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Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing 1290
Kohei Arai
Supriya Kapoor
Rahul Bhatia Editors
Proceedings
of the Future
Technologies
Conference
(FTC) 2020,
Volume 3
Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing
Volume 1290
Series Editor
Janusz Kacprzyk, Systems Research Institute, Polish Academy of Sciences,
Warsaw, Poland
Advisory Editors
Nikhil R. Pal, Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata, India
Rafael Bello Perez, Faculty of Mathematics, Physics and Computing,
Universidad Central de Las Villas, Santa Clara, Cuba
Emilio S. Corchado, University of Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain
Hani Hagras, School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering,
University of Essex, Colchester, UK
László T. Kóczy, Department of Automation, Széchenyi István University,
Gyor, Hungary
Vladik Kreinovich, Department of Computer Science, University of Texas
at El Paso, El Paso, TX, USA
Chin-Teng Lin, Department of Electrical Engineering, National Chiao
Tung University, Hsinchu, Taiwan
Jie Lu, Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology,
University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
Patricia Melin, Graduate Program of Computer Science, Tijuana Institute
of Technology, Tijuana, Mexico
Nadia Nedjah, Department of Electronics Engineering, University of Rio de Janeiro,
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Ngoc Thanh Nguyen , Faculty of Computer Science and Management,
Wrocław University of Technology, Wrocław, Poland
Jun Wang, Department of Mechanical and Automation Engineering,
The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong
The series “Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing” contains publications
on theory, applications, and design methods of Intelligent Systems and Intelligent
Computing. Virtually all disciplines such as engineering, natural sciences, computer
and information science, ICT, economics, business, e-commerce, environment,
healthcare, life science are covered. The list of topics spans all the areas of modern
intelligent systems and computing such as: computational intelligence, soft comput-
ing including neural networks, fuzzy systems, evolutionary computing and the fusion
of these paradigms, social intelligence, ambient intelligence, computational neuro-
science, artificial life, virtual worlds and society, cognitive science and systems,
Perception and Vision, DNA and immune based systems, self-organizing and
adaptive systems, e-Learning and teaching, human-centered and human-centric
computing, recommender systems, intelligent control, robotics and mechatronics
including human-machine teaming, knowledge-based paradigms, learning para-
digms, machine ethics, intelligent data analysis, knowledge management, intelligent
agents, intelligent decision making and support, intelligent network security, trust
management, interactive entertainment, Web intelligence and multimedia.
The publications within “Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing” are
primarily proceedings of important conferences, symposia and congresses. They
cover significant recent developments in the field, both of a foundational and
applicable character. An important characteristic feature of the series is the short
publication time and world-wide distribution. This permits a rapid and broad
dissemination of research results.
** Indexing: The books of this series are submitted to ISI Proceedings,
EI-Compendex, DBLP, SCOPUS, Google Scholar and Springerlink **
Rahul Bhatia
Editors
123
Editors
Kohei Arai Supriya Kapoor
Faculty of Science and Engineering The Science and Information
Saga University (SAI) Organization
Saga, Japan Bradford, West Yorkshire, UK
Rahul Bhatia
The Science and Information
(SAI) Organization
Bradford, West Yorkshire, UK
This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
Editor’s Preface
With the aim of providing a worldwide forum, where the international participants
can share their research knowledge and ideas, the 2020 Future Technologies
Conference (FTC) was held virtually on November 5–6, 2020. FTC 2020 focuses
on recent and latest technological breakthroughs in the areas of computing, elec-
tronics, AI, robotics, security and communications and map out the directions for
future researchers and collaborations.
The anarchic spirit and energy of inquiry found in our community always help
researchers to produce brilliant technological advances which continue to restruc-
ture entire computing community. FTC see participation from such researchers,
academics and technologists from leading universities, research firms, government
agencies and companies to submit their latest research at the forefront of technology
and computing.
We are pleased to review and select a volume of high-qualified papers from all
submissions during the conference. We hope these papers which have been gone
through the double-blind review process can provide helpful reference for all
readers and scholars. In these proceedings, we finally selected 210 full papers
including six poster papers to publish.
We would like to express our gratitude and appreciation to all of the reviewers
who helped us maintaining the high quality of manuscripts included in this con-
ference proceedings. We would also like to extend our thanks to the members of the
organizing team for their hard work. We are tremendously grateful for the contri-
butions and support received from authors, participants, keynote speakers, program
committee members, session chairs, steering committee members and others in their
various roles. Their valuable support, suggestions, dedicated commitment and hard
work have made FTC 2020 a success.
