Computer-aided Monitoring System Research Articles

Hybrid visual information analysis for on-site occupational hazards identification: A case study on stairway safety

Slip, trip and fall (STF) are the leading type of fatalities in the construction industry and most occupational STF accidents on stairs occur when construction workers unconsciously violate safety rules due to inattentiveness and hastiness. Thus, computer-aided monitoring systems is becoming increasingly important for on-site occupational safety management. However, construction site scenes generally contain a variety of different entities (e.g., individuals, facilities), which places a higher demand on the hybrid visual information understanding capability of the scenes of computer-aided monitoring systems. This paper presents a novel hybrid visual information analysis framework. First, a visual information extraction module integrating the state-of-the-art instance segmentation and pose estimation models is proposed to obtain hybrid on-site entities information. Subsequently, hazards are identified with an original geometric relationship analysis algorithm and the identification performance is further enhanced using time series analysis. Two hybrid visual information analysis frameworks, i.e., HVIA-BU and HVIA-TD, are proposed based on bottom-up and top-down pose estimation models, respectively. We implemented and experimentally evaluated different architectures of each framework in terms of both identification performance and inference speed to address the different on-site hardware requirements. As an initial application of the proposed framework for on-site occupational hazards identification, we performed the experiments with handrail-related compliance as a case study. The proposed hybrid visual information analysis framework HVIA-TD achieved high precision (0.9826) and recall (0.9535), outperforming the single visual information analysis framework SVIA (with a precision of 0.9551 and a recall of 0.9121).

Application of a Novel Computer-Aided System to Monitor Cardiac Activity in a Mussel Undergoing Starfish Predation.

AbstractWe explored a modified, computer-aided monitoring system for continuous, long-term recording of Bivalvia cardiac activity. To estimate the capabilities of this system, we used it to monitor the cardiac activity of a mussel (Mytilus edulis) under predation threat from a starfish (Asterias rubens). In addition, we used a web camera to track the behavioral responses of these animals. Compared to its state during normal feeding activity, the mussel's heart rate showed no significant changes when the mussel was near the starfish. However, when the mussel was attacked by the starfish, its heart rate and contraction power (i.e., amplitude) increased and subsequently decreased down to the absence of any heartbeats within 2.5 hours. The results obtained in this study proved the usefulness of this new system as a stress-monitoring tool.

Wavelet Sub-bands Features-based ECG Signal Quality Assessment Scheme for Computer-aided Monitoring System

Electrocardiogram (ECG) signal quality assessment (SQA) is a crucial step for improving the performance and reliability of medical diagnostics in computer-aided monitoring systems. Most of the existing ECG SQA methods utilize QRS complex and R-peak information-based features, where the quality assessment performance degrades due to improper detection of R-peaks. Unlike the existing machine learning-based ECG SQA approaches, this work proposes an efficient wavelet sub-bands features-based SQA scheme by avoiding the utilization of R-peak-based features. Sub-band levels features are extracted by incorporating the frequency localization property of wavelet transform (WT). Furthermore, the features are applied to machine learning-based classifier to assess the signal quality. Simulation study and results show that the proposed scheme exhibits an assessment accuracy of 98.11% on the simulated dataset, 99.12% on single channel ECG dataset of Physionet: Computing in Cardiology Challenge (PCinCC) and 97.32% on real arrhythmia dataset: Massachusetts Institute of Technology-Beth Israel Hospital database (MITDB). An in-depth study of the results illustrates that the proposed ECG SQA technique can be utilized for improving the reliability of modern automated computer-aided cardiac monitoring systems.

Endogenous cardiac activity rhythms of continental slope Nephrops norvegicus (decapoda: nephropidae)

The endogenous cardiac activity rhythm of the Norway lobster Nephrops norvegicus was studied under constant conditions of darkness by means of a computer-aided monitoring system (CAPMON). Time series recordings of the heart rate (beats min−1) were obtained from 47 adult males freshly collected from the continental slope (400–430 m) in the western Mediterranean. Periodogram analysis revealed the occurrence of circadian periodicity (of around 24 h) in most cases. A large percentage of animals showed significant ultradian periods (of around 12 and 18 h). The analysis of the circadian time series revealed the occurrence of peaks of heart rate activity during the expected night phase of the cycle. These results are discussed in relation to the emergence and locomotor activity rhythms of the species.

Diagnostics of the Condition of Hydrotechnical Structures with the Help of a Computer-Aided Monitoring System

Diagnostics of the Condition of Hydrotechnical Structures with the Help of a Computer-Aided Monitoring System

Recent technical and management improvements in US inland waterway transportation

Over the last several years, the US inland waterway transportation industry has significantly reduced its fuel consumption and improved its efficiency, with the side effect of less fuel tax collected per ton of cargo carried, despite the increase in cargo traffic. Fuel tax revenues are used for rehabilitation and construction projects in the inland waterway system, hence the US Army Corps of Engineers, providing us with relevant data over the interval in question, asked us to investigate this surprising reduction, and determine the main technical and fleet management improvements that caused it. Our research involved both visits with most major US inland waterway fleets, interviews with their engineers and managers, as well as statistical analysis of the above data. Technical improvements (such as engine plant efficiency increases), lighter, stronger building materials (such as light steel), and improved designs for better hydrodynamics, were not as important compared to management improvements (such as the use of computer-aided monitoring systems and advanced telecommunications, optimized tow configuration and speed, and increased triangular trips as opposed to simple round trips with returns empty). In addition, the demand for less expensive, imported steel for the US has resulted in an increased percentage of fully loaded return trips from New Orleans to the US Midwest, and hence also in increased fleet utilization.

Computer-aided monitoring system for flexible assembly operations

A computer-aided monitoring strategy for flexible assembly operations is presented. This strategy uses knowledge-based expert systems for error detection and diagnosis. The hierarchy of the system is embedded in a blackboard control structure to facilitate parallel, asynchronous communication and to enhance the flexibility of the system. The developed detection and diagnosis modules of the system were validated experimentally on a prototype robotic assembly work cell. The investigation demonstrated the uniqueness of the new system through the elimination of error propagation and the need for event backtracking if an environment change occurs.

Evaluation of computer-aided monitoring of patients after heart surgery

The medical and economic benefits of a computer-aided monitoring system were evaluated in a prospective, randomized study of 810 patients after open-heart surgery. The design of the study separated benefits of systematized postoperative care from benefits unique to the computer system and established measurable criteria by which computer-aided monitoring systems could be objectively evaluated. Criteria for comparison included the rapidity, safety, and smoothness of convalescence and time spent for various nursing activities. The study showed that the computer-aided monitoring system did not provide discernible medical benefits nor favorably affect nursing activities. Downtime of the system averaged 1 day per week. Reliability and accuracy of the system were inadequate and the benefit/cost ratio was low. Future development of computer-aided monitoring systems for open cardiac surgery should stress reliability, accuracy and relevance of the monitored measurements.