Andrzej W. Mitas

• prof. dr hab. inż.
• Professor (Full) at Silesian University of Technology

Postural defects are one of the main diseases reported to be at the top of the list of diseases of civilisation. The present study aimed to develop a novel approach to defining a set of measurable physiological biomarkers and psychological characteristics with identifiable information content and data analysis, enabling the determination of the ada...

Background: The study aimed to assess the dynamics of changes in the torques of derotating and redressing forces acting on the apexes of deformation curvature arches during active, kyphosis-inducing exercises using the D4S device. Methods: The study group included 12 girls aged 9 to 10 years (age X = 9.36, SD = 1.52; weight X = 31.34 kg, SD = 3.28;...

Background: Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a complex eye disorder with an environmental and genetic origin, affecting millions worldwide. The study aims to explore the association between retinal morphology and the polygenic risk score (PRS) for AMD using fundus images and deep learning techniques. Methods: The study used and pre-process...

Activity and physical effort positively affect a person's psychophysical state and emotional experience. Interest in the phenomenon of flow, the state of perceived arousal, stems from its relationship to an individual's intrinsic motivation. Flow is an area of research in many fields, including sports. Nowadays, solutions are being sought to suppor...

Rhythm perception and synchronisation is musical ability with neural basis defined as the ability to perceive rhythm in music and synchronise body movements with it. The study aimed to check the errors of synchronisation and physiological response as a reaction of the subjects to metrorhythmic stimuli of synchronous and pseudosynchronous stimulatio...

Background: Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a multifactorial disease encompassing a complex interaction between aging, environmental risk factors, and genetic susceptibility. The study aimed to determine whether there is a relationship between the polygenic risk score (PRS) in patients with AMD and the characteristics of the retinal vascu...

Objectives: Emotions and stress affect voice production. There are only a few reports in the literature on how changes in the autonomic nervous system affect voice production. The aim of this study was to examine emotions and measure stress reactions during a voice examination procedure, particularly changes in the muscles surrounding the larynx....

Studies investigating the relationship between balance ability and body size, build and proportions tend to concentrate on body mass and height rather than breadth parameters or size of individual body segments. The purpose of this study was to determine a relationship between the ability to keep balance and the size, build and proportions, based o...

Introduction: Cognitive impairment is a persistent and increasingly reported symptom of patients with Parkinson's disease (PD), significantly affecting daily functioning quality. This study aims to evaluate the functional connectivity of the brain network in patients with Parkinson's disease with various severities of cognitive decline using quant...

W artykule przedstawiono wybrane zagadnienia pracy głosem w aspekcie monitorowania jego stanu. W kontekście dotychczasowych (statycznych) metod analizy statusu aparatu mowy i śpiewu przedstawiono znane metody pomiaru biomarkerów fizjologicznych służących do diagnozowania potencjalnych patologii. Zaprezentowano także metodę badania i konstrukcji sys...

In this study, we aim to assess and examine cognitive functions in Parkinson’s Disease patients using EEG recordings, with a central focus on characteristics associated with a cognitive decline. Based on neuropsychological evaluation using Mini-Mental State Examination, Montreal Cognitive Assessment, and Addenbrooke’s Cognitive Examination-III, 98...

Background: The relation between the autonomic nervous system (ANS) and muscles of the vocal tract is of particular importance when considering the pathomechanism of a functional voice disorder. Aims: The aim of this study was to record electrophysiological indicators from the ANS as well as the tone of the external laryngeal muscle and test whe...

Posture disorder affects more and more people in every age and social group, causing a huge drop in energy (tiredness, depression) or even nerve compression. The early assessment allows introducing therapy that minimizes the influence on everyday life. In the presented approach authors focused on the analysis of thermal images. The research group c...

The aim of the study was to assess the electromechanical response times of muscles and to assess the effect of repeatability of the performed task on the indicated times: TRT (total reaction time), PMT (premotor time), and EMD (electromechanical delay). The test consisted in squeezing the dynamometer with maximum force in the shortest possible time...

The article examines a controversial problem of criticising physical activity in the aspect of physiological irregularities or incorrect performance of motoric activities. The authors represent a questionable view that a wrong physical activity is actually worse than no activity at all. They formulate the following thesis: walking with poles (Nordi...

