Yasue Mitsukura

• Doctor of Engineering and Medical Doctor
• Professor at Keio University

Cynomolgus monkeys (Macaca fascicularis) are vital in biomedical research, particularly for drug development and studying neurological diseases. However, accurately identifying individuals in group housing environments remains a significant challenge. This paper presents a near real-time facial recognition system tailored for cynomolgus monkeys, ut...

Purpose To measure autonomic nerve activity (ANA) in several eye conditions and verify whether ANA modulation is regulated by peripheral or central control in short tear film break-up time dry eye (sBUTDE). Methods This study included 23 eyes of 23 patients with sBUTDE (mean age 55.2 ± 16.1 years; range 21–88 years) and 24 eyes of 24 age-matched n...

Introduction Carbonated water (CarbW) affects the swallowing function associated with the action of the brainstem. In addition, CarbW ingestion promotes mean blood flow in the middle cerebral artery, which is associated with blood flow to the frontal and temporal lobes. In this milieu, studies regarding the effect of drinking CarbW on brain activit...

Insomnia is a major concern among stressed workers worldwide. Although stress generally has a detrimental effect on sleep quality, the impact of biological stress, especially the immunological stress response, on sleep quality is not yet fully understood. Stressed workers were recruited through a screening process using a Brief Job Stress Questionn...

Purpose Herein, we propose the use of the “KeraVio Ring”, which is a portable, selfie-based, smartphone-attached corneal topography system that is based on the Placido ring videokeratoscope. The goal of this study was to evaluate and compare corneal parameters between KeraVio Ring and conventional corneal tomography images. Methods We designed the...

Introduction: The complex nature of neurocognitive impairment in schizophrenia has been discussed in light of the mixed effects of antipsychotic drugs, psychotic symptoms, dopamine D2 receptor blockade, and intelligence quotient (IQ). These factors have not been thoroughly examined before. Methods: This study conducted a comprehensive re-analysis...

The level of human consciousness is a critical indicator in medicine, essential for the accurate diagnosis of specific conditions such as brain death. This study aims to provide an objective and visual consciousness indicator for medical applications by proposing a new algorithm to quantify consciousness. Traditionally, consciousness levels have be...

Synthetic corticosteroids, the most well-known anti-inflammatory drugs globally, are effective against inflammatory diseases despite their adverse effects that decrease a patient’s quality of life (QOL). One of these effects is sleep disturbance, which causes other health issues and further diminishes the QOL. However, the acute effects of steroid...

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between autonomic nerve activity and symptom intensity according to the type of dry eye (DE). Methods: This prospective, cross-sectional, comparative study included 25 eyes of 25 patients with short tear break-up time DE (sBUTDE; mean age = 57.4 ± 11.4 years, range = 30-74 yea...

This study aimed to analyze how differences in piano techniques affect the KANSEI of music listeners. A prior timbre analysis of piano techniques was conducted using frequency analysis to investigate the effects of differences in performance techniques on music listeners; however, it was not possible to clearly capture the nuanced differences in pe...

Cynomolgus monkeys, like humans, are continuous breeders and while the female sexual cycle has been extensively studied, little is known about male sexual cycles, such as periodic changes in the testicle size. Although testosterone, the primary male hormone secreted by the testicles, has been demonstrated to increase pain thresholds in humans and a...

The autonomic nervous system plays a crucial role in the maintenance of homeostasis. Neurogenic inflammation due to decreased stability of tear film may induce changes in autonomic nerve activity, which could be associated with symptom expression.This study aimed to measure biological parameters that represent autonomic nerve activity in dry eye (D...

Objective. Auditory brain–computer interfaces (BCIs) enable users to select commands based on the brain activity elicited by auditory stimuli. However, existing auditory BCI paradigms cannot increase the number of available commands without decreasing the selection speed, because each stimulus needs to be presented independently and sequentially un...

Dorsal raphe (DR) 5-HT neurons regulate sleep-wake transitions. Previous studies demonstrated that single-unit activity of DR 5-HT neurons is high during wakefulness, decreases during non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep, and ceases during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. However, characteristics of the population-level activity of DR 5-HT neurons, w...

It is important to prevent hypertension, which is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease and severe COVID-19. In addition, as more people work from home, it is desirable to improve intellectual productivity at home. Therefore, in this study, we clarify the effects of the thermal insulation performance of houses on physiological responses and prod...

Cardiovascular disease is the number one cause of death in the world and is a serious problem. In the case of cardiopulmonary arrest due to myocardial infarction, the survival rate is as low as 13.3% one month after resuscitation, which birthed the need for continuous heart monitoring. In this study, we develop a Ballistocardiogram (BCG) measuremen...

