Physiological stressor impact on peripheral facial temperature, Il-6 and mean arterial pressure, in young people

Processing of attentional and emotional stimuli depends on retrospective response of foot pressure: Conceptualizing neuron-cognitive distribution in human brain

Cognitive function of human brain requires temporal execution of emotional or attentional tasks, or their inter-dependence influences. Smooth execution of such tasks requires spontaneous distribution of cognitive load at specific regions of brain based on its classification. A strong connectivity between peripheral sensors and central nervous system is thought to assist the cognitive load distribution effectively. Novelty of current study evaluates the modulation of foot pressure and its mapping with distributed cognitive load while executing attentional biased emotional tasks. Emotional stimulus in form of happy and sad faces with attentional paradigm drawn on them were used in the study. Behavioral results were measured with respect to the analysis of response time (RT) and response accuracy (%). Neurological signals were acquired using 10-channel EEG data acquisition system, whereas, another 6 channels were used to measure foot pressure in the left and right feet at three different locations of foot. Acquired signals were further analyzed in time and frequency domains to interpret the cognitive load distribution, and the influence of foot pressure on distribution of cognitive loads. We found that the foot pressure accelerated the response accuracy rate in attending the local scope of attention, which was not in the case of global scope of attention. This means that the global attention does not require any pressure from peripheral sensory neurons. Our event related potential (ERP) results revealed that the early sensory negative N100 characterized the processing of global scope of attention coupled with high-foot pressure. However, the late positive peak of P300 and P600 associated with local scope of attention along with high-foot pressure. The global scope of attention with low-foot pressure modulates delta and theta oscillations. These results largely contribute to the literature on cognitive neuroscience of attention and it corelation with the peripheral sensory foot pressure.

Infrared image method for possible COVID-19 detection through febrile and subfebrile people screening

This study proposed an infrared image-based method for febrile and subfebrile people screening to comply with the society need for alternative, quick response, and effective methods for COVID-19 contagious people screening. The methodology consisted of: (i) Developing a method based on facial infrared imaging for possible COVID-19 early detection in people with and without fever (subfebrile state); (ii) Using 1206 emergency room (ER) patients to develop an algorithm for general application of the method, and (iii) Testing the method and algorithm effectiveness in 2558 cases (RT-qPCR tested for COVID-19) from 227,261 workers evaluations in five different countries. Artificial intelligence was used through a convolutional neural network (CNN) to develop the algorithm that took facial infrared images as input and classified the tested individuals in three groups: fever (high risk), subfebrile (medium risk), and no fever (low risk). The results showed that suspicious and confirmed COVID-19 (+) cases characterized by temperatures below the 37.5 °C fever threshold were identified. Also, average forehead and eye temperatures greater than 37.5 °C were not enough to detect fever similarly to the proposed CNN algorithm. Most RT-qPCR confirmed COVID-19 (+) cases found in the 2558 cases sample (17 cases/89.5%) belonged to the CNN selected subfebrile group. The COVID-19 (+) main risk factor was to be in the subfebrile group, in comparison to age, diabetes, high blood pressure, smoking and others. In sum, the proposed method was shown to be a potentially important new tool for COVID-19 (+) people screening for air travel and public places in general.

Stress detection and monitoring based on low-cost mobile thermography

The high level of stress in modern life is one of the huge problems of the 21st century society, especially in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. With the pandemic, the need for inexpensive, portable and easy-to-use health monitoring tools (mental and physical) has increased. Of particular importance here is mobile (smartphone) thermography, as it enables the initial detection and self-control of stress, which being intensified nowadays, is the cause of many diseases, depression and health problems. The smartphone thermal imaging camera responds to the strict sanitary guidelines, offering contact-free, painless and non-invasive operation. Additionally, it is included in the group of low-cost solutions available for home use. It is an alternative to commonly used (often expensive and unavailable to everyone): EMG, ECG, EEG, GSR or other high-cost stress detection tools. Thermal imaging by analyzing abnormalities or temperature changes allows for detection application. Therefore, the aim of this work is to determine the possibilities of a low-budget mobile thermal imaging camera in detecting stress, detecting and analyzing stress by identifying the characteristics of psychophysiological signals with the individual characteristics of the participants, along with the correlation. The participants’ reactions to the film introducing stress tension up to the climax of the action were recorded thermographically. Data was processed in OpenCV. In the usual observation, stress often remained unnoticed. However, the thermographic analysis provided detailed information on the impact of the film’s stressful situation on the participants, with the possibility of distinguishing the stages of stress. The results of the preliminary pilot study were presented, which indicated the variability of temperature and heart rate as important indicators of stress – with the simultaneous significance of individual characteristics of the participant. Smartphone stress thermography is a promising method of monitoring human stress, especially at home.