We hope that all the participants of FTC 2020 had a wonderful and fruitful time
at the conference!
Kind Regards,
Kohei Arai
v
Contents
vii
viii Contents
1 Introduction
This section is two-fold. First, advantages and disadvantages of computational
and experimental methods are discussed. Second, since not every numerical
method is suitable for calculations that include patient-specific geometries, the
process of choosing the right numerical methods is examined.
the small-scale features of the geometries used, e.g. the gyri and sulci of the
brain (in layman’s terms, the folds and indentations in the brain that give it
its wrinkled appearance). The gyri and sulci of the brain greatly increase the
brain’s surface area, a phenomenon commonly observed in other parts of the
human body. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) fills the skull and surrounds the brain.
It acts as a shock absorber for the central nervous system (CNS), cushioning
the brain within the skull [1–3]. Due the increased surface area created by the
gyri and sulci, the actual contact area between the brain and CSF is also larger.
The complicated anatomy of the brain and the physiology of its relationship
with CSF, for example how they interact in trauma or how the relationship
changes in response to the brain’s unique form, makes the task of conducting an
FSI analysis of said relationship inherently formidable. Understandably, many
FSI laboratories choose to circumvent these intrinsic issues by simplifying the
brain geometry into a single smooth mass placed in the center of another simpli-
fied geometry representing skull. The reliability of results achieved utilizing this
simplified format are questionable, especially in the context of practicality and
clinical applicability. Results that are unable to reflect, at least in some part, a
close mirror of the true physiologic process cannot be used by physicians in a
clinical setting to inform clinical decision-making.
Validating computational models and frameworks is a common practice, but
numerical simulations are still not preferred above actual experiments. There
has been a worldwide benchmark Food and Drug Administration (FDA) study
to standardize computational fluid dynamics (CFD) techniques used to assess
the safety of medical devices [4], which was replicated also by our group with a
special focus on mesh sensitivity analysis [5]. The benchmark flow model used
for this study consists of a nozzle with a concentrator and sudden expansion,
i.e. the geometry used is simpler than those used in patient-specific simulations.
Moreover, CFD is numerically also more straightforward than FSI methods.
Over 40 groups (self-ascribed as beginner, intermediate or expert) delivered their
results. The results of the FDA study show that CFD results always need to be
validated even when produced by experts. It was found that even the worst
‘beginner’ was actually closer to the experimental measurements than the worst
‘expert’; and some ‘beginners’ matched the experimental results better than
some ‘experts’ [4].
While validations are performed on every model published, the input param-
eters (e.g. material properties, boundary/initial conditions, and so forth) are
usually ‘calibrated’ in order to reach the desired results. Our group at the Geor-
gia Institute of Technology has previously shown that it is possible to achieve
computational results equivalent to the experimental ones, utilizing comprehen-
sive patient-specific geometries that function without the need to ‘calibrate’ the
material models used (i.e. the material parameters acquired from the tissue sam-
ples can be used directly). We have shown this in simulations and experiments
conducted to mimic mitral valve (MV) function during systole and diastole in
order to study it in both healthy and diseased states [6–13]. Other groups have
BioFSI using Patient-Specific Geometries 3
also reached the same conclusion when analyzing clinical data quality and how
it affects FSI simulations of patient-specific stenotic aortic valve models [14].
Ideally, we would investigate the biofluids interacting with the solid
deformable domain using experimental in-vivo methods. To make it affordable
and realistic would require the use of an invasive method, which would not be
morally feasible. To make it affordable and non-invasive would not yield realistic
results. To make it realistic and non-invasive would not be affordable or, in this
case, even possible. As such, in situations where experimental methods cannot
be used, a computational model is a viable alternative. However, computational
methods have drawbacks as well. The use of complex patient-specific geometry
often requires simplifications in the numerical algorithms used. Similarly, a com-
putation with high-precision numerical algorithms and comprehensive patient-
specific geometry could take even months to complete. Furthermore, the risk
and occurrence of numerical errors must be considered when complex long cal-
culations are involved. Thus, as the three constraints are interdependent (none
of them can be altered without affecting one or both of the others) the triple
constraint model can be applied here, as depicted in Fig. 1.
tal
Realistic
en
rim
pe
Ex
Non-invasive Cost
l
na
Complex
tio
Geometry
uta
mp
Co
Precision Time
Fig. 1. The triple constraint summarizing the drawbacks of both the experimental and
computational methods.
4 M. Toma and R. Chan-Akeley
2 Methods
Two critical points are addressed in this section. First, when preserving the
smallest details of complex patient-specific geometries the proper image pro-
cessing techniques need to be used. Second, for the computational methods to
handle the complex geometries, next-generation algorithms need to be chosen.
