表面アミノ基PAMAMデンドリマー（以下、PDと略記）がヒト生体にどのような影響を与えうるかを明らかにするため、生体に投与されたPDの分散状態、細胞レベルでの分布・毒性反応、生体内（特に脳神経系組織）分布を調べた。粒径計測では、培養液や生体の体液と同等な液相でPDはその大部分がサブミクロン大以上の凝集塊として存在することが観察された。この急速凝集現象は「DLVO理論」のみでは説明が困難であった。ヒト神経前駆細胞の培養液に蛍光標識PDを添加して顕微鏡観察を行なった結果、細胞膜に吸着したのち速やかに細胞内に取り込まれ、リソソーム内に移行する過程が確認された。ヒトES細胞由来の神経前駆細胞の２次元培養においてPDを添加したところ、細胞増殖活性・細胞形態への用量依存的な影響が認められた。また３次元培養では、PDは胚様体から神経細胞への分化過程において神経線維の伸展には影響を及ぼさず、細胞遊走に抑制的影響を及ぼす可能性が示唆された。蛍光標識PDをマウスに点鼻投与し、その組織切片を顕微鏡観察した結果、脳組織内にPDは検出されなかった。また放射性ヨウ素標識PDをマウスに静脈内投与してSPECT検査を実施した結果でも、肝・脾、腎への集積のほかに脳領域に信号は検出されなかった。さらに、市販キットを用いてPDの脳血液関門の通過性を調べた結果、通過の度合いは低い程度にとどまった。

The eustachian tube is an organ to tie middle ear and pharynx to. The symptom due to the eustachian tube is stenosis and patulous eustachian tube. The technique that is used for treatment and the diagnosis of the stenosis is the quantification of the eustachian catheterization. The doctor sends air in an eustachian tube and diagnoses a situation from the sound. I gather an insufflation sound of the patient so far and investigate the features of the sound. I try the self organizing map. But, the decision of the analysis section of the insufflation sound does manually. Therefore, to realize automation I examined time lag before a insufflation sound being detected and the outbreak frequency.

The body surface electric potential measurement is useful for screening of cardiac disease. However, it takes a long time to measure the body surface electrical potential measurement because a lot of electrodes must be placed on the chest. Therefore a small electrode array seat which has forty five electrodes and made of silicone was used. For more precise measurement, the impedance measurement is very important, because the surface potential distribution is affected by the impedance distribution in the chest.In this study, Impedance distribution in the water to simulate a human body's chest environment. The forty five electrodes were arranged at the center of the water tank. These electrodes were used for both the voltage application and the potential measurement. The conductivity distribution was reconstructed with the electric exploration method on a PC. As a result, Conductivity distribution in the water tank with the gels was measured successfully.

Falling of the elderly causes the serious increase of the long-term care insurance cost. The falling of the elderly is related to the decline of the forefoot function. The analysis of the movement of a dynamic MP joint (Metatarsophalangeal Joint) is important in the discussion of elderly walking. The purpose of the study is to develop the device and the system that can easily detect the movement of a dynamic MP joint while walking. To investigate the elderly walking, the field test was performed to 4 healthy youngs and 5 elderlies. In the results, we obtained the feature of the angles observed at the MP joint. This time, we added the foot switches of heel and thumb portion in measuring device. The velocity of the walking were estimated by both of the heel strike and toe-off measured by the devices.

The purpose of this study was to clarify the influence of footwear on the stiffness of the tibialis anterior muscle during walking. Three males participated in this experiment. Electrical stimulation was applied to the common peroneal nerve every two toe-offs while walking in sports shoes, slippers, and socks. Mechanomyograms (MMGs) were measured. The evoked MMG in walking was extracted using a Kalman filter and subtraction of the walking acceleration. The evoked MMG system was identified using a singular value decomposition method, and the natural frequency of the system was calculated from the transfer function. In conclusion, the natural frequency increased in the order of walking in sports shoes, slippers, and socks. It was concluded that the muscle stiffness in walking at toe-off increased in the order of walking in sports shoes, slippers, and socks.

The purpose of this study is to establish a method for identifying the transfer function between the electromyogram (EMG) and mechanomyogram (MMG) in voluntary contraction of the abductor digiti minimi muscle using a system identification method. An MMG and EMG in twitch-like contraction were measured. The measurements were repeated ten times. The EMG was full-wave rectified and then smoothed with a low-pass filter (fc=100 Hz). The smoothed EMG and the MMG were regarded as an input and an output of the system, respectively. The transfer function was identified with the subspace state space system identification method. The transfer function could be approximated with a third-order model for all subjects in five measurements or more. It was suggested that the MMG system was identified in voluntary contraction.

