Search

BACKGROUND The distinctive features of the digital reality platforms, namely augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and mixed reality (MR) have extended to medical education, training, simulation, and patient care. Furthermore, this digital reality technology seamlessly merges with information and communication technology creating an enriched telehealth ecosystem. This review provides a composite overview of the prospects of telehealth delivered using the MR platform in clinical settings. OBJECTIVE This review identifies various clinical applications of high-fidelity digital display technology, namely AR, VR, and MR, delivered using telehealth capabilities. Next, the review focuses on the technical characteristics, hardware, and software technologies used in the composition of AR, VR, and MR in telehealth. METHODS We conducted a scoping review using the methodological framework and reporting design using the PRISMA-ScR (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Extension for Scoping Reviews) guidelines. Full-length articles in English were obtained from the Embase, PubMed, and Web of Science databases. The search protocol was based on the following keywords and Medical Subject Headings to obtain relevant results: “augmented reality,” “virtual reality,” “mixed-reality,” “telemedicine,” “telehealth,” and “digital health.” A predefined inclusion-exclusion criterion was developed in filtering the obtained results and the final selection of the articles, followed by data extraction and construction of the review. RESULTS We identified 4407 articles, of which 320 were eligible for full-text screening. A total of 134 full-text articles were included in the review. Telerehabilitation, telementoring, teleconsultation, telemonitoring, telepsychiatry, telesurgery, and telediagnosis were the segments of the telehealth division that explored the use of AR, VR, and MR platforms. Telerehabilitation using VR was the most commonly recurring segment in the included studies. AR and MR has been mainly used for telementoring and teleconsultation. The most important technical features of digital reality technology to emerge with telehealth were virtual environment, exergaming, 3D avatars, telepresence, anchoring annotations, and first-person viewpoint. Different arrangements of technology—3D modeling and viewing tools, communication and streaming platforms, file transfer and sharing platforms, sensors, high-fidelity displays, and controllers—formed the basis of most systems. CONCLUSIONS This review constitutes a recent overview of the evolving digital AR and VR in various clinical applications using the telehealth setup. This combination of telehealth with AR, VR, and MR allows for remote facilitation of clinical expertise and further development of home-based treatment. This review explores the rapidly growing suite of technologies available to users within the digital health sector and examines the opportunities and challenges they present. CLINICALTRIAL

Digital education is intertwined with matters of global economics, geopolitics, as well as ongoing changes in what counts as knowledge, skills and learning. We have witnessed throughout the COVID-19 pandemic how technology has been embraced within education from online classes to innovative mobile learning approaches and evaluating humanoid robots in education is the next step. Driven by a need to keep pace with the evolving techno- and socio-economic requirements, schools and society are increasingly adopting artificial intelligence (AI) and robots in their daily activity. This paper presents a feasibility case study in digital health education where a humanoid robot was chosen to teach based on its form and function. With an imperative to establish a strong and sustainable learning space, the aim of this paper is to present results and learn about the future of digital health education from humanoid robots being deployed in digital health learning spaces. The paper concludes by highlighting key design challenges in unbundling educational approaches in the context of humanoid robots. It is intended that the outcomes of this paper will extend beyond the COVID-19 pandemic by contributing to the humanoid robot technology discussion that will push towards more futuristic artificial intelligence in and for education peer-reviewed

The existence of a live-chicken processing plant about 20 meters from a water source in Clarksville, Arkansas, raises concerns about bacteria contamination in the water. Over a period of three days, water samples from three different locations (upstream, across from the processing plant, and downstream) and for three different types of water at each location (running, stagnant in the middle, stagnant near bank) were collected in triplicate. Bacterial colonies were grown on 3M Escherichia coli/Coliform Petri-Film to identify and count E. coli, coliforms, and other Gram-negative bacteria. E. coli colonies were isolated and antibiotic resistance assays were performed for Ciprofloxacin and Sulfamethoxazole/Trimethoprim. Coliform and other Gram-negative bacterial counts were higher across and downstream from the chicken processing plant as compared to upstream (p < 0.05). High levels of bacteria are not above EPA markers, but are still alarming for the community. There is no significant difference in E. coli antibiotic resistance among locations, but most colonies analyzed were resistant for one of the antibiotics, and no isolate gave a susceptible result, providing more evidence for the increase in antibiotic resistance in wild strains.

