Real-time Quality Assessment Research Articles

Quantification of Ultraprecision Surface Morphology using an Algebraic Graph Theoretic Approach

Assessment of progressive, nano-scale variation of surface morphology during ultraprecision manufacturing processes, such as fine-abrasive polishing of semiconductor wafers, is a challenging proposition owing to limitations with traditional surface quantifiers. We present an algebraic graph theoretic approach that uses graph topological invariants for quantification of ultraprecision surface morphology. The graph theoretic approach captures heterogeneous multi-scaled aspects of surface morphology from optical micrographs, and is therefore valuable for in situ real-time assessment of surface quality. Extensive experimental investigations with specular finished (Sa ∼ 5nm) blanket copper wafers from a chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) process suggest that the proposed method was able to quantify and track variations in surface morphology more effectively than statistical quantifiers reported in literature.

Algorithm for automatic forced spirometry quality assessment: technological developments.

We hypothesized that the implementation of automatic real-time assessment of quality of forced spirometry (FS) may significantly enhance the potential for extensive deployment of a FS program in the community. Recent studies have demonstrated that the application of quality criteria defined by the ATS/ERS (American Thoracic Society/European Respiratory Society) in commercially available equipment with automatic quality assessment can be markedly improved. To this end, an algorithm for assessing quality of FS automatically was reported. The current research describes the mathematical developments of the algorithm. An innovative analysis of the shape of the spirometric curve, adding 23 new metrics to the traditional 4 recommended by ATS/ERS, was done. The algorithm was created through a two-step iterative process including: (1) an initial version using the standard FS curves recommended by the ATS; and, (2) a refined version using curves from patients. In each of these steps the results were assessed against one expert's opinion. Finally, an independent set of FS curves from 291 patients was used for validation purposes. The novel mathematical approach to characterize the FS curves led to appropriate FS classification with high specificity (95%) and sensitivity (96%). The results constitute the basis for a successful transfer of FS testing to non-specialized professionals in the community.

Research on No-reference Video Quality Assessment Based on H.264/AVC Bitstream

It is an important part to efficiently evaluate the video quality for user experience in video systems. Traditional video evaluation criterion is strict for testing environment, and is not appropriate for real-time evaluation on network vid- eo. No-reference video quality assessment doesn't require any information of original video, which makes it meet the characteristics of high real-time evaluation on network video image quality and small resource reduction. By extracting key parameters distorted by characteristic video in H.264/AVC video stream flow including quantification parameter, en- coding rate and bits of each macro block of coding video, the paper establishes no-reference video quality assessment model from the space complexity and time complexity of video. For the model, not only the model is not complicated, and can meet the requirement of real-time quality assessment of video, the simulation test but also proves that the correlation between the algorithm and subjective assessment value is high, which meets visual perception feature of human eye.

Awareness of Routine, Anonymous Video Recording Does Not Improve Quality of Colonoscopy

Introduction: There is no conclusive evidence that routine video recording of endoscopic procedures such as colonoscopy improves quality of colonoscopy: at least 1 study suggests a significant improvement in quality [AJG 2010;105:2312], whereas another study shows that 4 out of 5 cancers were missed during colonoscopy with video recording [AJR 2007;189:672]. We aim to determine whether endoscopist awareness of routine, anonymous recording of the entire procedure improves quality of colonoscopy. Methods: Seven endoscopy rooms were equipped with real-time video capture workstations able to provide real-time feedback [AJG 2012;107:S596]. The workstations run real-time software Endoscopic Multimedia Information System (EMIS) 24 hours per day, able to determine when an endoscope enters or leaves a patient and in fully automated fashion record as video file the entire image stream obtained during the inside-the-patient part of the procedure. We randomized the endoscopy rooms to either no feedback (Control) or feedback (FB); FB consisted of the message EMIS ON in the right lower corner before the endoscope entered a patient and EMIS INSIDE during the inside-the-patient part of the procedure. In addition, at the end of insertion the RN in the room was asked to activate the FB system by pushing a keypad button that resulted in the message WITHDRAWAL. No other type of feedback was provided; all recording was anonymous. All video files where manually annotated for start, beginning of withdrawal phase, and end of procedure images, and then analyzed using an automated pipeline for a large number of features associated with quality [Gastroenterol 2014;146:S728]. Results: A total of 2,407 video files were obtained; 1,202 of patients in the Control group and 1,205 of patients in the FB group. Within the FB group, the RNs did not activate EMIS in 510 patients (FBminimal) and activated EMIS in 695 patients (FB-full). Clear withdrawal time (mean±SD 9.2±5.9, 9.4±6.0, 9.2±6.5 min), removal of remaining debris (BBPS -.22±0.49, -.24±.42, -.24±.68), circumferential withdrawal score (10.1±6.3, 10.2±6.5, 10.7±6.3) and an overall score of quality as previously described (3.1±2.2, 3.0±2.2, 3.2±2.3) were identical among the 3 groups (Control, FB-minimal; FB-full, respectively; p≥0.12 for all evaluations). Within each group there was large variation in measured quality, large but similar SDs. Endoscopists were informed that all video recording was anonymous and had no implications for the endoscopist. Conclusion: Routine, anonymous video recording does not improve quality of colonoscopy. Future studies need to assess whether identifiable real-time video recording and assessment of quality with FB, linked to adenoma detection rate, can improve quality of colonoscopy. Disclosure - Drs. de Groen, Tavanapong, Wong and Oh - intellectual property rights and royalties less than $5000 per year. Drs. Tavanapong, Wong and Oh - employees of EndoMetric.

