Examinando por Autor "Borromeo, Susana"

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A Reconfigurable, Wearable, Wireless ECG System
(Proceedings of the 29th Annual International Conference of the IEEE EMBS, 2007-08-23) Borromeo, Susana; Rodríguez-Sánchez, María Cristina; Machado, Felipe; Hernandez-Tamames, J.A; Prieta, R de la
Abstract:New emerging concepts as wireless hospital, mobile healthcare or wearable telemonitoring require the development of bio-signal acquisition devices to be easily integrated into the clinical routine. In this work, we present a new system for Electrocardiogram (ECG) acquisition and its processing, with wireless transmission on demand (either the complete ECG or only one alarm message, just in case a pathological heart rate detected). Size and power consumption are optimized in order to provide mobility and comfort to the patient. We have designed a modular hardware system and an autonomous platform based on a Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) for developing and debugging. The modular approach allows to redesign the system in an easy way. Its adaptation to a new biomedical signal would only need small changes on it. The hardware system is composed of three layers that can be plugged/unplugged: communication layer, processing layer and sensor layer. In addition, we also present a general purpose end-user application developed for mobile phones or Personal Digital Assistant devices (PDAs).
An algorithm selection methodology for automated focusing in optical microscopy
(John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, 2022-05-01) Bonet Sanz, Marina; Machado Sánchez, Felipe; Borromeo, Susana
Autofocus systems are essential in optical microscopy. These systems typically sweep the sample through the focal range and apply an algorithm to determine the contrast value of each image, where the highest value indicates the optimal focus position. As the optimal algorithm may vary according to the images' content, we evaluate the 15 most used algorithms in the field using 150 stacks of images from four different kinds of tissue. We use four measuring criteria and two types of analysis and propose a general methodology to apply to select the best fitting algorithm for any given application. In this paper, we present the results of this evaluation and a detailed discussion of different features: the threshold used for the algorithms, the criteria parameters, the analysis used, the bit depth of the images, their magnification, and the type of tissue, reaching the conclusion that some of these parameters are more relevant to the study than others, and the implementation of the proposed methodology can lead to a fast and reliable autofocus system capable of performing an analysis and selection of algorithms with no supervision required.
Benchmarking the Effects on Human–Exoskeleton Interaction of Trajectory, Admittance and EMG-Triggered Exoskeleton Movement Control
(Mdpi, 2023-01-10) Rodrigues-Carvalho, Camila; Fernández-García, Marvin; Pinto-Fernández, David; Sanz-Morere, Clara; Barroso, Filipe O; Borromeo, Susana; Rodríguez-Sánchez, Cristina; Moreno, Juan C; del-Ama, Antonio J
Nowadays, robotic technology for gait training is becoming a common tool in rehabilitation hospitals. However, its effectiveness is still controversial. Traditional control strategies do not adequately integrate human intention and interaction and little is known regarding the impact of exoskeleton control strategies on muscle coordination, physical effort, and user acceptance. In this article, we benchmarked three types of exoskeleton control strategies in a sample of seven healthy volunteers: trajectory assistance (TC), compliant assistance (AC), and compliant assistance with EMG-Onset stepping control (OC), which allows the user to decide when to take a step during the walking cycle. This exploratory study was conducted within the EUROBENCH project facility. Experimental procedures and data analysis were conducted following EUROBENCH’s protocols. Specifically, exoskeleton kinematics, muscle activation, heart and breathing rates, skin conductance, as well as user-perceived effort were analyzed. Our results show that the OC controller showed robust performance in detecting stepping intention even using a corrupt EMG acquisition channel. The AC and OC controllers resulted in similar kinematic alterations compared to the TC controller. Muscle synergies remained similar to the synergies found in the literature, although some changes in muscle contribution were found, as well as an overall increase in agonist-antagonist co-contraction. The OC condition led to the decreased mean duration of activation of synergies. These differences were not reflected in the overall physiological impact of walking or subjective perception. We conclude that, although the AC and OC walking conditions allowed the users to modulate their walking pattern, the application of these two controllers did not translate into significant changes in the overall physiological cost of walking nor the perceived experience of use. Nonetheless, results suggest that both AC and OC controllers are potentially interesting approaches that can be explored as gait rehabilitation tools. Furthermore, the INTENTION project is, to our knowledge, the first study to benchmark the effects on human–exoskeleton interaction of three different exoskeleton controllers, including a new EMG-based controller designed by us and never tested in previous studies, which has made it possible to provide valuable third-party feedback on the use of the EUROBENCH facility and testbed, enriching the apprenticeship of the project consortium and contributing to the scientific community.
