Urban parks and gardens are where people go to reconnect with nature and destress. But do they all provide the same benefits or are some better than others? What specific attributes set some green spaces apart? Can we objectively measure their impact on mental health and well-being? If so, how do we use this evidence to guide the design of mentally healthy cities? The Contemplative Landscape Model unveils the path to answer these questions. Rooted in landscape architecture and neuroscience, this innovative concept is described for the first time in an extended format, offering a deep dive into contemplative design and the science behind it. In the face of the global mental health crisis, and increasing disconnection from nature, design strategies for creating healthier urban environments are what our cities so sorely need. The book delves into the neuroscience behind contemplative landscapes, their key spatial characteristics, and practical application of the Contemplative Landscape Model through case studies from around the world. Landscape architects, urban planners, students, land managers, and anyone interested in unlocking the healing power of landscapes will find inspiration here.

This book discusses computer-supported medical diagnosis with a particular focus on ovarian tumor diagnosis - since ovarian cancer is difficult to diagnose and has high mortality rates, especially in Central and Eastern Europe. It presents the theoretical foundations (both medical and mathematical) of the intelligent OvaExpert system, which supports decision-making in tumor diagnosis. OvaExpert was created primarily to help gynecologists predict the malignancy of ovarian tumors by applying the existing diagnostic models and using modern methods of computational intelligence that accommodate imprecise and imperfect medical data, both of which are common features of everyday medical practice. The book presents novel methods based on interval-valued fuzzy sets and the theory of their cardinalities.

This book focuses on the implementation of Artificial Intelligence in Business, Education and Healthcare, It includes research articles and expository papers on the applications of Artificial Intelligence on Decision Making, Entrepreneurship, Social Media, Healthcare, Education, Public Sector, FinTech, and RegTech. It also discusses the role of Artificial Intelligence in the current COVID-19 pandemic, in the health sector, education, and others. It also discusses the impact of Artificial Intelligence on decision-making in vital sectors of the economy.

This book introduces modeling and simulation of linear time invariant systems and demonstrates how these translate to systems engineering, mechatronics engineering, and biomedical engineering. It is organized into nine chapters that follow the lectures used for a one-semester course on this topic, making it appropriate for students as well as researchers. The author discusses state space modeling derived from two modeling techniques and the analysis of the system and usage of modeling in control systems design. It also contains a unique chapter on multidisciplinary energy systems with a special focus on bioengineering systems and expands upon how the bond graph augments research in biomedical and bio-mechatronics systems.

This book presents a comprehensive study covering the design and application of microwave sensors for glucose concentration detection, with a special focus on glucose concentration tracking in watery and biological solutions. This book is based on the idea that changes in the glucose concentration provoke variations in the dielectric permittivity of the medium. Sensors whose electrical response is sensitive to the dielectric permittivity of the surrounding media should be able to perform as glucose concentration trackers. At first, this book offers an in-depth study of the dielectric permittivity of water-glucose solutions at concentrations relevant for diabetes purposes; in turn, it presents guidelines for designing suitable microwave resonators, which are then tested in both water-glucose solutions and multi-component human blood plasma solutions for their detection ability and sensitivities. Finally, a portable version is developed and tested on a large number of individuals in a real clinical scenario. All in all, the book reports on a comprehensive study on glucose monitoring devices based on microwave sensors. It covers in depth the theoretical background, provides extensive design guidelines to maximize sensitivity, and validates a portable device for applications in clinical settings.

This book presents novel and advanced topics in Medical Image Processing and Computational Vision in order to solidify knowledge in the related fields and define their key stakeholders. It contains extended versions of selected papers presented in VipIMAGE 2013 - IV International ECCOMAS Thematic Conference on Computational Vision and Medical Image, which took place in Funchal, Madeira, Portugal, 14-16 October 2013. The twenty-two chapters were written by invited experts of international recognition and address important issues in medical image processing and computational vision, including: 3D vision, 3D visualization, colour quantisation, continuum mechanics, data fusion, data mining, face recognition, GPU parallelisation, image acquisition and reconstruction, image and video analysis, image clustering, image registration, image restoring, image segmentation, machine learning, modelling and simulation, object detection, object recognition, object tracking, optical flow, pattern recognition, pose estimation, and texture analysis. Different applications are addressed and described throughout the book, comprising: biomechanical studies, bio-structure modelling and simulation, bone characterization, cell tracking, computer-aided diagnosis, dental imaging, face recognition, hand gestures detection and recognition, human motion analysis, human-computer interaction, image and video understanding, image processing, image segmentation, object and scene reconstruction, object recognition and tracking, remote robot control, and surgery planning. This volume is of use to researchers, students, practitioners and manufacturers from several multidisciplinary fields, such as artificial intelligence, bioengineering, biology, biomechanics, computational mechanics, computational vision, computer graphics, computer science, computer vision, human motion, imagiology, machine learning, machine vision, mathematics, medical image, medicine, pattern recognition, and physics.

