Increasing safety for cyclists through vehicle-to-bike communication with 5G

Project funding as part of the 5G.NRW funding competition, financed by funds from the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Innovation, Digitization and Energy of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia.

Project partner:

• The Hochschule Niederrhein, Krefeld (consortium leader)
• Triopt GmbH, Moers
• Smart Living GmbH, Dortmund
• Vodafone, Düsseldorf (associated partner)

Duration:
01.01.2021 - 31.12.2022

Artificial intelligence for radar systems to support police surveillance in public places and train stations, state of NRW

Project funding as part of the 5G.NRW funding competition, financed by funds from the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Innovation, Digitization and Energy of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia.

Project partner:

• IMST GmbH, consortium lead
• The Hochschule Niederrhein
• Telefonbau Arthur Schwabe GmbH & Co.
• Mönchengladbach police
• m3connect GmbH
• Federal Police of the Federal Republic of Germany (associated partner)
• Bavarian State Office of Criminal Investigation (associated partner)

Duration:
01.01.2022 - 30.06.2024

Background and relevance:
The endothelium of the cornea is a single layer of cells facing the inside of the eye. It serves as a selective diffusion barrier for the aqueous humor and ensures the transparency of the cornea. The endothelium is not capable of regeneration, i.e. defects or cell loss due to metabolic diseases, maladjusted contact lenses or surgical interventions on the eye can only be compensated to a limited extent by cell enlargement and changes in cell shape with functional restrictions.

Project subject:
Automatic endothelial cell density determination of corneal transplants

Boundary conditions:
Interdisciplinary (medicine, technical computer science), cross-university (Hochschule Niederrhein in Krefeld and University Eye Clinic in Düsseldorf).

Project status:
Completed

Brief description (summary):
The endothelium of the cornea is a single layer of mostly regularly arranged hexagonal cells with pronounced metabolic activity facing the inside of the eye. The endothelial cell layer serves as a selective diffusion barrier for the aqueous humor and acts as an active fluid pump for the deswelling, i.e. drainage of the corneal stroma and thus for the transparency of the cornea. The endothelium is not capable of regeneration, i.e. defects or cell loss due to metabolic diseases, maladjusted contact lenses or surgical interventions on the eye can only be compensated to a limited extent by cell enlargement and changes in cell shape with functional restrictions. If the endothelial cell density falls below a value of around 500 cells per square millimeter, the cornea becomes cloudy and ultimately leads to loss of vision. In such cases, a corneal transplant (keratoplasty) is the only way to restore vision.

The key quality feature of a corneal transplant is the endothelial cell density. Corneal transplants with a high degree of degeneration are characterized by a low cell density and an irregular cell surface and cell shape distribution and are not suitable for transplantation. The standard procedure for measuring cell density is the fixed-frame method, which involves the ophthalmologist working in the corneal bank marking and counting the cells by hand within a defined frame. The basis for this is a low-contrast Polaroid photo of the endothelium microscoped in hypotonic solution using the inverse phase contrast method after artificially induced cell edge swelling.

Using the LabVIEW graphical program development environment, a reliable automatic evaluation system based on knowledge-based image processing methods was developed, which avoids the disadvantages of the by hand counting procedure and drastically shortens the processing time, so that the grafts have to be significantly less stressed by measurement. The system is able to work both with Polaroid photos as an input source and alternatively with microscope image data acquired via a CCD camera.

Project result / impact / sustainability:

• Clinically tested practical solution that can be transferred to other eye banks.
• Certified according to DIN EN ISO 13485 (MPG).
• Practical application of knowledge-based image processing methods originally developed for teaching education.
• Starting point for the development of a method for non-contact endothelial specular microscopy on patients.
• Spin-off of RHINE-TEC Gesellschaft für virtuelle Instrumentierung mbH (cf. N. Dahmen, G. Toszkowski, Z. Dimic, P. Schillings, V. Sieglar, D. Vehreschild; "Berührungslose automatische Spiegelmikroskopie des Corneal Endothels"; Virtuelle Instrumente in der Praxis, Messtechnik, Automatisierung; Begleitband zum Kongress VIP 2003, R. Jamal / H. Jaschinski (Hrsg.), Hüthig GmbH Heidelberg / München, 2003).

Challenges in commercial implementation:
The often too short retention period of project staff leads to an immediate project-related loss of know-how for the remaining university team, which is highly disadvantageous for downstream product development. There is no suitable structure for the efficient transfer of results into product development.