Background Previous studies using EEG (electroencephalography) as biomarker for dementia have attempted to research, but results have been inconsistent. Most of the studies have extremely small number of samples (average N = 15) and studies with large number of data do not have control group. We identified EEG features that may be biomarkers for de...

Stress might activate sympathetic nerve activity, causing dry eye (DE). We investigated biological parameters reflecting autonomic nerve activity in DEs with decreased tear stability. This prospective, cross-sectional, comparative study enrolled 34 eyes of 34 participants (mean age: 52.5 ± 13.4 years; range: 20–81 years) without keratoconjunctival...

Background Previous studies have attempted to characterize depression using electroencephalography (EEG), but results have been inconsistent. New noise reduction technology allows EEG acquisition during conversation. Methods We recorded EEG from 40 patients with depression as they engaged in conversation using a single-channel EEG device while con...

This study aims to verify the effects of “legume-based noodles” as a staple food for lunch, specifically: blood glucose, cognitive function tests, Kansei value, work questionnaires, typing, and body weight. The experiment is divided into two groups: the intervention group (legumes-based noodle) and the control group (regular lunch). Both groups hav...

Background Since the outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan in December 2019, lifestyle has been changing to an online-based learning and working environment rather than on-site, and improvisation training is no exception. However, no research compares the efficacy of online versus on-site training. Although we believed that the most effective way to learn...

In recent years, flying cars have been actively researched both in Japan and abroad. However, little research has been carried out on the social acceptance of flying vehicles. Social problems often arise when neglecting the social acceptance. It is expected that problems will arise in the future when “Aerial Industrial Revolution” occurs due to ind...

Since 2019, a large number of people worldwide have been infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. Among those infected, a limited number develop severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which generally has an acute onset. The treatment of patients with severe COVID-19 is challenging. To optimize disease prognosis and effect...

Background: No simple objective test is available so far for diagnosing tinnitus. Thus, diagnosis is typically based on the patients’ medical history. Herein, we propose the usefulness of a simple one-channel electroencephalography (EEG) with a newly developed analysis technique to objectively detect tinnitus. Methods: We developed a portable EEG d...

Dorsal raphe (DR) 5-HT neurons are involved in regulating sleep-wake transitions. Previous studies demonstrated that single-unit activity of DR 5-HT neurons is high during wakefulness, decreases during non–rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep, and ceases during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. However, characteristics of the population-level activity of...

Light stimuli from the external environment serves as a signal. Photoreceptors receive photons at the outer nuclear layer of the retina. Non-visual photoreceptors, such as opsin5 (also known as OPN5 or neuropsin), are expressed in the retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) and hypothalamus to regulate the circadian cycle and body temperature. Here, we show...

In this research, we aim to extract features of menstrual cycle and mood using features of electroencephalogram (EEG). The menstrual cycle is classified into four categories: luteal phase, menstrual phase, follicular phase, and ovulation phase. We extract characteristic EEG of these periods. In addition, this study examines the extent of the differ...

Cardiotocography records fetal heart rates and their temporal relationship to uterine contractions. To identify high risk fetuses, obstetricians inspect cardiotocograms (CTGs) by eye. Therefore, CTG traces are often interpreted differently among obstetricians, resulting in inappropriate interventions. However, few studies have focused on quantitati...

Introduction Recent studies have indicated that obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) is associated with hypertension. OSA is a common cause of sympathetic nervous activity. Increase of sympathetic nervous activity causes hypertension. Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) is the most useful treatment for OSAS. Good CPAP adherence treatment...

A brain–computer interface (BCI) is a communication tool that analyzes neural activity and relays the translated commands to carry out actions. In recent years, semi-supervised learning (SSL) has attracted attention for visual event-related potential (ERP)-based BCIs and motor-imagery BCIs as an effective technique that can adapt to the variations...

Recently, there has been an increasing need of a face alignment or facial feature point tracking for applying face recognition, facial expression estimation, face attributes prediction, and clinical face observation etc. This study proposes a robust facial feature tracking method against camera shake and face orientation changes. The method applies...

In this paper, we evaluated the effects of olive oil on human's stress level. In recent years, mental stress from harsh working environment have been causing serious problems to human health, both mentally and physically. Symptoms of stress may include feelings of worthlessness, agitation, anxiety, lethargy, insomnia, and behavioral changes. Additi...

Pain is an undesirable sensory experience that can induce depression and limit individuals’ activities of daily living, in turn negatively impacting the labor force. Affected people frequently feel pain during activity; however, pain is subjective and difficult to judge objectively, particularly during activity. Here, we developed a system to objec...

In this paper, I will introduce at the beginning the real-time evaluation of KANSEI using EEG, which the author has been working on for many years. Using this system, we have become able to analyze real-time emotional responses. The examples are shown in this paper. In addition, by measuring brain function using NIRS, the efficacy of oil against st...

