Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Elsevier BV  

DOI： 10.1016/j.sigpro.2023.108997

Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：MDPI AG  

The management of nutrition, food, and health for disaster relief personnel is one of the crucial aspects for carrying out effective rescue activities during large-scale natural disasters, such as a big earthquake, flooding, and landslide following heavy rainfall or man-made disasters, such as widespread fire in industrial areas. Rescue workers, such as fire fighters and rescue teams who work on the disaster relief operations, have to work long, hard, and irregular hours that require energy (both intake and expenditure), with especially altered eating patterns. Reliable estimates of the energy expenditure (TEE) for such disaster relief operations have not been fully established. Here, we propose to clarify the energy expenditure for each type of large-scale disaster activity conducted by fire fighters. Thirty fire fighters (survey participants in this research) who participated in the simulation training of large-scale disaster activities wore tri-axial accelerometers and heart rate monitors during training; and, post-training, 28 fire fighters submitted complete activity record tables. An estimation formula combining tri-axial accelerometer and heart rate monitor data was used. Additionally, energy expenditure per hour (excluding resting energy expenditure: REE) (per average body weight of participants) was calculated for 10 types of large-scale disaster response activities. We propose utilization of these data as a reference value for examining the TEE of firefighting and rescue operations in future large-scale disasters.

DOI： 10.3390/ijerph20095742

Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：MDPI AG  

The number of occasions to stay in a car overnight is increasing during disasters; however, the effects on sleep and the impact on daytime functioning are not well understood. We investigated the effect of seat angle when sleeping in a car and its impact on calculation performance the following day. Fifteen healthy males participated in three trials (sleeping in a car with the front seat angled at 45° and 60° in a laboratory and sleeping at home); sleep and calculation performance the following day were compared. Increased wake after sleep onset and decreased slow-wave sleep were observed in the 60° trial, that is, near-vertical, compared with the others. Subjective sleep quality and calculation performance in the 45° and 60° trials were poorer than those in the home trial. The effect of seat angle on sleep was confirmed objectively, but not subjectively, suggesting that a large seat angle might cause sleep impairment.

DOI： 10.3390/ijerph191912270

Scopus

Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Elsevier BV  

DOI： 10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2022.104825

Publishing type：Research paper (international conference proceedings)   Publisher：IEEE  

Many female workers have experienced physical and psychological symptoms associated with menstrual cycle phases during work. According to a survey by the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), 52% of female workers had experienced some trouble related to female-specific health issues, such as premenstrual syndrome, amenorrhea and dysmenorrhea. In addition, METI reported that the work productivity loss caused by such female-specific health issues could be estimated as 491 billion Japanese Yen (4.2 billion US dollars). However, because of the lack of social understanding of such issues, effective health support system for female workers has not been established. In this study, we propose a novel physical-condition assessment index applicable to female workers. Our index is calculated based on the combination of physical activities estimated by accelerometer and heart rate. We show the effectiveness of our index through the analysis of actual factory worker data measured using smart clothing. Our approach would be applicable to evaluate the menstrual cycle-related health status.

DOI： 10.1109/lifetech53646.2022.9754808

Scopus

Language：Japanese   Publisher：(一社)日本睡眠環境学会  

我々は包括的に睡眠を評価し,災害時における睡眠環境面からの改善策について検討することを目的とした。若年健常男性9名を対象に災害時の避難所泊や車中泊を想定した睡眠環境を実験的に再現し,冬季に睡眠実験を実施した。その結果,自宅で行った対照試行と比較し,避難所泊や車中泊を想定した睡眠環境が入眠に及ぼす影響に差はみとめられなかったが,避難所泊や車中泊試行では寒さや寝返りのうちにくさが睡眠維持を妨げる可能性が客観的にも主観的にも示唆された。避難所泊では寒さを防ぐために段ボールベッド等の敷き寝具を工夫すること,車中泊では寝返りを打ちやすくするためのクッション等を使用して段差をなくすことで,客観的・主観的な睡眠の改善が見込まれる。(著者抄録)