Necessary certification measures are complex and expensive and only make sense in conjunction with industrial partners. Attracting and involving industrial partners as early as possible is a necessary prerequisite for successful marketing, but requires suitable internal university business and handling processes.

There is no accompanying coaching with regard to the marketable product development of the solution achieved, including the possible self-employment (spin-off) of project staff. The current spin-off experience from this project shows that this process must by no means be left to chance, but requires an effective structure and the associated culture that sponsors and accompanies such a path (see chapter 1 Technology transfer as chance). This requires the establishment of a start-up laboratory in which a team of interested project staff and students can learn to stand on their own two feet in a practical orientation under the close supervision of the project managers and, above all, experienced supervisors from business and industry (coaching).

Project subject:
Non-contact automatic specular microscopy of the corneal endothelium in patients (Dahmen, N.: "Berührungslose Endothel-Spiegelmikroskopie"; exhibit at the joint stand "Forschungsland NRW" at the HANNOVER MESSE Industrie, 2003).

Relevance:
Health, Accelerated and safe diagnostics, Resources efficiency

Boundary conditions:
Interdisciplinary (medical technology, technical computer science, electronics development), cross-university (Hochschule Niederrhein in Krefeld, University Eye Clinic in Düsseldorf) and industrial cooperation (Hochschule Niederrhein in Krefeld with RHINE-TEC Gesellschaft für virtuelle Instrumentierung mbH, Krefeld).

Project status:
Completed

Brief description (summary):
Non-contact examination and computer-assisted analysis of the corneal endothelium in patients is becoming increasingly important. For postoperative diagnostic patient care as well as the prophylactic monitoring of patients with regard to contact lens-induced damage to the corneal endothelium, an analysis of the corneal endothelium that is as easy to perform as possible yet precise and meaningful is important. The aim of the work carried out in cooperation with RHINE-TEC GmbH, Krefeld, was to develop and provide a completely new type of computer-assisted endothelial mirror microscope that is absolutely non-contact and therefore extremely patient-friendly. The imaging technology to be developed for acquiring the endothelial photos was to work without probes, which in conventional methods have to be brought into contact with the surface of the eye via a contact gel. A non-contact measurement eliminates the risk of infection and physical injury to the patient from the examination procedure. There is also no need for local anesthesia. In addition, the illumination of the endothelium required for image acquisition should be carried out in a way that is gentle on the patient and, if possible, without a flash. Endothelial photos and analysis results are made available on the monitor for inspection in just a few seconds. Cell density, cell morphology and cell surface distribution are determined fully automatically. Problem areas (possible necrosis) are recognized and marked. If necessary, they can be corrected by the attending physician. The simplest possible standardized operation of the system ensures reproducible results at all times with short examination times. In the course of the project, an additional product and marketing innovation was achieved through a functional extension or upgrade of slit lamps (basic ophthalmological instrument) in the form of an additional slit lamp device for non-contact automatic endothelial cell analysis and determination of corneal thickness, while at the same time halving the price compared to special devices with the same functions.

Project result / impact / sustainability:
Clinically tested and DIN EN ISO 13485 (MPG) certified practical problem solution.

• Significant experience and rules for the documentation of software systems for teaching education (software engineering)
• The work on the development of the non-contact endothelial mirror microscope was awarded the Innovation Prize 2004 of the IHK Mittlerer Niederrhein.

Challenges in commercial implementation:
The often too short retention period of project staff leads to an immediate project-related loss of know-how for the remaining university team, which is highly disadvantageous for downstream product development. There is no suitable structure for the efficient transfer of results into product development. Necessary certification measures are complex and expensive and only make sense in conjunction with industrial partners. Attracting and involving industrial partners as early as possible is a necessary prerequisite for successful marketing, but requires suitable internal university business and handling processes. There is no accompanying coaching with regard to the marketable product development of the solution achieved, including the possible self-employment (spin-off) of project staff. The current spin-off experience from this project shows that this process must by no means be left to chance, but requires an effective structure and the associated culture that sponsors and accompanies such a path (see chapter 1 Technology transfer as chance). This requires the establishment of a start-up laboratory in which a team of interested project staff and students can learn to stand on their own two feet in a practical orientation under the close supervision of the project managers and, above all, experienced supervisors from business and industry (coaching).

Project subject:
Design and realization of a non-invasive diagnostic system for patient screening for the early detection of vascular diseases by means of a simple eye examination.