Ballistocardiogram (BCG) is a graphical representation of the subtle oscillations in body movements caused by cardiovascular activity. Although BCGs cause less burden to the user, electrocardiograms (ECGs) are still commonly used in the clinical scene due to BCG sensors’ noise sensitivity. In this paper, a robust method for sleep time BCG measureme...

Brain machine/computer interface (BMI/BCI) technologies are based on analyzing brain activity to control machines and support the communication of commands and messages. To sense brain activities, a functional NIRS and electroencephalogram (EEG) that has been developed for that purpose is often employed. Analysis techniques and algorithms for the N...

Introduction Depressive and neurocognitive disorders are debilitating conditions that account for the leading causes of years lived with disability worldwide. However, there are no biomarkers that are objective or easy-to-obtain in daily clinical practice, which leads to difficulties in assessing treatment response and developing new drugs. New tec...

Loss of cognitive ability is commonly associated with dementia, a broad category of progressive brain diseases. However, major depressive disorder may also cause temporary deterioration of one’s cognition known as pseudodementia. Differentiating a true dementia and pseudodementia is still difficult even for an experienced clinician and extensive an...

Purpose: Patients with dry eye disease (DED) often suffer productivity loss and distress due to bothersome symptoms. The aim of this study was to objectively quantify and compare productivity-related emotional states obtained from brain waveforms in natural and simulated DED conditions. Method: 25 healthy adults (6 females and 19 males; mean age ±...

Getting enough quality sleep plays a vital role in protecting our mental health, physical health, and quality of life. Sleep deprivation can make it difficult to concentrate on daily activities, and lower sleep quality is associated with hypertension, hyperglycemia, and hyperlipidemia. The amount of sleep we get is important, but in recent years, q...

Objective: We aimed to develop a machine learning algorithm to screen for depression and assess severity based on data from wearable devices. Methods: We used a wearable device that calculates steps, energy expenditure, body movement, sleep time, heart rate, skin temperature, and ultraviolet light exposure. Depressed patients and healthy volunte...

In recent years, attempts have been made to quantify human emotions and sensibilities. We have proposed a technique for acquiring emotions and sensibilities from EEG in real time, and have made various applications. In particular, a wide variety of measurement methods and evaluation methods that is important in handling the brain or its activity. W...

In this study, we assumed that animated announcements that conveyed rainfall intensity of localized heavy rain and the distribution of electronic gifts to encourage rain evacuation would promote evacuation actions. If evacuation actions could be promoted through these methods, then the transmission of weather information could be improved. Therefor...

Background: Depressive and neurocognitive disorders are debilitating conditions that account for the leading causes of years lived with disability worldwide. Overcoming these disorders is an extremely important public health problem today. However, there are no biomarkers that are objective or easy-to-obtain in daily clinical practice, which leads...

An electroencephalogram (EEG)-based brain-computer interface (BCI) is a tool to non-invasively control computers by translating the electrical activity of the brain. This technology has the potential to provide patients who have severe generalized myopathy, such as those suffering from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), with the ability to commun...

Background: Actigraphy has enabled consecutive observation of individual health conditions such as sleep or daily activity. This study aimed to examine the usefulness of actigraphy in evaluating depressive and/or bipolar disorder symptoms. Method: A systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted. We selected studies that used actigraphy to co...

The central nervous system has been considered as an organ devoid of lymphatic vessels. Meningeal lymphatic vessels were discovered and it is thought that elucidating mechanism of these vessels contributes to the studies on neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease and multiple sclerosis. Previous researches focused on material flow in...

Drowsiness detection has been studied in the context of evaluating products, assessing driver alertness, and managing office environments. Drowsiness level can be readily detected through measurement of human brain activity. The electroencephalogram (EEG), a device whose application relies on adhering electrodes to the scalp, is the primary method...

Falling, especially in old age, is a serious health threat. Depending on the severity of such accidents, risk of injury, and the helpless state of the elderly and infirm persons, it is difficult to impossible for the concerned persons to call for help. This kind of situation and its associated perceptions already cause anxiety. There is, therefore,...

Many recent communication studies show meaningful results using biometric information measurements, such as body movement with accelerometers. However, most of them could not describe the reasons subjects showed body movement due to the lack of measurement abilities in real time. This background has made researchers expect real-time measurement met...

This paper presents an earbud-based photoplethysmography (PPG) and its application. This PPG recording system permits long-term continuous monitoring of cardiovascular function since it can be worn comfortably on ears. Experimental investigations showed that stress and drowsiness could be estimated by analyzing measured PPG signals. Furthermore, no...

