• IEMEK Journal of Embedded Systems and Applications
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.277-283
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• 2023

Vital signals provide essential information regarding the health status of individuals, thereby contributing to health management and medical research. Present monitoring methods, such as ECGs (Electrocardiograms) and smartwatches, demand proximity and fixed postures, which limit their applicability. To address this, Non-contact vital signal measurement methods, such as CW (Continuous-Wave) radar, have emerged as a solution. However, unwanted signal components and a stepwise processing approach lead to errors and limitations in heart rate detection. To overcome these issues, this study introduces an integrated neural network approach that combines noise removal, demodulation, and dominant-frequency detection into a unified process. The neural network employed for signal processing in this research adopts a MLP (Multi-Layer Perceptron) architecture, which analyzes the in-phase and quadrature signals collected within a specified time window, using two distinct input layers. The training of the neural network utilizes CW radar signals and reference heart rates obtained from the ECG. In the experimental evaluation, networks trained on different datasets were compared, and their performance was assessed based on loss and frequency accuracy. The proposed methodology exhibits substantial potential for achieving precise vital signals through non-contact measurements, effectively mitigating the limitations of existing methodologies.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.18 no.12
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• pp.126-134
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• 2017

There have been numerous studies on extracting the R-peak from electrocardiogram (ECG) signals. However, most of the detection methods are complicated to implement in a real-time portable electrocardiograph device and have the disadvantage of requiring a large amount of calculations. R-peak detection requires pre-processing and post-processing related to baseline drift and the removal of noise from the commercial power supply for ECG data. An adaptive filter technique is widely used for R-peak detection, but the R-peak value cannot be detected when the input is lower than a threshold value. Moreover, there is a problem in detecting the P-peak and T-peak values due to the derivation of an erroneous threshold value as a result of noise. We propose a robust R-peak detection algorithm with low complexity and simple computation to solve these problems. The proposed scheme removes the baseline drift in ECG signals using an adaptive filter to solve the problems involved in threshold extraction. We also propose a technique to extract the appropriate threshold value automatically using the minimum and maximum values of the filtered ECG signal. To detect the R-peak from the ECG signal, we propose a threshold neighborhood search technique. Through experiments, we confirmed the improvement of the R-peak detection accuracy of the proposed method and achieved a detection speed that is suitable for a mobile system by reducing the amount of calculation. The experimental results show that the heart rate detection accuracy and sensitivity were very high (about 100%).

• Science of Emotion and Sensibility
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.149-160
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• 2023

This study develops a time-varying system-based noncontact fabric sensor that can measure cerebral blood-flow signals to explore the possibility of brain blood-signal detection and emotional evaluation. The textile sensor was implemented as a coil-type sensor by combining 30 silver threads of 40 deniers and then embroidering it with the computer machine. For the cerebral blood-flow measurement experiment, subjects were asked to attach a coil-type sensor to the carotid artery area, wear an electrocardiogram (ECG) electrode and a respiration (RSP) measurement belt. In addition, Doppler ultrasonography was performed using an ultrasonic diagnostic device to measure the speed of blood flow. The subject was asked to wear Meta Quest 2, measure the blood-flow change signal when viewing the manipulated image visual stimulus, and fill out an emotional-evaluation questionnaire. The measurement results show that the textile-sensor-measured signal also changes with a change in the blood-flow rate signal measured using the Doppler ultrasonography. These findings verify that the cerebral blood-flow signal can be measured using a coil-type textile sensor. In addition, the HRV extracted from ECG and PLL signals (textile sensor signals) are calculated and compared for emotional evaluation. The comparison results show that for the change in the ratio because of the activation of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems due to visual stimulation, the values calculated using the textile sensor and ECG signals tend to be similar. In conclusion, a the proposed time-varying system-based coil-type textile sensor can be used to study changes in the cerebral blood flow and monitor emotions.

