The world’s population is ageing, which puts a strain on healthcare systems, since older age is usually associated to a larger incidence of chronic diseases. An active lifestyle is important for people to maintain good health at any age, but is especially relevant for older people. Since older people, after retiring, typically spend more time at home, often alone, encouraging them to maintain or increase their level of physical activity is a challenge, especially in their domestic environment. To address this challenge, it is imperative to be able to monitor and quantify people’s physical activity during daily life at home. In this context, and in the scope of a project with the industry, we propose Aktiv@Home, a system for unobtrusive monitoring of an older person’s physical activity at home. This system also allows relevant activity-related information to be shared with health professionals or (in)formal caregivers. As a proof-of-concept, a prototype of the system was implemented, which gathers activity-related information from a given person by relying on two radars installed in the environment. An initial validation of the prototype’s capability of tracking the person’s position, while walking, was carried out using radar data collected from five volunteers. The obtained results show that the proposed solution can be used to track a single person and obtain relevant activity information. Moreover, the implemented prototype serves as a good basis for developing a system that monitors older people living alone, which can help enhance their health and well-being, as well as their autonomy, allowing them to stay longer at their own homes.
Complications affecting the lower limbs are considered as the most common debilitating manifestations of Type 2 Diabetes (T2D), accounting for significant preventable morbidity and mortality by predisposing the foot to neuropathy, infections, and ulcerations, which could lead to lower extremity amputations. Effective management of the diabetic foot (DF) is critical to prevent the formation of ulcers, as the disease increases their susceptibility to infection, due to compromised/impaired sweat gland function causing dry, crack-prone skin. This study presents the design and development of novel humidity sensors for diabetic foot care, using Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) sensors. To determine optimal suitability for insole incorporation, the sensors were integrated into various materials, including Dragon skin 10 and agar/chitosan mixtures at concentrations of 1:1, 1:3, and 3:1, respectively to evaluate sensitivity and responsiveness/recovery characteristics to humidity changes. Experimental findings demonstrated that agar/chitosan mixtures at 1:3 and 1:1 concentration are optimal for monitoring humidity changes due to their rapid response and recovery. This underscores the potential of these sensors to enhance wound management in the DF by improving moisture control, hence aiding in accelerating the healing processes toward the prevention of limb loss.
The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is the most commonly injured ligament in the knee and ACL rupture often necessitates surgical intervention and rehabilitation. This pilot study investigated the immediate impact of a single prehabilitation physiotherapy session on gait patterns in a 25-year-old male with a right knee ACL injury. Utilizing inertial measurement units (IMUs) and force plates (FPs), kinematic and kinetic data were collected pre- and post-therapy. The results demonstrated significant improvements in gait symmetry and stability post-therapy, with a marked reduction in knee angle variability. A notable decrease in mediolateral force on the uninjured leg was also observed, indicating enhanced balance and reduced compensatory movements. These findings highlight the potential benefits of incorporating prehabilitation physiotherapy to optimize knee function and gait stability in ACL injury patients.
Ear-EEG sensing is on the horizon for ear-worn devices, such as hearing instruments, and it is anticipated to revolutionize cognitive state monitoring outside the clinical setting, owing to its unobtrusive nature. Like scalp-EEG, ear-EEG is prone to non-neural physiological artifacts, such as ocular, muscular, and cardiac. Although artifacts are typically treated as non-desirable signals intended for rejection, they could serve as a source of information about the individual, thus advancing ear-EEG to ear-ExG. As there is still a scarcity of literature within this area, using the cEEGrid around-the-ear electrode array, we systematically recorded the jaw artifact in a series of experimental scenarios engaging the muscles involved in mastication and speech production. Within the scope of preliminary data analysis, we evaluated the statistical significance of a state-of-art-based feature set in terms of chewingspeaking classification by means of a Wilcoxon rank sum test. The resulting.. -values indicated that the features with.. < 0.05 are typically those expressing the chewing rate and the increase in amplitude, as well as a shift towards higher frequencies, that takes place within the characteristic chewing "bursts." By fully utilizing the research potential of the obtained dataset and with the prospect of ear-ExG integration into hearing devices, this work aspires to promote healthy ageing and enhance accessibility in technology through novel human-computer interfaces.
With the increasing interest of several accessibility researchers in the development of technological tools to better support people with intellectual disabilities in their day-to-day lives, it is becoming more and more important to understand the point of view of those directly involved. Although the number of studies conducted with the participation of users with intellectual disabilities has increased in recent years, there are still many questions we need to ask, starting from the preferences and challenges experienced by this group of individuals. For this reason, the present exploratory study aims to bring to light, through semi-structured interviews, the preferences and difficulties that two target groups - clients and staff members from a support centre in Italy - currently have regarding the use and utility of technology within their daily life. In this work, we describe the methodologies and insights emerging from the thematic analysis of the collected data from the interviews, enabling us to better understand and inform the design of more accessible technology for all.
