhydrationmonitoring,textile-basedECGmonitoringinhumanand
horses,biotelemetryandtelemedicine,supportforsurgicalnavigation,wearableautonomicnervous
systemactivitymonitoring,andhandpostureandtactilepressuresensing[2–15].
Morespecifically,Carbonaroetal.[7]proposeasensorizedshoeforgaitanalysis. Theshoe
hasbuilt-inforcesensorsandatriaxialaccelerometer, andisabletotransmitsensordatatothe
smartphone through a wireless connection. Experimental results confirmed a reliable detection
of the gait phases. Boehm et al. [5] propose a sensorized T-shirt able to acquire a long-term,
multichannelelectrocardiogram(ECG)withactiveelectrodes,thereforeavoidingtheuseofadhesive
gelelectrodes.Experimentalresultsvalidatedtheproposedwearablemonitoringsystemascompared
withacommercialHolterECGinhealthyvolunteersduringmovementphasesoflyingdown,sitting,
andwalking.DeMarcellisetal.[9]proposeapulsedcodingtechniquebasedonopticalultra-wideband
Electronics2017,6,12 vii www.mdpi.com/journal/electronics
Electronics2017,6,12
modulationforwirelessimplantablebiotelemetrysystemswithlowpowerconsumption.Theoverall
architectureimplementingthisopticalmodulationtechniqueemployssub-nanosecondpulsedlaser
asthedatatransmitterandsmallsensitiveareaphotodiodeasthedatareceiver. Guidietal.[12]
proposeatextile-based,wearablesystemforheartratevariability(HRV)monitoringinhumansand
animals,aimingtostudyhuman–horseinteraction.Experimentalresultscomparedtheperformance
oftheproposedwearablesystemwithastandardsystemintermsofamountofmovementartifact.
Asupportvectormachineclassifiershowedthediscriminationofthreedistinctrealhuman–animal
interactionlevels.
Farooqetal.[10]presentamethodfortheautomaticquantificationofchewingepisodescaptured
byapiezoelectricsensorsystem.Experimentalresultswererelatedtotheestimationofthenumberof
chewsascomparedtomanuallyannotatedchewingsegments,andanartificialneuralnetwork-based
automaticclassificationof“foodintake”or“nointake”classes.Inthecontextofsurgicalnavigation
systems,Cutoloetal.[8]proposeanalgorithmsuitableforwearablestereoscopicaugmentedreality
(AR) video see-through system. The video-based tracking relies on stereo localization of three
monochromaticmarkersrigidlyconstrainedtothescene.Thisapproachprovidesaviablesolutionfor
theimplementationofwearableAR-basedsurgicalnavigationsystems.Caldaraetal.[6]developed
a potentially implantable blood pressure telemetry system, based on an active Radio-Frequency
IDentification(RFID)tag,aimingtocontinuouslymeasuretheaveragesystolicanddiastolicblood
pressureofsmall/mediumanimals.RFIDenergyharvestinghasalsobeeninvestigated.Theauthors
present an experimental laboratory characterization and invivo tests. Grecoetal.[11] propose
awearablesystemformonitoringtheelectrodermalactivity(EDA)signalsduringemotionalelicitation.
EDA was studied at different frequency sources through data gathered from healthy subjects
undergoingvisualaffectiveelicitations. Theauthorsconcludethatthefrequencyoftheexternal
electricalsourceaffectstheaccuracyofarousalrecognition. Saponaraetal.[15]presentascalable
remotemodelfortelemedicinescenariosusingwirelessbiomedicalsensors,anembeddedlocalunit
(gateway)forsensordataacquisition/processing/communication,andaremotee-Healthservice
center.Theuseofamixofcommerciallyavailablesensorsandnewcustom-designedoneswasalso
presented.Bianchietal.[4]proposeanintegratedsensingglovecombiningalownumberofknitted
piezoresistivefabricstoreconstructbothhandpostureandtactilepressuresensing.Tothisend,apriori
informationofsynergisticcoordinationpatternsingraspingtaskswasemployed. Intheframeof
awirelessbodyareanetwork,Liaoetal.[14]deriveananalyticalandaccurate2.45GHzmodelbased
ona3Dheterogeneoushumanbodymodel.Theproposedapproachoutperformsothermodulation
techniques, enablingthesupportofa30Mbpsdatatransmissionrateupto1.6mandaffording
morereliablecommunicationlinkswhenthetransmitterpowerisincreased.Finally,Asogwaetal.[2]
proposeanon-intrusivemethodfortrackinghydrationrateswitharesolutionof100mLofwater.
