scholarly journals Controlling an Anatomical Robot Hand Using the Brain-Computer Interface Based on Motor Imagery

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
H. M. K. K. M. B. Herath ◽  
W.R. de Mel

More than one billion people face disabilities worldwide, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). In Sri Lanka, there are thousands of people suffering from a variety of disabilities, especially hand disabilities, due to the civil war in the country. The Ministry of Health of Sri Lanka reports that by 2025, the number of people with disabilities in Sri Lanka will grow by 24.2%. In the field of robotics, new technologies for handicapped people are now being built to make their lives simple and effective. The aim of this research is to develop a 3-finger anatomical robot hand model for handicapped people and control (flexion and extension) the robot hand using motor imagery. Eight EEG electrodes were used to extract EEG signals from the primary motor cortex. Data collection and testing were performed for a period of 42 s timespan. According to the test results, eight EEG electrodes were sufficient to acquire the motor imagery for flexion and extension of finger movements. The overall accuracy of the experiments was found at 89.34% (mean = 22.32) at the 0.894 precision. We also observed that the proposed design provided promising results for the performance of the task (grab, hold, and release activities) of hand-disabled persons.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
H.M.K.K.M.B. Herath ◽  
W.R. de Mel

Abstract Today, millions of peoples are suffering due to the lack of a functional arm preventing from doing things. In Sri Lanka there are about over thousands of people are suffering from disabilities. Sri Lanka Ministry of Health state that the number of disabled persons in Sri Lanka will be increased by 24.2% by 2025. Most of them will suffer from hand disabilities. Disabling a hand costs huge disadvantages to a human being. Living without a hand will be a major problem for those who having hand disabilities. The aim of this project is to give a solution to those who suffer from hand disabilities and make their life efficient and easy. The biosignal-based controlling system is the next step in order to achieve more accuracy. Bio-signals are referring as the Electroencephalography (EEG), Electromyogram (EMG) and Electrocardiogram (ECG) signals. The robot hand motions and movements of the fingers will be completely dependent on the brainwaves which human beings will produce. This project mainly focused on Electroencephalography (EEG) signals also known as the brain waves. The methodology of this project is based on the field of robotics, artificial intelligence (AI), anatomy, neuroanatomy, and biosignal.


2011 ◽  
Vol 29 (supplement) ◽  
pp. 352-377 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seon Hee Jang ◽  
Frank E Pollick

The study of dance has been helpful to advance our understanding of how human brain networks of action observation are influenced by experience. However previous studies have not examined the effect of extensive visual experience alone: for example, an art critic or dance fan who has a rich experience of watching dance but negligible experience performing dance. To explore the effect of pure visual experience we performed a single experiment using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) to compare the neural processing of dance actions in 3 groups: a) 14 ballet dancers, b) 10 experienced viewers, c) 12 novices without any extensive dance or viewing experience. Each of the 36 participants viewed short 2-second displays of ballet derived from motion capture of a professional ballerina. These displays represented the ballerina as only points of light at the major joints. We wished to study the action observation network broadly and thus included two different types of display and two different tasks for participants to perform. The two different displays were: a) brief movies of a ballet action and b) frames from the ballet movies with the points of lights connected by lines to show a ballet posture. The two different tasks were: a) passively observe the display and b) imagine performing the action depicted in the display. The two levels of display and task were combined factorially to produce four experimental conditions (observe movie, observe posture, motor imagery of movie, motor imagery of posture). The set of stimuli used in the experiment are available for download after this paper. A random effects ANOVA was performed on brain activity and an effect of experience was obtained in seven different brain areas including: right Temporoparietal Junction (TPJ), left Retrosplenial Cortex (RSC), right Primary Somatosensory Cortex (S1), bilateral Primary Motor Cortex (M1), right Orbitofrontal Cortex (OFC), right Temporal Pole (TP). The patterns of activation were plotted in each of these areas (TPJ, RSC, S1, M1, OFC, TP) to investigate more closely how the effect of experience changed across these areas. For this analysis, novices were treated as baseline and the relative effect of experience examined in the dancer and experienced viewer groups. Interpretation of these results suggests that both visual and motor experience appear equivalent in producing more extensive early processing of dance actions in early stages of representation (TPJ and RSC) and we hypothesise that this could be due to the involvement of autobiographical memory processes. The pattern of results found for dancers in S1 and M1 suggest that their perception of dance actions are enhanced by embodied processes. For example, the S1 results are consistent with claims that this brain area shows mirror properties. The pattern of results found for the experienced viewers in OFC and TP suggests that their perception of dance actions are enhanced by cognitive processes. For example, involving aspects of social cognition and hedonic processing – the experienced viewers find the motor imagery task more pleasant and have richer connections of dance to social memory. While aspects of our interpretation are speculative the core results clearly show common and distinct aspects of how viewing experience and physical experience shape brain responses to watching dance.