An X-ray microtomography-based finite element model was constructed from the rat tibia. The distal end of the tibia was completely restricted, and static loads were applied to the knee joint surface. The stress distribution of the tibia with or without a trabecula was determined (Fig. 1), assuming that bone elements were isotropic and elastic materials. Analytical results showed that there were more elements at high stress levels in the tibia model with the trabecula than in the model without it, indicative of the stress reducing efficacy of the trabecular structure.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the control of body sway by the hallux and fifth toe during single leg standing. Twenty four healthy women participated in this study. Toe load signal (LS) of hallux and fifth toe and center of pressure signal (COPS) were obtained simultaneously at 100Hz during single leg standing. Acceleration signal (AS) was obtained from the second derivative of COPS. The lag time from AS to LS was obtained by the cross-correlation analysis and the relationship between the lag time and the peak value was analyzed. Results showed that the acceleration of lateral direction occurred after the hallux load initiation and that the acceleration of medial direction occurred after fifth toe load initiation. The results indicated that the hallux and the fifth toe contributed to control the body sway in medial-lateral direction.

Tissue engineering therapy, culturing cells in three-dimensional condition to replace damaged tissue, is the promising treatment. In the present technology, homogeneous tissues such as cartilage, skin, and blood vessel could be reconstructed by culturing the cells on three-dimensional scaffolds, whereas more complex tissue and organ (liver, heart, etc.) could not be regenerated. To regenerate complex tissue or organ requires a control of cellular organization and chemical and physical stimulus. In this study, we developed a three-dimensional cell culture device utilizing the diffusion phenomena of cytokines to reconstruct an anisotropic tissue. Using our novel culture device, the mouse skin cell-seeded collagen gels were placed in the interface of two kinds of culture medium and cultured in the concentration gradient of growth factor. The effect of concentration gradient on the tissue regeneration was evaluated.

We investigated the cause of the increased fracture rate in diabetes patients through analyses of bone metabolism and bone matrix protein properties by using goldfish scales as a bone model of hyperglycemia that is induced by an alloxan injection. In the glycation of scale matrix collagen, we found that the existence ratio of γ-fraction, which had molecular weight of more than tripled of single fiber, increased in hyperglycemia goldfish. Consequently, these results indicated that advanced glycation endo products (AGEs) bound to collagen fibers, and accumulation of bonded AGEs in collagen fibers conduced to additional dimer, trimer and more of cross-linking formation between glycated collagen fibers. In addition, our compressive strength testing of glycated collagen bars (freeze-dried specimen) showed that mechanical strength and flexibility of collagen fibers were decreased with the increasing in AGEs-provoked cross-linking between the collagen fibers. Therefore, hyperglycemic induced cross-linking in bone matrix might explain the fracture susceptibility.

Sleep apnea (SA) is a highly prevalent sleep disorder. A common way to diagnose SA is overnight polysomnography (PSG), which is carried out in a specialized hospital-based sleep laboratory. On the other hand, there have been many reports of the diagnose method based on heart rate variability which has the information of respiration. In atrial fibrillation (Af) patients, however, it is difficult to extract the respiratory information because of the randomness of heart rate. In this study, the detection method of SA in Af patients using holter recordings has been developed. In proposed method, the respiratory signal is regarded as the disturbance to electrocardiogram (ECG) and extracted from estimation error of ECG which is estimated from another channel of ECG. The results indicate that the proposed method may be able to detect the event of SA in Af patients.

A flexible blood flow monitoring device is being developed using optical sensors to detect abnormalities in blood flow in transplanted tissues after a reconstruction surgery. The number of wires and readout time may cause technical problems when realizing multipoint sensing for monitoring a large area. The purpose of this study is to develop a matrix of optical sensors and a readout circuit for simultaneous multipoint sensing in 256 points. The matrix is developed by connecting a photodiode (PD) and a rectifier diode in cascade, and wiring the units in a grid-like form. The photocurrents of sensors in a row are read from each wire of a column while applying a negative voltage to the row. This method enabled us to measure the photocurrent of all the 256 sensors in the matrix at 25 Hz. In addition, we reduced the number of wires from 512 to 32 and downsized the readout system. In the future, we will apply this system for monitoring blood flow by using a PD matrix on a flexible substrate.