Language：Japanese  

CiNii Books

CiNii Research

Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：The Royal Society  

We propose higher-order detrending moving-average cross-correlation analysis (DMCA) to assess the long-range cross-correlations in cardiorespiratory and cardiovascular interactions. Although the original (zeroth-order) DMCA employs a simple moving-average detrending filter to remove non-stationary trends embedded in the observed time series, our approach incorporates a Savitzky–Golay filter as a higher-order detrending method. Because the non-stationary trends can adversely affect the long-range correlation assessment, the higher-order detrending serves to improve accuracy. To achieve a more reliable characterization of the long-range cross-correlations, we demonstrate the importance of the following steps: correcting the time scale, confirming the consistency of different order DMCAs, and estimating the time lag between time series. We applied this methodological framework to cardiorespiratory and cardiovascular time series analysis. In the cardiorespiratory interaction, respiratory and heart rate variability (HRV) showed long-range auto-correlations; however, no factor was shared between them. In the cardiovascular interaction, beat-to-beat systolic blood pressure and HRV showed long-range auto-correlations and shared a common long-range, cross-correlated factor.


This article is part of the theme issue ‘Advanced computation in cardiovascular physiology: new challenges and opportunities’.

DOI： 10.1098/rsta.2020.0249

PubMed

Other Link： https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full-xml/10.1098/rsta.2020.0249

Authorship：Lead author,　Corresponding author  

Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)  

In this paper, the importance of implementing good acoustic conditions in classrooms using sound amplification systems is investigated to support more effective English education for elementary school children. To date, the failure of educating English as a second language at Japanese schools has been demonstrated by poor English conversation ability of those who completed a compulsory six-year English language course at Japanese junior-high and high schools (age 12–18). To amend the situation, teaching English became compulsory at grade three (age 8–9) and above at most Japanese elementary schools in the 2020 academic year. We conducted acoustic measurements of two types of sound amplification systems, a pair of PC loudspeakers and another with a loudspeaker array, in a typical classroom at an elementary school in Japan. We also analysed English listening test results of 216 Japanese native children (age 11–12) who were learning English in their usual classes in Japan, to compare the effects of those two systems. Results of logistic regression analysis adjusted by the discrimination difficulty of word pairs demonstrated the statistically significant association between correct answer rate of the English tests and classroom acoustic factors. Although, on average, upgrading the sound amplification system had positive effects on the correct answer rate, it also had a negative impact when the word pairs had English phoneme contrasts that do not appear in Japanese phoneme structure. Combined with the acoustic measurements’ results, it was also revealed that heterogeneous sound fields that depend on seat positions could be compensated using sound amplification systems with loudspeaker arrays. Our findings suggest that improvement of both acoustic quality and teaching methods is required for children to acquire English communication skills effectively in their classroom.

DOI： 10.3390/app11136062

Scopus

Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Springer Science and Business Media LLC  

<title>Abstract</title>We propose a novel class of mixed fluctuations with different orientations and fractal scaling features as a model for anisotropic two-dimensional (2D) trajectories hypothesized to appear in complex systems. Furthermore, we develop the oriented fractal scaling component analysis (OFSCA) to decompose such mixed fluctuations into the original orientation components. In the OFSCA, the original orientations are detected based on the principle that the original angles are orthogonal to the angles with the minimum and maximum scaling exponents of the mixed fluctuations. In our approach, the angle-dependent scaling properties are estimated using the Savitzky–Golay-filter-based detrended moving-average analysis (DMA), which has a higher detrending order than the conventional moving-average-filter-based DMA. To illustrate the OFSCA, we demonstrate that the numerically generated time-series of mixed fractional Gaussian noise (fGn) processes with non-orthogonal orientations and different scaling exponents is successfully decomposed into the original fGn components. We demonstrate the existence of oriented components in the 2D trajectories by applying OFSCA to real-world time-series, such as human postural fluctuations during standing and seismic ground acceleration during the great 2011 Tohoku-oki earthquake.