Norbert Dahmen, Mike Schick, Peter Schillings, Georg Toszkowski, Reiner Wittenhorst; "Design and construction of a measurement system for the detection and evaluation of vascular structures in the central section of the ocular fundus (Retina Image Processing Project)"; Virtual instruments in practical application 2010, accompanying volume to the 15th VIP Congress, R. Jamal / R. Heinze (Eds.), VDE Verlag GmbH / Berlin, Offenbach, 2010.

Norbert Dahmen, Georg Toszkowski, Reiner Wittenhorst, Peter Schillings, Mike Schick: "Ein Blick hinter das Auge, Messsystem erfasst Gefäßstrukturen im zentralen Abschnitt des Augenhintergrundes"; Mechatronik, 10-11, 2010, 118. Jahrgang, ME110213 Verlag G.I.T. Informationsgesellschaft Technik GmbH, München.

Relevance:
Health, Accelerated and safe diagnostics, Resources efficiency.

Boundary conditions:
Interdisciplinary (medical technology, computer engineering, electronics development, optics), industrial cooperation (The Hochschule Niederrhein in Krefeld, Robin GmbH in Haan, Hellman Entwicklungsbüro in Solingen, RGB Elektronik in Solingen)

Project status:
Completed

Brief description (summary):
The subject of the research and development work is the non-contact digital photography of the arterial and venous vessels in the central section of the fundus of the eye, which can be carried out without artificial dilation of the pupil, and the provision of image processing algorithms for the automatic measurement of vessel diameters. Special image processing algorithms can be used to calculate the ratio of the diameters of the arterial and venous vessels observable in a defined image area in the form of a retinal vessel risk index AVR (Arteriole to Venule Ratio) from the fundus images obtained, in addition to other parameters describing the vascular system. As part of the extensive American research study Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC), it was shown that the AVR correlates with an increased rate of hypertension and strokes. This leads to the immediate conclusion that by analyzing the retinal vessels, conclusions can be drawn about the health of the vessels in other organs such as the heart and brain, and that in this way the eye can be regarded as a non-invasive diagnostic window. The result, presented in the form of simple risk indicators (such as AVR and Kinking), enables the doctor to recognize the first signs of possible vascular disease at an early stage and to act accordingly. Detailed documentation of the measurement and analysis results for further evaluation of the vascular images of the fundus of the eye should be possible at any time and help to refine the diagnosis. The overall aim of the planned research and development work is to contribute to the development of new computer-aided procedures for the non-invasive diagnosis of vascular diseases. The ultimate aim of the project is to develop and provide a simple mobile non-invasive diagnostic device which, like the stethoscope, could be part of the basic equipment of every general practitioner.

Project result / impact / sustainability:

• Autofocus recording technology in transition to prototype development.
• Automatic papilla detection validated.
• Automatic recognition of vessel types (venules, arterioles) in progress.
• Fundus segmentation (region of interest) and vessel measurement in progress.

Challenges in commercial implementation:
The project- and thus situation-related expansion of an R&D team is often cumbersome and cumbersome due to the lack of administrative business processes. Unfortunately, this always makes collaboration with cooperating industrial partners more difficult when the progress of the project indicates new findings with regard to the immediate implementation of the development approaches found in a marketable product. The R&D projects mentioned above have a certain random character with regard to their origin, implementation and follow-up as well as with regard to the implementation of project experiences in suitable teaching units, such as internship assignments, which is important for teaching and apprenticeships. Critical R&D projects are slow to come to fruition because the necessary specialist and expert staff first have to be acquired. All too often, follow-up projects have to be canceled for capacity reasons, so that insufficient continuity and sustainability is achieved in the cooperation with the project partners concerned and promising solutions come to nothing. Although regarded as particularly urgent, the formation of interdisciplinary project groups has so far proved to be particularly difficult. There is currently no corresponding culture in place. It is easier to hide behind individualized courses than to face the challenges and opportunities of interdisciplinary work in teaching education and research. In addition, the current and, in some cases, heavily schooled study program makes it very difficult for students to participate in projects - if at all - and rarely in the timely manner required for a project. The same applies to the integration of continuing education and employee qualification, although it is precisely this possibility that is now regularly requested by our cooperation partners and represents a future-oriented, attractive training option at the university. In summary, it can be said that a dynamic structure as shown in Fig. 1 ensures the transfer of existing skills and project experience into a continuous and sustainable solution, while at the same time guaranteeing the timely, practical implementation of practice-oriented teaching education and research.