[Purpose]Ultrasonography is one of widely used noninvasive and convenient methods. However, relatively large measurement variability is a problem to be solved. We developed a robot system for carotid arterial measurement by ultrasonography. In this study, we evaluated variability of the measurements of intima media thickness and carotid arterial diameter. [Methods] The robot consisted of one arm with 6-axis, which is operated by remote control with a probe shaped controller. Data acquisition was executed according to the sign which indicated the distinct intima separated from adventitia by echo-transparent media layer. The variability was measured by two observers with or without the robot system. [Results] There was no difference in acquisition time between the measurements with or without robot. However, variabilities of the measurements with the robot were lower than that without the robot (p<0.05). [Conclusion] The robot system has a potential to reduce variability of ultrasonographic measurements

Lactate Threshold (LT) is defined as an inflection point of blood lactate concentration (BLC) during physical exercise and widely used as an index of physical fitness. However, it requires cumbersome blood sampling. To solve this problem, we have been trying to develop a new non-invasive fitness index. In the previous study, we used an impedance cardiograph for non-invasively monitor heart rate (HR), stroke volume (SV) and cardiac output (CO) during incremental ergometer exercise together with BLC responses (27 male and 19 female subjects). As a result, in the male subjects, the load values at the inflection points of CO responses were coincide well with those of LT. However, it was not so clear in female subjects. In this study, therefore, we reduced the load increment in female by half (previous: 20W, present: 10W), and then, expected data were obtained. Details of the experimental data will be presented in the conference.

Previous our study revealed that the degree of the phase coupling (λ) between respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) and breathing showed a positive correlation with vagal index and a negative correlation with the sympathovagal balance of heart rate variability, suggesting that the λ could be used as a noninvasive measure for evaluating cardiac autonomic activity. In order to apply this finding to ambulatory monitoring, we developed a smartphone-based software named BiSync that enables to estimate cardiac autonomic profile using ECG signal. ECG was obtained from Shimmer via Bluetooth and the breathing was extracted using the amplitude modulation of ECG by respiratory movements. The analytic signals of RSA and breathing were constructed based on Hilbert-transform and then λ was computed from the phase difference between them. We examined the accuracy of λ by comparing actual measurement of breathing during mental stress condition. Results suggest that BiSync can be used for ambulatory monitoring.

We propose a novel method of recognizing a noise. In recent years, the electrocardiogram (ECG) is widely used not only in the hospital but also in home care and health management situation. However, the measurement of ECG is susceptible to motion noise or other external factors. The noise can easily degrade the performance of automatic analyzers and can cause false alarms. In this study, we quantify an irregular disorganized pattern of the noises using attractor analysis. The ECG signal is converted to the two-dimensional time-delay coordinates, and the internal area of the attractor is split up into equal intervals. The irregularity index is defined as the products of the correlation coefficient and the entropy of each area. This index is evaluated using the MIT-BIH arrhythmia database. The result suggests the proposed method is able to classify the ECG or noises.

Long-range correlations have been observed in a wide variety of biosignal time series. It has been demonstrated that its alteration is associated with a disease state and higher mortality. Thus, fast and reliable characterization of long-range correlations is an important task. Among scaling analysismethods, it has been demonstrated that higher-order centered detrending moving average (DMA) analysis has good performance. However, a straightforward implementation of higher-order DMA requires a very long computational time. To solve this issue, we introduce a fast algorithm for higher order DMA. Our algorithm can significantly reduce computational cost; the computational time of our algorithm is approximately proportional to the data length, although that of the conventional algorithm is proportional to the square of the data length. Through the analysis of artificial and heart rate variability time series, we discuss possible applications of higher order DMA.

In the field of sports medicine, non-invasive blood pressure (BP) measurement during exercise is important. However, mainly because of the intense motion artifact, it is quite difficult to precisely measure BP using conventional sphygmomanometers.

In order to solve this practical problem, we have been trying to measure BP in external auditory canal (EAC)expecting less motion artifact effect comparing to the conventional measuring sites such as arm and wrist.

Firstly, we examined morphology of arteries around EAC using MRI and confirmed that the superficial temporal artery could be a suitable target for photoplethysmographic (PPG) pulse detection. Then, we newly designed an ear probe with reflectance type PPG sensor and evaluated availability of EAC as BP measuring site. From the result obtained, it was confirmed that PPG amplitude changed with increase or decrease of applying pressure, and that mean and systolic BP could be determined based on the Volume-Oscillometric method.

Capillaries have an important role in exchanging fluids and solute between vessels and organ tissues constantly in animals including humans. In this study, we present a capillary model based on biological knowledge, aiming at investigating mechanisms of movement of fluids and proteins across the capillary membrane. By applying small changes to the capillary hydrostatic pressure, we observed changes in the fluid volume and the protein amount in the interstitial space. After changing the capillary hydrostatic pressure, the interstitial fluid volume deviated from the original level rapidly, changed its direction, and then approached a steady state slowly, while protein approached a steady state gradually. From mathematical analyses applied to the model, we could obtain a phase plane diagram and confirm that movement of fluids was faster than that of proteins. We report quantitative results on the movement of fluids and proteins, which are difficult to observe directly in living organisms.