DOI： 10.1038/s41598-020-78807-z

Other Link： http://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-78807-z

Publishing type：Research paper (international conference proceedings)   Publisher：IEEE  

To evaluate the interaction between epilepsy-related brain activities and heart rate dynamics, we analyze electroencephalogram (EEG) and heart rate variability (HRV) using detrended moving-average cross-correlation analysis (DMCA) for pre-and postictal periods in subjects with focal epilepsy. The DMCA was applied to the 5 min. long periods of heart beat-to-beat intervals and power spectral density time series, located 5 and 10 min. before and after seizures. Statistically significant differences were found in the cross-correlation in δ (0.5-4 Hz) band for the periods before and after seizure, which shows the correlative coupling between RR intervals that δ band activity is changing while approaching to and after the epileptic seizure, that suggests the presence of nonlinear mechanisms of interactions between low-band EEG and RR intervals in observed periods of brain and heart activity in epilepsy. In contrast, no statistically significant changes could be observed while comparing brain-heart coupling in preictal periods. The wide scatter of distributions of all frequency bands in periods before epileptic seizure suggests that the multiscale cross-correlation coefficient is highly subject dependent and needs further subject-specific analysis for this particular period with longer time series.

DOI： 10.23919/spw49079.2020.9259132

Scopus

Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：MDPI AG  

Breakfast is often described as “the most important meal of the day” and human studies have revealed that post-prandial responses are dependent on meal timing, but little is known of the effects of meal timing per se on human circadian rhythms. We evaluated the effects of skipping breakfast for 6 days on core body temperature, dim light melatonin onset, heart rate variability, and clock gene expression in 10 healthy young men, with a repeated-measures design. Subjects were provided an isocaloric diet three times daily (3M) or two times daily (2M, i.e., breakfast skipping condition) over 6 days. Compared with the 3M condition, the diurnal rhythm of the core body temperature in the 2M condition was delayed by 42.0 ± 16.2 min (p = 0.038). On the other hand, dim light melatonin onset, heart rate variability, and clock gene expression were not affected in the 2M condition. Skipping breakfast for 6 days caused a phase delay in the core body temperature in healthy young men, even though the sleep–wake cycle remained unchanged. Chronic effects of skipping breakfast on circadian rhythms remain to be studied.

DOI： 10.3390/nu12092797

Publishing type：Research paper (international conference proceedings)   Publisher：IEEE  

To characterize long-range cross-correlation in nonstationary bi-variate time series, we propose the higherorder detrending moving-average cross-correlation analysis (DMCA) in which the Savitzky-Golay (S-G) filters are employed as the detrending operator and show its methodological properties analytically. Using the higher-order DMCA, time series consisting of heart rate (HR) and physical activity measured in daily life were analyzed. Our analysis demonstrated that the daily physical activity shared a common long-range correlated factor with the 1/f-type fluctuation of HR.

DOI： 10.1109/esgco49734.2020.9158140

Scopus

Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)  

© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. We aimed to evaluate sleep and sleep-related physiological parameters (heart rate variability and glucose dynamics) among evacuees by experimentally recreating the sleep environment of evacuation shelters and cars. Nine healthy young male subjects participated in this study. Two interventions, modeling the sleep environments of evacuation shelters (evacuation shelter trial) and car seats (car trial), were compared with sleep at home (control trial). Physiological data were measured using portable two-channel electroencephalogram and electrooculogram monitoring systems, wearable heart rate sensors, and flash glucose monitors. Wake after sleep onset (WASO) and stage shift were greater in both intervention trials than the control trial, while rapid-eye movement (REM) latency and non-rapid eye movement (NREM) 1 were longer and REM duration was shorter in the evacuation shelter trial than the control trial. Glucose dynamics and power at low frequency (LF.p) of heart rate variability were higher in the car trial than in the control trial. It was confirmed that sleep environment was important to maintain sleep, and affected glucose dynamics and heart rate variability in the experimental situation.

