This thesis aims to determine whether RF pulsed exposures from mobile phones can influence nervous function within the human brain and heart. In order to address this objective, a robust double-blind study to investigate mobile phone exposures on nervous response has been undertaken by means of analysis of electrophysiological test measures of brain wave activity and heart responses. Generally, test measurements of the electroencephalogram (EEG), the electrocardiogram (ECG), and the pulse plethysmogram (PPG) (for indications of blood pressure response) have been undertaken whilst participants are exposed and sham exposed to various GSM mobile phone radiofrequency and low-frequency protocols. In initial work, both standby and full-power mode GSM exposures have been investigated (Chapter 3 - EEG investigated only), while pulsed 900 MHz and 1800 MHz continuous wave exposures have been investigated in the final experimental work involving 100 test participants (Ch apter 8 - EEG, ECG, and PPG measures are investigated). Four predominant outcomes are determined from the final experimental work conducted. These main outcomes specifically include: 1. A new 'characteristic' finding in the EEG alpha band (8-13 Hz) as due to 900 MHz exposures is observed from almost all recording sites, over both brain hemispheres. Notably, this response only appears at 900 MHz, though is not observable for the 1800 MHz exposure; 2. An EEG effect due to both pulsed 900 MHz and 1800 MHz exposures notably appearing at 16 Hz is a new critical finding and is observed across both hemispheres. Most importantly, at this beta rhythm only a decreasing tendency in EEG power can be noted for the 900 MHz exposure tested but only an increasing tendency in EEG power may be noted at 1800 MHz, suggesting that the direction of the effect in EEG power may be dependent on the RF component; 3. Effects at 900 MHz on the contralateral side to exposure at central, temporal, and parietal sites appear to indicate a common median difference response between sham and exposure EEG spectral power density, which does not appear on the ipsilateral side to exposure; 4. As consistent with most previously published research, 900 MHz or 1800 MHz exposures pulsed at 217 Hz do not appear to alter heart rate, heart rate variability (HRV), or blood pressure variability (BPV). To reduce confounding factors and errors in experimental results, several novel approaches were developed as described (Chapters 4 - 8). These approaches include the development and testing of an experimental handset to support multiple mobile phone signals, a comparative analysis of 900 MHz and 1800 MHz exposures (near the health protection limits) on the same group of participants in simultaneous experiments, development of a statistical analysis approach to EEG that addresses both type 1 and type 11 errors at high resolution, and quantification of potential effects of EEG recording leads on SAR and electric field distribution (at both 900 MHz and 1800 MHz) inside a SAM phantom and realistic computational head model. Outcomes of this research address forefront international health concerns regarding almost 2-billion mobile phone users worldwide.

Cardiologists can gain useful insight into a patient's condition when they are able to correlate the patent's symptoms and activities. For this purpose, a Holter Monitor is often used - a portable electrocardiogram (ECG) recorder worn by the patient for a period of 24-72 hours. Preferably, the monitor is not cumbersome to the patient and thus it should be designed to be as small and light as possible; however, the storage requirements for such a long signal are very large and can significantly increase the recorder's size and cost, and so signal compression is often employed. At the same time, the decompressed signal must contain enough detail for the cardiologist to be able to identify irregularities. "Lossy" compressors may obscure such details, where a "lossless" compressor preserves the signal exactly as captured.<p>The purpose of this thesis is to develop a platform upon which a Holter Monitor can be built, including a hardware-assisted lossless compression method in order to avoid the signal quality penalties of a lossy algorithm. <p>The objective of this thesis is to develop and implement a low-complexity lossless ECG encoding algorithm capable of at least a 2:1 compression ratio in an embedded system for use in a Holter Monitor. <p>Different lossless compression techniques were evaluated in terms of coding efficiency as well as suitability for ECG waveform application, random access within the signal and complexity of the decoding operation. For the reduction of the physical circuit size, a System On a Programmable Chip (SOPC) design was utilized. <p>A coder based on a library of linear predictors and Rice coding was chosen and found to give a compression ratio of at least 2:1 and as high as 3:1 on real-world signals tested while having a low decoder complexity and fast random access to arbitrary parts of the signal. In the hardware-assisted implementation, the speed of encoding was a factor of between four and five faster than a software encoder running on the same CPU while allowing the CPU to perform other tasks during the encoding process.