This book provides a comprehensive overview of the latest advances in a wide range of biomaterials for the development of smart and advanced functional materials. It discusses the fundamentals of bio-interfacial interactions and the surface engineering of emerging biomaterials like metals and alloys, polymers, ceramics, and composites/nanocomposites. In turn, the book addresses the latest techniques and approaches to engineering material surfaces/interfaces in, e.g., implants, tissue engineering, drug delivery, antifouling, and dentistry. Lastly, it summarizes various challenges in the design and development of novel biomaterials. Given its scope, it offers a valuable source of information for students, academics, physicians and particularly researchers from diverse disciplines such as material science and engineering, polymer engineering, biotechnology, bioengineering, chemistry, chemical engineering, nanotechnology, and biomedical engineering for various commercial and scientific applications.

Autonomous Positioning of Piezoactuated Mechanism for Biological Cell Puncture gives a systematic and almost selfcontained description of the many facets of advanced design, optimization, modeling, system identification and advanced control techniques for positioning of cell puncture mechanism with piezoelectric actuator in micro/nanorobotics systems. To achieve biomedical applications, reliability design, modeling, and precision control are vitally important for developing engineering systems. With the advances in mechanical design, dynamic modeling, system identification, and control techniques, exploiting them for the benefit of reliability design, precision control, and quick actuation of micro/nanomanipulation systems to expand the robot's applications at the micro and nanoscales, especially for biomedical applications. This book unifies existing and emerging techniques concerning advanced design, modeling and advanced control methodologies in micropuncture of biological cells using piezoelectric actuator with their practical biomedical applications. The book is an essential resource for researchers within robotics, mechatronics, biomedical engineering, and automatic control society, including both academic and industrial parts. KEY FEATURES * Provides a series of latest results in, including but not limited to, design, modeling, and control of micro/nanomanipulation systems utilizing piezoelectric actuator * Gives recent advances of theory, technological aspects, and applications of advanced modeling, control, and actuation methodologies in cell engineering applications * Presents simulation and experimental results to reflect the micro/nano manipulation practice, and also validate the performances of the developed design, analysis, and synthesis approaches

This book will give insight into emerging semiconductor devices from their applications in electronic circuits, which are the backbone of electronic equipment. It provides desired exposure to the ever-growing field of low-power electronic devices and their applications in nanoscale devices, memory design, and biosensing applications. Tunneling Field Effect Transistors: Design, Modeling, and Applications bring researchers and engineers from various disciplines of the VLSI domain together to tackle the emerging challenges in the field of nanoelectronics and applications of advanced low-power devices. The book begins by discussing the challenges of conventional CMOS technology from the perspective of low-power applications. The book also reviews the basic science and developments of subthreshold swing technology and recent advancements in the field. The authors discuss the impact of semiconductor materials and architecture designs on TFET devices and the performance and usage of FET devices in various domains like nanoelectronics, Memory Devices, and biosensing applications. The authors also cover a variety of FET devices, such as MOSFETs and TFETs, with various structures based on the tunneling transport phenomenon. The contents of the book have been designed and arranged in such a way that Electrical Engineering students, researchers in the field of nanodevices and device-circuit codesign, as well as industry professionals working in the domain of semiconductor devices, will find the material useful and easy to follow.

This book covers the development of biotechnology based on carbon nanostructures, with a focus on nanotubes, addressing also fullerenes and amorphous carbons. The book is divided into 7 chapters, addressing tissue engineering, genetic engineering and therapy, as well as the environmental and health impacts of carbon nanostructures.

This book discusses various applications of machine learning using a new approach, the dynamic wavelet fingerprint technique, to identify features for machine learning and pattern classification in time-domain signals. Whether for medical imaging or structural health monitoring, it develops analysis techniques and measurement technologies for the quantitative characterization of materials, tissues and structures by non-invasive means. Intelligent Feature Selection for Machine Learning using the Dynamic Wavelet Fingerprint begins by providing background information on machine learning and the wavelet fingerprint technique. It then progresses through six technical chapters, applying the methods discussed to particular real-world problems. Theses chapters are presented in such a way that they can be read on their own, depending on the reader's area of interest, or read together to provide a comprehensive overview of the topic. Given its scope, the book will be of interest to practitioners, engineers and researchers seeking to leverage the latest advances in machine learning in order to develop solutions to practical problems in structural health monitoring, medical imaging, autonomous vehicles, wireless technology, and historical conservation.