This study aimed to develop a pulmonary artery (PA) loading system for mimicking right ventricular (RV) afterload of monocrotaline-induced pulmonary hypertension rats (MCT-PH). In 10 normal rats, the PA impedance loading system altered PA pressure waveform for loading pathological PA impedance of MCT-PH. By activating the system, the difference between target and measured PA impedance modulus was decreased from 0.047±0.020 to 0.019±0.007 mmHg min/ml (P<0.001), phase was decreased from 0.085±0.028 to 0.043±0.012 radians (P<0.001). The developed system, which was able to impose pathological PA impedance, may offer a unique opportunity for quantitative analysis of RV performance in PH.

When myocardium is held in a stretched position, its [Ca²⁺]_i and twitch force slowly increase over several minutes (slow force response to stretch: SFR). We have reported that TRPC3, non-selective cation channel, contributes to the SFR. Although their intracellular localization is important for the cellular function, it still remains unclear. To predict the localization of TRPC3, we investigated the changes in [Ca²⁺]_SR during SFR in single isolated mouse cardiomyocytes in combination with mathematical model simulation study. Fura-4F-loaded cells were electrically stimulated at 1 Hz. A pair of carbon fibers was attached to cell ends to apply axial stretch. [Ca²⁺]_SR was estimated by the caffeine-induced changes in [Ca²⁺]_i before and after stretch (300 s). The stretch significantly increased the [Ca²⁺]_SR, while C36I-A, TRPC3 blocker, diminished the increase in [Ca²⁺]_SR. The results were reproduced only by the model with sarcolemmal stretch-activated cation channels, suggesting TRPC3 channels are located on sarcolemma.

Vertebrate hearts are broadly classified by the presence or absence of coronary circulation, and highly active and energy-consuming animals have coronary circulation. Blood flow occurs mostly during diastole in coronary circulation because vascular compression limits flow during systole. Therefore, the hearts with coronary circulation should have stiffer mechanical property to prevent excessive extensions of the heart during diastole resulting in a reduction of blood flow. To understand the molecular mechanism of extension restriction of coronary circulation hearts, we focused on connectin/titin, which regulates the extensibility of cardiac cells by generating passive tension during diastole. We found the lengths of PEVK and N2B regions of connectin, which function as molecular springs, were enormously shorter in the hearts with coronary circulation (mammalians and birds) than that with sinusoidal circulation (amphibians). These results indicate that the shorter elastic regions of connectin may contribute to the extension restriction of hearts with coronary circulation.

【目的】腫瘍内の未熟な血管は不規則に分岐を繰り返し，その血流は停滞や逆流を呈するため，局所的に著しい低酸素状態にある．一般の培養器でこの局所的な低酸素環境を再現することは不可能である．本研究では連続的な酸素勾配を形成するマイクロ培養デバイスを開発し，腫瘍周囲に形成する新生血管のイメージングを試みたので報告する．

【方法】高いガス透過性を有するpolydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)を基盤とし，培養層下部に設けたガスチャネルに異なる酸素濃度のガスを流入させることで細胞培養層に自在な酸素勾配を形成させるように設計した．培養層に血管内皮細胞Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells (HUVEC)を培養し，血管を形成するHUVECの動態を解析した．また，ヒト乳腺癌細胞MDA-MB-231を含むスフェロイドを作製し，その周囲に形成される新生血管を解析した．

【結果】酸素勾配下で培養したHUVECが形成する血管は低酸素領域では高酸素領域と比べ血管径が大きく，また分岐点の数も多い結果を得た．スフェロイド包埋されたMDA-MB-231細胞との共培養では，HUVECがスフェロイド周囲で血管を形成する様子が観察された．

【考察・展望】局所的な低酸素環境の形成は未熟な新生血管が不規則に分岐・蛇行・接合することによって生じ，化学療法や放射線療法の障害となっている．今後，酸素濃度による血管形成の差異を定量化し，それをトリガーする分子メカニズムを明らかにしていく．

As Japan is facing a super-aged society, growing medical expenses and doctor shortage have become major public health problems. To cope with these problems, it is important to forecast future demand of medical services and supplies. To provide an insight into such problems, we here investigate future demand for cardiac implantable electrical devices, such as pacemaker (PM) and implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD). In this study, based on the analysis of past records of annual number of PM and ICD implantation from 2006 to 2014 in Japan, we build a predictive model to forecast the future number of PM and ICD implantation. In this model, age and gender composition rates of population are assumed to be explanatory variables. As an application of this model, we estimate the future demand of PM and ICD devices in each prefecture in Japan until 2040, and discuss regional differences.

