Embodiments of the present invention provide a ring for sensing one or more physiological and/or behavioural parameters of a user. The ring comprises an aperture for receiving a finger of the use. The aperture comprises a sensing portion, one or more sensing means disposed in the sensing portion and a resiliently deformable pad opposing the sensing portion. The resiliently deformable pad is arranged to contact a finger to pressure the finger against the one or more sensing means when the finger is received in the aperture. Aspects of the invention relate to a trigger device, to an apparatus for inducing sleep and to a kit.

Systems and methods of training vehicles to improve performance, reliability and autonomy of vehicles. Sensors capture a vehicle driver's eye movements, hand grip and contact area on steering wheel, distance of the accelerator and brake pedals from the foot, depression of these pedals by the foot, and ambient sounds. Data from these sensors is used as training data to improve autonomy of vehicles. Detection of events occurring outside a vehicle is made by comparing human sensor data with an associated road map to determine correlation. Signatures corresponding to human reactions and actions are extracted, which also incorporate data acquired using vehicle and outside environment sensors. By scoring driver responses to events outside the vehicle as well as during non-events, expert drivers are identified, whose responses are used as a part of vehicle training data.

A pain monitoring and feedback system for dental procedures includes: a sensing device for taking a picture of a patient for the muscle change detection of the patient undergoing dental procedures, a heat-sensing unit for sensing the body temperature change of the patient, and a grip force-sensing unit for measuring the grip force of the patient; and a computing device for receiving data from the sensing device and outputting a signal corresponding to pain information, a control unit for analyzing at least one of the muscle change, the body temperature change and the grip force change of the patient by using the monitoring data received via the communication unit so as to estimate the pain of the patient and outputting a pain signal or controlling a procedure device according to the estimated pain, and a memory for storing data necessary for processing the control unit.

A rehabilitation feedback system is used during rehabilitation of one or more body appendages of a user. The system includes four finger tracking elements and a thumb tracking element supported for movement relative to one another so as to allow a user to performs a gripping motion when the elements are coupled to the fingers and thumb of a user. A biasing member provides a resistance force acting to urge each tracking element towards a starting position thereof. A visual barrier is adapted to hide the hand of the user at a first side of the visual barrier from direct visual sight by the user at a second side of the visual barrier. A sensor at the first side of the visual barrier detects movements of the tracking elements and communicates with an indicator element detectable by the user from a second side of the visual barrier.

A system for detecting a problematic health situation generally includes a vehicle. The vehicle comprises a sensor configured to detect a physiological characteristic of an occupant of the vehicle, an environmental sensor configured to detect an environmental characteristic of the vehicle, and a profile generation module including a memory. The profile generation module is configured to store a physiological characteristic measurement corresponding to the occupant of the vehicle, store an environmental characteristic measurement corresponding to the vehicle, and transmit the physiological characteristic measurement and the environmental characteristic measurement. The system comprises a server configured to compare the physiological characteristic measurement to a database of physiological characteristic measurements corresponding to the occupant of the vehicle. The server is further configured to formulate a baseline for the physiological characteristic based on the comparison of the physiological characteristic measurement and historical physiological characteristic data of the occupant of the vehicle.

A system for monitoring the use of a walker comprising: at least one sensor adapted for retrofitting to a walker, for measuring a physical parameter at at least one location on the walker and for sending at least one feedback signal indicating a value of the physical parameter measured.

A method, system, and computer-readable medium are provided to transmit, via a wireless network from an on-board diagnostic interface coupled to a diagnostic port of a vehicle, telematics data collected during the vehicle's operation; transmit, via the wireless network from a monitoring device, physiological data obtained for the vehicle's operator at corresponding points in time during the vehicle's operation; determine multiple roadway locations of the vehicle at the corresponding points in time, using the telematics data; determine a physiological state of the operator at each of the multiple roadway locations at the corresponding points in time, using the physiological data; determine, using the physiological states, a stress level profile associated with the operator for each travel route to a destination and including the multiple roadway locations, and send, to the operator, a recommendation identifying travel routes based on the associated stress level profiles.

An instrumented interface for quantifying at least one physiological parameter of the upper limbs of a person, capable of being secured to a gripping device, and including at least one gripping system which the person can hang from, the instrumented interface including at least one force sensor which measures a deformation of the interface when a person exerts a force on the interface via the one gripping device, and is capable of producing a value that translates a force value.

The objective of the invention is to make the use of a cannula belonging to a bioimpedance sensor easier in a medical procedure after defining the bioimpedance. The bioimpedance sensor (300) comprises a cannula (200) and a stylet (100) moveable in relation to it and is characterized in that: the cannula (200) comprises a needle tube (1), consisting of or containing electrically conductive material so that the cannula (200) is available for use as a needle electrode (1, 2) or as a part of it; the stylet (100) has a bevelled head and comprises a number of stylet electrodes (5) surrounded by electrical insulation (13) in such a manner that the beveled head is left free from electrical insulation so that the advance of the needle tip can be characterized by measuring the impedance between the needle electrode (1,2) and the number of stylet electrodes (5); the stylet (100) is additionally equipped with at least one coupling piece (6) for the electrical coupling of the stylet (100) to the needle electrode (1, 2) inside the cannula (200), whereby the impedance between the needle electrode (1, 2) and at least one of the stylet electrodes (5) can be measured inside the bioimpedance sensor (300) and exclusively through the stylet (100). The patent application contains independent claims also for the stylet, the cannula and the method for measuring bioimpedance.

Systems and methods for optimizing body and object interactions are provided. Based on obtained contact pressure maps and coefficient of friction (COF) maps at a contact interface where at least a portion of a body is in physical contact with a surface of an object, friction force maps can be determined, which can be used to optimize body and object interactions.