• Journal of the Korea Society of Computer and Information
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• v.19 no.12
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• pp.227-237
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• 2014

The purpose of this paper is to implement a multiple bio-signal central monitoring system based on textile fabrics flexible platform which can obtain and monitor bio signals(heart rate, body temperature, electrocardiography, electromyogram) of workers in special working environments and additional situational information (3-axis acceleration, temperature, humidity, illumination, surrounding image). This system can prevent various accidents that may occur in the remote work environment and provide fast and efficient response by detecting workers' situations in real-time. For it, the textile fabrics flexible platform was made as innerwear or outerwear so that it does not interfere with workers' performance while collecting bio-signal and situational information, and obtained information is sent to the central monitoring system through wireless communication. The central monitoring system is based on wireless medical telemetry service of WMTS (Wireless Medical Telemetry Service); can monitor from 2 to 32 people simultaneously; and was designed so that it can be expanded. Also, in this study, to verify performance of the WMTS communication model, packet transmission rates were compared according to the distance.

• Science of Emotion and Sensibility
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.29-34
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• 2002

Our previous studies investigated that narrow field of view (FOV : 50˚) and slow navigation speed decreased the frequency of occurrence and severity of cybersickness during immersion in the virtual reality (VR). It would cause a significant reduction of cybersickness if it were provided cybersickness alleviating virtual environment (CAVE) using biofeedback method whenever subject underwent physiological agitation. For verifying the hypothesis, we constructed a real-time cybersickness detection and feedback system with artificial neural network whose inputs are electrophysiological parameters of blood pulse volume, skin conductance, eye blink, skin temperature, heart period, and EEG. The system temporary provided narrow FOV and decreased speed of navigation as feedback outputs whenever physiological measures signal the occurrence of cybersickness. We examined the frequency and severity of cybersickness from simulator sickness questionnaires and self-report in 36 subjects. All subjects experienced VR two times in CAVE and non-CAVE condition at one-month intervals. The frequency and severity of cybersickness were significantly reduced in CAVE than non-CAVE condition. Virtual environment of narrow FOV and slow navigation provided by electrophysiological features based artificial neural network caused a significant reduction of cybersickness symptoms. These results showed that efficiency of a cybersickness detection system we developed was relatively high and subjects expressed more comfortable in the virtual navigation environment.

• Science of Emotion and Sensibility
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.177-186
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• 2018

The mechanism of emotion is complex and influenced by a variety of factors, so that it is crucial to analyze emotion in broad and diversified perspectives. In this study, we classified neutral and negative emotions(sadness, fear, surprise) using arousal evaluation, which is one of the psychological evaluation scales, as well as physiological signals. We have not only revealed the difference between physiological signals coupled to the emotions, but also assessed how accurate these emotions can be classified by our emotional recognizer based on neural network algorithm. A total of 146 participants(mean age $20.1{\pm}4.0$, male 41%) were emotionally stimulated while their physiological signals of the electrocardiogram, blood flow, and dermal activity were recorded. In addition, the participants evaluated their psychological states on the emotional rating scale in response to the emotional stimuli. Heart rate(HR), standard deviation(SDNN), blood flow(BVP), pulse wave transmission time(PTT), skin conduction level(SCL) and skin conduction response(SCR) were calculated before and after the emotional stimulation. As a result, the difference between physiological responses was verified corresponding to the emotions, and the highest emotion classification performance of 86.9% was obtained using the combined analysis of arousal and physiological features. This study suggests that negative emotion can be categorized by psychological and physiological evaluation along with the application of machine learning algorithm, which can contribute to the science and technology of detecting human emotion.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics and Information Engineers
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• v.50 no.11
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• pp.206-216
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• 2013

The emotion plays a critical role in human's daily life including learning, action, decision and communication. In this paper, emotion discrimination classifier is designed to reduce system complexity through reduced selection of dominant features from biosignals. The photoplethysmography(PPG), skin temperature, skin conductance, fontal and parietal electroencephalography(EEG) signals were measured during 4 types of movie watching associated with the induction of neutral, sad, fear joy emotions. The genetic algorithm with support vector machine(SVM) based fitness function was designed to determine dominant features among 24 parameters extracted from measured biosignals. It shows maximum classification accuracy of 96.4%, which is 17% higher than that of SVM alone. The minimum error features selected are the mean and NN50 of heart rate variability from PPG signal, the mean of PPG induced pulse transit time, the mean of skin resistance, and ${\delta}$ and ${\beta}$ frequency band powers of parietal EEG. The combination of parietal EEG, PPG, and skin resistance is recommendable in high accuracy instrumentation, while the combinational use of PPG and skin conductance(79% accuracy) is affordable in simplified instrumentation.