Project subject:
MGA - MicroGasAnalyzer, DARPA DARPA = Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, www.darpa.mil Production and testing of a miniaturized gas chromatograph for on-site analysis of complex gas mixtures

A. Bhushan, D. Yemane, E.B. Overton, J. Göttert, M.C. Murphy, "Fabrication and Preliminary Results for LIGA Fabricated Nickel Micro Gas Chromatograph Columns", Journal of MicroElectroMechanical Systems, v16, n 2 (2007), pp 383-393.

A. Bhushan, D. Yemane, S. McDaniel, J. Göttert, M.C. Murphy, E.B. Overton: "Hybrid integration of injector and detector functions for microchip gas chromatography"; Analyst (2010) 135: 2730-2736, DOI: 0.1039/C0AN00322K.

Relevance:
Safety, health, resources efficiency

Boundary conditions:
Multidisciplinary R&D project sponsored by DARPA (USA, Defense Advanced Research Project Agency), with partners from industry (Honeywell Laboratories), large-scale research (Sandia and Oak Ridge National Laboratories) and universities (including Louisiana State University, Michigan State University and University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign); aggressive goal of prototyping a 1cm3 GC system with rapid analysis (<10sec) of at least 8 different substances in a complex matrix typical for military applications.

Project status:
Completed

Brief Description (abstract):
Building on work at Sandia National Laboratories (µ-chem Lab; www.sandia.gov/mstc/MsensorSensorMsystems/MicroChemLab.html) and Louisiana State University and ASI Inc. respectively (microFAST GC; www.analyticalspecialists.com/microfastgc.cfm) and in cooperation with top-class partners from industry and research, the technical improvements possible in the individual system modules (pre-concentration, sample injection, separation column, detector(s), system integration and micro-nanotechnology) (result of an expert workshop organized by DARPA from which the MGA program and its objectives were derived) were to be implemented in a demonstrator system suitable for military applications. The project went through a total of four phases, at the end of each of which a 'success control', i.e. the achievement of previously agreed performance data, was carried out and was decisive for the extension of the project. The performance reviews also resulted in a necessary course correction with consequences, e.g. old partners were no longer taken over into the next phase and replaced by new partners with specially sought expertise. The R&D work in the individual system modules generally achieved the intended project goals, but only in the laboratory and never in the overall system and under real "field conditions". On the one hand, this confirmed that the sub-modules can indeed achieve the improvements predicted by the experts, but that this cannot be realized under real application conditions in the integrated overall system. The limited use of the funding for the original overall objective also meant that the opportunity was missed to develop better devices compared to the initial situation and to successfully introduce them to the market as an intermediate product.

Project result / impact / sustainability:

• Successful development of individual system and function modules.
• Recognition that system integration, i.e. the intelligent and functional combination of modules, must be incorporated into the development approach from the outset and usually also means performance losses for the system module.
• Due to the narrow focus on an (overly) aggressive project goal, opportunities for the development and market launch of attractive 'intermediate products' were missed.
• The constant change of partners involved was successful in developing and testing the functional modules, but was a hindrance to achieving the overall goal.

Challenges in commercial implementation:
Due to the special project structure and the political constraints of such a DARPA project, the new findings and improvements of individual system modules were only recognized in scientific publications and internal reports and were not commercially implemented in an improved product. There was a lack of flexibility in the project structure to transfer findings from the R&D activities into 'commercial intermediate products' and thus enable sustainable improvements, e.g. in the on-site analysis of complex chemical and thermal process plants.

Within the innovation and cluster landscape of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia,ISA sees itself as a partner for the efficient and practical orientation of technology transfer between universities and industry. This is preferably done through collaboration with industry partners and through our own spin-off companies. The explicit goal is a fast and efficient technology transfer and a broad application of the developed solutions.

The ISA experts see it as their task to develop targeted improvements using methods and processes available to the customer and, building on this, to develop independent solutions that the partners can use directly in their production.

One of the main advantages of ISA is the flexibility to work actively with the partner companies both as a pragmatic developer and as a basic researcher. In practical application, this means that both partners communicate and exchange ideas, with both sides continuously feeding in impulses and suggestions. The inherent communication dynamic controls and regulates the joint work in every phase, so that solutions to problems are developed efficiently and can be implemented directly.