Ultrasensitive detection of waste products in water using fluorescence emission cavity-enhanced spectroscopy.

Clean water is paramount to human health. In this article, we present a technique for detection of trace amounts of human or animal waste products in water using fluorescence emission cavity-enhanced spectroscopy. The detection of femtomolar concentrations of urobilin, a metabolic byproduct of heme metabolism that is excreted in both human and animal waste in water, was achieved through the use of an integrating cavity. This technique could allow for real-time assessment of water quality without the need for expensive laboratory equipment.

Determination of changes in wastewater quality through a treatment works using fluorescence spectroscopy

Fluorescence spectroscopy was used to characterize municipal wastewater at various stages of treatment in order to understand how its fluorescence signature changes with treatment and how the signal relates to biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and chemical oxygen demand (COD). The impact of size fractionation on the fluorescence signal was also investigated. Fluorescence measurements were taken for unfiltered and filtered (0.45 and 0.20 μm) samples of crude, settled and secondary treated wastewater (activated sludge and trickling filter), and final effluent. Good correlations were observed for unfiltered, diluted wastewater samples between BOD and fluorescence intensity at excitation 280 nm, emission 350 nm (Peak T1) (r=0.92) and between COD and Peak T1 intensity (r=0.85). The majority of the T1 and T2 signal was found to be derived from the<0.20 μm fraction. Initial results indicate that fluorescence spectroscopy, and changes in Peak T1 intensity in particular, could be used for continuous, real-time wastewater quality assessment and process control of wastewater treatment works.

Evaluation and Real-Time Monitoring of Data Quality in Electrical Impedance Tomography

Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) is a noninvasive method to image conductivity distributions within a body. One promising application of EIT is to monitor ventilation in patients as a real-time bedside tool. Thus, it is essential that an EIT system reliably provide meaningful information, or alert clinicians when this is impossible. Because the reconstructed images are very sensitive to system instabilities (primarily from electrode connection variability and movement), EIT systems should continuously monitor and, if possible, correct for such errors. Motivated by this requirement, we describe a novel approach to quantitatively measure EIT data quality. Our goals are to define the requirements of a data quality metric, develop a metric q which meets these requirements, and an efficient way to calculate it. The developed metric q was validated using data from saline tank experiments and a retrospective clinical study. Additionally, we show that q may be used to compare the performance of EIT systems using phantom measurements. Results suggest that the calculated metric reflects well the quality of reconstructed EIT images for both phantom and clinical data. The proposed measure can thus be used for real-time assessment of EIT data quality and, hence, to indicate the reliability of any derived physiological information.

Flexible Approach to Sensors Arrays Nanopatterning for Real-Time Water Contaminants Monitoring Platform

This paper reports on the development of a flexible nanopatterning approach using the NanoeNablerTM to manufacture miniaturised sensor arrays platform for real-time water quality assessment. Traditionally biosensors are fabricated by lithography, screen printing, inkjet printing, spin-or deep-coating methods to immobilize the sensing element onto substrate pre-patterned with electrodes. NanoeNablerTM patterning method is benchmarked against other currently adapted approaches for cost-effective sensors arrays manufacture. Sensors measuring ~1 µm diameter or more can be patterned for further employment in molecularly imprinted polymer structures. Notably, the dimensions of the sensor depend on the fluid being patterned and on the interaction forces between the substrate and the patterning tool. Thus, careful selecting of patterning parameters is vital for repeatable and controlled manufacture of sensors to guarantee superior sensitivity. The reported nanopatterning method is capable of accurately placing attoliter to femtoliter volumes of liquids, including proteins and DNAs, onto any substrate, thus making it an ideal technology for biomedical sensors. A custom-made 1 cm2 silicon wafer with 48 interdigited electrodes sensor heads was used as a platform for the multi-sensor array with potential use in a wide range of real-time monitoring applications.