Corrosion prevention of Built Heritage represents an important discipline within Heritage Science. Many metal materials have been widely used in antiques and contemporary art pieces, as well as Buildings and Construction. Conservation of metallic building structures is crucial because of cultural value and historical significance. This chapter is devoted for studying the use of electrochemical techniques for on-site corrosion monitoring. There is an increased interest in the area of heritage conservation due to its significance i.e., a strong commitment to maintain and preserve the conditions of the structures, its cultural value and structural integrity. From a Heritage Science conservation standpoint there is a need to establish new conservation strategies and policies, thus allowing to preserve the culture as a whole and the heritage identity. Identifying the current state of corrosion damage on contemporary built heritages is a crucial task that needs to be executed. Non-destructive and quantitative techniques for measuring corrosion are needed to detect the deterioration of structures at an early stage (to predict their residual life), and thus to decide what prevention or repair systems need to be applied. Electrochemical techniques provide virtually the only viable procedure for assessing reinforcement corrosion without removing the concrete layer. Electrochemical corrosion techniques are valuable non-destructive diagnostic tools used for evaluating reinforced concrete heritage buildings and structures, which can supply information for the restoration repairs. The expected outcome of the on-site application of electrochemical technique, is to identify the type of corrosion processes and mechanisms, which will establish a corrosion control and management protocol of existing contemporary buildings in order to ensure and guarantee its preservation.

We present the design and the performance of midinfrared distributed feedback (DFB) quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) made of strain balanced GaxIn1-xAs/AlyIn1-yAs material on InP substrates for sensing CO2, N2O, and NO in the middle wavelength range of mid-IR from 4 to 6 μm. We present the performances of our DFB QCLs at three different aspects: high power, low threshold power consumption, and wide wavelength coverage. We demonstrated a continuous wave (CW) DFB QCL with an output power of 220mW at 20°C, a CW DFB QCL with low threshold voltage of 8V and low-divergent far-field angles of 27.5° × 32.9° by reducing the number of quantum cascaded stages, a CW DFB QCL with a low threshold power consumption of 0.7W by reducing doping density in the active core, and DFB QCLs wide wavelength coverage of 325 cm-1, 16.9% of center wavelength at 5.2 μm, within one wafer by changing the grating period. 12 DFB QCL chips have being aged for 3000 h under 25°C and a constant quasi-CW current of 0.37 A. No decrease in power was observed.

We studied experimentally and theoretically the substrate-orientation impact on carrier transport and capture in InGaN multiple quantum well (MQW) laser diodes (LDs) with emission in the aquamarine-green spectral range. A new simulation approach was developed to analyze this behavior of LEDs and LDs emitting at these wavelengths. We show that due to deep carrier confinement, the thermal escape from a QW in such devices is negligible. The carrier distribution among QWs is therefore determined by the carrier transport and capture rates. We also show that the ballistic transport mechanism is dominant in this type of MQW active region. In c-plane structures, this mechanism is tunneling-assisted, and therefore, the transport is much slower than in nonpolar and semipolar structures. Because of this, a strong carrier injection nonuniformity observed in c-plane LDs, causes the threshold current increase when number of QWs is >;2. This effect is not observed in semipolar LDs because the carrier transport rate is faster than the capture rate.

We demonstrated a wide CW wavelength tuning range of 18 cm-1 for an epi-up mounted distributed feedback (DFB) quantum cascade laser (QCL) around 4.5 m, via current change. The wavelength tuning coefficient of an epi-up mounted DFB QCL is about 2.2 times of that of an epi-down mounted one. The 3dB modulation bandwidths of an epi-up and an epi-down mounted DFB QCLs are 15 kHz and 400 kHz, respectively.