We aim to clarify the difference in the dynamics of oxyhemoglobin saturation (SpO2) between amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) patients during sleep. We developed an algorithm to automatically detect and quantify the characteristics of the decrease and recovery phenomena of SpO2 during sleep. We compared the mean values of the characteristic indices between ALS (N=10) and OSAS (N=23) patients. The decreasing time in the case of ALS patients was significantly longer compared to that in the case of OSAS patients, whereas the decreasing area was significantly smaller. This implies that the decreasing process of SpO2 during the early phase of sleep is slower in ALS patients compared to that in OSAS patients. Moreover, a two-dimensional histogram analysis of decreasing amplitude and velocity showed that there are multiple decreasing patterns of SpO2 during sleep.

Clinical engineers in Japan need to know both how to operate artificial ventilator and its basic mechanisms. The education style seems well-established as lectures and practices for learning operation skills. On the other hand, the curriculum includes only theoretical lectures for the latter purpose in most educational institutes. Digital computer simulation techniques could contribute to understand the mechanisms of artificial ventilator. Many students, however, think of the results of computer simulation running on PC as fictitious ones. In this study, we implemented volume-control-ventilation(VCV) and pressure-control-ventilation(PCV) procedures on an one-chip microcomputer Arduino Uno by C programming language and designed an electronic circuit to simulate inspiratory/expiratory valves, airway resistance and lung compliance. These components were combined to form the analog simulation system. This simulator could help students to understand the control mechanisms of artificial ventilator with its higher clarity and simplicity.

In the stomach and the esophagogastric junction, nitric oxide (NO) generated by reduction of nitrite demonstrates both physiological and pathophysiological effects. In this study, generation rate and degeneration (oxidation) rate of NO were investigated in regard to the antioxidative capacity of the drinks. The NO concentration was measured using an NO-selective electrochemical sensor. ORAC, DPPH, FRAP and Folin-Ciocalteu assays were used for the evaluation of antioxidative capacity. NO generation rates were well correlated with ORAC and Folin-Ciocalteu method. Also NO degeneration rates were faster in the drinks with higher antioxidative capacity. Our results suggest that detailed investigation on the both generation and degeneration of NO are required for estimating the kinetics of nitrite-derived intragastric NO. In conclusion, ORAC and Folin-Ciocalteu assays seem to be good indices for the NO generation and degeneration capacity of antioxidant-containing drinks.

Normal Stomach has a pacemaker which generates three cycle-per-minute of rhythm. Monitoring the rhythm can detect the signs of stomach disorders which disturb periodical activity of the pacemaker. Our final goal is intracutaneous non-invasive measurement of gastric electrical activity. In order to approach the goal rejections of the noise and artifact are necessary. In this study, empirical mode decomposition(EMD) was applied to extract a signal in a frequency band of electrogastrogram(EGG). First of all, we measured the EGG before and after meal load. The measured signal was purified by EMD. EGG signal extraction process by using EMD is; 1) Signal decomposition by EMD. 2) Selection of the decomposed signals in the EGG frequency band. 3) Signal reconstruction using the selected decomposition signal. A comparison between the results by EMD and conventional frequency filtering, shows that extracted signal quality by EMD is better than the conventional technique.

Recent study reported that the prevalence of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is 13.1% among Japanese population. Altered motility patterns may be associated with diagnostic features of IBS. In recent years, bowel motility was conveniently evaluated by the analysis of bowel sounds recorded using the stethoscopes. However this sound recording requires contact to the body. We know from our previous experience that we can hear borborygmi without the aid of a stethoscope. In this study, we propose a new method to evaluate bowel motility based on the acoustic analysis of borborygmi acquired from a non-contact microphone. Through the experiments, we show that bowel motility can be evaluated via the analysis of borborygmi, similar to a stethoscope-based technique. Furthermore, we show that the proposed method may have the potential to characterize IBS. From these results, we conclude that the proposed method may become a simple and useful tool in evaluating bowel motility.

With the aim of hepatocyte transplantation for the patients with hyperammonemia due to congenital metabolic disorder, cell banking is in progress. In the course of cell processing, there are a number of problems that may be solved by technological approach. Isolated hepatocytes suffer from various stress such as ischemia, shear stress, damage by cryopreservation, temperature change, etc. Among them, shear stress is the most important but remains to be investigated yet. This issue must be studied by medical and technological cooperation. In this study, simple micro channel experiments and simple shear stress experiments were employed to investigate the effect of the physical stress on the cell viability. As a result, relative life hepatocytes difference to indicate the life hepatocytes death in micro-channel is 21.7±9.4 % under the bottom dominant cell distribution condition.

