Volume 9, Issue 2

Skin cancer is the most commonly diagnosed type of cancer in people, regardless of age, gender, or race. One of the most common malignant skin cancers is melanoma, which is a dangerous proliferation of melanocytes. It is a well-known fact that early diagnosis of skin cancer is crucial and allows for successful treatment. Treatment of melanoma is not effective when melanoma is at an advanced stage. A widely used tool for the examination of skin lesions is a dermatoscope, which uses optic magnification to visualize features that are invisible to the naked eye. For a precise and objective diagnosis, there is a need for a computerized method for the removal and inpainting of hairs in image processing. In this study, we present an algorithm for the detection and inpainting of hairs in color dermoscopic images.

This paper focuses on techniques of phonocardiographic image registration. Simultaneous measurements of sound wave amplitudes from above the chest of a healthy person were performed by means of piezoelectric microphones. The location of the source of sound waves can be determined by implementing the size of the amplitudes. Sound source changes its position in time and moves the wheel tracks covering the entire heart or accumulate in some places. A comparison of the results of heart auscultation with an image received by echocardiography was possible due to the fact that the collected phonocardiographic measurements and echocardiographic examination were obtained with ECG sampling. The occurrence of the specific events from the heart auscultation was attributed to their genesis mechanism.

This article presents an algorithm based on a short-time Fourier transform for reliable detection of epileptic seizures measured with three-dimensional (3D) accelerometry. The objective of the described work is to provide basic technical information to create useful alarm models for epileptic seizure detection using a mobile phone. The presented material is based on experimental measurements. Finally, the possibility of increasing smartphone detection capability by attaching a triaxial piezoelectric accelerometer to the patient’s wrist is suggested.

Despite the quick development of medicine and associated medical technology, there are still many patients with very severe neurological deficits who need far more sophisticated solutions, such as brain computer interfaces (BCIs). Our research aims at becoming familiar with BCI technology and the assessment of the possibilities of selected subjects in the area of P300-based BCI. An indirect aim is a discussion on the procedures of patient preparation for BCI installation, possible threats and limitations. Our research presents one of the possible efforts towards better documentation of investigating neural correlates of brain processing.

The role of exons can be studied on many levels, one of which pertains to protein structure. It is a well-known fact that secondary structural motifs do not directly correspond to exons: helices, β-sheets and loops have all been identified as encoded by more than one exon. The relation between exon fragments and their involvement in shaping the three-dimensional (3D) structure of a protein body is subject to ongoing studies. In particular, the role of exons in stabilizing tertiary structures can be related to the structure of the hydrophobic core of the protein. Participation of specific polypeptide fragments (single exons) in hydrophobic stabilization reveals the role played by each fragment. In the course of the presented research, exons in selected proteins have been identified on the basis of GenBank files, imported from the nucleotide database at the National Center of Biotechnology Information. Amino acid sequences representing each exon were subsequently traced to parts of 3D structural forms. The participation of each exon fragment in shaping the hydrophobic core of the protein was measured using divergence entropy calculations. It was found that each protein contains at least one exon which encodes a structural fragment in accordance with the theoretical hydrophobic core model. This implies that the likely role of at least one exon in each protein is to generate a hydrophobic core which is, in turn, responsible for tertiary structural stabilization.

In this article, the application of the Ångström method in estimating the thermal diffusion parameter in an example of natural biological environment is described. The present study is based on measurements performed in forest soils. The main advantage of the suggested procedure is that it does not need the collection of samples of the soil for a later study in the laboratory. Collecting such data is typically very laborious and requires the preservation of the natural content and structure of all elements of the soil profile in the samples, such as organic components, soil parts, or rocks. The harmonic time runs necessary to implement the Ångström method were computed with the short-time Fourier transform. The obtained results, compared with reference values taken from literature, confirm the accuracy of the proposed methodology.

Computer and video games are increasingly being used for serious purposes and not only for entertainment. In recent years, we have observed a very fast market development of serious games, which are used for education, simulation, research, health, and therapy purposes. This article describes the main features of serious games used for health. This group of serious games includes health promotion games (for example, game on healthy nutrition, physical activity), games with information about diseases and treatment procedures, rehabilitation games (also known as “exergames”), games for cognitive distraction during painful medical procedures, and games with psychology content. Three examples of serious games for health were described in this article. This article also presents the design prototype of a psychology-centered serious game, Mission – Master Your Fear , which focuses on issues and problems of preschool children.