Designing Low-Cost Open-Hardware Electromechanical Scientific Equipment: A Geological Analogue Modeling Sandbox
(IEEE, 2023-03-28) Machado, Felipe; Nieto, Rubén; FERNÁNDEZ-GARCÍA, Cristina; Rincón, Marta; GONZÁLEZ-MUÑOZ, Sandra; MARTÍN-GONZÁLEZ, Fidel; Borromeo, Susana
Scientific experimentation often requires building custom apparatus. However, published results usually focus on the experiment, disregarding technical details of the scientific equipment. Lacking enough information about these custom devices prevents their accurate replication, hindering the experiment reproducibility, which is a fundamental requirement for Open Science. In the field of Geology, custom electromechanical devices with low-speed moving elements are required to analyze scaled-down models of the tectonic deformation processes. In these experiments, the earth crust is modeled with materials whose properties and setup are scrupulously specified to comply with the scale model theory and to have standard and reproducible procedures. Notwithstanding this rigorous characterization, we believe that the moving apparatus has received little attention, implicitly assuming an ideal behavior despite the difficulties of moving uniformly at such slow speeds, which could produce disparities with the natural model. In this paper we address this issue by presenting a device for scientific analogue modeling of contractional and extensional tectonics. We analyze the challenges and implications of moving at such low speeds, demonstrate its satisfactory performance and provide suggestions for improvement. In addition, the proposed apparatus is not only affordable and relatively easy to build, but also is an open-hardware project that can be replicated, improved or customized, even in other research fields. We hope that this contribution will be beneficial for the scientific and educational community, facilitating the reliability of experiments, the exchange of ideas, and thereby the promotion of Open Science.
Diseño de circuitos digitales con VHDL
(2010-07-13T14:51:17Z) Machado, Felipe; Borromeo, Susana
Este manual es una guía práctica para aprender a diseñar circuitos digitales mediante el uso de VHDL y dispositivos lógicos programables (CPLD o FPGA). Este manual se ha desarrollado en el Departamento de Tecnología Electrónica de la Universidad Rey Juan Carlos para las prácticas de la asignatura Electrónica Digital II de la titulación de Ingeniería de Telecomunicación. Previamente, los alumnos de esta carrera han cursado la asignatura Electrónica Digital I (ED1). En ED1 los alumnos adquirieron los conceptos básicos de la electrónica digital y realizaron diseños tanto con componentes discretos como con dispositivos lógicos programables. En las prácticas de ED1 se enseña a diseñar circuitos electrónicos digitales con esquemáticos y FPGA. Por tanto para seguir este manual con una mayor comprensión se recomienda tener conceptos básicos de los sistemas de numeración y electrónica digital: diseño con puertas lógicas, bloques combinacionales, elementos de memoria, registros y contadores. Realizar las prácticas de ED1 es una buena base para seguir este manual. Además de las prácticas de clase, en este manual se han incluido dos secciones adicionales. Por un lado, se ha añadido una sección de circuitos digitales y analógicos en la que se incluyen dos capítulos con algunas indicaciones sobre cómo realizar la parte analógica de los circuitos. Por otro lado, se ha incluido una sección con la resolución de problemas teóricos.
Diseño de sistemas digitales con VHDL
(2011-10-28) Machado, Felipe; Borromeo, Susana; María Cristina Rodríguez-Sánchez
El objetivo de este manual es enseñar a diseñar circuitos y sistemas digitales de cierta complejidad usando VHDL y dispositivos lógicos programables (CPLD o FPGA). El enfoque es aprender a diseñar de manera práctica y que la necesidad de realizar un circuito nos haga tener curiosidad por los distintos métodos y técnicas para una eficiente implementación del circuito. Para realizar las prácticas propuestas en este manual se utilizarán dos tarjetas basadas en FPGA de Xilinx: la XUP Virtex II pro y la Nexys2. Xilinx proporciona una herramienta de diseño gratuita: el ISE Webpack que será la que se use en este manual (versión 9.2). Para la simulación, se utilizará el propio simulador del ISE o el Modelsim. Sin embargo, aunque con un esfuerzo mayor, podrás seguir este manual usando herramientas y tarjetas diferentes si te abstraes de las particularidades de éstas.
Experiencia docente de aprendizaje basado en proyectos en el diseño de circuitos electrónicos digitales con VHDL
(Seminario Anual de Automática, Electrónica Industrial e Instrumentación, 2009-07) Machado, Felipe; Borromeo, Susana
En este trabajo se expone la experiencia docente en la enseñanza del diseño de circuitos y sistemas electrónicos digitales con FPGA mediante VHDL. La asignatura sigue una metodología de aprendizaje basado en proyectos en la que los alumnos aprenden a diseñar circuitos y sistemas digitales de manera práctica. A lo largo del curso los alumnos realizan circuitos digitales de complejidad incremental. En consecuencia, al final del curso son capaces de realizar un proyecto de relativa complejidad, como lo son sistemas de procesamiento de imágenes o videojuegos. Como resultado, los alumnos aprenden de manera activa el diseño de circuitos digitales.