We have been developing an optical system for monitoring urinary substances and have already reported in the previous conference about the accuracy in estimating concentration of four urine substances, i.e., glucose (Glu), urea (Ur), sodium chloride (NaCl), and creatinine (Cr), using an FT-IR spectrometer. In that study, PLS analysis was carried out using 236 absorbance data in the selected wavelength regions. In this study, considering practicability of the future system, we tried to select four wavelengths sensitive to urine substances. From the results obtained by the multiple regression analysis using the four wavelength, it was confirmed that high accuracy in estimating concentration of the four substances were attained (correlation coefficient, Glu: 0.966, Ur: 0.998, NaCl: 0.901, Cr: 0.983) suggesting availability of these wavelengths for the future multiple wavelength LED system.

Providing side holes in the indwelling needle is an effective means for increasing the actual blood flow rate without changing the diameter of the indwelling needle. Reports have indicated, however, that when side holes are provided, resistance actually increases during blood removal, and discussion of the number and shapes of side holes, as well as the locations at which side holes are provided, has remained inadequate. Given this situation, we are seeking theoretical optimization of side holes using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis.We performed CFD analysis on the models in which the number of side holes had been increased from one to three, using the pressure loss coefficient. The results showed that the blood removal flow rate obtained from the CFD analysis conducted on indwelling needles with side holes was largely consistent with the actual blood flow rate obtained from the experiment.

Mammalian embryo inside oviduct experiences fluid shear stress (FSS) from oviductal fluid. During in vitro culture of embryos, embryonic development improved under physiological FSS, while apoptosis of embryo was observed when the embryo was under excess FSS. We can discuss about mechanism for this apoptosis by microscopic observation of cells in the embryos after FSS induced by fluid motion in vitro. We developed embryo microscopic observation system to apply quantitative FSS to the embryo. Mouse embryo was hold in microfluidic channel using holding pipette. We observed bright and fluorescence images of cells inside morula and blastocyst applied with FSS using syringe pump. When FSS of 33.3 and 133.3 dyne/mm2 were applied to the embryo, cell inside embryos expanded, and the larger expansion of morula was observed compared with that of blastocyst. We consider that these phenomena might be related with the apoptosis of mammalian embryo induced by excess FSS.

The stress is classified roughly into the eustress and distress. We have developed stress evaluation system using onomatopoeia for stress reduction. We focused on Image conversation used by LINE. Creating an image of onomatopoeia was introduced it into the system. The first purpose of this study was to develop of simple evaluation system using image conversation. The second was to evaluate the system and usefulness of production image. Fourteen male subjects were participated in the experiment using the system for 3 days. After that, they answered the system evaluation test of 17 items in 5-stages. As the result, the system has obtained a high average 3.58 rating however the average of two evaluation items was less than 3. This means that the system needs a more clear feedback and further development.

This study defined parameters expressing the temporal positional relationship of the three components of swallowing sounds, by approximating swallowing sound signals with a three-dimensional spline curve, and proposes a method for quantifying swallowing function. We also explored a method for automatically detecting signals representing swallowing function from among multiple swallowing sound signals obtained during the measurement time. An approximation curve with three peaks corresponding to the three sounds composing the swallowing sound was obtained. The T expressing the relative position of the second sound to the continuous time of the overall swallowing sound was determined from the T1 and T2 obtained from the approximation curve, enabling quantitative evaluation of swallowing function. Moreover, swallowing sound signals that represented the swallowing function of the subject could be automatically detected from among multiple swallowing sound signals obtained from the subject.

Objective We investigated the effects of NPPV mask placement on the skin by observing skin temperature changes on thermal imaging.Methods Eight healthy subjects were required to wear a NPPV mask for 1 h. Visual examination and thermal imaging of the facial area were performed before and after fitting the NPPV mask. Skin temperature at sites where the skin came in contact with the NPPV mask was calculated by thermographic analysis, and the relationship between skin changes and skin temperature was investigated.Results Skin changes occurred in all subjects in the form of reactive hyperemia at the forehead and nasal root. Median value change in skin temperature after fitting the NPPV mask was +0.43 degree at the forehead, and -0.15 degree at the nasal.Conclusion Reactive hyperemia was observed at the forehead and nasal, but skin temperature at the nasal root actually decreased, suggesting reduced blood flow to the skin.

