Correction: Liu et al. Research on Building DSM Fusion Method Based on Adaptive Spline and Target Characteristic Guidance. Information 2021, 12, 467

Missing Citation [...]

Towards an intraoperative feedback system for laparoscopic access with the Veress needle

About 50 % of complications during laparoscopy occur when surgical access is created. The Veress needle and proposed technical alternatives do not provide reliable information to support the surgeons in guiding the needle, or the feedback is not clearly perceivable. Based on acoustic emissions, Surgical Audio Guidance (SURAG) proposes a non-invasive and efficient way to enhance the perception of guidance information through acoustic and visual feedback displayed in real-time. This article demonstrates that the developed feedback matches the information about tissue layer crossings provided by force measurements. This indicates that SURAG can provide an effective means to make laparoscopic access more precise and safe, especially in pediatric surgery, where space for placing the needle is minimal.

Automatic Inside Point Localization with Deep Reinforcement Learning for Interactive Object Segmentation

In the task of interactive image segmentation, the Inside-Outside Guidance (IOG) algorithm has demonstrated superior segmentation performance leveraging Inside-Outside Guidance information. Nevertheless, we observe that the inconsistent input between training and testing when selecting the inside point will result in significant performance degradation. In this paper, a deep reinforcement learning framework, named Inside Point Localization Network (IPL-Net), is proposed to infer the suitable position for the inside point to help the IOG algorithm. Concretely, when a user first clicks two outside points at the symmetrical corner locations of the target object, our proposed system automatically generates the sequence of movement to localize the inside point. We then perform the IOG interactive segmentation method for precisely segmenting the target object of interest. The inside point localization problem is difficult to define as a supervised learning framework because it is expensive to collect image and their corresponding inside points. Therefore, we formulate this problem as Markov Decision Process (MDP) and then optimize it with Dueling Double Deep Q-Network (D3QN). We train our network on the PASCAL dataset and demonstrate that the network achieves excellent performance.

Vibrotactile-Based Operational Guidance System for Space Science Experiments

On-orbit astronauts and scientists on the ground need to cooperate closely, to complete space science experiments efficiently. However, for the increasingly diverse space science experiments, scientists are unable to train astronauts on the ground about the details of each experiment. The traditional interaction of visual and auditory channels is not enough for scientists to directly guide astronauts to experimentalize. An intuitive and transparent interaction interface between scientists and astronauts has to be built to meet the requirements of space science experiments. Therefore, this paper proposed a vibrotactile guidance system for cooperation between scientists and astronauts. We utilized Kinect V2 sensors to track the movements of the participants of space science experiments, process data in the virtual experimental environment developed by Unity 3D, and provide astronauts with different guidance instructions using the wearable vibrotactile device. Compared with other schemes using only visual and auditory channels, our approach provides more direct and more efficient guidance information that astronauts perceive is what they need to perform different tasks. Three virtual space science experiment tasks verified the feasibility of the vibrotactile operational guidance system. Participants were able to complete the experimental task with a short period of training, and the experimental results show that the method has an application prospect.

Exploring the Planning and Configuration of the Hospital Wayfinding System by Space Syntax: A Case Study of Cheng Ching Hospital, Chung Kang Branch in Taiwan

With regard to the outpatient areas of a hospital, the smoothness of the route is now taken into consideration in the process of configuring the wayfinding system. As patients often spend time on ineffective wayfinding processes, and there is limited manpower at hospitals and a lack of clarity in the information provided by the wayfinding system, it is difficult to provide effective and timely consultation services for patients. This study was conducted at Cheng Ching Hospital, Chung Kang Branch (CCH/CKB) in Taiwan. This study attempts to investigate the relationships between the wayfinding system of the outpatient areas and the patients’ behaviors in the hospital. Depthmap software based on space syntax is adopted to assist in the route analysis and wayfinding behaviors. It integrates axial mapping analysis and isovist analysis and gives suggestions on the location, format and content of the wayfinding system. The final results of the study show that in the wayfinding task experiment gender has no significant impact on the effect of wayfinding efficiency, while a significant difference is found for age. Older people need more time to complete the wayfinding task, which means that they have poorer performance in wayfinding efficiency. The analysis of the results of space syntax shows that a good wayfinding system should be a symmetric tree-branch structure rather than circular structure in a medical building, that areas where it is easy to become lost should have a clear signage guiding system planning and configuration, and that clear guidance information should be provided to the patients to achieve the goal of saving consultation time and improving the quality of the medical environment.

Sistem Informasi Bimbingan Skripsi Menggunakan Metode Rapid Application Development Berbasis User Centered Design

Thesis is the result of a scientific research paper written and adapted to the scientific rules that apply in writing and the process of working on a thesis, usually students are guided by two supervisors. Because during the pandemic and the difficulty of consulting with supervisors and the establishment of health protocols to avoid the impact of the spread of the COVID-19 virus, the author intends to build a Thesis Guidance Information System application that can be accessed online and based on a website and facilitates the thesis implementation process. Features contained in the system include students who can submit ideas and thesis titles and can see notifications of ideas and thesis titles being rejected or not. Students who carry out theses can be ensured that they are supervised by their supervisors, therefore supervisors can guide their students using the application and can carry out online sessions and seminars. The thesis guidance information system is designed using the Model View Controller architecture which separates the user interface, data and control. This object-oriented system development model uses the Unified Modeling Language model which aims to analyze and model applications designed using Model View Controller-based architecture. The software development method used in the development of this system is Rapid Application Development because it has relatively simple features. The User Centered Design approach is that users in every stage of system development are also involved, so that the system formed can be used according to system needs.

Optimization Model of Regional Traffic Signs for Inducement at Road Works

A variety of pipelines are distributed under urban roads. The upgrading of pipelines is bound to occupy certain road resources, compress the driving space of motor vehicles for a long time, aggravate the traffic congestion in the construction section, and then affect the traffic operation of the whole region. A reasonable layout of traffic signs for inducement to guide the traffic flow in the area where the construction section is located is conducive to promoting a balanced distribution of traffic flow in the regional road network, so as to achieve the reduction of automobile exhaust emissions and the sustainable development of traffic. In this paper, the layout optimization method of regional traffic signs for inducement is proposed. Taking the maximum amount of guidance information that the regional traffic signs can provide as the objective function, and taking the traffic volume, the characteristics of intersection nodes and the standard deviation of road saturation as the independent variables, the layout optimization model of guidance facilities is constructed, which can optimize the layout of traffic guidance signs in the area affected by the construction section, and achieve the goal that the minimum number of facilities can provide the maximum amount of guidance information. The results of the case study show that among the 64 alternative locations where traffic guidance signs can be set in the study area, eight optimal locations are finally determined as the setting points of guidance facilities through this model, and the effective increment of guidance information is the largest at this time. The model proposed in this paper can be used for reference to promote the sustainable development of traffic in the area where the construction section is located.