DOI： 10.3390/ijerph17124252

Scopus

PubMed

Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：AIP Publishing  

Magnetic immunostaining is a technique used to accelerate the antigen-antibody immunoreaction by increasing the local density of antibody on the surface of a tissue specimen using a magnetic field. The high density of antibody is achieved by applying a magnetic force to antibody-labeled ferrite beads toward the specimen. A technical challenge of using conventional magnets for this technique has been the inhomogeneous accumulation of magnetic beads on the specimen in accordance with the distribution of the magnetic field. Thus, in this study, a dome-shaped magnet that generated a strong and uniform magnetic force distribution was proposed and demonstrated. Numerical analysis was used to optimize the shape of the magnet. Analysis of the motion of magnetic beads showed that the accumulation of beads on the sample was complete within one minute and that the resulting homogeneity was sufficient for rapid and accurate immunostaining. Finally, experiments showed that the homogeneity of the bead distribution was improved by the use of a prototype dome-shaped magnet compared to conventional cylindrical magnets.

DOI： 10.1063/1.5130516

Web of Science

Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：AIP Publishing  

Magnetic immunostaining provides a novel technique for rapid intraoperative diagnosis of cancer metastasis and its characteristics in lymph nodes. Previous studies have shown the effectiveness of this technique using the manual staining process. However, to make this technique feasible for use in hospitals, establishing an automatic process is important. Thus, the objective of this study is to realize a device for immunostaining using magnetic fields that could not only automatically stain the samples, but also wash the specimen and change experimental solutions as well. The specifications for our prototype device were determined based on the manually performed experiments. We successfully fabricated a prototype device and demonstrated automatic immunostaining using it. The device completed, within 10 minutes, processes of blocking the specimen, injection of the magnetic beads, antigen-antibody reaction, and washing out the beads. The reaction took 1 minute, which was significantly shorter than that of conventional immunostaining. The device is expected to provide improved reproducibility of staining because of its automated processes. (c) 2020 Author(s). All article content, except where otherwise noted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

DOI： 10.1063/1.5130478

Web of Science

Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Elsevier BV  

© 2020 The Author(s) To evaluate the long-range cross-correlation in non-stationary bi-variate time-series, detrending-operation-based analysis methods such as the detrending moving-average cross-correlation analysis (DMCA), are widely used. However, its mathematical foundation has not been well established. In this paper, we propose a generalized theory to form the foundation of DMCA-type methods and introduce the higher-order DMCA in which Savitzky-Golay filters are employed as the detrending operator. Using this theory, we can understand the mathematical basis of DMCA-type methods. Our theory establishes a rigorous relationship between the DMCA-type analysis, the cross-correlation function analysis, and the cross-power spectral analysis. Based on the mathematical validity, we provide a practical guide for the use of higher-order DMCA. Additionally, we present illustrative results of a numerical and real-world analysis. To achieve reliable and accurate detection of the long-range cross-correlation, we emphasize the importance of time-lag estimation and time scale correction in DMCA, which has not been pointed out in the previous studies.

DOI： 10.1016/j.csfx.2020.100022

Scopus

Publishing type：Research paper (international conference proceedings)   Publisher：IEEE  

DOI： 10.1109/lifetech.2019.8884053

Language：Japanese   Publisher：The Society of Instrument and Control Engineers  

DOI： 10.11499/sicejl.58.96

CiNii Books

CiNii Research

Other Link： https://kaken.nii.ac.jp/grant/KAKENHI-PROJECT-17KT0127/

Language：Japanese   Publisher：体力・栄養・免疫学会  

目的:加速度計3機種によるエネルギー消費量推定精度について検証を行った。方法:成人8名(男女各4名)を対象とした。検証にはライフコーダ(スズケン,1軸加速度計,腰部),HJA-350IT(オムロンヘルスケア,3軸加速度計,腰部),カルポッド(メディリンク,3軸加速度計,心電センサ,胸部)を用い,ヒューマンカロリメーター(HC)法を妥当基準とした。検証内容は,生活活動,JOBA,自転車運動とした。結果:生活活動は,いずれの加速度計もHC法との間に差は認められなかったが,JOBAでは18〜60%,自転車運動では-56〜-30%と著しい誤差がみられた。胸部タイプでは,心拍数も用いることで推定精度が改善した(JOAB 60→-26%,自転車運動-30%→8%)。結論:生活活動は精度高く推定することができた。加速度計では評価が困難な活動でも,心拍情報を用いることで推定精度は大きく改善した。(著者抄録)

