Detection of true human emotions has attracted a lot of interest in the recent years. The applications range from e-retail to health-care for developing effective companion systems with reliable emotion recognition. This paper proposes heart rate variability (HRV) features extracted from photoplethysmogram (PPG) signal obtained from a cost-effective PPG device such as Pulse Oximeter for detecting and recognizing the emotions on the basis of the physiological signals. The HRV features obtained from both time and frequency domain are used as features for classification of emotions. These features are extracted from the entire PPG signal obtained during emotion elicitation and baseline neutral phase. For analyzing emotion recognition, using the proposed HRV features, standard video stimuli are used. We have considered three emotions namely, happy, sad and neutral or null emotions. Support vector machines are used for developing the models and features are explored to achieve average emotion recognition of 83.8% for the above model and listed features.

Pulmonary ailments are conventionally diagnosed by spirometry. The complex forceful breathing maneuver as well as the extreme cost of spirometry renders it unsuitable in many situations. This work is aimed to facilitate an emerging direction of tidal breathing-based pulmonary evaluation by designing a novel, equitable, precise and portable device for acquisition and analysis of directional tidal breathing patterns, in real time. The proposed system primarily uses an in-house designed blow pipe, 40-kHz air-coupled ultrasound transreceivers, and a radio frequency (RF) phase-gain integrated circuit (IC). Moreover, in order to achieve high sensitivity in a cost-effective design philosophy, we have exploited the phase measurement technique, instead of selecting the contemporary time-of-flight (TOF) measurement; since application of the TOF principle in tidal breathing assessments requires sub-micro to nanosecond time resolution. This approach, which depends on accurate phase measurement, contributed to enhanced sensitivity using a simple electronics design. The developed system has been calibrated using a standard 3-L calibration syringe. The parameters of this system are validated against a standard spirometer, with maximum percentage error below 16%. Further, the extracted respiratory parameters related to tidal breathing have been found to be comparable with relevant prior works. The error in detecting respiration rate only is 3.9% compared to manual evaluation. These encouraging insights reveal the definite potential of our tidal breathing pattern (TBP) prototype for measuring tidal breathing parameters in order to extend the reach of affordable healthcare in rural regions and developing areas.

In this paper, we propose a novel non-contact vibration measurement system that is competent in estimating linear and/or rotational motions of machine parts. The technique combines microwave radar, standard camera, and optical strobe to capture vibrational or rotational motions in a relatively fast and affordable manner when compared to the current technologies. In particular, the proposed technique is capable of not only measuring common vibrational parameters (e.g. frequency, motor rpm, etc.) but also provides spatial information of the vibrational sources so that the origin of each vibrational point can be identified accurately. Furthermore, it can also capture the wobbling motion of the rotating shafts. Thus, the proposed method can find immense applications in preventive maintenance across various industries where heavy machinery needs to be monitored unobtrusively or there is a requirement for non-contact multi-point vibration measurement for any machine inspection applications.

This paper demonstrates a system capable of capturing directional tidal breathing (inhale/exhale cycles) pattern for application in pulmonary disease diagnostics. The work particularly highlights intelligent usage of commercially available Analog Device's phase-gain IC and ultrasound to build such a system which otherwise requires many fold, more complex circuits/electronics to achieve similar sensitivity. This makes the system compact, affordable yet very sensitive so that it can be reliably used for tidal breathing analysis, a new trend that emerged recently as opposed to traditional Spirometric test (based on forced breathing) that is both tedious and painful for patients with pulmonary obstructions. This work may turn out quite useful in needy geographies as pulmonary ailments like Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is rapidly becoming an epidemic and requires immediate attention.