Andrea Nicolò, PhD Department of Movement Human and Health Sciences, University of Rome “Foro Italico”   Abstract Technological development is helping athletes and exercise practitioners optimize performance and minimize the risk of injury and illness. Yet, monitoring exercise is challenging due to several factors, including motion artefacts and the need to minimize the invasiveness of wearable devices. The challenge is even greater when attempting to extract simple and useful information from a myriad of data that are currently gathered during training and competitions. Furthermore, most sensors and devices currently used in sports have not been scientifically validated. Moreover, technological development is often guided by market forces rather than athlete or scientific needs, which may reduce the use of new technologies. A good example of how the development of wearable sensors should follow athletes’ needs and be informed by scientific findings is given by the increasing attention devoted to respiratory frequency (fR) monitoring during exercise. Substantial evidence suggests that fR plays an important role during exercise as a strong marker of physical effort, more so than other traditionally monitored physiological variables such as oxygen uptake, heart rate and blood lactate. Indeed, fR is closely linked with perceived exertion during a variety of exercise paradigms and experimental interventions affecting performance, including muscle fatigue, glycogen depletion, hyperthermia and hypoxia. Therefore, fR is sensitive to different fatigue states, and thus presents potentially important implications for training and recovery monitoring. Furthermore, fR is a good predictor of time to exhaustion during constant-work rate exercise and can help understand how effort is distributed during self-paced time trials. Moreover, monitoring fR may not only benefit endurance sports but also team sports and other intermittent-based sporting activities, given the very fast response observed to abrupt changes in work rate. However, the importance of fR as a marker of physical effort has emerged from recent investigations and fR is not currently measured during training. Furthermore, there is a paucity of respiratory sensors specifically designed for sporting activities, which is very relevant for companies, researchers and sensor developers. The talk will present: i) current evidence suggesting the importance of respiratory frequency monitoring during exercise; ii) our current understanding of the mechanisms underlying the control of breathing during exercise; iii) currently available techniques and sensors for measuring respiratory frequency. Biography Andrea Nicolò received his BSc (2009), MSc (2011) and PhD in Sports, Exercise and Ergonomics (2015) from the University of Rome “Foro Italico”. He is currently a post-doc researcher at the University of Rome “Foro Italico”. His research focuses on endurance physiology and performance, with special attention to the mechanisms and practical applications underlying the control of breathing during exercise. He has worked for different research projects funded by major national and international sports companies, with the aim of developing new exercise tests and training metrics, and of validating training devices and algorithms. Details  

First Workshop on Electronics for Sensors

Breathing biomechanics: optical measurement systems for thoracoabdominal analysis Amanda Piaia Silvatti Respiratory assessment can be carried out using different approaches. Most findings related to respiratory volume changes and adaptations were obtained using spirometry, that is the most common pulmonary function test. This technique measures inhaled and exhaled exchanged volumes and/or airflow. However, this method does not allow to study thoraco-abdominal contributions and biomechanics associated with breathing. Optical measurement systems may overcome these limitations, thus allowing investigating some aspects of ventilatory biomechanics.  A model for positioning photo-reflective markers on specific chest landmarks and a computational method are required to compute breathing volume as a function of time from the marker trajectories. Moreover, using compartmental breathing volumes, the thoracoabdominal patterns, percentage contribution of each compartment and the coordination between compartments can be evaluated. Different models allowing to perform breathing assessment have been described and applied on healthy and pathological subjects in different body positions. In this talk, the advantages and disadvantages of the spirometry method and optical measurement systems for thoracoabdominal analysis will be presented. Then the results of the Silvatti’s Lab studies related to breathing mechanics as the effects of the sport modality practice, the aging, the breathing maneuver and gender will be also discussed.   Biography Prof. Amanda Piaia Silvatti received her Bachelor’s in Physical Education from Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Brasil in 2005. She received her Master’s, and Ph.D. in Physical Education also from Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Brasil in 2009 and 2013, respectively. Since 2013, Prof. Amanda is Assistant Professor at the Universidade Federal de Viçosa. She has experience in physical education, and her research focus is related to breathing biomechanics, biomechanical evaluations in sports (swimming, combat sports, basketball, ballet) and gait (human and animal), and biomechanical methodologies developments. She is member of the International Society of the Biomechanics in Sport, European College of Sport Science, and European Society of Biomechanics. Additional Details Organizer: Ing. Carlo Massaroni, Università Campus Bio-Medico di Roma, Rome, ITALY in collaboration with Italy Chapter of the IEEE Sensors Council For information please contact: c.massaroni@unicampus.it

Development of Optical Fiber Sensors for Various Applications Kim Taesung Thanks to light weight/small size, high sensitivity/large band width, long range operation, and harsh environment capability, optical fiber has gained immense attention in sensor field. The optical fiber sensor can be either intrinsic or extrinsic type considering the passage of light and optical modulation mechanism can be by intensity, phase, wavelength and polarization. It has been used to measure various chemical and physical properties, such as temperature, pH, pressure, humidity, flow rate, gas concentration, liquid level, radiation, displacement, vibration, and chemical species My group developed optical fiber sensors for 5 applications; 1) Aerosol 2) VOCs 3) Biomolecule, 4) Radiation and 5) Force. Aerosol: TEOS and thymol blue (TB) were used for the preparation of silica cladding on optical fiber core. The coated optical fiber is found to be sensitive to composition of aerosol based on evanescent wave absorption. Moreover, conductive polymer, polypyrrole (PPy) thin film coated optical fiber was used for NaCl, PSL, and BC aerosol sensing. VOCs: PPy thin film coated optical fiber was used for VOCs sensor. Its detection limit is ~1 ppm level. Similarly, DNA and metal ion-modified DNA (M-DNA) coated on quart plate was used for VOCs sensor based on surface change. M-DNA is more sensitive than DNA for sensing. Additionally, Graphene oxide (GO) and reduced-GO (rGO) were coated on tip of optical fiber and used for detecting 8 kinds of VOCs. Biomolecule: Reusable PDMS waveguide-graphene FET hybrid sensor was developed for bio-molecular interaction monitoring. Its sensing mechanism is based on changing evanescent field. Moreover, graphene was used as a novel surface plasmon supporting material for highly sensitive biosensors. Graphene was also employed as composite material with MoS2 for synergetic effect. The MoS2-graphene composite was used for electrochemical sensor with increasing sensitivity of PTH hormone. Radiation: Alpha radiation can induce tracks on the surface of CR 39/ LR 115 These tracks can be detected by the change of reflection light intensity. Blue light (450 nm) was used for real-time measurement of radiation damage of the surface and compared with AFM measurement. Similarly, DNA this film was utilized to observe the damage of its surface by 241Am (Alpha radiation source) for radiation sensor. Force: FBG (Fiber Bragg Grating) was used for force sensor with flexure structure and its wavelength change was used for changing force and it can apply for catheterization. In this lecture, I will review previous results from my group and discuss about the future direction Additional Details Organizer: Prof. Emiliano Schena, Università Campus Bio-Medico di Roma, Rome, ITALY in collaboration with Italy Chapter of the IEEE Sensors Council For information please contact: e.schena@unicampus.it