In-service Real-time and Continuous Objective Video Quality Assessment for DTV Broadcasting

This article presents a simple and reasonable in-service, real-time, and continuous single-ended objective video quality assessment model for DTV broadcasting using a multiburst signal at the bottom of the transient effect area, similar to Vertical Interval Test Signals. The issue of in-service video-quality monitoring in DTV broadcasting is addressed, and an effective method of quality monitoring is presented. The proposed method is also implemented and tested in a range of situations using a simulated HDTV broadcasting network.

Real-Time Video Quality Assessment Methods Based on No-Reference for Video Conference System

After a deep investigation on the performance measure of the video conference and the video quality assessment methods, the whole plan of video quality assessment (VQA) for video conference system is proposed. Without reference video source, a novel No-Reference (NR) VQA method based on both the coding layer information and the packet layer transmission performance is introduced. The experimental result shows that the proposed method can obtain the dependable score which close to the subjective assessment.

The impact of emerging standards adoption on automated quality reporting

Current quality measurement processes are labor-intensive, involving manual chart reviews and use of paper-based quality measures that vary in format and definitions from measure to measure. Automated quality reporting is considered by many to be an important tool that will help close the gaps in the quality of US health by increasing the timeliness, effectiveness, and use of quality assessment. In 2007, the US Department of Health and Human Services Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) funded three Nationwide Health Information Network (NHIN) health information exchanges (HIE) to demonstrate the feasibility of automated quality reporting by using existing or emerging standards to aggregate information from multiple providers, transmit patient-level quality data in standardized formats, perform an automated quality assessment, and generate a quality report document for electronic transmission. Long Beach Network for Health (LBNH), a NHIN Cooperative HIE, developed a web-based, real-time quality assessment service that calculates quality of care measure using clinical data aggregated through a HIE. LBNH used a set of draft standards to demonstrate automated quality reporting, but noted three important recommendations for future work. First, greater coordination is needed around initiatives that address the gaps in electronic quality measurement standards and processes, including strong Federal involvement and guidance. Second, a harmonized, evergreen quality use case is needed to provide stakeholders with a common understanding on the constantly evolving approaches towards automated quality measurement and reporting. Finally, there needs to be substantial investment in building on existing work and developing a comprehensive set of data and messaging standards to preserve semantic interoperability of quality measure data.

Utilization of multiple organisms in a proposed early-warning biomonitoring system for real-time detection of contaminants: preliminary results and modeling

During past decades, biomonitors were deployed in lakes and rivers to rapidly detect hazardous chemicals by measuring the endpoints of a single aquatic species at defined short intervals. Most biomonitors, however, are only capable of indicating a departure from baseline water conditions without identifying the cause. In order to provide a more comprehensive assessment, a biomonitoring system which features a library of stereotyped responses of multiple aquatic species in various water conditions is proposed. A preliminary library was constructed by characterizing the behavioural and physiological responses of Daphnia magna, Hyalella azteca, Lumbriculus variegatus, and Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata to various concentrations of atrazine and tributyltin. By employing multivariate statistical tools such as principal component analysis (PCA) and discriminant analysis, this library (which contained responses after 6h of exposure to contaminants) was used as a template to classify and to model other sets of earlier measurements at 2 and 4h, resulting in an accuracy of 73 and 97%, respectively. These findings demonstrated the potential capability of the proposed early-warning biomonitoring system to provide real-time water quality assessment and early-warning contaminant detection.

Onboard Tagging for Real-Time Quality Assessment of Photoplethysmograms Acquired by a Wireless Reflectance Pulse Oximeter

Onboard assessment of photoplethysmogram (PPG) quality could reduce unnecessary data transmission on battery-powered wireless pulse oximeters and improve the viability of the electronic patient records to which these data are stored. These algorithms show promise to increase the intelligence level of former "dumb" medical devices: devices that acquire and forward data but leave data interpretation to the clinician or host system. To this end, the authors have developed a unique onboard feature detection algorithm to assess the quality of PPGs acquired with a custom reflectance mode, wireless pulse oximeter. The algorithm uses a Bayesian hypothesis testing method to analyze four features extracted from raw and decimated PPG data in order to determine whether the original data comprise valid PPG waveforms or whether they are corrupted by motion or other environmental influences. Based on these results, the algorithm further calculates heart rate and blood oxygen saturation from a "compact representation" structure. PPG data were collected from 47 subjects to train the feature detection algorithm and to gauge their performance. A MATLAB interface was also developed to visualize the features extracted, the algorithm flow, and the decision results, where all algorithm-related parameters and decisions were ascertained on the wireless unit prior to transmission. For the data sets acquired here, the algorithm was 99% effective in identifying clean, usable PPGs versus nonsaturated data that did not demonstrate meaningful pulsatile waveshapes, PPGs corrupted by motion artifact, and data affected by signal saturation.

