scholarly journals Bio-Impedance Measurement Optimization for High-Resolution Carotid Pulse Sensing

Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (5) ◽  
pp. 1600
Author(s):  
Ting-Wei Wang ◽  
Hsiao-Wei Chu ◽  
Lin Chou ◽  
Yen-Ling Sung ◽  
Yuan-Ta Shih ◽  
...  

Continuous hemodynamic monitoring is important for long-term cardiovascular healthcare, especially in hypertension. The impedance plethysmography (IPG) based carotid pulse sensing is a non-invasive diagnosis technique for measuring pulse signals and further evaluating the arterial conditions of the patient such as continuous blood pressure (BP) monitoring. To reach the high-resolution IPG-based carotid pulse detection for cardiovascular applications, this study provides an optimized measurement parameter in response to obvious pulsation from the carotid artery. The influence of the frequency of excitation current, electrode cross-sectional area, electrode arrangements, and physiological site of carotid arteries on IPG measurement resolution was thoroughly investigated for optimized parameters. In this study, the IPG system was implemented and installed on the subject’s neck above the carotid artery to evaluate the measurement parameters. The measurement results within 6 subjects obtained the arterial impedance variation of 2137 mΩ using the optimized measurement conditions, including excitation frequency of 50 kHz, a smaller area of 2 cm2, electrode spacing of 4 cm and 1.7 cm for excitation and sensing functions, and location on the left side of the neck. The significance of this study demonstrates an optimized measurement methodology of IPG-based carotid pulse sensing that greatly improves the measurement quality in cardiovascular monitoring.

Author(s):  
K. Ogura ◽  
H. Nishioka ◽  
N. Ikeo ◽  
T. Kanazawa ◽  
J. Teshima

Structural appraisal of thin film magnetic media is very important because their magnetic characters such as magnetic hysteresis and recording behaviors are drastically altered by the grain structure of the film. However, in general, the surface of thin film magnetic media of magnetic recording disk which is process completed is protected by several-nm thick sputtered carbon. Therefore, high-resolution observation of a cross-sectional plane of a disk is strongly required to see the fine structure of the thin film magnetic media. Additionally, observation of the top protection film is also very important in this field.Recently, several different process-completed magnetic disks were examined with a UHR-SEM, the JEOL JSM 890, which consisted of a field emission gun and a high-performance immerse lens. The disks were cut into approximately 10-mm squares, the bottom of these pieces were carved into more than half of the total thickness of the disks, and they were bent. There were many cracks on the bent disks. When these disks were observed with the UHR-SEM, it was very difficult to observe the fine structure of thin film magnetic media which appeared on the cracks, because of a very heavy contamination on the observing area.


Author(s):  
H. Takaoka ◽  
M. Tomita ◽  
T. Hayashi

High resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) is the effective technique for characterization of detailed structure of semiconductor materials. Oxygen is one of the important impurities in semiconductors. Detailed structure of highly oxygen doped silicon has not clearly investigated yet. This report describes detailed structure of highly oxygen doped silicon observed by HRTEM. Both samples prepared by Molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) and ion implantation were observed to investigate effects of oxygen concentration and doping methods to the crystal structure.The observed oxygen doped samples were prepared by MBE method in oxygen environment on (111) substrates. Oxygen concentration was about 1021 atoms/cm3. Another sample was silicon of (100) orientation implanted with oxygen ions at an energy of 180 keV. Oxygen concentration of this sample was about 1020 atoms/cm3 Cross-sectional specimens of (011) orientation were prepared by argon ion thinning and were observed by TEM at an accelerating voltage of 400 kV.


Author(s):  
Yoshinori Fujiyoshi

The resolution of direct images of biological macromolecules is normally restricted to far less than 0.3 nm. This is not due instrumental resolution, but irradiation damage. The damage to biological macromolecules may expect to be reduced when they are cooled to a very low temperature. We started to develop a new cryo-stage for a high resolution electron microscopy in 1983, and successfully constructed a superfluid helium stage for a 400 kV microscope by 1986, whereby chlorinated copper-phthalocyanine could be photographed to a resolution of 0.26 nm at a stage temperature of 1.5 K. We are continuing to develop the cryo-microscope and have developed a cryo-microscope equipped with a superfluid helium stage and new cryo-transfer device.The New cryo-microscope achieves not only improved resolution but also increased operational ease. The construction of the new super-fluid helium stage is shown in Fig. 1, where the cross sectional structure is shown parallel to an electron beam path. The capacities of LN2 tank, LHe tank and the pot are 1400 ml, 1200 ml and 3 ml, respectively. Their surfaces are placed with gold to minimize thermal radiation. Consumption rates of liquid nitrogen and liquid helium are 170 ml/hour and 140 ml/hour, respectively. The working time of this stage is more than 7 hours starting from full LN2 and LHe tanks. Instrumental resolution of our cryo-stage cooled to 4.2 K was confirmed to be 0.20 nm by an optical diffraction pattern from the image of a chlorinated copper-phthalocyanine crystal. The image and the optical diffraction pattern are shown in Fig. 2 a, b, respectively.


