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Biomedical subjects

Costas Papaloukas

Publications and source records attributed to Costas Papaloukas.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

A two-stage method for MUAP classification based on EMG decomposition.

A method for the extraction and classification of individual motor unit action potentials (MUAPs) from needle electromyographic signals is presented. The proposed method automatically decomposes MUAPs and classifies them into normal, neuropathic or myopathic using a two-stage feature-based classifier. The method consists of four steps: (i) preprocessing of EMG recordings, (ii) MUAP clustering and detection of superimposed MUAPs, (iii) feature extraction and (iv) MUAP classification using a two-stage classifier. The proposed method employs Radial Basis Function Artificial Neural Networks and decision trees. It requires minimal use of tuned parameters and is able to provide interpretation for the classification decisions. The approach has been validated on real EMG recordings and an annotated collection of MUAPs. The success rate for MUAP clustering is 96%, while the accuracy for MUAP classification is about 89%.

Action Potentials↗

DNA nucleoside interaction and identification with carbon nanotubes.

We investigate the interaction of individual DNA nucleosides with a carbon nanotube (CNT) in vacuum and in the presence of external gate voltage. We propose a scheme to discriminate between nucleosides on CNTs based on measurement of electronic features through a local probe such as scanning tunneling spectroscopy. We demonstrate through quantum mechanical calculations that these measurements can achieve 100% efficiency in identifying DNA bases. Our results support the practicality of ultrafast DNA sequencing using electrical measurements.

DNA↗

Sequence-based protein structure prediction using a reduced state-space hidden Markov model.

This work describes the use of a hidden Markov model (HMM), with a reduced number of states, which simultaneously learns amino acid sequence and secondary structure for proteins of known three-dimensional structure and it is used for two tasks: protein class prediction and fold recognition. The Protein Data Bank and the annotation of the SCOP database are used for training and evaluation of the proposed HMM for a number of protein classes and folds. Results demonstrate that the reduced state-space HMM performs equivalently, or even better in some cases, on classifying proteins than a HMM trained with the amino acid sequence. The major advantage of the proposed approach is that a small number of states is employed and the training algorithm is of low complexity and thus relatively fast.

Algorithms↗

Estimation of daily traffic emissions in a South-European urban agglomeration during a workday. Evaluation of several "what if" scenarios.

Detailed traffic data collected from seven major roads in the city of Athens, Greece are presented and analysed in this study. Vehicles are split into seven categories while vehicle speed is also recorded. Based on these data the emissions of five major pollutants (CO, Benzene, NO(X), PM(10) and VOCs) were calculated with the aid of the COPERT methodology and, based on these results, an Artificial Neural Network was also developed. The results of the two methodologies were compared and it was found that the differences were very small. The ANN model seems to be a reliable alternative to calculate road traffic emissions in a busy road environment. The results reflect the spatial and temporal distribution of the concentrations of the pollutants examined. Alternative "what if" scenarios of the fleet distribution were also applied by means of environmental policy. Since Athens experiences low air quality conditions the correct estimation of traffic emissions is crucial since they play a significant role in the design of an environmental abatement strategy.

Air Pollutants↗

An association rule mining-based methodology for automated detection of ischemic ECG beats.

Currently, an automated methodology based on association rules is presented for the detection of ischemic beats in long duration electrocardiographic (ECG) recordings. The proposed approach consists of three stages. 1) Preprocessing: Noise is removed and all the necessary ECG features are extracted. 2) Discretization: The continuous valued features are transformed to categorical. 3) CLASSIFICATION: An association rule extraction algorithm is utilized and a rule-based classification model is created. According to the proposed methodology, electrocardiogram (ECG) features extracted from the ST segment and the T-wave, as well as the patient's age, were used as inputs. The output was the classification of the beat as ischemic or not. Various algorithms were tested both for discretization and for classification using association rules. To evaluate the methodology, a cardiac beat dataset was constructed using several recordings of the European Society of Cardiology ST-T database. The obtained sensitivity (Se) and specificity (Sp) was 87% and 93%, respectively. The proposed methodology combines high accuracy with the ability to provide interpretation for the decisions made, since it is based on a set of association rules.

Arrhythmias, Cardiac↗

Automated ischemic beat classification using genetic algorithms and multicriteria decision analysis.

Cardiac beat classification is a key process in the detection of myocardial ischemic episodes in the electrocardiographic signal. In the present study, we propose a multicriteria sorting method for classifying the cardiac beats as ischemic or not. Through a supervised learning procedure, each beat is compared to preclassified category prototypes under five criteria. These criteria refer to ST segment changes, T wave alterations, and the patient's age. The difficulty in applying the above criteria is the determination of the required method parameters, namely the thresholds and weight values. To overcome this problem, we employed a genetic algorithm, which, after proper training, automatically calculates the optimum values for the above parameters. A task-specific cardiac beat database was developed for training and testing the proposed method using data from the European Society of Cardiology ST-T database. Various experimental tests were carried out in order to adjust each module of the classification system. The obtained performance was 91% in terms of both sensitivity and specificity and compares favorably to other beat classification approaches proposed in the literature.

Age Factors↗

An ischemia detection method based on artificial neural networks.

An automated technique was developed for the detection of ischemic episodes in long duration electrocardiographic (ECG) recordings that employs an artificial neural network. In order to train the network for beat classification, a cardiac beat dataset was constructed based on recordings from the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) ST-T database. The network was trained using a Bayesian regularisation method. The raw ECG signal containing the ST segment and the T wave of each beat were the inputs to the beat classification system and the output was the classification of the beat. The input to the network was produced through a principal component analysis (PCA) to achieve dimensionality reduction. The network performance in beat classification was tested on the cardiac beat database providing 90% sensitivity (Se) and 90% specificity (Sp). The neural beat classifier is integrated in a four-stage procedure for ischemic episode detection. The whole system was evaluated on the ESC ST-T database. When aggregate gross statistics was used the Se was 90% and the positive predictive accuracy (PPA) 89%. When aggregate average statistics was used the Se became 86% and the PPA 87%. These results are better than other reported.

Automation↗

Use of a novel rule-based expert system in the detection of changes in the ST segment and the T wave in long duration ECGs.

The development of a new fast and robust computerised system is examined in detecting electrocardiogram (ECG) changes in long duration ECG recordings. The system distinguishes these changes between ST-segment deviation and T-wave alterations and can support the produced diagnosis by providing explanations for the decisions made. The European Society of Cardiology ST-T Database was used for evaluating the performance of the system. Sensitivity and positive predictive accuracy were the performance measures used and the proposed system scored 92.02% and 93.77%, respectively, in detecting ST-segment episodes and 91.09% and 80.09% in detecting T-wave episodes. By using the chi-square test we also compared the performance of the system between ECG recordings with minimal and substantial amount of noise. The sensitivity of the proposed system is higher than of other algorithms reported in the literature and the positive predictive accuracy is comparable to, or better than, most of them.

Algorithms↗