Quality evaluation of residential houses: the development of a real-time quality assessment tool

The construction industry has been heavily affected by the economic crisis. Product differentiation and cost reduction through improved qualities could be the way out. However, applying quality control to the construction industry is a challenging task since construction projects are highly customised, constituting the application of statistical process control principles extremely difficult. This paper presents the constituting elements of a real-time quality assessment tool for the residential housing sector. It has been designed to be used primarily for internal company purposes. In particular, utilising the tool for assessing, in real-time, the quality of the projects currently in-progress and comparing the quality of completed projects and consequently drawing conclusions about the company’s quality progress. The tool’s structure comprises of 1 a model of the construction process 2 a checklist 3 a quality scoring algorithm 4 an application methodology 5 an accompanied software tool. The forthcoming challenge of the research team is to pilot test the tool and evaluate its results.

An Algorithm for Real-Time Blind Image Quality Comparison and Assessment

This research aims at providing means to image comparison from different image processing algorithms for performance assessment purposes. Reconstruction of images corrupted by blur and noise requires specialized filtering techniques. Due to the immense effect of these corruptive parameters, it is often impossible to evaluate the quality of a reconstructed image produced by one technique versus another. The algorithm presented here is capable of performing this comparison analytically and quantitatively at a low computational cost (real-time) and high efficiency. The parameters used for comparison are the degree of blurriness, information content, and the amount of various types of noise associated with the reconstructed image. Based on a heuristic analysis of these parameters the algorithm assesses the reconstructed image and quantify the quality of the image by characterizing important aspects of visual quality. Extensive effort has been set forth to obtain real-world noise and blur conditions so that the various test cases presented here could justify the validity of this approach well. The tests performed on the database of images produced valid results for the algorithms consistently. This paper presents the description and validation (along with test results) of the proposed algorithm for blind image quality assessment. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.11591/ijece.v2i1.112 Full Text: PDF

Real-time assessment of critical quality attributes of a continuous granulation process

There exists the intention to shift pharmaceutical manufacturing of solid dosage forms from traditional batch production towards continuous production. The currently applied conventional quality control systems, based on sampling and time-consuming off-line analyses in analytical laboratories, would annul the advantages of continuous processing. It is clear that real-time quality assessment and control is indispensable for continuous production. This manuscript evaluates strengths and weaknesses of several complementary Process Analytical Technology (PAT) tools implemented in a continuous wet granulation process, which is part of a fully continuous from powder-to-tablet production line. The use of Raman and NIR-spectroscopy and a particle size distribution analyzer is evaluated for the real-time monitoring of critical parameters during the continuous wet agglomeration of an anhydrous theophylline− lactose blend. The solid state characteristics and particle size of the granules were analyzed in real-time and the critical process parameters influencing these granule characteristics were identified. The temperature of the granulator barrel, the amount of granulation liquid added and, to a lesser extent, the powder feed rate were the parameters influencing the solid state of the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API). A higher barrel temperature and a higher powder feed rate, resulted in larger granules.

Automated extraction of Quality Oncology Practice Initiative (QOPI) quality measures from the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) electronic health record system.