In this paper, we aim to classify two classes in children by using single-channel electroencephalogram (EEG). EEG has been used to define neural patterns and to adjust the wide applicability to a larger population of healthy and diseased users. Specialized EEG devices have recently developed as for compact and portable measurement system using them...

The electroencephalogram (EEG) is an important technique that allows people to study brain signals. Classifying whether a person is concentrating or not is almost impossible with our naked eye. Thus, a system that could accurately distinguish these two categories is highly valued. Previously, the study to determine a mental state of concentration a...

This paper presents an earbud-based photoplethysmography (PPG) and its application. This PPG recording system permits long-term continuous monitoring of cardiovascular function since it can be worn comfortably on ears. Experimental investigations showed that stress and drowsiness could be estimated by analyzing measured PPG signals. Furthermore, no...

It is commonly believed that by drawing human's attention to particular objects, human activity can be effectively facilitated. The aim of this paper is to propose a novel video modification method for directing gaze to specific objects of interest, using a saliency map model based on L*a*b* color space. First, we compute the saliency map, and modi...

In this paper, we propose a time-series comfort evaluation system for streetscape by using electroencephalogram (EEG). Since streetscapes have an impact on people's psychological condition on a daily basis, a streetscape evaluation system is required for streetscape improvement. In conventional ways, questionnaires have been mainly used to evaluate...

The purpose in this study is visualizing brain functional activities during taking a favorite food using Near Infra-Red Spectroscopy (NIRS). Many appointments and systems that aim to provide happiness for improving quality of life in the users have been constructed. The creations must integrate a common and plausible happiness indicator into their...

Audio-visual combinations in multimedia contents give us more exciting experiences than only audio or visual information. To support audio-visual video creators, affective impressions of audio-visual contents have been explored to date. However, little research has analyzed in terms of structures or features of audio-visual contents. Revealing rela...

In this paper, we aim to classify two classes in children by using single-channel electroencephalogram (EEG). EEG has been used to define neural patterns and to adjust the wide applicability to a larger population of healthy and diseased users. Specialized EEG devices have recently developed as for compact and portable measurement system using them...

Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCIs) aim to translate the users cerebral activity into a control signal, allowing him to interact with an external device without the use of conventional muscled-based pathways. These alternative communication pathways have already been employed under various forms to allow severely handicapped people to use assistive de...

Circadian rhythms (CRs) of human have a role to maintain our mind and body together with our health. Thus, a disorder of CRs is a serious problem because it evokes critical disease. In this society, we have a lot of factor that causes a disorder of CRs, such as a social stress and a light of smartphone in the night. Hence, observing our CRs ourselv...

In the bicycle manufacturing industries, manufacturers attempt to reflect a user's preference, namely riding comfort, on their products. Surface electromyogram (EMG)-based approaches have been researched for evaluation of riding comfort. However, the EMG does not capture user preferences, because it focuses on muscle fatigue, not riding comfort. To...

Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) is a typical medical treatment for obstructive sleep apnea syndrome. Without using a small CPAP machine which are patented, we aim to design a new technique using microphone array for measuring respiratory sounds. Hence, it is necessary to obtain effective features of respiratory sounds such as, inspiratio...

Projection of computer graphics images on walls or architecture, known as projection mapping, has been used widely and applied in many fields. In projection mapping, the relative alignment between the projected images and the target is important because the efficiency of projection mapping may be reduced due to misregistration. However, the process...

The effect of voluntary and involuntary eyeblinks in independent components (ICs) contributing to electroencephalographic (EEG) signals was assessed to create templates for eyeblink artifact rejection from EEG signals with small number of electrodes. Fourteen EEG and one vertical electrooculographic signals were recorded for twenty subjects during...

The evaluation of human emotions has been a multi-disciplinary area of research interest. Although there are several methods for such evaluation, such as subjective evaluation and behavioral taxonomy, direct evaluation from the human brain is more reliable. Electroencephalograph (EEG) signal analysis is particularly widely used because of its simpl...

In this study, we investigate what kinds of feelings consumers have while watching TV commercials in the presence of words (lines, a jingle, a sound logo, and on-screen words) that were later remembered, by using an electroencephalogram (EEG) and questionnaires. Every day, a great number of TV commercials are broadcasting. Since TV commercials have...

This paper presents the method of reducing motion artifact (MA) from photoplethysmography (PPG) measured from ears. It is a challenging problem to accurately calculate pulse rate and peak to peak interval (PPI) from MA-contaminated PPG. We propose a two-stage MA reduction filter for removing MA in PPG. Two-stage MA reduction filter is consisted of...

Principal Component Analysis (PCA) has been effectively applied for image restoration. Original idea underlying PCA approach has two different roots. One is from the fact that PCA is relevant to variance of pixel intensity by which the missing high frequency components in blurred image should be recovered. The other comes from the idea of source se...