This book gathers extended contributions to the workshop on Long-Term Digital Care, LTC-2021, organized by the Universita Politecnica delle Marche (UNIVPM), Ancona, Italy, and the Hochschule Konstanz (HTWG), Germany, in November 2021, and funded by the DAAD Joint Mobility Program. It covers innovative, practice-oriented approaches that are expected to foster digital health care, with a special focus on improving internationalization and accessibility. The book, which bridges between technological and social disciplines, reports on selected studies with the main goals of: establishing a comparison of Long-Term Digital Care approaches, with focus on exchange and networking processes; defining practical roadmaps for digital social innovation; establishing concepts and methods for process evaluation and sustainability. It offers a timely snapshot on technologies for patient monitoring and assistant systems, medical data analysis and image processing, digital platforms and advanced diagnostics techniques, and discusses important concepts relating to traceable process evaluation, networking and accessibility. It aims at informing, yet it is also intended to inspire and foster a stronger collaboration across disciplines, countries, as well as academic and professional institutions.

This third edition overviews the essential contemporary topics of neuroengineering, from basic principles to the state-of-the-art, and is written by leading scholars in the field. The book covers neural bioelectrical measurements and sensors, EEG signal processing, brain-computer interfaces, implantable and transcranial neuromodulation, peripheral neural interfacing, neuroimaging, neural modelling, neural circuits and system identification, retinal bioengineering and prosthetics, and neural tissue engineering. Each chapter is followed by homework questions intended for classroom use. This is an ideal textbook for students at the graduate and advanced undergraduate level as well as academics, biomedical engineers, neuroscientists, neurophysiologists, and industry professionals seeking to learn the latest developments in this emerging field.Advance Praise for Neural Engineering, 3rd Edition: "A comprehensive and timely contribution to the ever growing field of neural engineering. Bin He's edited volume provides chapters that cover both the fundamentals and state-of-the-art developments by the world's leading neural engineers." Dr. Paul Sajda, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Radiology, Columbia University "Neural Engineering, edited by Prof. He, is an outstanding book for students entering into this fast evolving field as well as experienced researchers. Its didactic and comprehensive style, with each chapter authored by leading scientific authorities, provides the ultimate reference for the field." Dr. Dario Farina, Department of Bioengineering, Imperial College London, London, UK "Neural Engineering has come of age. Major advances have made possible prosthesis for the blind, mind control for quadraplegics and direct intervention to control seizures in epilepsy patients. Neural Engineering brings together reviews by leading researchers in this flourishing field. Dr. Terrence Sejnowski, Salk Institute for Biolgical Studies and UC San Diego

This open access book describes modern applications of computational human modelling to advance neurology, cancer treatment, and radio-frequency studies including regulatory, safety, and wireless communication fields. Readers working on any application that may expose human subjects to electromagnetic radiation will benefit from this book's coverage of the latest models and techniques available to assess a given technology's safety and efficacy in a timely and efficient manner. This is an Open Access book.

Combination products are therapeutic and diagnostic products that combine drugs, devices, and/ or biological products. According to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), “a combination product is one composed of any combination of a drug and a device; a biological product and a device; a drug and a biological product; or a drug, device and a biological product.” Examples include prefilled syringes, pen injectors, autoinjectors, inhalers, transdermal patches, drug-eluting stents, and kits containing drug administration devices co-packaged with drugs and/or biological products. This handbook provides the most up-to-date information on the development of combination products, from the technology involved to successful delivery to market. The authors present important and up-to-the-minute pre- and post-market reviews of combination product regulations, guidance, considerations and best practices. This handbook: • Brings clarity of understanding for combination products guidance and regulations • Reviews the current state-of-the-art considerations and best practices spanning the combination product lifecycle, pre-market through post-market • Reviews medical product classification and assignment issues faced by global regulatory authorities and industry The editor is a recognized international Combination Products and Medical Device expert with over 35 years of industry experience and has an outstanding team of contributors. Endorsed by AAMI – Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation.

