A smart bathroom scale is presented in the paper. It is a classical bathroom scale enriched with the possibility of measuring a reflective photoplethysmographic (PPG) signal. To achieve such functionality an optical reflective transducer was developed. Its location in the scale platform was selected according to the anatomical structure of the foot and the typical procedure of weight measurement when using the scale. An electronic circuit for the sensor was designed and developed. Its performance was examined and compared with the commercial system. However, in the latter system, a plethysmographic signal was measured on the hand finger. This signal was utilized as an accurate timing synchronization one. Finally, we have shown preliminary results obtained due to performing measurements on a small group of healthy volunteers. Additionally, an algorithm for pulse rate estimation that could apply to such, relatively low-quality data was proposed.

We present a $1000 handheld prototype that combines a coaxial 850 nm LED with an industrial near-infrared camera and a 132 k-parameter Tiny-U-Net trained self-supervisedly from Frangi pseudo-labels; the full pipeline runs at over 30 fps on a laptop CPU. In a ten-subject laboratory study the system raised the contrast-to-noise ratio from 0.40 ± 0.10 (ambient light) to 0.72 ± 0.05 (IR LED + U-Net), increased the vessel-pixel fraction from 12.0 ± 3.0 % to 28.0 ± 6.0 %, and boosted the largest-segment coverage from 25.0 ± 11.0 % to 60.0 ± 10.0 %, all with$p$<. 001. These results show that self-supervised near-infrared imaging can deliver continuous, high-contrast vein maps without manual annotations, paving the way for affordable vein visualisation in resource-constrained settings.

Peripheral artery disease (PAD), condition in which narrowed arteries reduce blood flow to the arms or legs It is estimated that 13% of the population over 50 years old suffers either from symptomatic or asymptomatic PAD. Ankle-brachial index (ABI) due to relatively low sensitivity and specificity is not recommended for screening. In this article we evaluate use of Active Dynamic Thermography as the alternative technique for the ischemia classification. By initially cooling the subject's tissue and then observing with a thermal camera, we were able to visualize vascularization and measure the tissue's ability to return to its initial state. Thermographic parameters obtained correspond well with age of the patient.

In this paper, device construction and preliminary results for shower safety assistance are presented. The device allows monitoring of shower-taking persons without violating privacy and intimacy, while it has the ability to detect a persons entering and leaving the shower and detecting fall conditions. It allows better supervision of elders living independently at their locations.

It is estimated that 13 % of population over 50 years old suffer from symptomatic or asymptomatic peripheral artery disease (PAD). Ankle-brachial index (ABI) is viewed as a useful parameter in diagnostics of peripheral arterial disease, however screening tests with usage of this method are not advised. Hypoxia causes increase in lactate values and decrease in blood glucose. We hypothesize that the deficit in blood supply to the muscles of the lower limbs will manifest itself in a lower blood glucose concentration, e.g. in the toe measurement compared to the reference measurement taken in the part of the body where the blood supply is normal or slightly worse. We proposed simple method for determining the foot-toe glucose index (FTGI) based on automatic measurement of glucose concentration in a blood sample. Obtained results suggest that proposed method is more sensitive than cuff/ultrasound doppler method.

Measuring human temperature is a crucial step in preventing the spread of diseases such as COVID-19. For the proper operation of an automatic body temperature measurement system throughout the year, it is necessary to consider outdoor conditions. In this paper, the effect of atmospheric factors on facial temperature readings using infrared thermography is investigated. A thorough analysis of the variation of facial temperature with the prevailing atmospheric conditions was carried out using recordings collected over two years and compared with air temperature values at 1 hour accuracy. A method that takes account of outdoor conditions on temperature readings was proposed. We developed a correction curve with coefficients values based on an analysis of the recordings of people entering the building. Such a method will allow an effective real-time fever screening in public places.

In this paper, we summarize the results obtained from fire experiments. The aim of the work was to develop new methods of fire detection using IR thermal imaging cameras and dedicated image processing. We conducted 4 experiments in different configurations and with the use of different objects. The conducted experiments have shown the great usefulness of infrared cameras for detecting the seeds of a fire. Even cheap low-resolution bolometric detector modules can detect hot spots.

An optoelectronic device enhancing a smart chair functionality is presented in the paper. Its essential purpose is a detection of a sitting person presence on the chair by means of detecting the vital signs. Additionally, it could be used for determining of clothes layer parameters useful in adjusting a system of a capacitive electrocardiography.

Capacitive electrocardiogram (CECG) tends to deliver basic cardiac signals without need to use traditional glued electrodes. In the paper analysis of possibility if the ECG derived respiratory waveforms out of the CECG.