e16560 Background: ASCO’s QOPI is a program that requires manual data abstraction of medical record data to measure quality of cancer care, a necessary component of quality improvement programs. Improving quality of care for veterans is a long-standing goal of the VHA. The VHA’s electronic health record (EHR) is a fully integrated health information system used in all VA healthcare settings. It is unknown whether automated data extraction from the VHA EHR is feasible to assess quality of cancer care. Methods: Using non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) as an example, we examined the quality measure data elements needed to assess the fall 2010 QOPI measures. We then determined which data elements could be electronically collated from the VHA EHR. To complement and improve upon this method, we designed and implemented a note template in the VHA EHR at the Durham VA Medical Center. This template allows the oncologist to enter at the time of care delivery those required data elements not currently electronically retrievable from the EHR in a structured format suitable for automated retrieval. Results: Based on data currently in the EHR not including data in the note template, data elements for 7/25 (28%) core measures, 7/9 (78%) symptom/toxicity management measures, 9/16 (56%) end-of-life measures and 0/9 (0%) NSCLC QOPI measures can be obtained automatically. Combined with data from the note template, data elements for 16/25 (64%) Core measures, 9/9 (100%) symptom/toxicity management measures, 14/16 (88%) end-of-life measures and 100% (9/9) NSCLC QOPI measures are able to be obtained electronically. Conclusions: A majority of data required to assess adherence with QOPI measures are readily available in the VHA EHR, particularly for measures common for all cancers. A note template is useful for structuring and capturing electronic data for cancer-specific measures. A comparison of manually abstracted data from the Fall 2010 QOPI data collection to electronically captured data will be available by June 2011. Embedding quality measures into the VHA’s EHR system will allow real time quality assessment and improvement in cancer care.

Discrete quality assessment in IPTV content distribution networks

Maintaining the quality of videos in resource-intensive IPTV services is challenging due to the nature of packet-based content distribution networks (CDN). Network impairments are unpredictable and highly detrimental to the quality of video content. Quality of the end user experience (QoE) has become a critical service differentiator. An efficient real-time quality assessment service in distribution networks is the foundation of service quality monitoring and management. The perceptual impact of individual impairments varies significantly and is influenced by complex impact factors. Without differentiating the impact of quality violation events to the user experience, existing assessment methodologies based on network QoS such as packet loss rate cannot provide adequate supports for the IPTV service assessment. A discrete perceptual impact evaluation quality assessment (DEQA) framework is introduced in this paper. The proposed framework enables a real-time, non-intrusive assessment service by efficiently recognising and assessing individual quality violation events in the IPTV distribution network. The discrete perceptual impacts to a media session are aggregated for the overall user level quality evaluation. With its deployment scheme the DEQA framework also facilitates efficient network diagnosis and QoE management. To realise the key assessment function of the framework and investigate the proposed advanced packet inspection mechanism, we also introduce the dedicated evaluation testbed—the LA2 system. A subjective experiment with data analysis is also presented to demonstrate the development of perceptual impact assessment functions using analytical inference, the tools of the LA2 system, subjective user tests and statistical modelling.

Fast structural similarity index algorithm

The development of real-time image and video quality assessment algorithms is an important direction on which little research has focused. Towards this end, we present a design of real-time implementable full-reference image/video quality algorithms that are based on the Structural SIMilarity (SSIM) index and multi-scale SSIM (MS-SSIM) index. The proposed algorithms, which modify SSIM/MS-SSIM to achieve speed of execution, were tested on the LIVE Image Quality Database and LIVE Video Quality Database. The experimental results show that the performance of the new, fast algorithms is commensurate with that of SSIM and MS-SSIM, but with much lower computational complexity. Indeed, the proposed Fast MS-SSIM algorithm is 10 times faster (lower complexity) than the MS-SSIM algorithm, while the proposed Fast SSIM is 2.68 times faster than SSIM without parallel computing optimization.

Continuous Real-time Viability Assessment of Kidneys Based on Oxygen Consumption

Background Current ex vivo quality assessment of donor kidneys is limited to vascular resistance measurements and histological analysis. New techniques for the assessment of organ quality before transplantation may further improve clinical outcomes while expanding the depleted deceased-donor pool. We propose the measurement of whole organ oxygen consumption rate (WOOCR) as a method to assess the quality of kidneys in real time before transplantation. Methods Five porcine kidneys were procured using a donation after cardiac death (DCD) model. The renal artery and renal vein were cannulated and the kidney connected to a custom-made hypothermic machine perfusion (HMP) system equipped with an inline oxygenator and fiber-optic oxygen sensors. Kidneys were perfused at 8°C, and the perfusion parameters and partial oxygen pressures (pO 2) were measured to calculate WOOCR. Results Without an inline oxygenator, the pO 2 of the perfusion solution at the arterial inlet and venous outlet diminished to near 0 within minutes. However, once adequate oxygenation was provided, a significant pO 2 difference was observed and used to calculate the WOOCR. The WOOCR was consistently measured from presumably healthy kidneys, and results suggest that it can be used to differentiate between healthy and purposely damaged organs. Conclusions Custom-made HMP systems equipped with an oxygenator and inline oxygen sensors can be applied for WOOCR measurements. We suggest that WOOCR is a promising approach for the real-time quality assessment of kidneys and other organs during preservation before transplantation.