Theauthorsstatethatthereal-timechangesingalvaniccoupledintrabodysignalattenuationcanbe
integratedintowearableelectronicdevicestoevaluatebodyfluidlevelsonaparticularareaofinterest
andcanaidthediagnosisandtreatmentoffluiddisorderssuchaslymphoedema.
Concerning the review articles included in the special issue, Hegde et al. [13] compare
footwear-based wearable systems, focusing on embedded sensors and electronics. This review
articledescribeskeyapplicationscenarios(includinggaitmonitoring,plantarpressuremeasurement,
postureandactivityclassification, bodyweightandenergyexpenditureestimation, biofeedback,
navigation,andfallriskapplications),utilizingfootwear-basedsystemswithcriticaldiscussionon
theirmerits. Furthermore, energy-harvestingissuesarealsodiscussed. Bianchietal.[3]review
fabric-basedapproachesforthedevelopmentofwearablehapticsystems.Particularly,someexamples
offabric-basedsystemsthatcanbeappliedtodifferentbodylocationsandcanelicitdifferenthaptic
perceptionsarepresented,alongwithcriticalperspectiveandfuturedevelopmentsofthisapproach.
viii
Electronics2017,6,12
3.ConclusionsandProspectiveFutureResearchDirections
Thetopicofwearableelectronicsandrelatedembeddedcomputinghasbeeninvestigatedfor
morethantwodecades,andhasbeenexploitedforahugevarietyofbiomedicalapplications.Tothis
end,reliablesolutionstocollectinformative,possiblylong-termpsycho-physiological,behavioral,
and biomechanical data in ecological scenarios have been achieved. Overall, considering the
sensortechnology,textile-basedmonitoring,aswellassmart-watchesforcardiovascularandactivity
monitoring,representsamilestoneforthedevelopmentofthesesystems,maximizingcomfortand
usabilityfortheend-user.Ofnote,arecentfocusonwearablemonitoringapplicationsforanimalshas
beensuccessfullypursued.
Nevertheless, besides substantial benefits and widespread use in many research fields,
wearablesystemsmaybeseriouslyaffectedbymovementartifacts.Moregenerally,manywearable
monitoringsystemshavenotenteredthebiomedicalmarketduetocertificationissuesandrelated
highcosts.
Muchmoreeffortisthusrequiredtoensurethatwearablemonitoringsystemsforbiomedical
applicationsreachaproperlevelofreliabilityandcompliancewithstrictlocalregulations.
Fromatechnologicalpointofview,weenvisagethatfutureresearchdirectionswillbedirected
towardcontactlessmonitoringsystems(e.g.,UWB).
Acknowledgments: Firstofall, wewouldliketothankallauthorsofthisSpecialIssuefortheirexcellent
contributions.Wealsowouldliketothankthereviewerswhospentconsiderabletimeinthereviewingprocess
andwhomadeextremelyvaluablesuggestionstoimprovethequalityofthesubmittedpapers.Wearealsovery
gratefultoMostafaBassiouni,theeditor-in-chief,forgivingustheopportunitytoguest-edittheSpecialIssue,
andtheentirestaffoftheEditorialOfficeofElectronicsforourpleasantcollaboration.Finally,weacknowledge
partialfinancialsupportfromtheEuropeanCommissionunderHorizon2020,grantno.689691NEVERMIND
(NEurobehaviouralpredictiVEandpeRsonalisedModellingofdepressIvesymptomsduriNgprimarysomatic
DiseaseswithICT-enabledself-managementprocedures).
ConflictsofInterest:Theauthorsdeclarenoconflictofinterest.
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