We report on the static and dynamic performance of high-power and high-modulation-speed 1060-nm distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) lasers for green-light emission by second-harmonic generation. Single-wavelength power of 387 mW at 1060-nm wavelength and green power as high as 99.5 mW were achieved. A thermally induced wavelength tuning of 2.4 nm and a carrier-induced wavelength tuning of -0.85 nm were obtained by injecting current into the DBR section. Measured rise-fall times of 0.2 ns for direct intensity modulation and 0.6 ns for wavelength modulation make the lasers suitable for >50-MHz green-light modulation applications

Using a range of grating pitches, we obtained distributed feedback (DFB) quantum cascade lasers (QCL) operating CW at room temperature over the 9-11μm range. Single mode CW operation is demonstrated up to 10.8 μm, and up to 40 °C. To the best of our knowledge, it is the longest wavelength reported for a DFB QCL operating CW above room temperature. The wavelength coverage per wafer is larger than 110 cm-1. DFB QCLs from two wafers which have different gain peaks have lasing wavelengths near optical absorption peaks of glucose.

Accessory gland peptide 76A, (Acp76A), belongs to the serpin superfamily of proteins (serine protease inhibitors). Acp76A is a secreted protein synthesized only in the Drosophila melanogaster adult male accessory gland. Accumulation of the protein in males is first detected with polyclonal antibodies at 1 day after eclosion. The level of the protein in virgin males reaches a peak 5–8 days post-eclosion, and remains constant for at least 20 days. Upon mating the amount of Acp76A in males drops dramatically, but recovers by 24 h after mating. Immediately after mating the Acp76A is found in the female uterus. By 6 h after mating the amount of Acp76A detected in females is drastically reduced.

We demonstrated room temperature CW operation of DFB quantum cascade lasers with wide wavelength coverage from 4.83 μm to 5.44 μm, corresponding to a wavenumber coverage of 232 cm−1, for NO x sensing applications.

We demonstrated 37 cm−1 pulsed wavelength tuning, and 500 mW CW output power at 20 °C and 4.74 μm wavelength with a SMSR of 30 dB, using DBR QCLs unmounted and mounted epi-down, respectively.

We present and review the state-of-the-art results from distributed feedback quantum cascade laser in the wavelength range from 4 to 11 μm for environmental monitoring, industrial process control and health diagnostic applications.

We characterized the performance of sampled-grating distributed Bragg reflectors (SG DBR) quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) and demonstrated a wide wavelength tuning from 4.48 to 4.69 μm (100cm−1) by injecting current into the SGDBR sections.

We report highly reliable 1060-nm DBR semiconductor lasers after aging the gain section and DBR-section heater for up to 24000 and 11000 hrs, respectively, at various high-stress conditions.

The results are reported of a study of the psychiatric and social characteristics of homeless hostel dwellers in Northern Ireland. In all 119 residents were interviewed in 13 hostels throughout the province. Using the GHQ-30 the psychiatric morbidity rate among the sample was found to be 47% — significantly higher than that of the general community. Further, of those interviewed 35% reported that they had been admitted to a psychiatric hospital at some time in the past, while 57% reported having had an alcohol abuse problem. However, only 2% of those interviewed felt that they were homeless as a result of deinstitutionalisation. The most common cause of homelessness reported was household fragmentation.

We report for the first time, to the best of our knowledge, 304 mW green light emission generated by frequency doubling of the output from a 1060-nm DBR semiconductor laser using a periodically poled MgO-doped lithium niobate waveguide in a compact single-pass configuration. The excellent performance of these DBR lasers, including a kink-free power greater than 750 mW, single-spatial-mode output beam, single-wavelength emission spectra, and high wavelength-tuning efficiency, plays an important role in the generation of high-power green light.

We fabricated 1060-nm DBR lasers with 480-mW output power and integrated micro heaters. A 20-nm discrete wavelength tuning using Bragg-section heater alone and a 1-nm continuous tuning using both Bragg- and phase-section heaters are demonstrated.

