Sensing Health

Structural health monitoring (SHM) uses one or more in situ sensing systems placed in or around a structure, providing real-time evaluation of its performance and ultimately preventing structural failure. Although most commonly used in civil engineering, such as in roads, bridges, and dams, SHM is now finding applications in other engineering envir

In the age of Apple Watches and Fitbits, the concept of “health” emerges through an embodied experience of a digital health device or platform, not simply through the biomedical data it provides. Sensing Health: Bodies, Data, and Digital Health Technologies analyzes popular digital health technologies as aesthetic experiences to understand how these devices and platforms have impacted the way individuals perceive their bodies, behaviors, health, and well-being. By tracing design alongside embodied experiences of digital health, Kressbach shows how these technologies aim to quantify, track and regulate the body, while at the same time producing moments that bring the body’s affordances and relationship to the fore. This mediated experience of “health” may offer an alternative to biomedical definitions that define health against illness. To capture and analyze digital health experiences, Kressbach develops a method that combines descriptive practices from Film and Media Studies and Phenomenology. After examining the design and feedback structures of digital health platforms and devices, the author uses her own first-person accounts to analyze the impact of the technology on her body, behaviors, and perception of health. Across five chapters focused on different categories of digital health—menstrual trackers, sexual wellness technologies, fitness trackers, meditation and breathing technologies, and posture and running wearables—Sensing Health demonstrates a method of analysis that acknowledges and critiques the biomedical structures of digital health technology while remaining attentive to the lived experiences of users. Through a focus on the intersection of technological design and experience, this method can be used by researchers, scholars, designers, and developers alike.

The pervasive healthcare system focus towards achieving two specific goals: the availability of eHealth applications and medical information anywhere and anytime and the invisibility of computing. Furthermore, pervasive health system encompasses new types of sensing and communication of health information as well as new type of interactions among health providers and people, among patients, among patients and researchers and patients and corporations. This book aims at promoting the discussion on current trends in technologies and concepts that help integrate health monitoring and healthcare more seamlessly to our everyday lives, regardless of space and time, but also present cutting edge perspectives and visions to highlight future development. The book presents not only the state of the art technologies and solutions to tackle the critical challenges faced by the building and development of the pervasive health system but also potential impact on society at social, medical and technological level.

Compressive Sensing in Healthcare, part of the Advances in Ubiquitous Sensing Applications for Healthcare series gives a review on compressive sensing techniques in a practical way, also presenting deterministic compressive sensing techniques that can be used in the field. The focus of the book is on healthcare applications for this technology. It is intended for both the creators of this technology and the end users of these products. The content includes the use of EEG and ECG, plus hardware and software requirements for building projects. Body area networks and body sensor networks are explored. Provides a toolbox for compressive sensing in health, presenting both mathematical and coding information Presents an intuitive introduction to compressive sensing, including MATLAB tutorials Covers applications of compressive sensing in health care

Structural Health Monitoring with Piezoelectric Wafer Active Sensors, Second Edition provides an authoritative theoretical and experimental guide to this fast-paced, interdisciplinary area with exciting applications across a range of industries. The book begins with a detailed yet digestible consolidation of the fundamental theory relating to structural health monitoring (SHM). Coverage of fracture and failure basics, relevant piezoelectric material properties, vibration modes in different structures, and different wave types provide all the background needed to understand SHM and apply it to real-world structural challenges. Moving from theory to experimental practice, the book then provides the most comprehensive coverage available on using piezoelectric wafer active sensors (PWAS) to detect and quantify damage in structures. Updates to this edition include circular and straight-crested Lamb waves from first principle, and the interaction between PWAS and Lamb waves in 1-D and 2-D geometries. Effective shear stress is described, and tuning expressions between PWAS and Lamb waves has been extended to cover axisymmetric geometries with a complete Hankel-transform-based derivation. New chapters have been added including hands-on SHM case studies of PWAS stress, strain, vibration, and wave sensing applications, along with new sections covering essential aspects of vibration and wave propagation in axisymmetric geometries. Comprehensive coverage of underlying theory such as piezoelectricity, vibration, and wave propagation alongside experimental techniques Includes step-by-step guidance on the use of piezoelectric wafer active sensors (PWAS) to detect and quantify damage in structures, including clear information on how to interpret sensor signal patterns Updates to this edition include a new chapter on composites and new sections on advances in vibration and wave theory, bringing this established reference in line with the cutting edge in this emerging area