Abstract. The article presents the results of a preliminary study analysing the physiological parameters obtained during exercises that teach the patient’s correct body posture while sitting. Electrodermal activity (EDA), blood volume pulse (BVP), and electromyographic (EMG) signals were recorded and analysed during the training process for positio...

Background: Disturbances in pelvic girdle tilt can cause compensatory changes affecting postural dysfunctions, and can lead to hip and groin strain changes and back pain. However, we still have no clear information on the normative values of pelvic girdle tilt and mobility. Objective: The study aimed to (1) evaluate the position and mobility of...

The paper describes an innovative Polish method “Pressio” developed by Janusz Łęczyński (1934–2004) and Andrzej Zaleszczuk (1937–2021). The scientific grounds of the method are presented, which use the the most relevant knowledge based mainly on Robert Roaf’s theory and Yves Cotrel’s principle. Also, the self-corrector is presented – a device desig...

The material describes the basic functional features of the diagnostic support system in the case of neurodegenerative diseases, which is the subject of the international research and implementation project Tele-BRAIN. The project’s main goal is to optimise the diagnostic process in the area of Parkinson’s disease based on automatic EEG analysis wi...

The selection of the appropriate voice signal recording equipment, including a microphone, and the selection of appropriate conditions for the recording site is crucial for obtaining reliable and authoritative values of acoustic parameters in both medical and biological research. The aim of this study was to compare selected acoustic measures of tw...

The paper presents a new approach to preventive examinations of employees in relation to the low reliability of the appraisals made due to experiencing stress that does not allow employees to fully present their potential. This approach is illustrated using the example of a case study of a voice professional. The study provides a detailed, quantita...

In the paper, convolutional neural network models were proposed that classify the patient’s EEG into one of the three groups of parkinsonism, i.e., no symptoms (PD-N), mild cognitive impairment(PD-MCI), and Parkinson’s Disease Dementia (PD-PDD). Three different architectures of Deep Convolution Neural Networks were proposed. As the input of the CNN...

Purpose: This paper presents an assessment of the influence of isometric rotation of the lower limb in a standing position on the functioning of the muscles stabilizing the knee joint in the frontal plane with the use of modeling the loads on the musculoskeletal system. Methods: The research was carried out in the AnyBody Modeling System softwar...

Postural disorders, their prevention, and therapies are still growing modern problems. The currently used diagnostic methods are questionable due to the exposure to side effects (radiological methods) as well as being time-consuming and subjective (manual methods). Although the computer-aided diagnosis of posture disorders is well developed, there...

Purpose: In clinical practice, motor development in infants is assessed subjectively. Many researchers propose objective methods, which have numerous limitations, by attaching markers or sensors to the child's limbs. The purpose of this study is to attempt to develop objectified numerical indices to describe the limb movements of infants without i...

Invasive or uncomfortable procedures especially during healthcare trigger emotions. Technological development of the equipment and systems for monitoring and recording psychophysiological functions enables continuous observation of changes to a situation responding to a situation. The presented study aimed to focus on the analysis of the individual...

The aim of the study was to define the effect of different short-term metro-rhythmic stimulations on the time and spatial parameters of gait. The secondary goal was to test whether prior instructions on how to respond to stimulations played a significant role in the stimulation by sound stimuli. Experimental tests of gait were conducted on a group...

The background of the work presented in this article is a method of monitoring the subject’s psychophysical state during exercises. The essential context is the creation of a mechanism to prevent hyperactivity. Therefore, in the designed diagnostic and rehabilitation system continuous subject observation over time with the use of precise, not-burde...

The research discussed in the article involved the assessment of the effect of various types of metro-rhythmic stimulations and the manner of their application on the variability of gait frequency in a group of persons without locomotor function disorders. Tests of gait were attended by 22 adults in two equal groups: group 1—persons, who were not i...

Evidence is being found for the diversity of factors which can cause scoliosis. These factors range from a lifestyle to genes and intracellular phenomena taking place in human body. To treat idiopathic scoliosis, different equipment and kinesiotherapy exercises are used. If preventive methods prove ineffective, or sometimes parallel to them, orthop...