2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonio Bernabé-Ortiz ◽  
Jessica H. Zafra-Tanaka ◽  
Miguel Moscoso-Porras ◽  
Rangarajan Sampath ◽  
Beatrice Vetter ◽  
...  

AbstractA key component of any health system is the capacity to accurately diagnose individuals. One of the six building blocks of a health system as defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) includes diagnostic tools. The WHO’s Noncommunicable Disease Global Action Plan includes addressing the lack of diagnostics for noncommunicable diseases, through multi-stakeholder collaborations to develop new technologies that are affordable, safe, effective and quality controlled, and improving laboratory and diagnostic capacity and human resources. Many challenges exist beyond price and availability for the current tools included in the Package of Essential Noncommunicable Disease Interventions (PEN) for cardiovascular disease, diabetes and chronic respiratory diseases. These include temperature stability, adaptability to various settings (e.g. at high altitude), need for training in order to perform and interpret the test, the need for maintenance and calibration, and for Blood Glucose Meters non-compatible meters and test strips. To date the issues surrounding access to diagnostic and monitoring tools for noncommunicable diseases have not been addressed in much detail. The aim of this Commentary is to present the current landscape and challenges with regards to guidance from the WHO on diagnostic tools using the WHO REASSURED criteria, which define a set of key characteristics for diagnostic tests and tools. These criteria have been used for communicable diseases, but so far have not been used for noncommunicable diseases. Diagnostic tools have played an important role in addressing many communicable diseases, such as HIV, TB and neglected tropical diseases. Clearly more attention with regards to diagnostics for noncommunicable diseases as a key component of the health system is needed.


Author(s):  
A.RAJESH KUMAR ◽  
C. DINESH ◽  
R. ARAVIND ◽  
SRIKRISHNA. C ◽  
PL. NAGARTHINAM

The purpose of this project is to increase the knowledge of technology and services of smart homes for disabled people. There is a clear need for such new knowledge since the number of disabled people is significant. Indeed, new technologies and services of smart homes have the potential to increase effectiveness and efficiency of caring disabled. With right solutions there is a great potential to increase disabled persons' quality of life. The need for the development of such technologies and services increases due to the disabled individuals' desire to remain independent in their own homes, the increasing costs of health care, and the aging of the population. This article discusses the concept of secured door lock/unlock system for the differently able. The juxtaposition of safety vs. privacy can be alleviated with this technology. Moreover, as there is need to assist disabled to protect them from various forms of abuse, and prevent immoderation of pleasure giving activities.


Author(s):  
Kumar Abhishek ◽  
M. P Singh ◽  
Md. Sadik Hussain

<p>Tuberculosis (TB) has been one of the top ten causes of death in the world. As per the World Health Organization (WHO) around 1.8 million people have died due to tuberculosis in 2015. This paper aims to investigate the spatial and temporal variations in TB incident in South Asia (India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Maldives, Nepal, and Sri-Lanka). Asia had been counted for the largest number of new TB cases in 2015. The paper underlines and relates the relationship between various features like gender, age, location, occurrence, and mortality due to TB in these countries for the period 1993-2012.</p>


2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Prasad Ranaweera ◽  
Rajitha Wickremasinghe ◽  
Kamini Mendis

Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic has had a considerable impact on other health programmes in countries, including on malaria, and is currently under much discussion. As many countries are accelerating efforts to eliminate malaria or to prevent the re-establishment of malaria from recently eliminated countries, the COVID-19 pandemic has the potential to cause major interruptions to ongoing anti-malaria operations and risk jeopardizing the gains that have been made so far. Sri Lanka, having eliminated malaria in 2012, was certified by the World Health Organization as a malaria-free country in 2016 and now implements a rigorous programme to prevent its re-establishment owing to the high receptivity and vulnerability of the country to malaria. Sri Lanka has also dealt with the COVID-19 epidemic quite successfully limiting the cumulative number of infections and deaths through co-ordinated efforts between the health sector and other relevant sectors, namely the military, the Police Department, Departments of Airport and Aviation and Foreign Affairs, all of which have been deployed for the COVID-19 epidemic under the umbrella of a Presidential Task Force. The relevance of imported infections and the need for a multi-sectoral response are features common to both the control of the COVID-19 epidemic and the Prevention of Re-establishment (POR) programme for malaria. Sri Lanka’s malaria POR programme has, therefore, creatively integrated its activities with those of the COVID-19 control programme. Through highly coordinated operations the return to the country of Sri Lankan nationals stranded overseas by the COVID-19 pandemic, many from malaria endemic countries, are being monitored for malaria as well as COVID-19 in an integrated case surveillance system under quarantine conditions, to the success of both programmes. Twenty-three imported malaria cases were detected from February to October through 2773 microscopic blood examinations performed for malaria in quarantine centres, this number being not much different to the incidence of imported malaria during the same period last year. This experience highlights the importance of integrated case surveillance and the need for a highly coordinated multi-sectoral approach in dealing with emerging new infections. It also suggests that synergies between the COVID-19 epidemic control programme and other health programmes may be found and developed to the advantage of both.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rajeesh Kumar N.V. ◽  
Arun M. ◽  
Baraneetharan E. ◽  
Stanly Jaya Prakash J. ◽  
Kanchana A. ◽  
...  