Civil infrastructure systems are generally the most expensive assets in any country, and these systems are deteriorating at an alarming rate. In addition, these systems have a long service life in comparison to most other commercial products. As well, the introduction of intelligent materials and innovative design approaches in these systems is painfully slow due to heavy relianceon traditional construction and maintenance practices, and the conservative nature of design codes. Feedback on the "state of the health" of constructed systems is practically nonexistent. In the quest for lighter, stronger and corrosion-resistant structures, the replacement of ferrous materials by high-strength fibrous ones is being actively pursued in several countries around the world, both with respect to the design of new structures as well as for the rehabilitation and strengthening of existing ones. In North America, active research in the design of new highway bridges is focused on a number of specialty areas, including the replacement of steel reinforcing bars in concrete deck slabs by randomly distributed low-modulus fibers, and the replacement of steel prestressing cables for concrete components by tendons comprising super-strong fibers. Research is also being conducted on using FRPs to repair and strengthen existing structures.

Sensor Technologies: Healthcare, Wellness and Environmental Applications explores the key aspects of sensor technologies, covering wired, wireless, and discrete sensors for the specific application domains of healthcare, wellness and environmental sensing. It discusses the social, regulatory, and design considerations specific to these domains. The book provides an application-based approach using real-world examples to illustrate the application of sensor technologies in a practical and experiential manner. The book guides the reader from the formulation of the research question, through the design and validation process, to the deployment and management phase of sensor applications. The processes and examples used in the book are primarily based on research carried out by Intel or joint academic research programs. “Sensor Technologies: Healthcare, Wellness and Environmental Applications provides an extensive overview of sensing technologies and their applications in healthcare, wellness, and environmental monitoring. From sensor hardware to system applications and case studies, this book gives readers an in-depth understanding of the technologies and how they can be applied. I would highly recommend it to students or researchers who are interested in wireless sensing technologies and the associated applications.” Dr. Benny Lo Lecturer, The Hamlyn Centre, Imperial College of London “This timely addition to the literature on sensors covers the broad complexity of sensing, sensor types, and the vast range of existing and emerging applications in a very clearly written and accessible manner. It is particularly good at capturing the exciting possibilities that will occur as sensor networks merge with cloud-based ‘big data’ analytics to provide a host of new applications that will impact directly on the individual in ways we cannot fully predict at present. It really brings this home through the use of carefully chosen case studies that bring the overwhelming concept of 'big data' down to the personal level of individual life and health.” Dermot Diamond Director, National Centre for Sensor Research, Principal Investigator, CLARITY Centre for Sensor Web Technologies, Dublin City University "Sensor Technologies: Healthcare, Wellness and Environmental Applications takes the reader on an end-to-end journey of sensor technologies, covering the fundamentals from an engineering perspective, introducing how the data gleaned can be both processed and visualized, in addition to offering exemplar case studies in a number of application domains. It is a must-read for those studying any undergraduate course that involves sensor technologies. It also provides a thorough foundation for those involved in the research and development of applied sensor systems. I highly recommend it to any engineer who wishes to broaden their knowledge in this area!" Chris Nugent Professor of Biomedical Engineering, University of Ulster

Advances in technological devices unveil new architectures for instrumentation and improvements in measurement techniques. Sensing technology, related to biomedical aspects, plays a key role in nowadays applications; it promotes different advantages for: healthcare, solving difficulties for elderly persons, clinical analysis, microbiological characterizations, etc.. This book intends to illustrate and to collect recent advances in biomedical measurements and sensing instrumentation, not as an encyclopedia but as clever support for scientists, students and researchers in other to stimulate exchange and discussions for further developments.