The goal of this volume is to summarize the state-of-the-art in the utilization of computer vision techniques in the diagnosis of skin cancer. Malignant melanoma is one of the most rapidly increasing cancers in the world. Early diagnosis is particularly important since melanoma can be cured with a simple excision if detected early. In recent years, dermoscopy has proved valuable in visualizing the morphological structures in pigmented lesions. However, it has also been shown that dermoscopy is difficult to learn and subjective. Newer technologies such as infrared imaging, multispectral imaging, and confocal microscopy, have recently come to the forefront in providing greater diagnostic accuracy. These imaging technologies presented in this book can serve as an adjunct to physicians and provide automated skin cancer screening. Although computerized techniques cannot as yet provide a definitive diagnosis, they can be used to improve biopsy decision-making as well as early melanoma detection, especially for patients with multiple atypical nevi.

This book presents selected papers from the International Conference on Computing, Communication, Electrical and Biomedical Systems (ICCCEBS 2021), held in March 2021 at KPR College of Engineering and Technology, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India. The conference explores the interface between industry and real-time environments with newly developed techniques in computing and communications engineering. The papers describe results of conceptual, constructive, empirical, experimental, and theoretical work in areas of computing, communication, electrical, and biomedical systems. Contributors include academic scientists, researchers, industry representatives, postdoctoral fellows, and research scholars from around the world.

This book joins an international and interdisciplinary group of leading experts on the biomedical, energy and environmental applications of Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs). The resulting overview covers everything from the environmentally friendly and scale up synthesis of MOFs, their application in green energy generation and storage, and water purification to their use as drug delivery systems, biosensors, and their association with relevant macromolecules (genes, enzymes). This book is focused on the interest of MOFs in applications such as the leading -edge environmental (energy-related) and biomedical fields. The potential of MOFs in these areas is currently progressing at a fast pace, since the wide possibilities that MOFs offer in terms of composition, topology, incorporation of active species (in their porosity, on their external surface or within the framework), and post-synthetic modifications, among others. The aim here is to provide future research goals that emphasize relevant nuances to this class of materials as a whole.

Current demand in biomedical sciences emphasizes the understanding of basic mechanisms and problem solving rather than rigid empiricism and factual recall. Knowledge of the basic laws of mass and momentum transport as well as model development and validation, biomedical signal processing, biomechanics, and capstone design have indispensable roles in the engineering analysis of physiological processes. To this end, an introductory, multidisciplinary text is a must to provide the necessary foundation for beginning biomedical students. Assuming no more than a passing acquaintance with molecular biology, physiology, biochemistry, and signal processing, Biomedical Engineering Principles, Second Edition provides just such a solid, accessible grounding to this rapidly advancing field. Acknowledging the vast range of backgrounds and prior education from which the biomedical field draws, the organization of this book lends itself to a tailored course specific to the experience and interests of the student. Divided into four sections, the book begins with systems physiology, transport processes, cell physiology, and the cardiovascular system. Part I covers systems analysis, biological data, and modeling and simulation in experimental design, applying concepts of diffusion, and facilitated and active transport. Part II presents biomedical signal processing, reviewing frequency, periodic functions, and Fourier series as well as signal acquisition and processing techniques. Part III presents the practical applications of biomechanics, focusing on the mechanical and structural properties of bone, musculoskeletal, and connective tissue with respect to joint range, load bearing capacity, and electrical stimulation. The final part highlights capstone design, discussing design perspectives for living and nonliving systems, the role of the FDA, and the project timeline from inception to proof of concept. Cutting across many disciplines, Biomedical Engineering Principles, Second Edition offers illustrative examples as well as problems and discussion questions designed specifically for this book to provide a readily accessible, widely applicable introductory text.

Describes how nanomaterial functionalization is being used to create more effective sensors. Discusses various synthesis procedures, characterization techniques, and which nanomaterials should be used for sensing applications. Provides an in-depth look into oxide nanostructures, carbon nanostructures, and 2D material fabrication. Explores the challenges of using nanoscale sensors for large-scale industrial applications.

This book covers novel and innovative technologies used in development, modeling, chemical/physical investigation and biomedical (in-vitro and in-vivo) trials of nanomaterials and nanocomposites. Novel methods for nanoparticle development and manufacturing are presented, as well as their safety and promising applications. In addition, the book highlights new frontiers in the use of metal / metal oxide nanoparticles, hierarchical nanostructures and organic coatings as sensors for detecting gases, inorganic and organic materials, including biosensors for bacteria and cancers. Organic nanoparticle composites for medical applications (tissue engineering, tissue replacement, regeneration, etc.), including hydroxyapatite NPs, are also covered, together with related in-vitro and preclinical investigations. In closing, the book shares recent findings on orthopedic and dental implant coatings using nanoparticles, their biological efficacy and safety.