BioFSI using Patient-Specific Geometries 5
– MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) uses a strong magnetic field that excites
hydrogen atoms in the body. The scanner then detects the radio frequency
emitted by the hydrogen atoms. It is used for imaging soft structures in the
body because hydrogen atoms exist in large quantities in humans, especially
in areas with high concentrations of water and/or fat. Additionally, it does
not expose the patient to radiation.
– CT (Computed Tomography) uses a series of X-rays taken from different
angles. In the resulting images, the brighter areas are denser than dark areas,
e.g. a bone is brighter than the surrounding connective tissues. This method
is quick and provides high resolution, but it is not as accurate for soft tissues
and results in radiation exposure.
– 3D ultrasound uses high-frequency sound waves sent into the body at different
angles. As they reflect back, the receiving device displays them to produce
a live 3D image of the internal organs. The method is cheap, provides a live
image, and has no radiation exposure. However it is of low resolution and
does not show internal structures.
The software packages used to display DICOM images range from open-
source software to enterprise-level solutions with FDA clearance. There are
dozens of options available. The data set must be segmented to separate the
6 M. Toma and R. Chan-Akeley
z
y x
Fig. 2. Original (yellow) surface from the threshold segmentation compared to the final
surface mesh (green) after smoothing techniques applied. Zoom-in to an attachment
points between the chords and leaflets is shown to demonstrate the complexity of the
geometry.
Fig. 3. The depiction of the entire head model with skull, cerebrum, cerebellum, pitu-
itary gland and brainstem, respectively. The subarachnoid space and other cavities are
filled with fluid particles (blue dots surrounding the brain model in the lower right
corner). The entire model with half the skull is also displayed (lower left).
BioFSI using Patient-Specific Geometries 7
In the studies presented here, the fluid motion and boundary interaction calcu-
lations are solved with the IMPETUS Afea γSPH Solver R
(IMPETUS Afea AS,
Norway), while large deformations in the solid parts are taken care of by the
IMPETUS Afea Solver R
. The γSPH solver uses a next-generation SPH method
with increased accuracy. Both solvers use a commodity GPU for parallel pro-
cessing. All solid elements are fully integrated, thus removing the possibilities of
hourglass modes and element inversion, occurrences that plague classic under-
integrated elements. Both fluid and solid domains, as well as their interaction,
are solved with an explicit integration scheme.
8 M. Toma and R. Chan-Akeley
The contact, i.e. particle to structure contact, is very simple, which is why γSPH
is ideal for these complex applications. It can easily account for movement in any
direction, unlike finite element fluid solvers which involve more complicated con-
tact and usually require re-meshing of the fluid domain during the simulation. The
ability of IMPETUS to achieve a very high resolution in terms of particle density
results in a very accurate particle to structure contact, especially in regards to a
structure as detailed and complex as the brain. The other critical part of the simu-
lation is the structural model. The IMPETUS Aset R
Element Technology provides
high order tetrahedron elements that are accurate for nonlinear dynamic response.
This allows the automeshing of complicated structures, such as those found in
biomedical applications. The accuracy of these elements has been demonstrated
in many commercial applications when compared with hexahedron elements. In
addition, they are also very accurate in bending and plasticity.
All simulations shown are solved on a standard workstation. Parallel acceler-
ation was achieved with a Tesla K40 GPU with 12 GB of Graphic DDR memory
and 2880 CUDA Cores. To confirm that convergence was reached, h-refinement
of the finite element mesh is performed, and the solution is found to be equiv-
alent. Similarly, a smaller number of fluid particles are used to obtain results
within 5% of the values obtained with the higher number. This confirmed that
the results converged. Our prior publication describes the SPH equations in
greater detail [9]. To reiterate, the SPH method is chosen for this study because
traditional FSI techniques can be computationally expensive and challenging
regarding their parallelization [15]. In order to use traditional FSI techniques,
geometrical simplifications would be needed, thus necessitating the sacrifice of
anatomical accuracy. Moreover, in recent years the SPH has been increasingly
used in biomedical applications [29].
3 Results
Following the two examples shown above, i.e. MV and brain geometries, both
scenarios are similarly discussed in the results section. MV closure validation
is shown and subsequently the blood dynamics of MV closure are described.
Additionally, an example of traumatic brain injury is simulated and shown.
The results of the FSI simulations using the MV geometry and its material proper-
ties have been validated against experimental data in two ways. Firstly, the direc-
tion and magnitudes of papillary muscle forces were compared with experimental
measurements [11] and, secondly, the coaptation line between the anterior and pos-
terior leaflets at closure has been compared with the μCT images (Fig. 4) [10].