Project examples from ISA members

• Knowledge-based test and inspection system for the straightening rolling of crankshafts
• Test and inspection system for fire detection systems
• Test and inspection systems for high-performance labeling robots
• Test and inspection system for determining the heat transfer coefficient of textile fabrics
• Test and diagnostic systems for determining the endothelial cell density of corneal transplants
• Test and diagnostic systems for non-contact in-vivo endothelial cell density analysis
• Test and inspection system for railroad barrier drives
• Development of an innovative laser sensor with a particularly large measuring range for the highly dynamic detection of speeds in production processes
• Metrological investigation of the acceleration behavior of yarns using reference beam LDA technology
• Development and construction of a coil test system
• Development and construction of a measuring stand for the non-contact recording of dynamic speed and length profiles of textile threads during the winding process
• Development and testing of the FLOYD rope system and the precise winding mechanism for rope spool applications in space
• Efficient testing of complex radio modules with regard to functionality (e.g. transmission power, bit error rates) and EMC conformity (emitted interference radiation)
• Evaluation and optimization of radio systems with distributed and highly dynamic subscribers/sensors, e.g. car-to-car and machine-to-machine communication, taking into account current transmission standards (e.g. WLAN, LTE)
• Optimization of antenna structures in multi-antenna systems/distributed antenna systems to supply several mobile subscribers or sensors in the above-mentioned radio systems
• Center for BioModular Microsystems (CBM2): The aim was to develop sensor platforms (modular design concept) for DNA-based early detection of cancer and other diseases. The chips developed worked in 'continuous flow mode' and were designed as 'disposable chips'
• MicroGasAnalyzer (DARPA-MGA): This project was concerned with the development of mi-naturized gas chromatographs for the on-site analysis of environmental samples
• DARPA BioMagneticIC and Board of Regents, Louisiana, Post-Katrina Project: Both projects focused on microfluidic sensor systems for biomedical applications, combining a modular concept (microfluidic stack) with nanotechnology detection methodology (magnetic beads, nanowires)

A sensor-based bicycle assistance system to increase safety and comfort for mobile (older) people.

The use of bicycles increases mobility and improves health at the same time. Modern e-bikes and pedelecs are particularly attractive to senior citizens, which is leading to increasing sales of e-bikes as well as a growing number of older cyclists on the roads.

However, very dense traffic coupled with complex and confusing traffic situations result in a high accident risk for cyclists. This risk is further increased by the declining cognitive and physical abilities that senior citizens often suffer from. If we want to retain the positive effects of cycling on the mobility and health of senior citizens without sacrificing these benefits by increasing the risk of accidents, concepts are needed to makecycling safer, especially for older cyclists. The aim of the "FahrRad" project described here is to design, develop and test such concepts.

A key challenge here, particularly in complex traffic situations, is to provide important information about the current traffic situation in a context-appropriate and target group-oriented manner. To this end, the current traffic situation must be recorded and compared with empirical values. Based on these results, specific hazardous situations are identified and potentially dangerous areas are recognized and passed on to the user. At the same time, information is collected during each ride and the dangerous situations are analyzed so that the knowledge gained can be made available to other cyclists. The interface to the cyclist is also particularly important in this approach: it must ensure that the information is quickly grasped and understood by the user without distracting them.

Assistance systems using a wide variety of sensors are already important components in vehicles to increase driving safety and comfort. Radar systems, LIDAR, ultrasound and camera systems are used to detect the environment, issue warnings and intervene in driving and braking behavior. Another component in the direction of "autonomous driving" will be communication between vehicles (car-to-car communication) and with the surrounding infrastructure (car-to-infrastructure communication) at the assigned frequency of 5.9 GHz. This will enable vehicles approaching a junction, for example, to warn each other and avoid dangerous situations.

Another important task is to transmit the traffic situation to the user. The aim is therefore to generate more detailed and differentiated sensory impressions in addition to binary information, which can still be received easily and intuitively by the driver. As a further approach, experiments will also be carried out with bicycle-mounted signaling devices that are activated in the event of danger to warn approaching or crossing traffic.The integration of radar sensors into a bicycle assistance system poses a major challenge in terms of size, energy consumption and detection of dangerous situations and obstacles in all weather and light conditions.The clever combination of sensor technology and the associated algorithms is particularly important for the success of the project in order to achieve sufficient detection performance at low cost and energy consumption.

Another key innovative approach of FahrRad is the combination of sensory information with data obtained from the analysis of accident statistics and the experiences of other road users. Each FahrRad user thus uses the experience of other participants and at the same time provides data that is combined by the FahrRad system with statistical accident figures to create a "hazard atlas" . This hazard atlas not only serves to warn the user of potential sources of danger (e.g. "Caution: dangerous intersection"), but can also be used to optimize the route accordingly - e.g. to give preference to routes that avoid dangerous spots. At the same time, the data obtained can be used by traffic planners to identify potential danger points in the traffic network.

Duration: 01.05.2017 - 30.04.2020 (Completed)