To support color blindness, there have been attempts known as Color Universal Design. However, there are problems during daily living, especially from the reason of fashion; i.e. selecting dresses. Sometimes, color blind argues the difficulty to match the socks from different colors [1].To solve this matching-pair-of-socks problem, we've developed smart-phone based supports. One of them is reported. The application is using camera on the smart-phone and having functions follows;1) Taking a picture and showing it.2) User touches the picture to designate the color to be identified.3) Pixels with similar colors turn to black.Its preliminary evaluation was done by using optically functional spectral filters for simulation of dichromats (VariantorTM, Itoh Optical Industrial Co., Ltd.). Five subjects wared Variantor glasses and evaluated the application in matching several pairs of socks with different colors.[1] Shared Stories in Frequently Asked Questions of Colorblind Home Page, http://colorvisiontesting.com/color7.htm

Conventional bone conduction earphones convert audio information into physical vibration using an oscillatory actuator to convey this vibration to the skin around the tragus. However, bone conduction earphones that actuate facial bones by audible band vibration easily leak sound to the air. When illuminated by modulated light, a sample is heated by a non-radiative transition. This generation of heat is modulated and can produce thermal and elastic waves inside the sample. We propose a bone conduction earphone system capable of conveying sound to the auditory organs through vibration using the photoacoustic effect. Herein, we describe the structure of the proposed system and its function.

In the previous study, the possibility of swallowing detection was presented by using a wearable sensor embedded accelerometer. The swallowing detection was difficult when the elderly people in need of care swallowed with tremulousness as the motion artifacts. In this study, we use two accelerometers to reduce this motion artifacts, and detect clearly. Both the accelerometers were embedded an apron. Subjects kept holding a water in theirs mouth in sitting position, and were shaking their head back and forth, and swallowed after a call by the examiner. A differential signal was obtained from the two scalar values of the accelerometers. The motion artifact in the differential signal was largely reduced, and the swallowing signal was clearly obtained. A time integral value per unit of the acceleration signal (iAcc) was calculated. The iAcc of the swallowing phase was significantly greater than the iAcc of resting phase.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of a double obstacle condition on toe-distance and heel-distance of stepping over by young subjects. The experiment was performed in a large room with a straight 8 m travel path available for the subjects to walk along. Avoidance strategy was defined in terms of toe-obstacle and heel-distance at obstacle crossing. Double obstacle trials revealed that presence and position of a second obstacle in travel path influences trial limb toe-distance and heel-distance for both first and second obstacles.

Serious disabled persons with severe motor disabilities such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and progressive speech impairment necessitates the use of an assistive communication aid. However, these disables also need accessibility equipment to use these aids because they have limited control over body movement. Because of the difficulties to move their arms, legs and body, the disabled persons need accessibility equipment to use the communication aids. As they tend to have residual function in the form of eye movement, our research aims to establish eye gaze input technology to enable them to operate accessibility equipment. In this paper we have examined the impact on the accuracy of the direct input time and typographical error rate in input method directly with the coding input method.

In order to contribute to the improvement of quality of life (QOL) for visually impaired persons, Niikawa has developed a sound-play-type game system, kikimimi. In general, it was impossible for the visually impaired to play the card games, because they have to recognize visually the patterns and digits printed on the cards. However, the kikimimi is a new table game system in the sense that the players play the card game with using only the auditory information. In this study we enhanced it to the web-based system on the internet. The developed game was too complicated to play for the visually impaired, especially, the aged and children, so that we simplified the rule of the game and evaluated the enjoyment using the flow state scale (FSS). As a result, it was suggested that the web game should be available to not only the visually impaired but the sighted.

As an alternative mouse device for people with upper limb disabilities, methods that used gaze tracking for cursor operation have been proposed. The methods need no mounting equipment and can reduce the time and effort for pointing. For the click operation, the time of fixation or the blink detection are adopted. However, this causes unintentional click. In this report we propose an alternative mouse device which adopts nod for detecting the click. We aim that human can keep to gaze during head movement by producing eye movements in the direction opposite to head movement known as the vestibular-ocular reflex. To detect the nodding movement, we tracked the lips extracted from facial images and calculated normalized cross-correlation between the y-coordinate of the lips and a nod template.

In recent years, the number of disabled people in Japan is increasing. There is life support equipment as equipment to help the handicapped. In recent years, power assist device has attracted for the purpose of improving ADL (Active of Daily Living) and QOL (Quality of Life) in life support equipment. There is power-assisted wheelchair as devices of practical realization. We have focused on the hemiplegic patients, and we develop the drive control system of power-assisted wheelchair for hemiplegic patients. This study proposes development of drive control system on slope environment for power-assisted wheelchair for hemiplegic patients. This paper builds and evaluates a control system as a study of suppressing system of the acceleration and shed phenomenon in slope environment.