The analysis of the patient’s psychophysiological condition is one of the key elements of properly conducted therapy. In the therapeutic tasks special attention is paid to monitoring the patient’s condition. Our method proposed a robust for segmentation errors (based on median value) and an easily applied method for assessing the thermal profile of...

The essence of determining the patient’s behavioural and physiological profile during therapy is an extremely important element of the overall rehabilitation process. It should therefore examine how and why external physiological responses to stimuli occur. The article presents a detailed study of one specific case. A qualitative approach was adopt...

For years, body posture, its defects and methods of therapy have been the point of interest of specialists in many fields. The observed civilizational progress, sedentary lifestyle, and excessive use of electronic gadgets electronic gadgets are unfortunately associated with the growth of postural problems. This is associated with the increasing inc...

The development of computer-aided infants diagnosis systems is currently popular field of research. Video recordings provide the opportunity to develop a non-invasive, objective and reproducible tool for assessing the quality of infant movements. The aim of this pilot study is attempt to numerically describe selected movement parameters of the norm...

Nowadays, the dynamic development of technology allows for the design of systems based on various information sources and their integration into hybrid expert systems. One of the areas of research where such systems are especially helpful is emotion analysis. The sympathetic nervous system controls emotions, while its function is directly reflected...

Observation of neuromotor development at an early stage of an infant’s life allows for early diagnosis of deficits and the beginning of the therapeutic process. General movement assessment is a method of spontaneous movement observation, which is the foundation for contemporary attempts at objectification and computer-aided diagnosis based on video...

As a result of the constantly growing number of people in the World, disabilities became one of the most important aspects related to human health. According to the World Health Organization, a disabled person is "anyone who affects a reduction in performance or fitness in the construction or functioning of the body in terms of psychological, physi...

Background: The assessment of spontaneous activity of infants is of fundamental importance to the diagnosis and prediction of abnormal psychomotor development in children. Comprehensive and early diagnosis allows for quick and effective treatment and therapy. Subjective methods are based on the knowledge and experience of the diagnostician. The lac...

In this paper, a method for evaluating the chronological age of adolescents on the basis of their voice signal is presented. For every examined child, the vowels a, e, i, o and u were recorded in extended phonation. Sixty voice parameters were extracted from each recording. Voice recordings were supplemented with height measurement in order to chec...

Purpose: The research work aimed to perform the mathematical modelling-based assessment concerning the effect of the position of the pelvis in the sagittal plane on loads present in the musculoskeletal system in the standing position. Methods: The analysis of the effect of various positions of the pelvis was performed using the Free Posture Mode...

Background: Children and adolescents with intellectual disabilities (IDs) are an identified group with postural disturbances resulting from a lack of integration among the visual, vestibular and proprioceptive systems. The insufficient level of maturity of the sensory systems is at least partly responsible for disturbances in maintaining body bala...

According to the World Health Organization, a disabled person is anyone whose performance, or fitness is affected by reduced functioning of the body – psychologically, physically or anatomically. On a world scale, one of the main causes of acquired motor disability is ischemic stroke and the most common complication is symmetry disturbances in the...

The article presents selected issues of metrorhythmic stimulation subjected to humans in the aspect of their psychosomatic reaction. The problem is considered in the context of the impact of music on the psychosomatic system of human beings utilising a reductionist approach, due to the many degrees of variability in considering music holistically....

The aim of the study was to evaluate selected aspects of the ability to maintain body balance in young adults and to analyze the potential impact of selected variables on the stabilometric indicators. 44 students of physiotherapy were included. The group was characterized by an questionnaire performed twice, a few days apart. Intraclass correlation...

The aim of the study was to evaluate and compare selected parameters related to maintaining the body balance among Polish and Slovak children in aspect of factors influencing the formation of indirect body posture. The research covered a group of 59 children in Poland and a group of 71 children in Slovakia, aged 10 years. The research program inclu...

Heart rate variability (HRV) indicates that the body is under internal or external stressors. Higher HRV parameters usually means that the body has a ability to cope with those stressors. The paper presents the results of the heart rate variability analysis obtained for a group of healthy adults. 70 adults had been examined. Photoplethysmogram sign...

Abstract. A biometric photo can be a research material allowing to limit the participation of a measured and measuring person, shorten- ing the process of data collection and reducing the measurement error. The aim of the study was to compare anthropometric indices obtained from measurements made by single measurer and team of measurers. Measuremen...