La prolongación y el aumento de la dispersión del intervalo QT han sido propuestos como factores de riesgo de arritmias ventriculares malignas en varias condiciones clínicas, entre ellas en pacientes con infarto de miocardio antiguo (OMI), sin embargo, existen discrepancias en diferentes estudios sobre su importancia pronóstica. Estos resultados contradictorios se deben a que existen muchas controversias en las metodologías de medición de ambos índices en el ECG de 12 derivaciones, en donde influyen principalmente la utilización de diferentes definiciones para el final de la onda T, que impide medir con precisión el intervalo QT, la influencia de la frecuencia cardíaca (fc), el tono autonómico y las derivaciones utilizadas. En esta tesis se proponen nuevos índices de repolarización ventricular basados en los intervalos JT, JTp y Tpe que proporcionan una mayor sensibilidad y especificidad que los índices utilizados actualmente.Para una medición exacta y confiable de los intervalos propuestos en esta tesis, se han desarrollado algoritmos de detección del complejo QRS y la onda T basados en la transformada wavelet (WT). Como funciones base se utilizan B-splines, que permiten evaluar la WT en cualquier escala entera, lo que permite tener un rango más amplio de escalas para seleccionar y reducir de forma más eficiente la influencia de ruido y artefactos. El algoritmo de detección del complejo QRS ha sido evaluado con ocho registros de la base de datos de arritmias del MIT-BIH y tiene una exactitud de 99.5 %. La exactitud de los algoritmos de detección de los puntos característicos del complejo QRS y la onda T se han validado en 25 registros con medidas manuales de la base de datos de 15 derivaciones de la CSE, comprobándose que están dentro de los límites de tolerancia con respecto a la medición por expertos. Se ha analizado la influencia de la fc en las duraciones, dispersiones y relaciones de intervalos de actividad ventricular mediante pruebas de ejercicio en sujetos normales, durante las cuatro primeras etapas del protocolo de Bruce. En estas pruebas es difícil medir el intervalo QT, debido a la presencia de ruido y artefactos producidos por el movimiento de los electrodos, y a la fusión entre las ondas T y P durante ejercicio intenso que impide detectar el final de la onda T(Te), por lo que, se ha propuesto un nuevo método para estimar Te en ejercicio intenso basado en la pendiente de bajada de la onda T, que utiliza los módulos máximos de la WT de la onda T. En el rango de fc de reposo, la duración de los intervalos QT, QTp, JTp y JT dependen de la fc, con excepción de los intervalos Tpe y QRS, y las relaciones QTp/QT, JTp/JT, Tpe/JTp y Tpe/JT que tienen una dependencia baja con fc y no requieren corrección. En las dispersiones de todos los intervalos de actividad ventricular, existe una correlación baja no significativa con fc, por lo que tampoco requieren corrección.Los índices propuestos para evaluar la repolarización ventricular compuestos por las relaciones: JTp/JT, Tpe/JTp y Tpe/JT, se han comparado con la duración y dispersión de los intervalos QT, QTp, JT, JTp, Tpe y QRS, y mejoran la separación entre pacientes con OMI y sujetos normales. Dado que la mayoría de las muertes súbitas por arritmia son de origen isquémico, la utilización de estas relaciones podría mejorar la identificación de pacientes con riesgo de arritmias ventriculares malignas. / The prolongation of the QT interval and the increase of its dispersion (QTd) reflect an increase in the heterogeneity of the ventricular repolarization pattern, which is associated with malign ventricular arrhythmias in post-MI patients. Nevertheless, different studies differ on their prognostic importance, mainly because of controversies in the measurement methods for both indexes in the 12-lead ECG. There are many factors that influence the results for the QT and QTd parameters: different definitions for the T-wave end (with and without U wave), the heart rate (fc), the autonomic tone, and the selected leads. In this thesis, new indexes of ventricular repolarization based on the JT, JTp and Tpe intervals are proposed and they provide a greater sensitivity and specificity than the used indexes at the moment.For an exact and reliable measurement of the intervals proposed in this thesis, it has developed detection algorithms of QRS complex and T wave based on wavelet transform (WT). As functions base are used B-splines, which allow the evaluation of the WT in any scale and to more efficiently reduce noise and artifacts. The detection algorithm of complex QRS has been evaluated on eight 30-min ECG recordings from the MIT-BIH arrhythmia database, and it has exactitude of 99.5 %. The exactitude of the algorithms detection of the characteristic points of QRS complex and T wave have been validated on 25 ECG recordings from the CSE database, that includes 15 ECG leads and manual annotations on them, verify that are within the tolerance limits accepted in this database.The influence of fc in the durations, dispersions and relations of ventricular activity intervals has been analyzed during moderate and heavy exercise tests graded according to the Bruce protocol in normal subjects. However, QT measurements during exercise are hindered by noise and movement artifacts in electrodes and cables, and by the partial merging of T and P waves under heavy exercise, which thwarts the detection of the T-wave end (Te). Due to it has proposed a novel method to locate Te during heavy exercise that uses the downward slope of the WT of the T wave. In the fc rest range, the duration of the QT, QTp, JTp y JT intervals depend of the fc, with exception of the Tpe and QRS intervals and the QTp/QT, JTp/JT, Tpe/JTp y Tpe/JT ratios, that have a low dependency with fc and do not require correction. In the dispersions of all ventricular activity intervals, a low correlation not significant with fc exists; therefore they do not require correction.The novel ratios proposed to evaluate the ventricular repolarization: JTp/JT, Tpe/JTp, and Tpe/JT, have been compared with the duration and dispersion of the intervals QT, QTp, JT, JTp, Tpe y QRS, in 15 normal subjects and 15 post-MI patients, and improve the separation between both groups. Since most of the sudden deaths from arrhythmia have an ischemic origin, these ratios could improve the identification of patients with risk of malign ventricular arrhythmias.