We report highly reliable 1060-nm DBR lasers with a single-wavelength output power larger than 350 mW and a failure rate as low as 3.2 kFITs at a heat-sink temperature of 25degC and a gain current of 500 mA. The reliability data of the high-power 1060-nm DBR lasers under longest aging tests at the highest level of current and temperature stress have been obtained for the first time, to the best of our knowledge

We report on the design, fabrication and performance of high-power and high-modulation-speed 1060-nm DBR lasers for green-light emission by second harmonic generation. Single-spatial-mode and single-wavelength power more than 450 mW of 1060-nm wavelength was achieved with a 3-section DBR laser with non-absorbing DBR and phase sections created by an impurity-free quantum-well intermixing technique. A thermally-induced wavelength tuning of 2.4 nm and a carrier-induced wavelength tuning of -0.85 nm were obtained by injecting current into the DBR section. The green power as high as 104.6 mW was demonstrated by coupling the DBR laser output to a second-harmonic-generation waveguide. Measured rise/fall times of 0.2 ns for direct intensity modulation and 0.6 ns for wavelength modulation make the DBR lasers suitable for >=50-MHz green-light-modulation applications. The detrimental thermally-induced patterning effect and a differential-phase modulation scheme as a solution are discussed.

High power broad area semiconductor lasers have found increasing applications in pumping of solid state laser systems and fiber amplifiers, frequency doubling, medical systems and material processing. Packaging including the assembly design, process and thermal management, has a significant impact on the optical performance and reliability of a high power broad area laser. In this paper, we introduce the package structures and assembling process of 980nm broad area lasers and report the performances including output power, thermal behavior and far fields. We will report two types of high power broad area laser assemblies. One is a microchannel liquid cooled assembly and the other is a conduction cooled CT-mount assembly. Optical powers of 15W and 10W were achieved from a 980nm broad area laser with a 120 m stripe width in a microchannel liquid cooled assembly and conduction cooled CT-mount assembly, respectively. Furthermore, a high power of 6.5W out of fiber was demonstrated from a pigtailed, fully packaged butterfly-type module without TEC (thermoelectric cooler). The measurement results showed that thermal management is the key in not only improving output power, but also significantly improving beam divergence and far field distribution. The results also showed that the die attach solder can significant impact the reliability of high power broad area lasers and that indium solder is not suitable for high power laser applications due to electromigration at high current densities and high temperatures.

A 10-element SOA array with a pitch spacing of 33.8µm was fabricated. The array has fiber-fiber gain of 15.7dB, 3-dB saturation power >16dBm, noise figure

This paper describes an SOA bar prober used as a high-throughput, manufacturing-oriented testing system. It is capable of automatically measuring optical gain, far-field, L-I and V-I characteristics of individual chips of multiple SOA bars.

We present the design and the performance of mid-infrared distributed feedback quantum cascade lasers made of strain-balanced GaxIn1-xAs/AlyIn1-yAs material on InP substrates for wavelength near 5 μm. By changing the grating period within one wafer, we demonstrated wide wavelength coverage of 325 and 282 cm-1 (16.3% and 14.1% of the center wavelength) under room temperature pulsed and continuous wave (CW) operation, respectively. The variation of pulsed and CW laser performance as a function of wavelength detuning from the gain peak was studied and correlated to the amplified spontaneous emission spectra. We conclude that a slight positive detuning within 5% of the center wavelength favors CW performance especially for high-temperature operation.

We studied characteristic temperatures (T0) of laser diodes (LDs) grown on semipolar GaN substrates and emitting in the green spectral range. For several semipolar laser designs with and without an electron blocking layer (EBL), T0 remains higher (161–246 K) than that typically reported for c-plane green LDs. The slope efficiency measured in the pulsed regime is nearly temperature independent. These observations indicate that T0 is mainly determined by intrinsic quantum well (QW) properties, such as higher differential gain. A high T0 and a sufficient injection efficiency allow the achievement of a continuous wave output power of 60 mW for an LD without an EBL.

Continuous-wave operation of a distributed-feedback quantum-cascade laser in a packaged module is demonstrated up to a heat sink temperature of 80 °C with an output power of greater than 10 mW and a power consumption of less than 3.8 W. Single longitudinal mode emission near 5.24 μm is observed over a temperature range from 10 to 80 °C with a side mode suppression ratio greater than 20 dB limited by the instrumentation. A single spatial mode is determined with far-field pattern measurement. The above performance is achieved using a buried heterostructure and a small cavity of 7.6 μm×1.5 mm.

Highly reliable 1060 nm DBR lasers are reported with a single-wavelength output power greater than 350 mW and a failure rate as low as 1.7 kFITs, at a heatsink temperature of 25 C and a gain current of 500 mA. The green-light power of up to 184 mW has been generated by frequency doubling of these DBR lasers.