Purpose Many investigations are going on in monitoring, contact tracing, predicting and diagnosing the COVID-19 disease and many virologists are urgently seeking to create a vaccine as early as possible. Even though there is no specific treatment for the pandemic disease, the world is now struggling to control the spread by implementing the lockdown worldwide and giving awareness to the people to wear masks and use sanitizers. The new technologies, including the Internet of things (IoT), are gaining global attention towards the increasing technical support in health-care systems, particularly in predicting, detecting, preventing and monitoring of most of the infectious diseases. Similarly, it also helps in fighting against COVID-19 by monitoring, contract tracing and detecting the COVID-19 pandemic by connection with the IoT-based smart solutions. IoT is the interconnected Web of smart devices, sensors, actuators and data, which are collected in the raw form and transmitted through the internet. The purpose of this paper is to propose the concept to detect and monitor the asymptotic patients using IoT-based sensors. Design/methodology/approach In recent days, the surge of the COVID-19 contagion has infected all over the world and it has ruined our day-to-day life. The extraordinary eruption of this pandemic virus placed the World Health Organization (WHO) in a hazardous position. The impact of this contagious virus and scarcity among the people has forced the world to get into complete lockdown, as the number of laboratory-confirmed cases is increasing in millions all over the world as per the records of the government. Findings COVID-19 patients are either symptomatic or asymptotic. Symptomatic patients have symptoms such as fever, cough and difficulty in breathing. But patients are also asymptotic, which is very difficult to detect and monitor by isolating them. Originality/value Asymptotic patients are very hazardous because without knowing that they are infected, they might spread the infection to others, also asymptotic patients might be having very serious lung damage. So, earlier prediction and monitoring of asymptotic patients are mandatory to save their life and prevent them from spreading.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Paola Cesari ◽  
Michele Modenese ◽  
Sara Benedetti ◽  
Mehran Emadi Andani ◽  
Mirta Fiorio

Abstract Hypnosis can be considered an altered state of consciousness in which individuals produce movements under suggestion without apparent voluntary control. Despite its application in contexts implying motor control, evidence for the neurophysiological mechanisms underlying hypnosis is scarce. Inter-individual differences in hypnotic susceptibility suggest that sensorimotor strategies may manifest in a hypnotic state. We tested by means of transcranial magnetic stimulation applied over the primary motor cortex whether motor system activation during a motor imagery task differs in the awake and in the hypnotic state. To capture individual differences, 30 healthy volunteers were classified as high or low hypnotizable (Highs and Lows) according to ad-hoc validated scales measuring hypnotic susceptibility and personality questionnaires. Corticospinal activation during motor imagery in the hypnotic state was greater in the Highs than the Lows. Intrinsic motivation in task performance and level of persuasion modulated corticospinal activation in the Highs. Corticospinal system activation under hypnosis may have practical implications that merit research in areas where hypnosis can be applied to improve motor performance, such as loss of motor abilities and sports.


NeuroImage ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 184 ◽  
pp. 36-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
David M.A. Mehler ◽  
Angharad N. Williams ◽  
Florian Krause ◽  
Michael Lührs ◽  
Richard G. Wise ◽  
...  

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 222-237
Author(s):  
Aruni Wijayath

Female genital mutilation (FGM) is a ritual and religious and cultural practice among the Moor, Malay and Dawoodi Bohra ethnic communities in Sri Lanka. The process of FGM is ensconced from the general public in Sri Lanka; therefore, few pieces of research pertaining to the practice of FGM are available. A considerable number of international organizations profess that the percentage of FGM/cutting is zero in Sri Lanka through their reports, although newspaper articles and country reports disclose that FGM actually exists among the Muslim community in Sri Lanka. The knowledge regarding the process of FGM is in the backwater in Sri Lanka, even though a considerable number of feminism activists have created a platform to discuss the bad consequences emerging from this harmful practice. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 30 countries of African Region, selected countries in the Middle East, and countries of Asian Region practice this custom among the female community in some ethnic and religious groups. Through this practice, the female community has not gained any advantage or benefit. The purpose of this research is to explore the municipal laws and human rights regarding FGM in the Sri Lankan context. Furthermore, international conventions which are ratified by Sri Lanka will be analysed in this manner. This research is mainly based on the normative method and retrieved Internet documentary analysis in a qualitative manner.


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