Language：Japanese   Publisher：日本繊維機械学会  

CiNii Books

CiNii Research

Other Link： https://kaken.nii.ac.jp/grant/KAKENHI-PROJECT-17KT0127/

Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：American Institute of Physics Inc.  

The developed device with electromagnetic coils and small permanent magnets quantifies the iron contents of superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles for sentinel lymph node (SLN) biopsy. To remove diamagnetic and paramagnetic components and detect only superparamagnetic components, a 2nd harmonics signal is detected by a gradiometer under a moderate AC magnetic field (1-2 mT) with the fundamental frequency (2.944 kHz) of the coils and DC magnetic field (1-2 mT) of the magnets. The detection limit with a signal-to-noise ratio of 5 is approximately 0.28 μg of iron, and the device has a wide dynamic range of 104, 0.28 μg-2.8 mg. Additional coils and permanent magnets play an important role producing the optimum distribution of AC/DC magnetic fields for an iron distribution-independent and SLN size-independent quantification. We demonstrated the quantification of the iron in phantoms, which have a size of 3-20 mm with varied iron distributions and contain magnetic nanoparticles numerically. These results indicate that the developed device is useful for quantifying the magnetic nanoparticles accumulating in SLNs.

DOI： 10.1063/1.5006668

Scopus

Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：American Institute of Physics Inc.  

Magnetic immunostaining using a magnet and antibody-labeled fluorescent ferrite (FF) beads is established as a rapid immunostaining. In this study, we proposed the novel configuration of magnets with the large magnetic field gradient and the strong magnetic force for magnetic immunostaining. To confirm the usefulness of the proposed magnet configuration, we performed numerical analysis of the magnetic characteristics of the proposed magnets, and the magnetic immunostaining with FF beads. It was revealed that the proposed magnets generated the strong magnetic force and promoted the immunoreaction rapidly.

DOI： 10.1063/1.5007918

Scopus

Language：Japanese   Publisher：(一社)日本乳癌学会  

Language：Japanese   Publisher：(一社)日本乳癌学会  

Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Dove Medical Press Ltd.  

Background: Sentinel node biopsy using radioisotope and blue dye remains a gold standard for axillary staging in breast cancer patients with low axillary burden. However, limitations in the use of radioisotopes have resulted in emergence of novel techniques. This is the first in vivo study to assess the feasibility of combining the two most common novel techniques of using a magnetic tracer and indocyanine green (ICG) fluorescence. Materials and methods: A total of 48 mice were divided into eight groups. Groups 1 and 2, the co-localization groups, received an injection of magnetic tracers (Resovist® and Sienna+®, respec-tively) and ICG fluorescence
distilled water was used as the solvent of ICG. Groups 3 and 4, the diluted injection groups, received an injection of magnetic tracers (Resovist and Sienna+, respectively) and saline for dilution. Groups 5, 6, and 7, the control groups, received magnetic tracer (Resovist, Sienna+) and ICG alone, respectively. Fluorescent intensity assessment and iron quantification of excised popliteal lymph nodes were performed. Group 1′, a co-localization group, received an injection of magnetic tracers (Resovist) and ICG′ fluorescence: saline was used as the solvent for ICG. Results: Lymphatic uptake of all tracers was confined to the popliteal nodes only, with co-localization confirmed in all cases and no significant difference in fluorescent intensity or iron content of ex vivo nodes between the groups (except for Group 1′). There was no impact of dilution on the iron content in the diluted Sienna+ group, but it significantly enhanced Resovist uptake (P=0.005). In addition, there was a significant difference in iron content (P=0.003) in Group 1′. Conclusion: The combination of a magnetic tracer (Resovist or Sienna+) and ICG fluorescence is feasible for sentinel node biopsy and will potentially allow for precise transcutaneous node identification, in addition to accurate intraoperative assessment. This radioisotope-free “combined technique” warrants further assessment within a clinical trial.

