Search for: All records

Aspiration is the most serious complication of dysphagia, which may lead to pneumonia. Detection of aspiration is limited by the presence of its signs like coughing and choking, which may be absent in many cases. High resolution cervical auscultations (HRCA) represent a promising non-invasive method intended for the detection of swallowing disorders. In this study, we investigate the potential of HRCA in detection of penetration-aspiration in patients suspected of dysphagia. A variety of features were extracted from HRCA in both time and frequency domains and they were tested for association with the presence of penetration-aspiration. Multiple classifiers were implemented also for aspiration detection using the extracted signal features. The results showed the presence of strong association between some HRCA signal features and penetration-aspiration, furthermore, they direct towards future directions to enhance prediction capability of aspiration using HRCA signals. 

Robotic grasping is successful when a robot can sense and grasp an object without letting it slip. Beyond industrial robotic tasks, there are two main robotic grasping methods. The first is planning-based grasping where the object geometry is known beforehand and stable grasps are calculated using algorithms [1]. The second uses tactile feedback. Currently, there are capacitive sensors placed beneath stiff pads on the front of robotic fingers [2]. With post-execution grasp adjustment procedures to estimate grasp stability, a support vector machine classifier can distinguish stable and unstable grasps. The accuracy across the classes of tested objects is 81% [1]. We are proposing to improve the classifier's accuracy by wrapping flexible sensors around the robotic finger to gain information from the edges and sides of the finger. 

Abstract Studies of electrosensory systems have led to insights into a number of general issues in biology. However, investigations of these systems have been limited by the inability to precisely control spatial patterns of electrosensory input. In this paper, an electrode array and a system to selectively stimulate spatially restricted regions of an electroreceptor array are presented. The array has 96 channels consisting of chrome/gold electrodes patterned on a flexible parylene‐C substrate and encapsulated with another parylene‐C layer. The conformability of the electrode array allows for optimal current driving and surface interface conditions. Recordings of neural activity at the first central processing stage in weakly electric mormyrid fish support the potential of this system for high spatial resolution stimulation and mapping of electrosensory systems. 

Flexible electronic technologies offer the potential for the co-integration of mechanical sensors that measure the state of the flexible surface under actuation or deformation. This format of sensor offers significant opportunities for the instrumentation of existing systems for a range of applications such as touch, measurement of acoustic field, and the detection of deformation modes of a system. Beyond the instrumentation of existing systems, flexible devices can themselves serve as actuators, allowing for sheet-based robotic devices, as well as the development of sensor formats for challenging applications.