Current Research Projects

• Adaptive Informational Technologies For Auditory-Verbal Education

The project is intended to be an investigation of the methodology and the parameterization of the stimulation practice used in the process of auditory-verbal education/training for persons with impaired hearing. We will analyze and establish in a scientific rigorous manner the optimal stimulating methodology with auditory-visual stimuli. To achieve this goal, a software application will be developed, with the ability of applying various stimuli, described by various parameters (frequency, duration, and periodicity) and several schemes of applying the stimuli. The most appropriate parameterization and methodology will be established through the statistical analysis of the results acquired from the test of subjects. Moreover, intended for the improvement of the hearing education process, an adaptive algorithm will be develop for the parameters of the stimulation process, to permanently conform to the current performances obtained by the patient during several stages of the training.

• Intelligent System for Impaired Speech Evaluation and Correction Used in Recovery Therapy

Current speech therapy assumes the accurate diagnosis of the pronunciation troubles, but also their adjustment in accordance with a strictly defined methodology. The speech therapist needs a considerable period of time to precisely identify not only the specific sound but also especially phoneme combinations presenting problems. For this reason having a product at one's disposal that asist the pronunciation deficiency therapy, would considerably simplify the specialist's effort, providing in addition an efficient means for home exercise. The research is concentrated on the study of the particularities of the consonant defects. The study of the consonants introduces special features for the system development due to the fact that the speech processing algorithms existing up-to-date are focused on the vowels analysis. The research analyses mis-pronounced phoneme in order to obtain a measure of the correctness of the pronunciation, by comparing it with a parameterised model of the correct pronunciation. The final goal of the research, is the development of a system which is supposed to accomplish two separate functionalities in order to analyze the concerned sound. The first one concern the extraction of fragments containing the sound out of the given speech sequence. The second one resides in the evaluation itself of the pronunciation by its comparing with a parametrized model of the proper pronunciation. Therefore the research will also address the elaboration of a segmentation criterion, the selection of representative features for the correct/impaired pronunciation assessment and the development of the evaluation method, which would provide suggestive numerical and graphical information on the pronunciation impairment.

• CARDIO.MEL.

The project has a very actual theme on national and international level, because one of the major problem of the modern medicine is to find new cardioprotective drugs. The cardiovascular diseases are on top on adult morbidity and mortality. Our project is multidisciplinary, realigning medical doctors, engineers, biochemistry specialists, which want to elucidate 2 new methods of therapy (the light therapy and therapy with melatonin) with effects on oxidative stress, adiponectine, von Wilebrand factors, C reactive protein, that are implicated in diabetes mellitus, dislipidemia, arterial hypertension. Our research scope is to validate interdisciplinary methods of treatment, new methods of therapy or alternative therapy in metabolic syndrome, together with known therapy for diabetes mellitus, dislipidemia, arterial hypertension. Another aim of our research is to demonstrate the role of light- therapy and therapy with melatonin as anti-ageing therapy and for a successful ageing. We will be developed software applications based on artificial intelligence methods for finding optimal parameters and methodology, as well as for increasing of the efficiency and simplify the actual medical system.

• 3D Scanner using simple Photo-Camera

The research aims at building a low-cost 3D Scanner using a simple rotating mechanism on which the object to be scanned is placed. At each rotating step a photo of the object is taken. Using image processing techniques based on the Radon Transform, a 3D representation of the object is obtained.