DOI： 10.2147/IJN.S153163

Scopus

PubMed

Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)  

The newly developed radioisotope-free technique based on magnetic nanoparticle detection using a magnetic probe is a promising method for sentinel lymph node biopsy. In this study, a novel handheld magnetic probe with a permanent magnet and magnetic sensor is developed to detect the sentinel lymph nodes in breast cancer patients. An outstanding feature of the probe is the precise positioning of the sensor at the magnetic null point of the magnet, leading to highly sensitive measurements unaffected by the strong ambient magnetic fields of the magnet. Numerical and experimental results show that the longitudinal detection length is approximately 10 mm, for 140 μg of iron. Clinical tests were performed, for the first time, using magnetic and blue dye tracers-without radioisotopes-in breast cancer patients to demonstrate the performance of the probe. The nodes were identified through transcutaneous and ex-vivo measurements, and the iron accumulation in the nodes was quantitatively revealed. These results show that the handheld magnetic probe is useful in sentinel lymph node biopsy and that magnetic techniques are widely being accepted as future standard methods in medical institutions lacking nuclear medicine facilities.

DOI： 10.1038/s41598-018-19480-1

PubMed

Language：Japanese   Publisher：Japanese Society for Medical and Biological Engineering  

Sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) using magnetic tracers is a promising technique in the treatment of breast cancer to evaluate the presence of metastasis in sentinel lymph nodes (SLNs). Selection of the first SLN, which contains the largest amount of iron of magnetic nanoparticles, in some resected nodes can help to investigate the metastasis because cancer most likely metastasizes to that node. However, iron distributions in SLNs of varied sizes (generally 3-20 mm) are unidentified.In this study, we developed a device can quantify iron amount in SLNs without the dependencies of the distributions and sizes. The device, currently, quantified the iron in magnetic phantoms that is the size of 3-20 mm with varied iron-distributions, within the error of 10%. These results indicate the developed device is useful for quantifying the magnetic nanoparticles accumulating in SLNs.

DOI： 10.11239/jsmbe.annual56.s95

CiNii Research

Language：Japanese   Publisher：(一社)日本乳癌学会  

Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：AMER INST PHYSICS  

We previously developed a magnetic probe equipped with a ring-shaped permanent magnet for detecting magnetic nanoparticle tracer accumulating in the sentinel lymph nodes (SLNs). The magnetic probe enables us to identify SLNs objectively, without the risk of radiation exposure, unlike the conventional technique using dye and radioisotope. A technical challenge of the probe is to reduce the tip diameter of magnet to identify smaller SLNs. In this study, we optimized the size of smaller-tip magnet based on numerical analyses using the finite element method and evaluated the expected sensitivity. According to the analysis results, the optimum tip diameter and length of convex-shaped magnet were 16mmand 12 mm, respectively. The experimental results showed that the sensitivity of the probe with smaller-tip magnet was comparable to the previous one. We successfully developed a smaller tip magnet, maintaining the sensitivity to magnetic nanoparticles. The proposed probe will be capable of identifying the location of SLNs more easily. (C) 2017 Author(s). All article content, except where otherwise noted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

DOI： 10.1063/1.4975359

Web of Science

Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：AMER INST PHYSICS  

An experimental apparatus for three-dimensional sensitivity mapping of a handheld magnetic probe with a permanent magnet and a Hall sensorwas developed. To optimize the shapes and sizes of the magnets, the sensitivity mappings of two types of magnets, column-and cone-type magnets, were evaluated by the experimental apparatus. The longitudinal sensitivities of column and cone types are 8 and 9 mm, respectively, for 5 mu L of magnetic nanoparticles. The measured longitudinal sensitivities agree well with the sensitivities calculated by the finite element method. Furthermore, the maximum lateral resolutions of column and cone types are 4.1 and 3.7 mm, respectively. In terms of the directionality, the sensitivities of column and cone types of the angle of 90 degrees with respect to the probe axis fall approximately to 72% and 50% at 6 mm distance from the probe head, indicating that the cone type has high directionality due to its sharp shape. The measurement of sensitivity mapping revealed that the characteristics of the cone-type magnet are superior to that of the column-type magnet for the identification of sentinel lymph nodes. (C) 2017 Author(s). All article content, except where otherwise noted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