Author(s):  
Edward Coyne

Abstract This paper describes the problems encountered and solutions found to the practical objective of developing an imaging technique that would produce a more detailed analysis of IC material structures then a scanning electron microscope. To find a solution to this objective the theoretical idea of converting a standard SEM to produce a STEM image was developed. This solution would enable high magnification, material contrasting, detailed cross sectional analysis of integrated circuits with an ordinary SEM. This would provide a practical and cost effective alternative to Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), where the higher TEM accelerating voltages would ultimately yield a more detailed cross sectional image. An additional advantage, developed subsequent to STEM imaging was the use of EDX analysis to perform high-resolution element identification of IC cross sections. High-resolution element identification when used in conjunction with high-resolution STEM images provides an analysis technique that exceeds the capabilities of conventional SEM imaging.


Author(s):  
Claudia Foerster ◽  
Liliana Zúñiga-Venegas ◽  
Pedro Enríquez ◽  
Jacqueline Rojas ◽  
Claudia Zamora ◽  
...  

Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are organic compounds that resist biochemical degradation, moving long distances across the atmosphere before deposition occurs. Our goal was to provide up-to-date data on the levels of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins/furans (PCDD/Fs) and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (DL-PCBs) in breast milk from Chilean women and to estimate the exposure of infants due to breast milk consumption. In Chile, we conducted a cross-sectional study based on methodologies proposed by the WHO, with a sample of 30 women recruited from three defined areas: 10 from the Arica Region (urban; Arica and Parinacota Region), 10 from Coltauco (rural; O’Higgins Region), and 10 from Molina (40% rural; Maule Region). High-resolution gas chromatography coupled with high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRGC/HRMS) was performed on pooled samples from each area. We calculated equivalent toxic concentrations (WHO-TEQ) based on the current WHO Toxic Equivalency Factors (TEF). The minimum and maximum values of ∑ PCDDs/Fs + DL-PCBs-TEQ were 4.317 pg TEQ/g fat in Coltauco and 6.31 pg TEQ/g fat in Arica. Molina had a total TEQ of 5.50 pg TEQ/g fat. The contribution of PCDD/Fs was approximately five-fold higher than that of DL-PCBs. The Estimated Daily Intake (EDI) of ∑ PCDDs/Fs + DL-PCBs based on the three pooled samples ranged between 6.71 and 26.28 pg TEQ/kg body weight (bw)/day, with a mean intake of 16.11 (±6.71) pg TEQ/kg bw/day in breastfed children from 0 to 24 months old. These levels were lower than those reported in international studies. Despite the fact that the observed levels were low compared to those in most industrialized countries, the detection of a variety of POPs in breast milk from Chilean women indicates the need for follow-up studies to determine whether such exposures during childhood could represent a health risk in adulthood.


1994 ◽  
Vol 357 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. J. Pedraza ◽  
Siqi Cao ◽  
L. F. Allard ◽  
D. H. Lowndes

AbstractA near-surface thin layer is melted when single crystal alumina (sapphire) is pulsed laserirradiated in an Ar-4%H2 atmosphere. γ-alumina grows epitaxially from the (0001) face of axalumina (sapphire) during the rapid solidification of this layer that occurs once the laser pulse is over. Cross sectional high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) reveals that the interface between unmelted sapphire and γ-alumina is atomistically flat with steps of one to a few close-packed oxygen layers; however, pronounced lattice distortions exist in the resolidified γ-alumina. HRTEM also is used to study the metal-ceramic interface of a copper film deposited on a laser-irradiated alumina substrate. The observed changes of the interfacial structure relative to that of unexposed substrates are correlated with the strong enhancement of film-substrate bonding promoted by laser irradiation. HRTEM shows that a thin amorphous film is produced after irradiation of 99.6% polycrystalline alumina. Formation of a diffuse interface and atomic rearrangements that can take place in metastable phases contribute to enhance the bonding strength of copper to laser-irradiated alumina.


2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (6) ◽  
pp. 1679-1681
Author(s):  
Afaque Ali ◽  
Majid Shaikh ◽  
Ahsanullah . ◽  
Adeel Ahmed ◽  
Abid Ali Sahito ◽  
...  

Objective: To determine the diagnostic accuracy of High-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) chest in detection of covid-19 infection taking PCR as gold standard. Study Design: Cross-sectional study Setting: Radiology department of Tabba Hospital, Karachi. Duration: From March 2019 to September 2020 Material and Methods: All the clinically suspected patients of covid-19, of any age, both genders and those referred to radiology for High-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) chest to detect the covid-19 infection were included. After two days, patients’ PCR reports were collected from the ward, after taking informed consent and permission from head of department. The diagnostic accuracy of HRCT was established with respect to sensitivity, PPV, NPV, and specificity by taking PCR as gold standard. All the information was collected via study proforma. Results: Total 70 patients suspected for COVID-19 were studied, and the patients’ mean age was 58.23±9.52 years. Males were in majority 54(77.1%). As per HRCT findings, COVID-19 infection was positive in 46 patients, however, 48 patients were detected positive for COVID-19 infection as per PCR findings. In the detection of COVID-19 infection, HRCT chest showed sensitivity of 91%, specificity of 90%, PPV of 83%, NPV of 84% and diagnostic accuracy of 94%; by taking PCR as gold standard. Conclusion: High-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) is a reliable diagnostic approach in promptly detecting the COVID-19; with 91% sensitivity, 90% specificity, 83% positive predictive value, 84% negative predictive value and 94% diagnostic accuracy. Keywords: Accuracy, HRCT, COVID-19


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