The handpiece type device for the cooling and warming operation has been developed in our study.The system performance has been also evaluated. The treatment system consists of the handpiece Peltier device was attached to and an injected coolant and a stabilized DC power supply. In this study, the effect of various coolants on the temperature of the operation side of Peltier device was evaluated.As a result of experiment, The minimum temperature of the operation side using an ammonium nitrate mixture as coolant was lowest in thats of other coolants. But, this result suggests that the more enhancement of refrigeration performance of the system would need. The system improvement and the evaluation of the system performance will be performed in the future.

Current researches are studied a movement support and a rehabilitation of physical function for a physical paretic patient. Resent research focuses on Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES). FES have an effect on a severe physical paralysis caused by a cerebral stroke or a spinal code injury. The purpose of this research is development the system for a rehabilitation of physical functions to use at a hospital. The system use Electromyogram (EMG) of physical therapist as an input signal. EMG is used to decide output level of FES. EMG measure using surface EMG (sEMG). This rehabilitation is to do FES and an exercise therapy at the same time. We consider that this rehabilitation is more effective than existing rehabilitations. The measurement posture is sitting position. The measurement motion is elbow joint flexion motion of changing weight of a wristband. The measured sEMG signals is used to decide output level of FES.

In recent years, many studies have been conducted on the applications of atmospheric pressure, low temperature plasma to the sterilization of medical devices and to the surgical treatment. Furthermore, its application to molecular delivery to cells has been tested. However, the details of this process has yet to be clarified and a trial-and-error method is required to identify appropriate conditions for molecular delivery. In this study, we focused on the change in the fragility of the porcine red blood cells caused by plasma irradiation and assessed it using an optical method. The delivery of fluorescent molecules to cells by plasma irradiation was investigated. The thermal effect on the cells was negligible. The fragility of the porcine red blood cells increased when the plasma irradiation time was relatively short. The delivery of fluorescent molecules with a molecular weight of 807 to PC12 cells was confirmed.

In this study, we investigated the amplitude and phase estimation (APES) beamformer, which is one of the adaptive beamformers. In our previous study, the performance of the APES beamformer can be improved significantly by considering the directivity of each element of an ultrasound probe. In the present study, the diffusion attenuation, which is a kind of propagation attenuation loss of the ultrasonic waves, was also taken into account. The performance of the modified APES beamformer, in which such an attenuation characteristic was implemented, was evaluated using a phantom. The spatial resolution and contrast of the conventional APES beamformer were 0.67 mm and 2.1 dB, respectively. Those were improved to 0.26 mm and 4.8 dB by considering the element directivity [1], and those were further improved to 0.24 mm and 5.0 dB by considering diffusion attenuation.References[1] Hasegawa and Kanai, IEEE Trans. UFFC, 2015.

This paper presents multi-point moisture measurements by the proposed electrostatic sensor. The proposed sensor consists of a thin silicone sheet and a thin copper film pasted on an acrylic resin. Voltage generated by electrostatic effect was measured by the copper film while the sensor was repeatedly in contact with/released from the target. It is possible to measure the moisture of the target by using the proposed sensor since the voltage depended on the moisture of the target. In the experiment, the voltages at three points of the keratin film were simultaneously measured by the electro static sensor with three channels linear array film before and after the pasted distilled water. As results, it was suggested that multi-point moisture measurements are possible by the proposed sensor.

がんを切らずに治療できる放射線医療は，体力のない高齢者や小児でも生活品質を維持した治療が可能である。放射線治療の最重要事項は，腫瘍への線量集中性である。患者内の線量分布は，直接的に測定ができないため，線量計算が行われてきた。我々は，高信頼性のモンテカルロ法計算を用いたGeant4シミュレーションツールキットを基盤とする粒子線治療シミュレータ (PTSIM)を開発し，測定との比較検証を経て，立案された治療計画の検証ツールとして活用されるに至っている。近年では，患者毎のテイラーメイド治療として，呼吸による臓器の移動，治療期間中の腫瘍形状変化に合わせた治療の再立案など，患者固有の条件を踏まえた治療が提案されている。そこで，治療毎に照射線量分布や体内飛程位置を把握するオンラインPETやコンプトンカメラの開発が進んでいる。これらは，粒子線照射による患者内での核反応で放出される様々なガンマ線計測を利用している。PTSIMによるシミュレーションは，CT画像による患者形状の再現と照射による核反応を計算できるため，新たにPETなどの撮像機器の機能を開発して組み込むことで，テイラーメイド治療のためのシミュレータを開発することができる。現在，PTSIMへの撮像機器のソフトウェア設計を完了して，実装を行っている。本大会では，その開発状況と得られた結果について報告する。