DOI： 10.1063/1.4976338

Web of Science

Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：MDPI AG  

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by symptoms of inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity. Soft neurological signs (SNS) are minor neurological abnormalities in motor performance, and are used as one evaluation method for neurodevelopmental delays in children with ADHD. Our aim is to establish a quantitative evaluation system for children with ADHD. We focused on the arm movement called pronation and supination, which is one such soft neurological sign. Thirty three children with ADHD aged 7-11 years (27 males, six females) and twenty five adults participants aged 21-29 years old (19 males, six females) participated in our experiments. Our results suggested that the pronation and supination function in children with ADHD has a tendency to lag behind that of typically developing children by several years. From these results, our system has a possibility to objectively evaluate the neurodevelopmental delay of children with ADHD.

DOI： 10.3390/s16010116

Web of Science

Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：MDPI AG  

Soft neurological signs (SNS) are evident in the motor performance of children and disappear as the child grows up. Therefore SNS are used as criteria for evaluating age-appropriate development of neurological function. The aim of this study was to quantify SNS during arm movement in childhood. In this study, we focused on pronation and supination, which are arm movements included in the SNS examination. Two hundred and twenty-three typically developing children aged 4-12 years (107 boys, 116 girls) and 18 adults aged 21-26 years (16 males, two females) participated in the experiment. To quantify SNS during pronation and supination, we calculated several evaluation index scores: bimanual symmetry, compliance, postural stability, motor speed and mirror movement. These index scores were evaluated using data obtained from sensors attached to the participants' hands and elbows. Each score increased as age increased. Results obtained using our system showed developmental changes that were consistent with criteria for SNS. We were able to successfully quantify SNS during pronation and supination. These results indicate that it may be possible to use our system as quantitative criteria for evaluating development of neurological function.

DOI： 10.3390/s151025793

Web of Science

Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Japan Soc. of Med. Electronics and Biol. Engineering  

Parkinson’s disease is said to be the excess output of basal ganglia (inhibitory system) which comes from the lack of dopamine by the degeneration of substantia nigra in the midbrain, and DBS (Deep Brain Stimulation) to the subthalamic nucleus is applied as the symptomatic treatment. This paper investigates the validation the effect of the DBS using the motion analysis of the pronation and supination of forearms. It needed the feature selection that reflects the change of the DBS on/off states and could evaluate the DBS effect quantitatively. The feature of the rotation angle had been found to be one of the suitable features which dynamically indicates a part of the motor function by investigating the change of the feature while DBS status was changed as off, on, and off again.

DOI： 10.11239/jsmbe.52.O-45

Scopus

Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Japan Soc. of Med. Electronics and Biol. Engineering  

Pronation and supination is used as diagnosis of cerebellar ataxia and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. In pronation and supination, a subject bends elbow to 90 degrees, and rotates the palm to alternate between facing the floor and roof. To evaluate this movement be able to find soft neurological signs that are minor neurological signs indicating non-specific cerebral dysfunction. But when these findings are diagnosed, the evaluation between doctors isn’t consistent. We developed a quantitative evaluation system using three-dimensional acceleration and angular velocity sensors. In this study, we focused movement at full speed and measured 455 subjects (aged 7-12 and 21-90) to confirm reference curves and aging curves of the neuromotor development. We think that this system has the potential to also become the evaluation system for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), cerebellar ataxia and so on.