Highly Flexible Strain Sensors Based on CNT-Reinforced Ecoflex Silicone Rubber for Wireless Facemask Breathing Monitoring via Bluetooth
(ACS, 2023) Bosque, Antonio del; Fernández Sánchez-Romate, Xoan Xosé; Llana Calvo, Álvaro de la; Fernández, Pedro Rafael; Borromeo, Susana; Sánchez, María; Ureña, Alejandro
Highly stretchable strain sensors based on carbon nanotube (CNT)-reinforced Ecoflex silicone rubber are developed for breathing monitoring purposes. The addition of CNTs promotes an improvement in electrical conductivity and mechanical properties (Young’s modulus and tensile strength) due to its good dispersion in Ecoflex. The evaluation of strain monitoring response, in both tensile and compression conditions, indicates a wide strain detection range and an ultrasensitive response at high strain levels, reaching a gauge factor of around 104 at 70% or 105 at 300% for 0.3 and 0.7 wt % CNT-reinforced sensors, respectively. They show a quite stable electrical response under 2000 cycling loads and different levels of frequencies. Moreover, the response and recovery times are in the range of milliseconds (∼600 and ∼800 ms, respectively). Finally, a proof-of-concept of wireless facemask breathing monitoring was carried out with Bluetooth Low Energy technology and a platform that has been developed to acquire, filter, visualize, and store the breathing signal. With this, the respiration rate can be unequivocally monitored as well as the difference between inspiration and expiration. Thus, this type of trial is proposed for breath monitoring in medical analysis, emergency teams, or first aid.
Implementation of ISO/IEEE 11073 PHD SpO2 and ECG Device Specializations over Bluetooth
(MDPI, 2022-07-28) Cristobal-Huerta, Cristina; Torrado-Carvajal, Angel; Rodriguez-Sanchez, Cristina; Hernandez-Tamames, Juan A; Luaces, María; Borromeo, Susana
Current m-Health scenarios in the smart living era, as the interpretation of the smart city at each person’s level, present several challenges associated with interoperability between different clinical devices and applications. The Continua Health Alliance establishes design guidelines to standardize application communication to guarantee interoperability among medical devices. In this paper, we describe the implementation of two IEEE agents for oxygen saturation level (SpO2) measurements and electrocardiogram (ECG) data acquisition, respectively, and a smartphone IEEE manager for validation. We developed both IEEE agents over the Bluetooth Health Device Profile following the Continua guidelines and they are part of a telemonitoring system. This system was evaluated in a sample composed of 10 volunteers (mean age 29.8 +- 7.1 y/o; 5 females) under supervision of an expert cardiologist. The evaluation consisted of measuring the SpO2 and ECG signal sitting and at rest, before and after exercising for 15 min. Physiological measurements were assessed and compared against commercial devices, and our expert physician did not find any relevant differences in the ECG signal. Additionally, the system was assessed when acquiring and processing different heart rate data to prove that warnings were generated when the heart rate was under/above the thresholds for bradycardia and tachycardia, respectively.
Insights 4.0: Transformative learning in industrial engineering through problem-based learning and project-based learning
(Wiley, 2024-03-19) Rodriguez-Sanchez, Cristina; Orellana, Rubén; Fernandez Barbosa, Pedro Rafael; Borromeo, Susana; Vaquero, Joaquin
This paper describes a methodological study carried out between 2018 and 2022, at Rey Juan Carlos University, focused on the subject monitoring and control systems within a master's program in Industrial Engineering. The study proposes an innovative teaching strategy using problem-based learning and project-based learning methodologies. The projects undertaken are based on Internet of Things (IoT) systems aimed at enhancing weather stations, services and facilitating real-time decision-making. Inspired by our experience in the development of Industry 4.0 projects, we have designed a methodological strategy for this subject that focuses on providing students with the necessary knowledge and skills in the field of Control and Monitoring Systems and the IoT to develop real monitoring and control systems. The approach emphasizes interdisciplinary problem-solving, with students working collaboratively in stable teams. Throughout the 16-week course, tasks of increasing complexity are completed, resulting in the development of a complete system. The practical approach of the course and its relation to real applications motivates students, resulting in better performance. The acquired techniques and skills from the course are broadly applicable across engineering disciplines
Objetive Assessment of olfactory function using Functional Magnetic Resonance (fMRI). A device for generating automated olfactory stimuli
(MeMeA 2009. IEEE International Workshop on Medical Measurements and Applications. IEEE Catalog Number: CFP09MEA-CDR, 2009-05-29) Borromeo, Susana; Hernandez-Tamames, J.A; Luna, G; Machado, Felipe; Malpica, N
In this work, a device for generating automated olfactory stimuli in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies is described. The novel issues of our design are: synchronization between the acquisition and the olfactory task, automated control of experimental parameters (odorants sequences, frequency, time and concentration of stimuli). Finally, we present the preliminary results obtained on a General Electric 3 Tesla MRI scanner belong to The Alzheimer Project of the Fundación Reina Sofía.