Abstract. The aim of this work was to estimate the size and direction of relationships between the size of sway and variables describing the build- ing and shape of the body of children and adolescents. The study involved 98 people (48 boys and 46 girls) aged 10.2–17.7 years. Body building data was acquired using the GPM anthropometer for linear me...

The paper presents the results of boys’ age modeling on the basis of the features of their voice. The research group has been divided according to age and the threshold has been 14 years. 98 boys have been examined (57 aged less than 14 years, 41 aged 14 years or more). Voice data has been acquired and processed. The obtained coefficients have been...

In this paper, a method for girls’ pubertal status evaluation is presented. The proposed algorithm uses voice features. Spectral analysis, Support Vector Machine and Random Forest Trees were employed. The obtained results are promising. Sensitivity reached 89.38%, when all features were included in the calculations (SVM). The highest specificity wa...

Purpose: The quality of body posture and its balance depends on the efficiency of the receptors, the good work of the central nervous system integrating and coordinating the postural system and the effective musculoskeletal system. Physical activity of people with intellectual disability can stimulate the processes of improving the posture and its...

Background: Assessment of the foot arch is an important element of posture examination. In clinical practice, different methods are used. Reliability and repeatability of the techniques raises many doubts. Objective: Development and verification of our own, automated diagnostic algorithm for evaluation of the longitudinal arch of the foot with t...

One of the way to get rid of the spine issues is using chairs with a movable seat. The essence of chairs with a movable seat is to increase the range of motion of pelvis movement. Natural ability to maintain the upright position of the body can cause the increasing of pelvis movement. That requires the involvement of the spine stabilizing muscles....

A method for evaluating the menarcheal status of girls on the basis of their voice features is presented in the paper. The registration procedure consists of voice recording and measuring 20 anthropological features. The input feature vector is a combination of voice and anthropometric parameters, counting 220 features. The optimal set of parameter...

The popularization of acoustic stimulation during the prenatal period encourages the analysis of sounds reaching the inside of the uterus. To assess the distortion of any sound stimuli, a mathematical model of attenuation has to be used. In this paper a mathematical model is proposed on the basis of data from a physical model. The physical model co...

Acoustic stimulation in prenatal period is the issue that interest growing group of people. In this paper the ratio of maternal internal sounds (noise) and attenuated sounds from external environment (signal) is considered. There is indicated that only narrow range of frequencies is not drowned by internal sounds. The problem of a distance of sound...

The Bluetooth standard is a low-cost, very popular communication protocol offering a wide range of applications in many fields. In this paper, a novel system for road traffic estimation using Bluetooth sensors has been presented. The system consists of three main modules: filtration, statistical analysis of historical, and traffic estimation and pr...

In the paper a human activity recognition system has been presented based on the data gathered with the smartphone sensors. The acceleration, magnetic field and sound have been registered and four different activities of daily living has been recognized i.e. riding a bike, driving in a car, walking and sitting. Two version of Support Vector Machine...

The article presents changes in body composition in adolescent girls. A review of available measurement techniques is preceded by an analysis of the physiology of puberty, whose social significance is very high, especially in the present stage of development of civilization. Measurement techniques are classified depending on the used equipment, wit...

The paper describes an approach to the kids and youth pubertal evaluation using voice signal. The results of preliminary study conducted on a group of 109 children (58 boys and 51 girls aged 10–18 years) has been presented. The analysis of the voice fundamental frequency proves that this parameter strongly depends on the age (for boys) and on the t...

Studies on the process of acoustic stimulation in prenatal period require to assess the beneficial condition for child development, as well as characteristic sounds which could negatively affect the development of auditory system, brain or even entire body. It can be provided with the simplified model of sound attenuation in the uterus, which can b...

At the end of the 1980s, Poland began the transformation from an essentially one-party communist system to a politically pluralistic democratic system. These political and economic changes had major social consequences, among others unemployment and a sharp decrease in real personal income. The aim of the study was to investigate the possible relat...

The article is the result of studies on the effects of music on human characteristics, with particular emphasis on the effectiveness of the performance of mathematical and logical operations. The material describes briefly some problems in the field of music therapy and presents results of a pilot study concerning possible improving of the intellec...