DOI： 10.11239/jsmbe.52.O-466

Scopus

Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (international conference proceedings)  

We have developed an evaluation system for the motion of pronation and supination of the forearm. This eval- uation system is a simple and portable system using wireless acceleration and angular velocity sensors. The motion of pro- nation and supination is one of soft neurological signs. This motion used as diagnosis methods of ADHD and cerebellar ataxia. There is a possibility that can be helpful to diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), cerebellar ataxia, Parkinson's disease, etc. We could obtain reference curves of the neuromotor development for elementary school children (children aged 7-12) using our developed evaluation system. In this paper, we investigated changes in neuromotor function associated with aging. We measured the motion of pronation and supination of the forearm of 243 healthy sub- jects (subjects aged 21-90) and could obtain aging curves of the neuromotor function. Measured results showed that aging curves of the neuromotor function decreased between 21 and 90 years old. © 2013 Springer-Verlag.

DOI： 10.1007/978-3-642-29305-4_183

Scopus

Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (scientific journal)   Publisher：Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan  

The motion of pronation and supination of the forearm is one of findings of soft neurological signs. Soft neurological signs used as diagnosis methods of a developmental disability. The motion of pronation and supination of the forearm is movement to bend elbow to 90 degrees, and to rotate the palm and the back of the hand. When doctor checks this motion, he observes a patient's regularity and dexterity. But there are problems. The one by doctor's personal subjectivity is large, because the evaluation between doctors isn't equable. It is hoped that a more objective and simple evaluation method is established. We developed evaluation system of a motion of pronation and supination of a forearm using three-dimensional wireless acceleration and angular velocity sensors. Our developed evaluation system is a simple and easy system. We think that this system have the potential to be used as the evaluation system for a developmental disability. This paper deals with a examination and details of indices for evaluating a motion of pronation and supination. © 2012 The Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan.

DOI： 10.1541/ieejeiss.132.1575

Scopus

Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (international conference proceedings)   Publisher：IEEE  

A pronation and supination of forearms is used as one of diagnostic indices for developmental disorders. However, this index has a demerit in which evaluation results between doctors are not consistent. The present study aims to establish more quantitative and evaluating method. We have developed a simple and portable evaluation system to measure pronation and supination of forearms. In this study, we have measured the pronation and supination of the forearms of 261 subjects aged 7 to 12 years (healthy children : 201, ADHD children : 60) and compared the function of healthy children's pronation and supination with the function of ADHD children's pronation and supination by new indices. From the results, we could obtain a difference between healthy children and ADHD children. The results showed that our developed system has the potential to become diagnostic criteria for developmental disorders.

Web of Science

Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (international conference proceedings)   Publisher：IEEE  

We have developed an evaluation system for pronation and supination of forearms. The motion of pronation and supination of the forearm is used as a diagnosis method of developmental disability, etc. However, this diagnosis method has a demerit in which diagnosis results between doctors are not consistent. It is hoped that a more quantitative and simple evaluation method is established. Moreover it is hoped a diagnostic criteria obtained from healthy subjects can be established to diagnose developmental disorder patients. We developed a simple and portable evaluation system for pronation and supination of forearms. Three-dimensional wireless acceleration and angular velocity sensors are used for this system. In this study, pronation and supination of forearms of 570 subjects (subjects aged 6-12, 21-100) were examined. We could obtain aging curves in the neuromotor function of pronation and supination. These aging curves obtained by our developed system, has the potential to become diagnostic criteria for a developmental disability, etc.

DOI： 10.1109/EMBC.2012.6347010

Web of Science

Language：English   Publishing type：Research paper (international conference proceedings)  

We developed an evaluation system for soft neurological signs by pronosupination of forearm using wireless acceleration and angular velocity sensors. We could obtain reference curves of the neuromotor development for elementary school children using this system. The purpose of this system is screening the developmental disorder. We measured the pronosupination of five children suspected of having ADHD (children aged 7-12). We examined the difference of neuromotor development between normally developed children and children suspected of having ADHD. Measured results show children suspected of having ADHD have low performance compared with normally developed child. © 2011 IEEE.

DOI： 10.1109/BMEiCon.2012.6172050

Scopus