This thesis advances the long-standing challenge of measuring oxidative stress and deciphering its underlying mechanisms, and also outlines the advantages and limitations of existing design strategies. It presents a range of approaches for the chemical synthesis of fluorescent probes that detect reversible changes in cellular oxidative stress. The ability to visualise cellular processes in real-time is crucial to understanding disease development and streamline treatment, and this can be achieved using fluorescent tools that can sense reversible disturbances in cellular environments during pathogenesis. The perturbations in cellular redox state are of particular current interest in medical research, since oxidative stress is implicated in the pathogenesis of a number of diseases. The book investigates different strategies used to achieve ratiometric fluorescence output of the reversible redox probes, which nullify concentration effects associated with intensity-based probes. It also describes suitable approaches to target these probes to specific cellular organelles, thereby enabling medical researchers to visualise sub-cellular oxidative stress levels, and addressing the typically poor uptake of chemical tools into biological studies. In total it reports on four new probes that are now being used by over twenty research groups around the globe, and two of which have been commercialised. The final chapters of this thesis demonstrate successful applications of the sensors in a variety of biological systems ranging from prokaryotes to mammalian cells and whole organisms. The results described clearly indicate the immense value of collaborative, cross-disciplinary research.

Composite materials are formed when the combination of separate materials acquire new properties distinct from its components. They have a range of applications in fields such as mechanical and electrical engineering, food science and biomedicine and represent a fast-growing area of research. Composite Materials: Applications in Engineering, Biomedicine and Food Science provides an overview of current technologies and applications related to composite materials in these fields. Organized by discipline, the text encompasses a wide variety of composite materials, including polymer, ceramic, biomaterial, hydroxyapatite, nanofiber and green composites. Early chapters detail the enhanced mechanical, magnetic, dielectric properties of electrical and thermal conductive composite materials, which are essential in daily science. Subsequent chapters focus on filler or reinforcement materials, including carbon materials, hybrid materials and nanomaterials. Particular emphasis is placed on nanocomposite materials, as these have increasingly diverse field applications. Various manufacturing methods, such as the synthesis method and top-down/bottom-up manufacturing, are also discussed. Coverage of the recent progress, challenges and opportunities surrounding composite materials make this text a one-stop reference for engineers, scientists and researchers working in this exciting field.

Nanotechnology has been established in membrane technology for decades. In this book, comprehensive coverage is given to nanotechnology applications in synthetic membrane processes, which are used in different fields such as water treatment, separation of gases, the food industry, military use, drug delivery, air filtration, and green chemistry. Nanomaterials such as carbon nanotubes, nanoparticles, and dendrimers are contributing to the development of more efficient and cost-effective water filtration processes. Gas separation and carbon capture can be significantly improved in flue gas applications. Nanoporous membrane systems engineered to mimic natural filtration systems are being actively developed for use in smart implantable drug delivery systems, bio artificial organs, and other novel nano-enabled medical devices. The microscopic structure of nanoporous ceramic membranes, mainly focusing on zeolite materials, as well as the energy-saving effect of membrane separation, contribute to various chemical synthesis processes. In the food industry, nanotechnology has the potential to create new tools for pathogen detection and packaging. For each application, nanotechnology is mostly used to make composite membranes, and the book provides a detailed look at the mechanisms by which the composite membrane works in each application area.

This book comprises select peer-reviewed proceedings of the medical challenge - C-NMC challenge: Classification of normal versus malignant cells in B-ALL white blood cancer microscopic images. The challenge was run as part of the IEEE International Symposium on Biomedical Imaging (IEEE ISBI) 2019 held at Venice, Italy in April 2019. Cell classification via image processing has recently gained interest from the point of view of building computer-assisted diagnostic tools for blood disorders such as leukaemia. In order to arrive at a conclusive decision on disease diagnosis and degree of progression, it is very important to identify malignant cells with high accuracy. Computer-assisted tools can be very helpful in automating the process of cell segmentation and identification because morphologically both cell types appear similar. This particular challenge was run on a curated data set of more than 14000 cell images of very high quality. More than 200 international teams participated in the challenge. This book covers various solutions using machine learning and deep learning approaches. The book will prove useful for academics, researchers, and professionals interested in building low-cost automated diagnostic tools for cancer diagnosis and treatment.