This article presents a proposal to amend the traditional Road Event Card, completed by police officers in case of a collision or road accident. The Automatic Data Acquisition System (ASAD) has been proposed, which would be an electronic version of the Card, partially and eventually almost completely filled out automatically. The electronic Road E...

Abstract In this paper, selected short-range transport problems with the use of bicycles are presented. Against the background of road safety issues pointed to the need for traffic problems in heavily urbanized areas, indicating the ecological factors. The attention is paid to the analysis of the costs, taking into account the long-term holistic ba...

In the paper a novel multimodal, behavioural biometric system that combines ECG and sound signal is described. The signal acquisition has been carried out in a small stress condition when the user has been asked to utter sounds at a given pitch. Thanks to the stimulations the ECG signal and especially the HR vary over time and these changes can be...

Aging society in developed countries forms new challenges for medical care. Ensuring well-being of the elderly and provide them support when required is of special concern. Nowadays, solutions in form of telecare centers and monitoring systems are able to estimate condition of the patient and provide necessary help accordingly. This paper addresses...

The paper presents a concept of an Ambient Assisted Living system for daily monitoring of the elderly. Description and testing of the prototype of a mobile data acquisition device for physical activity detection using inertial sensors is made. Testing has been performed on a mechanical test stand and a group of healthy individuals during normal wal...

The chapter begins with a necessary introduction describing the fundamental importance of music in human life. Sounds of nature and typical music created by humans according to accepted rules (that are also nature philosophy derivatives) are considered here. Nowadays, music is used to intentional change the psychophysical state of a human being. It...

The paper covers a couple of road safety aspects. Attention was drawn to so far unduly (according to the authors) exposed problems of negative effects of road accidents, expressed in the form of economic losses. The article separates classes of losses, particularly incurred by both direct perpetrators of accidents and road traffic participants, as...

The topic of the variable message signs presented in this article was analysed in the aspect of proper choice of the light beam distribution angle. It was proven that the proper control of the beam is justified, depending on the road type and it's course, since the proper distribution angle lead to a compromise of effectiveness and reliability. The...

The paper describes a method and a device for a current permanent observation of driver's response in the road traffic was described. The task of presented system is not only the "on-line" analysis of the human behavior but primarily the determination of the physiological changes and their fuzzy classification in order to determine the states consi...

The paper proposes a cryptographic system in which the encryption key has been associated both with the existing methods of verification of identity (knowledge and physical identifiers) as well as with biometrics. This combination allows spreading information about the marker and binding his relationship with the person entitled to use it. Biometri...

The paper is a proposal of concept of highlighting the sound sources based on the phase shifts of successive harmonics in a single function course extracted from a articulation of single sound which frequency is stable in short-term. The function describing the single period of sound is expanded for the purpose of determining the harmonic series fr...

Heavy goods vehicles moving on public roads are driven by people belonging to all walks of society, including those, who for the price paid by others are ready to multiply their own profits. This problem is discussed in the article, in particular in terms of overloading car's. There is pointed out on the technical implications of such actions. Late...

The article presents the concepts of driver’s condition evaluation with the use of biomedical system. The described method is based on a thermometric measurements of selected, external areas of the body. In the paper summarized the results of correlating the temperature records with the driving style indicators. Additionally analysis of the vehicle...

A proposition of the human’s reaction measurement system focused on the voice is presented in the paper. The main idea of this system is to test the human behavior under the influence of sound and visual stimulations. In order to evaluate the human reaction, the signal of speech is examined. This signal is acquired in strict conditions using extern...

The article presents some behavioural measurements, together with the results of some biomedical research experiments and the assumptions underlying them. In order to determine the behavioural characteristics driving style was analysed, which was estimated using data recorded by a tachometric device. Biomedical measurements were made with using an...

The article presents methods for processing image of circular tachograph disc (used to register vehicle’s and driver’s work) to the rectangular coordinates. Selected techniques were described in detail and also the images obtained as a result of their use were compared. In addition, the practical examples of the processed tachogram images analysis...

In the paper, first a short discussion about music therapy is presented. Some important features of the so called modern live style are pointed out in the context of human’s emotional quality. In this meaning of affective states the stimuli art of the daily music influence as a therapy is presented. The main goal of the analysis would be to define,...