Alessandro Puiatti - Profile on Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Alessandro Puiatti

UWB Tracking for Home Care Systems with Off-the-Shelf Components

2018 IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems (ISCAS)

This study presents preliminary results of a broader research on Home Robot monitoring for elder ... more This study presents preliminary results of a broader research on Home Robot monitoring for elder people. The final goal of the project is the development of a robot that works in synergy with an automatic fall detection device, reaching the patient and checking his condition in case of triggered alarm. This paper covers the initial steps necessary for the design of the tracking network which provides the machine with the subject's position, in particular the single node performance. The network is based on Ultra-Wide Band (UWB) wireless transceivers that in this study are the Decawave EVB1000 evaluation boards. Two types of analysis have been performed on the anchor: a Line of Sight (LOS) baseline accuracy and interference robustness. The results demonstrate that, for LOS distance estimation, to achieve a margin of error below 15 cm, the node has to be closer than 12 m to the target. If we remove the line of sight condition, introducing a subject walking straight between the two anchors, the error is spread in the order of 10 cm from the original baseline for a 10 m nodes distance recording. If the path is obstructed instead by a subject walking perpendicularly to the nodes instead leads to a different types of perturbations, with an absolute error below 13 cm.

The current network architecture for mobile devices presents applications with a synchronous mode... more The current network architecture for mobile devices presents applications with a synchronous model and employs end-to-end connections. In reality, devices are often disconnected from the network and, while they are disconnected, they can connect to other devices in the neighborhood and exploit the connectivity to allow the user to continue to work. This is the key concept of the Haggle project [1], a groundup redesign of networking for mobile devices, to support the mobile user scenario. In order to benefit from users mobility, it is necessary to be able to opportunistically switch between (ad hoc) connections, whenever a new opportunity of connection arises. This imposes that connection set-up time must be minimal, considering that the nodes will probably stay in the range of each other for a short time frame. However, we saw that the 802.11 connectivity in Haggle carries significant overhead (especially when switching between Access Point (AP) mode and ad hoc mode, particularly wh...

Studio preliminare all'introduzione di un accesso mobile alla cartella clinica

Introduzione: L'organizzazione del lavoro negli ospedali e caratterizzata da un “problem solv... more Introduzione: L'organizzazione del lavoro negli ospedali e caratterizzata da un “problem solving” collettivo. L’analisi del flusso di lavoro degli infermieri e un concetto chiave per capire l'efficienza e il potenziale della pianificazione delle risorse, oltre a essere uno strumento di analisi prima e dopo l’introduzione di nuove tecnologie (Hendrich, et al., 2008). Diversi studi hanno descritto l'imprevedibilita del flusso di lavoro degli infermieri e le continue interruzioni, i rapidi cambiamenti, il multitasking e la grande mobilita. Le interruzioni del flusso di lavoro creano rischi di sicurezza e irritazione, riducono il tempo di dialogo con i pazienti e aumentano il carico di lavoro (Baethge & Rigotti, 2013). Queste sono le tipiche condizioni che portano al sovraccarico, che e uno dei piu importanti fattori di stress segnalato dagli infermieri (Kickass, et al., 2008). La possibilita di accedere con un dispositivo mobile alla cartella clinica di un paziente e un ese...

Sensors (Basel, Switzerland), 2020

Falls in the home environment are a primary cause of injury in older adults. According to the U.S... more Falls in the home environment are a primary cause of injury in older adults. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, every year, one in four adults 65 years of age and older reports experiencing a fall. A variety of different technologies have been proposed to detect fall events. However, the need to detect all fall instances (i.e., to avoid false negatives) has led to the development of systems marked by high sensitivity and hence a significant number of false alarms. The occurrence of false alarms causes frequent and unnecessary calls to emergency response centers, which are critical resources that should be utilized only when necessary. Besides, false alarms decrease the level of confidence of end-users in the fall detection system with a negative impact on their compliance with using the system (e.g., wearing the sensor enabling the detection of fall events). Herein, we present a novel approach aimed to augment traditional fall detection systems that re...

Assessment of propagation effects in the W frequency band for space exploration: an ESA study

AutoPlay: a smart toys-kit for an objective analysis of children ludic behavior and development

2018 IEEE International Symposium on Medical Measurements and Applications (MeMeA), 2018

AutoPlay is the name of an innovative idea to promote healthy childhood. It aims at anticipating ... more AutoPlay is the name of an innovative idea to promote healthy childhood. It aims at anticipating the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders, neuro developmental disorders and social fragilities. AutoPlay exploits data collected during ludic activities and translates them into clinical and social information. In this paper we describe the concept, design and manufacturing of the first AutoPlay toys-kit prototype. We also present its very first application in a feasibility study. We demonstrated that it is possible to answer the need of capturing useful information related to infant (9–15 months) ludic activity, in an ecological environment. The toys-kit is the result of an inter-disciplinary collaboration, which has merged evenly clinical and technological perspectives and requirements. We managed to clarify what the available technologies can offer to pediatricians and social operators, and how it is be possible to measure the quality of toys manipulation.

L'organizzazione del lavoro negli ospedali e caratterizzata da un “problem solving” collettiv... more L'organizzazione del lavoro negli ospedali e caratterizzata da un “problem solving” collettivo. L’analisi del flusso di lavoro degli infermieri e un concetto chiave per capire l'efficienza e il potenziale della pianificazione delle risorse, oltre a essere uno strumento di analisi prima e dopo l’introduzione di nuove tecnologie (Hendrich, et al., 2008). Diversi studi hanno descritto l'imprevedibilita del flusso di lavoro degli infermieri e le continue interruzioni, i rapidi cambiamenti, il multitasking e la grande mobilita. Le interruzioni del flusso di lavoro creano rischi di sicurezza e irritazione, riducono il tempo di dialogo con i pazienti e aumentano il carico di lavoro (Baethge & Rigotti, 2013). Queste sono le tipiche condizioni che portano al sovraccarico, che e uno dei piu importanti fattori di stress segnalato dagli infermieri (Kickass, et al., 2008). La possibilita di accedere con un dispositivo mobile alla cartella clinica di un paziente e un esempio di miglio...