This document contains the development of an amplifier for an ECG-signal and interfacing it to wireless communication. The purpose of this project is to get a clear ECG-signal without any noise, save it and send it through wireless communication.A challenge of the wireless communication unit is to send as little information as possible to make the communication faster, without loss of information in the ECG-signal.The context for this project is the integration of wireless communication in medical applications for home healthcare. This means that, patients are no longer bound to a specific healthcare location where they are monitored by medical instruments. Wireless communication will not only provide them with safe and accurate monitoring, but also the freedom of movement.

Cardiologists can gain useful insight into a patient's condition when they are able to correlate the patent's symptoms and activities. For this purpose, a Holter Monitor is often used - a portable electrocardiogram (ECG) recorder worn by the patient for a period of 24-72 hours. Preferably, the monitor is not cumbersome to the patient and thus it should be designed to be as small and light as possible; however, the storage requirements for such a long signal are very large and can significantly increase the recorder's size and cost, and so signal compression is often employed. At the same time, the decompressed signal must contain enough detail for the cardiologist to be able to identify irregularities. "Lossy" compressors may obscure such details, where a "lossless" compressor preserves the signal exactly as captured.<p>The purpose of this thesis is to develop a platform upon which a Holter Monitor can be built, including a hardware-assisted lossless compression method in order to avoid the signal quality penalties of a lossy algorithm. <p>The objective of this thesis is to develop and implement a low-complexity lossless ECG encoding algorithm capable of at least a 2:1 compression ratio in an embedded system for use in a Holter Monitor. <p>Different lossless compression techniques were evaluated in terms of coding efficiency as well as suitability for ECG waveform application, random access within the signal and complexity of the decoding operation. For the reduction of the physical circuit size, a System On a Programmable Chip (SOPC) design was utilized. <p>A coder based on a library of linear predictors and Rice coding was chosen and found to give a compression ratio of at least 2:1 and as high as 3:1 on real-world signals tested while having a low decoder complexity and fast random access to arbitrary parts of the signal. In the hardware-assisted implementation, the speed of encoding was a factor of between four and five faster than a software encoder running on the same CPU while allowing the CPU to perform other tasks during the encoding process.

In recent years, sleep medicine has attracted many interests. Among many sleep disorder problems, the sleep apnea syndrome is of great importance. One of its side effects is its negative influences on cardiovascular system whose function can be monitored by ECG. The regulation of the heart rate is extremely important for human body. In general, the heart rate variability is controlled by the balance of the sympathetic and the parasympathetic systems whose functions can be influenced by sleep apnea. This work tries to establish the relation between the heart rate variability and AHI (Apnea & hypopnea index). Through the statistical methods, we analyze how the sleep apnea influences the low frequency (LF) and high frequency components of the RR intervals. With BMI, age and AHI as the independent variables, we set up the regression model to predict LF/HF Our results demonstrate that, for men, the linear relationship between the LF/HF and AHI is statistically significant when AHI is higher than 45. This results may shed some light on developing HRV based diagnosis method for sleep apnea.

Abstract: This thesis is concerned with the acquisition of body signals using a sampling system. A typical application is the recording of the electrocardiogram (ECG). It is proposed to sample the input signal at different rates, depending on the momentary signal content. If the input signal has large voltage variation, it is sampled at a high rate. During periods of small variation, the signal is sampled at a lower frequency to save both memory and power. An analog controller to control the clock rate is proposed and implemented. The analog controller decides the sample frequency (high rate or low rate) depending on the input signal. The analysis of the proposed system is presented in this thesis. Furthermore, a working prototype is implemented using discrete components on a PCB. The measured results show a significant reduction in the average sample frequency and data rate of 50% and 35%, respectively. Finally, the critical analog circuit blocks of the system suitable for integration on chip are proposed and implemented in a 0.35£gm CMOS process. Measured results are reported to confirm the functionality of the blocks.

