Francesco Luke Siena

Nottingham Trent University | NTU · Department of Product Design

This paper presents research on flat textile pressure sensor characteristics that are advantageous for use in the surgical environment. Eight, 4 by 4 textile pressure matrices were subjected to sensor error testing to evaluate the sensor output differences on foam vs. no foam. The pressure matrices were tested using a compression tester while monit...

Low back pain (LBP) is a significant contributor to disabilities in the UK. Many factors cause LBP, including poor posture, obesity, and spinal fractures, all resulting in spiralling healthcare costs. If spinal fractures are not properly braced, they can lead to weakened vertebrae in the spine and larger risks that can reoccur. There are many probl...

The creation of digital tools to assist in diagnostic pathways for children at-risk of autism is a priority due to increased prevalence. This project reports on the development of a tangible user interface as an ecologically valid option for children at-play in clinic. The toy aims to assist in useful data capture for preschool populations.

How can you deliver innovative teaching to over 150 students to propel their learning, connect them with leading industry experts, solve real world problems, and offer students the chance to learn from their peers across year groups? This paper presents the Design Sprint project; an intense five-day event delivered in 2020/21. This project engaged...

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Higher Education has been considerable, none more so for practical/vocational subjects such as Product Design. However, consider being deaf/hard-of-hearing (D/HOH) whilst being forced to study predominantly online, with reduced practical in-person teaching opportunities, being socially distanced, and having to...

The DIY movement goes back to the late 60’s and started the trend of shared tools as a reaction to the lack of skills and education on how things are made; this resulted in an increased awareness of democratic manufacturing resources and facilities, especially makerspaces and hackspaces, innovation labs, 3D printer farms etc. At Nottingham Trent Un...

As healthcare providers globally adapt/change their practices because of the ongoing global pandemic, a greater emphasis is being placed on remote/telemedicine diagnostic/monitoring models. To support such a model, especially for respiratory diseases-ie, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), or interstitial lung disease (ILD)-it is...

During the COVID-19 pandemic the demand for personal protective equipment (PPE) has increased dramatically. However, the lack of PPE designed specifically for women is leaving many without adequate protection, as current “universal” solutions fail to address female healthcare workers’ varied needs. Instead, current solutions present users with a ho...

This proof-of-concept study aimed to assess the ability of a mobile application and cloud analytics software solution to extract facial expression information from participant selfie videos. This is one component of a solution aimed at extracting possible health outcome measures based on expression, voice acoustics and speech sentiment from video d...

Background Parkinson’s disease is the second most common long-term chronic, progressive, neurodegenerative disease, affecting more than 10 million people worldwide. There has been a rising interest in wearable devices for evaluation of movement disorder diseases such as Parkinson’s disease due to the limitations in current clinic assessment methods...

Pressure injuries (PIs) are a common surgical complication. The authors identified critical design requirements and developed an appropriate product design specification for a device to monitor PIs during surgery.

Clear dental aligners are commonly manufactured using thermoplastic materials such as Duran and Durasoft. Using conventional thermoforming methods there are inherent disadvantages including time consumption and poor geometrical accuracies that often occur. The use of digital technologies and 3D printing techniques for producing dental aligners is o...

Purpose 3D printing techniques have been widely used for manufacturing complex parts for various dental applications. For achieving suitable mechanical strength, post-cure processing is necessary, where the relative time duration and temperature specification also needs to be defined. The purpose of this study/paper is to assess the effects of post...

DERIVING CLINICAL OUTCOME MEASURES FROM EXPRESSION AND SPEECH: RESULTS OF A PROOF OF CONCEPT STUDY Siena F(1), Vernon M(1), Watts P(1), Crundall D(1), Byrom B(2), Mowlem F(2), Breedon P(1) 1: Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, UK, 2: Signant Health, London, UK. OBJECTIVES: We have developed a mobile application and cloud analytics software so...

Background Parkinson's disease is the second most common long-term chronic, progressive, neurodegenerative disease, affecting more than 10 million people worldwide. There has been a rising interest in wearable devices for evaluation of movement disorder diseases such as Parkinson's disease due to the limitations in current clinic assessment methods...

Background Parkinson's disease is the second most common long-term chronic, progressive, neurodegenerative disease, affecting more than 10 million people worldwide. There has been a rising interest in wearable devices for evaluation of movement disorder diseases such as Parkinson's disease due to the limitations in current clinic assessment methods...

Background: Parkinson’s disease is the second most common long-term chronic, progressive, neurodegenerative disease, affecting more than 10 million people worldwide. There has been a rising interest in wearable devices for evaluation of movement disorder diseases such as Parkinson’s disease due to the limitations in current clinic assessment method...

Background Parkinson's disease is the second most common long-term chronic, progressive, neurodegenerative disease, affecting more than 10 million people worldwide. There has been a rising interest in wearable devices for evaluation of movement disorder diseases such as Parkinson's disease due to the limitations in current clinic assessment methods...

Introduction: The aim of this research was to compare compressive mechanical properties and geometric inaccuracies between conventionally manufactured thermoformed Duran clear dental aligners and 3D printed Dental Long Term (LT) resin-based clear aligners using 3D modeling and printing techniques. Methods: Impressions of the patient's dentition...

Equipment design and selection can contribute to the success or failure of difficult airway management. The design of medical devices/testing systems completed by multidisciplinary design teams that include healthcare professionals can significantly influence device success or failure. This paper presents an overview of the design tasks used to dev...

There is an ever-growing body of facial tracking assessment applications available within the health and wellness sector. One of the most prominent areas is the use of 3D cameras and processing technologies in the development of rehabilitation interventions and in the measurement of health outcomes. Recent advancements in facial tracking applicatio...

Failure to secure the airway with an endotracheal tube in a timely manner on induction of anaesthesia can lead to serious complications, including death. Equipment design and selection can often contribute to procedure success or failure, although current equipment does not always provide optimum solutions. Most anaesthetists consider endotracheal...

Applications utilising 3D Camera technologies for the measurement of health outcomes in the health and wellness sector continues to expand. The Intel® RealSense™ is one of the leading 3D depth sensing cameras currently available on the market and aligns itself for use in many applications, including robotics, automation, and medical systems. One of...

Equipment design and selection can contribute to the success or failure of difficult airway management. However, evaluative systems for providing the relative performance data for bougie introducers to help inform these choices do not exist outside of bespoke studies. This paper discusses the design development of an innovative tip pressure and sha...

Airway management and intubation procedures continue to challenge anaesthetists. With current equipment not always providing an optimum solution, this can lead to potential serious complications if an airway is not secured quickly. Improvements in airway devices need to be discussed, designed, tested, and implemented. The implementation of the appr...

There is a growing body of applications leveraging Microsoft Kinect and the associated Windows Software Development Kit in health and wellness. In particular, this platform has been valuable in developing interactive solutions for rehabilitation including creating more engaging exercise regimens and ensuring that exercises are performed correctly f...

Background This paper describes the development of a new airway device that will improve the speed and safety of endotracheal intubation in anaesthesia and critical care. Case of need, design specification and fabrication of the steerable bougie mechanism is discussed. Aims Identify the need for a novel steerable bougie whilst considering technolog...