BioFSI using Patient-Specific Geometries 9
y z
µCT FSI
Fig. 4. Closed leaflets reconstructed from µCT images compared to the results of FSI
simulations. The curves represent the coaptation line where the posterior and anterior
leaflets are in contact [10].
Since the FSI analysis can provide additional fluid-related results, it is possible
to observe the movement of mitral valve leaflets in relation to the cardiac cycle.
The Fig. 5 shows the regurgitant volume measured as the mass of the fluid particles
crossing the area at the level of the MV annulus [9]. No regurgitation is observed
from the point when both the leaflets come in contact together, i.e. T = 0.75·Tsys ,
whereas the highest level of regurgitation is observed at time point T = 0.3·Tsys .
The closure of the MV leaflets is initiated at around T = 0.1·Tsys . Tracking the fluid
particles up to this time point allows us to observe the mechanism that initiates the
closure, i.e. the occurrence of the eddies demonstrated by Henderson and Johnson
in 1912 [30].
0.08
z
0.06 x y
Mass [g]
0.04
0.02
0.00
0.00 0 .2 5 0 .5 0 0 . 75 1 . 00
Time/Tsys
Fig. 5. Regurgitant volume measured as the mass of the fluid particles crossing the
area at the level of the MV annulus [9].
10 M. Toma and R. Chan-Akeley
z
(a) T = 0.001·Tsys (b) T = 0.020·Tsys
y x
Fig. 6. Fluid particles traced in time originating at plane close to the annulus (red
dotted line).
BioFSI using Patient-Specific Geometries 11
Structurally, brain geometry is even more complex than that of the MV. A mul-
titude of possible traumatic scenarios can be simulated. One such scenario is
abusive head trauma (AHT), which includes the phenomenon commonly known
as Shaken Baby Syndrome. AHT is the leading cause of fatal brain injuries in
children younger than 2 years old [31]. Children who are victims of AHT can
suffer irreversible neurological damage, resulting in development delay and dis-
ability. Therefore it is imperative that better modalities are created to both
study its effects and predict patient outcomes. In this model we have replicated
the CSF’s cushioning effect for multiple cycles [27]. In the first shake, CSF trav-
eled to the sites of hyperextension and hyperflexion, providing the anticipated
cushioning effect. However, during hyperflexion on the second shake, the fluid
did not have enough time to reach the affected areas. In other words, following
the first shake, the CSF was unable to prevent the brain from colliding with
the skull, suggesting that the fluid offers no protection at repeated frequencies
(Fig. 7).
(a) (d)
Hyperextension
(b) (e)
2nd Hyperflexion
(c) (f )
Fig. 7. Shaken baby syndrome principal stress (Max - red: 3 MPa, Min - blue: 0 MPa)
shown at the peaks of the three phases, i.e. 1st hyperflexion, hyperextension and 2nd
hyperflexion; occipital and frontal views of the right hemisphere [27].
12 M. Toma and R. Chan-Akeley
4 Conclusion
The above examples and discussion emphasize the importance of preserving the
geometry of anatomy for the patient-specific organ being studied. For exam-
ple, the study of fluid dynamics of MV closure is incomplete if simplified MV
geometry is used. This is clear when observing the reaction of fluid particles
to pressure in relation to MV closure. The way fluid particles react in order to
cause MV closure will change with different MV geometries. When a geometry
that does not represent the MV in its entirety is used, the fluid particles form
different trajectories. Naturally, using a simplified MV geometry will yield differ-
ent fluid particle trajectories than when using a comprehensive patient-specific
MV geometry. Hence, it can be argued that the results of studies that do not
use comprehensive patient-specific geometries cannot be conclusive enough to
be considered truly representative of the processes intended to be studied.
The brain is the most complex organ in the human body. Because of this,
computational models of the human brain are inherently challenging. As most
computational models available in the literature are not based on an FSI anal-
ysis, they do not simulate the interaction between the CSF and cerebral cortex.
Those models treat the CSF as if it was solid. However, as seen in our results, the
fluid particles do not remain confined in a stagnant state in the space between
the skull and brain. The AHT results displayed above show that during the
first shake there are fluid particles between the skull and brain (best visible in
Fig. 7(a)) providing a cushioning effect to protect the brain. However, during the
second shake (2nd hyperflexion), no fluid particles can be found in the occipital
region between the brain and skull (Fig. 7(c)), thus resulting in direct contact
between the skull and brain. If the CSF is modeled using solid elements, the
model would fail to correctly yield such a basic yet crucial conclusion. Even if in
models where FSI algorithms are used, the brain geometry is simplified in order
to make the calculations less computationally expensive and/or to avoid conver-
gence issues. However it should be emphasized that with simplified geometries
the fluid particle trajectories are different and therefore not representative.
