OBJECTIVES To compare three positions for defecation by measuring abdominal pressure and the anorectal angle simultaneously. METHODS We recruited six healthy volunteers. The videomanometric measures included simultaneous fluoroscopic images, abdominal pressures, subtracted rectal pressures and anal sphincter pressures. Three positions were used: sitting, sitting with the hip flexing at 60 ° w...

Resistive flex sensors have been increasingly used in different areas for their interesting property to change their resistance when bent. They can be employed in those systems where a joint rotation has to be measured, in particular biomedical systems, to measure human joint static and dynamic postures. In spite of their interesting properties, such as robustness, low price and long life, to d...

In this paper, we present a novel algorithm to segment a Chinese Gong-che Notation (GCN) musical score image and extract notes from the image. First, a self-adaptive smoothing algorithm was used to segment the image with an X-axis function that shows the number of object pixels in each pixel column of the image. The X-axis function uses X-projection to compute the number of flex points. Next, t...

Purpose We investigate acute retinal alterations identified on intraoperative optical coherence tomography (iOCT) immediately following surgical intervention with the Finesse Flex Loop for vitreoretinal interface disorders. Methods The Determination of feasibility of Intraoperative Spectral domain microscope Combined/integrated OCT Visualization during En face Retinal and ophthalmic surgery (...

BACKGROUND Flow diverters are used for the treatment of intracranial aneurysms. Surface modification may decrease the thrombogenicity of flow diverters but the details are unknown. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is an intravascular imaging test with high resolution which identifies neointimal growth over stents. We compared the development of neointima in a flow diverter and stents with and...

OBJECTIVE To compare different methods of assessing energy expenditure (EE) and physical activity (PA) in people with spinal cord injury (SCI) under community-dwelling conditions. METHODS A reference standard encompassing the doubly labelled water (DLW) technique, heart rate monitoring (FLEX-HR), a multi-sensor armband (SenseWear Armband (SWA)), and two PA recall questionnaires were employed...

1. A modified heart rate (HR) method for predicting total energy expenditure (TEE) was cross-validated against whole-body calorimetry (CAL). Minute-by-minute HR was converted to energy expenditure (EE) using individual calibration curves when HR exceeded a pre-determined 'FLEX' value designed to discriminate periods of activity. ('FLEX' HR was defined as the mean of the highest HR during rest a...

C positive airway pressure (CPAP) is the standard treatment for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).1 Different modalities of CPAP are available aiming to improve patients’ acceptance and compliance, including the conventional CPAP, auto-CPAP (APAP), bi-level positive airway pressure (bi-level PAP) and flexible CPAP or flexible pressure release CPAP (C-FLEX). Flexible pressure release CPAP is a new a...

Due to increasing demand for higher performance, greater flexibility, smaller size, and lighter weight in electronic devices, extensive studies on flexible electronic packages have been carried out. However, there has been little research on flexible packages by wafer level package (WLP) technology using anisotropic conductive films (ACFs) and flex substrates, an innovative packaging technology...