In the paper, we summarize the evaluation of Anne4Care system after laboratory tests. A group of end users, seniors over 55 years of age, rated a virtual assistant by completing a questionnaire. The objectives of the pilot evaluations are mainly to assess the feasibility, usability, acceptance and functionality of the system and the ability of the potential target user to use the system and receive valuable information from it to help them address the complex needs of elderly people. The results of the assessment will be taken into account during further product development.

In the paper a method of electrode's contact estimation in capacitive electrocardiogram (CECG) is presented. Proposed solution allows estimation of contact quality for each individual electrode. This enables construction of multi-electrode CECG systems, where electrode pairs can be selected on the basis of the individual electrode contact quality.

In this preliminary study we, investigate the possibility of user recognition techniques suitable on smart home devices like chairs, beds, aiming for low-power, high accuracy and quick response time. We propose the two well know technique: voice speaker recognition and accelerometer signal from device mounted on the chair, and the third one optical system basing on IR LED transmitter/receiver circuit. The preliminary results proved that the developed system based on measurement and analysis of the accelerometer signal is very promising and suitable for implementation in the final product. The optical system requires further work but potentially it can be used for user identification purposes.

This paper describes the possibility of monitoring the progress of knowledge and skills acquisition by the students of radiology. It is achieved by an analysis of a visual attention distribution patterns during image-based tasks solving. The concept is to use the eye-tracking data to recognize the way how the radiographic images are read by recognized experts, radiography residents involved in the training program, and untrained users who graduated from biomedical engineering. The results of research presented in this paper support the usefulness of earlier elaborated eye metrics, Visual Attention Time Product VATP, for skills measurement when using Electronic Medical Record for CT images evaluation. Moreover, it appears that it is possible to differentiate the level of residents skills in radiology structures recognition. Presented methodology can also be utilized in other areas where operator performs image related tasks.

The electromyographic activity of muscles was measured using a wireless biofeedback device. The aim of the study was to examine the possibility of creating an automatic muscle tension classifier. Several measurement series were conducted and the participant performed simple physical exercises - forcing the muscle to increase its activity accordingly to the selected scale. A small wireless device was attached to the electrodes placed on the patient's body in the area of biceps muscle. The patient body position, electrode placement and performed exercises were the features that as much as possible, minimized the impact of the surrounding muscles influence. The data were recorded and an analysis was made using QT /C++ environment. The exercises were designed to enable evaluation of muscle activity according to Lovett scale. The aim of the research described in this article was to help in the assessing of the muscle strength tension to assess progress in rehabilitation. The designed feed-forward neural network allowed classification of recorded signals with 78% accuracy.

The aim of this project was to design a system that will allow performing repetitive muscle exercises using a biofeedback device. It is supposed to enhance the motivation and attractiveness of the performed tasks thanks to an interactive game developed for mobile devices with the Android operating system. The built-in calibration mechanisms enable the users to play a game that is independent of their abilities which evens out the level of all players. The data in the form of EMG signal is gathered directly from the patient's body's surface in real-time and is sent wirelessly for further processing. While testing the system's efficiency, two types of calibration processes used in the mobile application were carried out.

In the paper a modern approach to smart home heating is presented. Proposed solution utilizes at least two low-polluting energy source technologies. The main idea is to connect well known ecological energy sources in a way that they can support each other and minimize risks of failure when using single system or even both of them but managed in separate way. Considered energy technologies, used separatelly, have disadvantages, that can be reduced by smart interconnection between them. We are showing that adequately selecting supplementary energy sources can benefit in lower pollution and lower costs of system usage including higher reliability.

The paper presents an alternative approach to the monitoring of the cardiovascular system.The study depicts configurations of the utilized system and preliminary results of electrical and mechanical parameters of the cardiac system which can be measured using a head-worn device.

In this paper we describe possibility of use the RSSI signal (Radio Signal Strength Indication) from Texas Instruments SensorTag CC2650 for indoor positioning purposes.This idea is not a new but in our opinion it is possible to use SensorTags with Bluetooth LE wireless interface for positioning inside buildings in such applications as people findings in hospitals, senior come care, etc. RSSI is mostly selected as the sensor localization method in the indoor circumstances.In this paper, we aim to analyze accuracy, calibrate and map RSSI to distance by doing a series of the experiments.Obtained results are very promising and shows possibility of use this technique for position estimation.

An example of an infra-red remote control device is presented in this paper. The device is equipped with additional medical diagnostic features for physiological and mental training. It is primarily a diagnostic health-care unit to support the elderly. To improve the acceptance of the device, the additional features are hidden in the shape of an ordinary, well-known device.