Sensor Data Synchronization in a IoT Environment for Infants Motricity Measurement

Design Of An Enhanced Mac Architecture For Multi-Hop Wireless Networks

Experiments with an enhanced MAC architecture for multi-hop wireless networks

Bedtime to morning variation of mobility after nocturnal sleep in Parkinson's disease

Sleep Medicine

Up to 50% of the patients with Parkinson´s disease experience a transient but clinically relevant... more Up to 50% of the patients with Parkinson´s disease experience a transient but clinically relevant improvement in mobility on morning awakening, even before taking their habitual antiparkinsonian medications. This phenomenon has been described as "Sleep Benefit” (SB). We aimed to evaluate the effect of nocturnal sleep on mobility on morning awakening, compared to the effect of habitual morning dopaminergic medications. Moreover, we explored if this effect varied differently among patients experiencing or not SB and if it was influenced by overall quality of nocturnal sleep macrostructure.

Smart Phone Based Monitoring System for Bipolar Disorder Patients

Advances in Space Research, 2013

outdoor field tests. Additionally, node deployment was investigated, and a deployment system base... more outdoor field tests. Additionally, node deployment was investigated, and a deployment system based on a mobile robotics platform has been designed and tested.

Improving clinical data collection in the patients’ home in Parkinson’s disease: the SleepFit app (Preprint)

BACKGROUND Home-based systems for ecological momentary assessment of clinically-relevant informat... more BACKGROUND Home-based systems for ecological momentary assessment of clinically-relevant information in Parkinson’s Disease (PD) are helpful tools to improve patients’ care. Nevertheless, new technologies are not always easy-to-use for these patients. OBJECTIVE We developed a tablet-based application, SleepFit, specifically designed for patients with PD, to collect objective and subjective data at their home. SleepFit is presented with the improvements made from the prototype to the latest v2.0 version, aimed to enhance user-friendliness and the quality of the collected data. METHODS The core structure of SleepFit consists of: a) an electronic finger-tapping test; b) motor, sleepiness, and emotional subjective scales; c) a sleep diary. SleepFit v2.0 features enhanced ergonomics and graphics; automated flows that guide the patients in performing tasks throughout the 24 hours; secured real-time data collection and consultation; the possibility to easily integrate new tasks and feature...

Journal of Parkinson's Disease

Background: Subjective symptoms, which are retrospectively assessed during clinical interviews in... more Background: Subjective symptoms, which are retrospectively assessed during clinical interviews in the office, may be influenced by patient recall in Parkinson's disease (PD). Prospective collection of subjective data might be an effective tool to overcome this bias. Objective: We investigated the correspondence between prospectively and retrospectively assessed motor symptoms in PD. Methods: Forty-two consecutive patients (9 females, 67 ± 9.8 years old) with mild to moderate PD reported their symptoms four times a day for two weeks, using the "SleepFit" application (app) for tablets. This app incorporates a new Visual Analogue Scale assessing global mobility (m-VAS), and the Scales for Outcome in Parkinson Assessment Diary Card (SCOPA-DC). At day 14, the Movement Disorders Society Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (MDS-UPDRS) parts II and IV questionnaires were completed at the hospital. Agreement (root mean square difference) and the tendency to under-or overestimate their symptoms by patients (relative difference after normalization) were calculated to compare prospectively vs. retrospectively collected information. Results: Although agreement was good for overall scores (m-VAS: 10.0%; SCOPA-DC: 18.3%), and for single motor symptoms (involuntary movements, hand dexterity, walking, changing position; each <20%), some individuals with more advanced disease, higher fatigue or worse sleep quality showed poor symptom recall in retrospect. Moreover, a subgroup of patients (16.7%) either over-or underestimated symptom severity. Conclusions: Regular, prospective monitoring of motor symptoms is suitable in PD patients. SleepFit might be a useful tool in routine practice to identify patients tending to under-or overestimate their symptoms, and for their follow-up.

Automated sleep scoring: A review of the latest approaches

Sleep Medicine Reviews

Activity detection in uncontrolled free-living conditions using a single accelerometer

2015 IEEE 12th International Conference on Wearable and Implantable Body Sensor Networks (BSN), 2015

Design Of An Enhanced MAC Architecture For Multi-Hop Wireless Networks

* This work was partially funded by the CTI Swiss programme under the KTI-7640.1 ESPP-ES Optimise... more * This work was partially funded by the CTI Swiss programme under the KTI-7640.1 ESPP-ES Optimised always-on solution project.

Performing global node mobility requires to support seamless vertical and horizontal handovers be... more Performing global node mobility requires to support seamless vertical and horizontal handovers between different network providers and technologies. The optimization of the han- dover processes requires not only continuous network services, but also continuous service performance. In this paper we present a novel design approach based on autonomic components and cross-layer monitoring and control to optimize the performance of the WiOptiMo system, which provides seamless internetwork roaming by handling mobility at the application layer. We also distinguish from past work, in that we pragmatically followed the approach to rely only on existing technologies, deployed protocols and lightweight calculations, such that our system can be straightforwardly implemented as it is on most of the currently available mobile network devices. We report results from some simple real-world experiments showing the benefits of using a cross-layering approach. We also describe a first version of the n...