Citation

Yamakoshi T, Yamakoshi K, Tanaka S, Nogawa M, Kusakabe M, Kusumi M, Tanida K. Conf. Proc. IEEE Eng. Med. Biol. Soc. 2004; 4: 2476-2479.

Affiliation

Fac. of Eng., Hukui Univ., Japan.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2004, IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers))

DOI

10.1109/IEMBS.2004.1403714

PMID

17270774

Abstract

Monotonous automobile operation in our daily life may cause the lowering of what might be termed an activation state of the human body, resulting in an increased risk of an accident. We therefore propose to create a more suitable environment in-car so as to allow active operation of the vehicle, hopefully thus avoiding potentially dangerous situations during driving. In order to develop such an activation method as a final goal, we have firstly focused on the acquisition of physiological variables, including cardiovascular parameters, during presentation to the driver of a monotonous screen image, simulating autonomous travel of constant-speed on a motorway. Subsequently, we investigated the derivation of a driver's activation index. During the screen image presentation, a momentary electrical stimulation of about 1 second duration was involuntarily applied to a subject's shoulder to obtain a physiological response. We have successfully monitored various physiological variables during the image presentation, and results suggest that a peculiar pattern in the beat-by-beat change of blood pressure in response to the involuntary stimulus may be an appropriate, and feasible, index relevant to activation state.

Language: en