• Sleep Medicine and Psychophysiology
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.82-91
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• 2018

Objectives: Synchronous electroencephalogram (EEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has been used to explore sleep stage dependent functional brain networks. Despite a growing number of sleep studies using EEG-fMRI, few studies have conducted network analysis on whole night sleep due to difficulty in data acquisition, artifacts, and sleep management within the MRI scanner. Methods: In order to perform network analysis for whole night sleep, we proposed experimental procedures and data processing techniques for EEG-fMRI. We acquired 6-7 hours of EEG-fMRI data per participant and conducted signal processing to reduce artifacts in both EEG and fMRI. We then generated a functional brain atlas with 68 brain regions using independent component analysis of sleep fMRI data. Using this functional atlas, we constructed sleep level dependent functional brain networks. Results: When we evaluated functional connectivity distribution, sleep showed significantly reduced functional connectivity for the whole brain compared to that during wakefulness. REM sleep showed statistically different connectivity patterns compared to non-REM sleep in sleep-related subcortical brain circuits. Conclusion: This study suggests the feasibility of exploring functional brain networks using sleep EEG-fMRI for whole night sleep via appropriate experimental procedures and signal processing techniques for fMRI and EEG.

• Science of Emotion and Sensibility
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.653-662
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• 2011

As technology in 3D industry has rapidly advanced, a lot of studies primarily focusing on visual function and cognition have become vigorous. However, studies on effect of 3D visual fatigue on autonomic nervous system have not less been conducted. Thus, this study was to identify and determine the effect that might have a negative influence on sympathetic nervous system, parasympathetic nervous system, and cardiovascular system. Fifteen undergraduates (female: 9, mean age: $22.53{\pm}2.55$) participated and were sat on a comfortable chair, viewing a 3D content during about 1 hour. Cardiac responses like SDNN(standard deviation of RR intervals), RMS-SD(root mean squared successive difference), and HF/LF ratios extracted from the measured PPG(Photo-PlethysmoGram) before viewing 3D were compared to those after viewing 3D. The results showed that after subjects watched the 3D, responses in sympathetic nervous system and parasympathetic nervous system were activated and deactivated, respectively relative to those before watching the 3D. The results showed that HF/LF ratio, Ln(LF), and Ln(HF) after viewing 3D were significantly reduced relative to those before viewing 3D. No significant effects were observed in SDNN and RMS-SD. Results obtained in this study showed that visual fatigue induced by watching 3D adversely influenced autonomic nervous system, and thereby reduced heart rate variability causing sympathetic nervous acceleration.

• Science of Emotion and Sensibility
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.503-512
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• 2011

Recently in HCI research, emotion recognition is one of the core processes to implement emotional intelligence. There are many studies using bio signals in order to recognize human emotions, but it has been done merely for the basic emotions and very few exists for the other emotions. The purpose of present study is to confirm the difference of autonomic nervous system (ANS) response in three emotions (boredom, pain, and surprise). There were totally 217 of participants (male 96, female 121), we presented audio-visual stimulus to induce boredom and surprise, and pressure by using the sphygmomanometer for pain. During presented emotional stimuli, we measured electrodermal activity (EDA), skin temperature (SKT), electrocardiac activity (ECG) and photoplethysmography (PPG), besides; we required them to classify their present emotion and its intensity according to the emotion assessment scale. As the results of emotional stimulus evaluation, emotional stimulus which we used was shown to mean 92.5% of relevance and 5.43 of efficiency; this inferred that each emotional stimulus caused its own emotion quite effectively. When we analyzed the results of the ANS response which had been measured, we ascertained the significant difference between the baseline and emotional state on skin conductance response, SKT, heart rate, low frequency and blood volume pulse amplitude. In addition, the ANS response caused by each emotion had significant differences among the emotions. These results can probably be able to use to extend the emotion theory and develop the algorithm in recognition of three kinds of emotions (boredom, surprise, and pain) by response measurement indicators and be used to make applications for differentiating various human emotions in computer system.