This thesis consists of two subjects of research: eliminating, by avoidance or removal, the effects of different types of interference on small signal recording, and a body-sensor transmitter application utilizing piezo sensors. The first topic demonstrates ECG signal and noise signal recording in the presence of various types of interference. A low-pass filter is proposed to remove power-line interference of ECG signals, and a switch between high-pass filters before amplification is proposed to avoid motion artifacts in the ECG signal. Finally, a low-cost noise recording system for educational uses that can record and analyze the noise of resistors and amplifiers in the LabVIEW program is proposed. The second topic concerns the application of a body-sensor transmitter. The sensor uses piezo film and combines the characteristics of piezo film with the characteristics of the human body and can exchange information by capacitor coupling. The signal used in the body-sensor transmitter is designed for a fixed frequency using narrow band-pass filters and is received by receivers via four methods as confirmation. Finally, the charge amplifier designed to detect signals is fabricated using a 0.35£gm 2P4M CMOS process.

<p>This document contains the development of an amplifier for an ECG-signal and interfacing it to wireless communication. The purpose of this project is to get a clear ECG-signal without any noise, save it and send it through wireless communication.A challenge of the wireless communication unit is to send as little information as possible to make the communication faster, without loss of information in the ECG-signal.The context for this project is the integration of wireless communication in medical applications for home healthcare. This means that, patients are no longer bound to a specific healthcare location where they are monitored by medical instruments. Wireless communication will not only provide them with safe and accurate monitoring, but also the freedom of movement.</p>

El objetivo del trabajo fue diseñar un protocolo de inducción de ciclos fértiles en la perra utilizando eCG y hCG. En el experimento uno se evaluaron las características farmacocinéticas de eCG, la concentración maxima observada Cmax) fue semejante entre las vías im e iv (6.1±0.9 vs. 8.6±0.5 IU/mL, P>0.08), mientras que el tiempo en el que alcanzó la concentración máxima observada (Tmax) fue más largo para la via im que iv.m (17.5±0.5 vs. 11.6±0.3 h, P<0.01). El área bajo la curva (AUC) fue similar para las vías im e iv (P>0.48). Así mismo eCG se detectó en suero por al menos 144h. En el experimento dos se buscó la dosis efectiva de eCG. Pudo observarse que con 50 UI/Kg (TRT 50) de eCG se pudieron observar signos externos, comportamiento y citología vaginal de estro en todos los animales tratados La media del intervalo tratamiento - estro fue de 4.0±0.4 d. En el experimento tres se estudiaron las fluctuaciones de androstenediona, prolactina e IGF1 en relación al desarrollo folicular en las perras inducidas. Pudo observarse que las concentraciones séricas de estas sustancias varían a lo largo del desarrollo folicular. En el experimento cuatro se evaluó la eficacia reproductiva del uso combinado de eCG y hCG. Todas las perras que recibieron tratamiento respondieron manifestando comportamiento, signos externos y citología vaginal compatible con estro. El 94% de las perras recibieron servicio natural o inseminación artificial y el 80% quedaron preñadas y parieron 3,62 ± 0,41 Cachorros. No se observan efectos adversos en ninguna de las perras tratadas. / The aim of this study was to design a protocol combining eCG followed by hCG for estrus induction in the bitch. In Experiment one, we study pharmacokinetics analyses of eCG. Maximum observed concentration (Cmax) eCG were similar between im and iv routes (6.17±0.97 vs. 8.69±0.50 IU/mL, P > 0.08), whereas Tmax was longer for im compared to iv delivery route (17.5±0.5 vs. 11.66±0.33 h, P<0.002). Elimination half-live was shorter for im than for iv delivery routes (38.19± 2.81 vs. 59.08± 2.81 h; P < 0.03). The AUC concentrations were similar im and iv delivery routes (307.70±5.71 vs. 381.10±70.90 IU h/mL; P > 0.48) and eCG was detectable in serum for at least 144 h for both routes. In Experiment two, ovarian stimulatory effects of eCG was studied using one of five doses of eCG (5, 10, 15, 20, 44, or 50 IU/kg eCG im; [TRT5-TRT50]). Three to five days after treatment, all bitches in TRT50 had higher scores compared to TRT5-44 animals (P < 0.01). In TRT50, mean interval from treatment to estrus was 4.0±0.4 d. No detectable clinical side effects were observed in bitches during treatment. In experiment three studied hormonal response and follicular development after eCG administration. We observed that prolactin, IGF1 and androstenedione serum concentration change with follicular growth induced by a single dose of 50 IU/kg of eCG similar to dose occurring during spontaneous oestrous cycle. In experiment four reproductive efficacies of eCG and hCG in oestrus induction was studied. In treatment group all bitches responded to treatment by coming into clinical estrus within 3-5 d after eCG-hCG administration. Ninety four percent of animals were bred (15/16; AI, n=7; natural mating, n=8), and 80% (12/15) became pregnant. The average litter size was 3.62 ± 0.41. None of the bitches showed any side-effects to the eCG and hCG therapy.