2011
Authors
Zuquete, A; Quintela, B; Silva Cunha, JPS;
Publication
BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING SYSTEMS AND TECHNOLOGIES
Abstract
This paper studies the suitability of brain activity, namely electroencephalogram signals, as raw material for conducting biometric authentication of individuals. Brain responses were extracted in particular scenarios, namely with visual stimulation leading to biological brain responses known as visual evoked potentials. In our study, we evaluated a novel method, using only 8 occipital electrodes and the energy of differential EEG signals, to extract information about the subjects for further use as their biometric features. To classify the features obtained from each individual we used a one-class classifier per subject. These classifiers are trained only with target class features, which is the correct procedure to apply in biometric authentication scenarios. Two types of one-class classifiers were tested, K-Nearest Neighbor and Support Vector Data Description. Two other classifier architectures were also studied, both resulting from the combination of the two previously mentioned classifiers. After testing these classifiers with the features extracted from 70 subjects, the results showed that brain responses to visual stimuli are suitable for an accurate biometric authentication.
2011
Authors
Remi, J; Silva Cunha, JPS; Vollmar, C; Topcuoglu, OB; Meier, A; Ulowetz, S; Beleza, P; Noachtar, S;
Publication
EPILEPSY & BEHAVIOR
Abstract
The analysis of epileptic seizures is typically performed by visual inspection, limited by interrater variation. Our aim was to differentiate seizures characterized by automatisms with an objective, quantitative movement analysis. In part 1 of this study we found parameters (extent and speed of movement of the wrist and trunk) separating seizures with predominant proximal (hyperkinetic, n=10) and distal (automotor, n=10) limb automatisms (P<0.002). For each movement parameter we used the lowest value recorded for a hyperkinetic seizure in part 1 as the cutoff parameter in part 2 on a consecutive sample of 100 motor seizures. As in part 1, the difference between hyperkinetic and non-hyperkinetic seizures was highly significant (<0.001). When all movement parameters were above the threshold, a hyperkinetic seizure was identified with a probability of 80.8%, but the probability for a non-hyperkinetic seizure to have all parameters above the threshold was only 0.02%.
2011
Authors
Remi, J; Wagner, P; O'Dwyer, R; Silva Cunha, JPS; Vollmar, C; Krotofil, I; Noachtar, S;
Publication
EPILEPSIA
Abstract
Purpose: To quantitatively evaluate the difference of ictal head turning movements between patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) and frontal lobe epilepsy (FLE). Methods: We investigated 38 seizures of 31 patients with unilateral TLE and 22 seizures of 14 patients with unilateral FLE where head turning occurred in the seizure evolution. The head movements were defined as ipsilateral or contralateral in reference to the lateralization of the patient's focal epilepsy syndrome. Head movements were quantified by either referencing the head position with manually placed markers or by automatic detection of infrared marked reference points. The time of onset, duration, and angular speed of the head movements were computed, and interindividual and intraindividual analyses were performed. Key Findings: All of the TLE seizures had both contralateral and ipsilateral head turning, whereas all FLE had contralateral head turning; only 6 of 22 seizures were associated with ipsilateral head turning. Ipsilateral head turning always preceded contralateral head turning in both TLE and FLE. The head turning occurred significantly sooner after clinical seizure onset in FLE than in TLE patients (ipsilateral 0.5 vs. 16.0 s, contralateral: 4.5 vs. 21.3 s; p < 0.001). Furthermore, the duration of head turning was shorter in FLE for contralateral head turning (4.1 s) than in TLE (contralateral 6.0 s, p < 0.01); the ipsilateral head turning in the two groups did not differ (3.0 vs. 2.9 s) in duration. The angular speed of head turning did not differ for ipsilateral and for contralateral head turning in FLE and TLE. Significance: Quantitative analysis of head turning demonstrates significant differences between patients with FLE and TLE. These differences likely represent differences in spread of epileptic activity. This information may be useful in the seizure evaluation of patients considered for resective epilepsy surgery.
2011
Authors
Peters, AS; Remi, J; Vollmar, C; Gonzalez Victores, JA; Cunha, JPS; Noachtar, S;
Publication
NEUROLOGY
Abstract
Objective: In human speech, the changes in intonation, rhythm, or stress reflect emotions or intentions and are called prosody. Dysprosody is the impairment of prosody and has been described in stroke and neurodegenerative disorders. Reports in epilepsy patients are limited to case reports. Methods: We assessed prosody qualitatively and quantitatively in 967 focal epilepsy patients. The qualitative assessment was performed by 2 native German speakers, and the quantitative frequency analysis used linguistic software tools. For the quantitative analysis, the formant F0 (a frequency peak, which is an approximation of pitch) and the further spectral frequency peaks of our patients' voices were analyzed. Results: We found 26 patients with ictal dysprosody through qualitative analysis (2.7% of all focal epilepsies). The qualitative changes affected mostly the pitch and the loss of melody. The seizure patterns at the time of ictal dysprosody were always in the nondominant hemisphere (100%) and were mostly right temporal (n = 22; 84.6%). Quantitative analysis of 15 audio samples (11 patients) showed a change in the frequency of formant F0 of several patients and a reduction of frequency variation during ictal speech, expressed as the SD of formant F0 (ictal 14.1 vs interictal 27.2). Conclusions: Ictal dysprosody localizes seizure onset or propagation to the nondominant temporal lobe. This information can be used in the evaluation of patients considered for resective epilepsy surgery. Neurology (R) 2011; 77: 1482-1486
2011
Authors
Dieteren Ribeiro, DMD; Fu, LSS; Carlos, LD; Silva Cunha, JPS;
Publication
IEEE SENSORS JOURNAL
Abstract
In this paper, we describe the design, implementation and testing of a dry active flexible electrode with a novel interface material for wearable biosignal recording. The new interface material takes the form of a gel and is highly bendable and comfortable on the wearer's skin. A comparison between common Ag/AgCl and our dry active electrode was performed on seven healthy volunteers. The presented prototype was designed for ECG signals but this technology can be modified for other biosignals. Our results show that the new dry active electrode presents better electrical characteristics than the common Ag/AgCl electrode, namely less power-line interference and better response in the signal band. We can conclude that our novel dry active flexible electrode outperforms the traditional Ag/AgCl wet electrode with the advantages of being dry and comfortable. Some future applications of this biodevice are discussed.
2011
Authors
Dias, P; Soares, I; Klein, J; Cunha, JPS; Roisman, GI;
Publication
ATTACHMENT & HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
Abstract
This study examined associations between attachment insecurity and autonomic response during the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) in a sample of 47 women with eating disorders using a new system for the synchronous acquisition of behavioral and physiological data: the Bio Dual-channel and Representation of Attachment Multimedia System (BioDReAMS; Soares, Cunha, Zhan Jian Li, Pinho, Neves, 1998). Consistent with the emerging literature on the psychophysiology of adult attachment, insecurity was positively correlated with electrodermal reactivity during the AAI. Furthermore, relatively secure patients showed some evidence of parasympathetic withdrawal, which can be conceptualized as evidence of more effective emotion regulation. Results suggest that, even among women with diagnosed psychopathology, security is associated with moreproductive patterns of psychophysiological response to attachment-related challenges.
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