Parametric CAD modeling for open source scientific hardware: Comparing OpenSCAD and FreeCAD Python scripts
(Public Library of Science, 2019-12-05) Machado, Felipe; Malpica, Norberto; Borromeo, Susana
Open source hardware for scientific equipment needs to provide source files and enough documentation to allow the study, replication and modification of the design. In addition, parametric modeling is encouraged in order to facilitate customization for other experiments. Parametric design using a solid modeling programming language allows customization and provides a source file for the design. OpenSCAD is the most widely used scripting tool for parametric modeling of open source labware. However, OpenSCAD lacks the ability to export to standard parametric formats; thus, the parametric dimensional information of the model is lost. This is an important deficiency because it is key to share the design in the most accessible formats with no information loss. In this work we analyze OpenSCAD and compare it with FreeCAD Python scripts. We have created a parametric open source hardware design to compare these tools. Our findings show that although Python for FreeCAD is more arduous to learn, its advantages counterbalance the initial difficulties. The main benefits are being able to export to standard parametric models; using Python language with its libraries; and the ability to use and integrate the models in its graphical interface. Thus, making it more appropriate to design open source hardware for scientific equipment.
Project based learning experience in VHDL digital electronic circuit design
(IEEE, 2009-07-25) Machado, Felipe; Borromeo, Susana; Malpica, Norberto
In this paper we present our experience in teaching digital electronic circuit and system design with FPGAs using VHDL. The course follows a project based learning methodology, in which the students learn how to design digital circuits and systems in a practical way. During the course, students design electronic circuits of incremental complexity. At the end of the course they are capable of implementing relatively complex projects, such as image processing systems and videogames.
A project-oriented integral curriculum on Electronics for Telecommunication Engineers
(IEEE, 2010-04-14) Machado, Felipe; Malpica, Norberto; Vaquero, Joaquín; Arredondo, Belén; Borromeo, Susana
This paper describes the Electronics curriculum in the Telecommunication Engineer degree at Rey Juan Carlos University (URJC) in Spain. Telecommunication Engineering started in the 2003-2004 academic year. In these years, all the electronic courses have been set up with a main practical orientation and with Project Based Learning (PBL) activities, both compulsory and voluntary. Once these courses have been successfully implemented we have reoriented some of the practical activities to be more interlaced. In this sense, projects involving students of different courses have been developed, as well as projects involving students from different years. All these activities fit in the principles promulgated by the Declaration of Bologna, which results in the actual updating of the university degree structure in Spain.
Sex Differences in the Olfactory System: a Functional MRI Study
(Springer, 2019-01-04) Melero, Helena; Borromeo, Susana; Cristobal-Huerta, Alexandra; Manzanedo, Eva; Luna, Guillermo; Toledano, Adolfo; Hernández-Tamames, Juan Antonio
Olfactory dysfunction is an early marker of neurological disease and a common symptom in psychotic disorders. Previous anatomical and functional research suggests that sex effects may be crucial in the assessment of the olfactory system. Nonetheless, the neural mechanisms through which the factor sex impacts olfactory perception are still not well understood. In this context, we use fMRI to investigate sex differences in the passive processing of chemical stimuli, in order to obtain new neuroscientific data that may help improve the assessment of odor perception.Thirty healthy subjects (17 women) were stimulated with mint and butanol (event-related design) in a 3.0-T MRI scanner. A one-sample t test analysis was performed in order to observe olfactory-related activations. Intergroup differences (women vs. men) and the influence of each aroma were analyzed using a 2 × 2 ANOVA and post hoc contrasts.Men and women showed differential activity (males > females) in right superior/middle temporal areas, the right inferior frontal cortex, and the hypothalamus. Both groups showed a predominance of the right hemisphere for the processing of odors.Functional differences between women and men in olfaction are not restricted to specific sensory areas and reflect a more general sex-dependent effect in multisensory integration processes.