5 Discussion
The generally accepted concept regarding the movement of the MV leaflets is
that when the left atrium contracts it forces a small quantity of blood into the
relaxed left ventricle. This raises the intra-ventricular pressure by a very small
value but the change is large enough to form eddies behind the leaflets, causing
their approximation or partial closure. This is then followed by ventricular systole
and an immediate rise in intra-ventricular pressure. When the intra-ventricular
pressure exceeds the intra-atrial pressure, complete closure of the valve occurs
and regurgitation is prevented [32].
At the beginning of the twentieth century, Henderson and Johnson demon-
strated experimentally the importance of the “breaking of the jet” phenomenon
at the end of atrial systole, as well as the occurrence of eddies, or vortex forma-
tion, behind the atrioventricular valves, to initiate of mitral valve closure [30].
BioFSI using Patient-Specific Geometries 13
They show that normal atrial activity can initiate the closure of the atrioventric-
ular valves before the onset of ventricular systole [30,32]. Early work on mitral
valve action indicated a relatively wide range of movement for the leaflets dur-
ing the cardiac cycle, including with a pre-systolic flick and bulging back into
the atrium during ventricular systole [32]. Now, a hundred years later, we too
have observed the occurrence of the eddies behind the mitral valve leaflets [30]
and the pre-systolic flick [32] in our FSI simulations as well. Other groups have
already confirmed the occurrence of the eddies computationally long before us
[33,34]. However, they used simplified geometries. The mitral valve is consid-
ered to have two primary leaflets: the anterior and the posterior. Located in the
posterior part of the aortic root, the anterior leaflet has a semicircular shape
and is both larger and thicker than the posterior leaflet [35]. It consists of two
zones: the rough zone and the clear zone. During systole, the position of the
rough zone is adjacent to the posterior leaflet [36,37]. The posterior leaflet, on
the other hand, is crescentic with a long circumferential base. Like the anterior
leaflet, it can be divided into lateral, central, and medial scallops (referred to
as A1, A2, and A3, for the anterior leaflet, and P1, P2, and P3 for the poste-
rior leaflet) [38]. Additional leaflet tissue, known as commissural tissue, can be
found at the anterolateral and posteromedial commissures [38]. Previous stud-
ies generally confirm the occurrence of the two largest eddies behind the two
largest leaflets. In our studies, due to the use of comprehensive patient-specific
geometries, we have observed the occurrence of an additional two smaller eddies
behind the commissural leaflet tissue as well.
AHT is defined by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) as “an injury to
the skull or intracranial contents of an infant or young child (under 5 years of
age) due to inflicted blunt impact and/or violent shaking” [31]. The incidence
of AHT occurring in the first year of life is estimated to be approximately 35
cases per 100,000 [39]. From 1999–2014, AHT resulted in approximately 2,250
deaths amongst children under 5 years old in the United States [40]. AHT is
a serious condition with significant morbidity and mortality. 65% of victims
have significant neurological disabilities, and 5% to 35% of infants die from their
injuries [39]. The majority of survivors suffer permanent cognitive and neurologic
impairment [39]. However, the long-term effects of AHT are often difficult to
diagnose and predict. Computational simulations can help physicians visualize
the true impact of AHT which an then assist them in formulating an accurate
prognosis. However, existing simulations are insufficient, as they portray the fluid
as an elastic solid and fail to replicate the intricate brain anatomy and how it
interacts with CSF. In our previous study, we address these deficiencies, using
a more precise simulation that reveals that the protection of CSF may last only
for a single shake [27].
We do not wish to claim that this SPH approach is better suited for modeling
the CSF than the more commonly used solid elements found in other models.
However, there may be cases where it might be necessary to study the behavior
of the fluid in a model using an actual fluid domain. For example, when studying
the effect of CSF drainage via ventriculoperitoneal shunt as a form of treatment
14 M. Toma and R. Chan-Akeley
for hydrocephalus [26], models that utilize solid elements to study the behavior
of CSF would not be useful. However, in other more straightforward scenarios,
such as traumatic brain injury where a single blow to the head is studied, the
use of solid elements is justified when properly validated. It is certainly less
computationally expensive than using traditional FSI techniques in order to
represent the CSF using a fluid domain. Though, compared to the methods
used in this study, the use of solid elements to model the CSF does not provide
significant advantage in terms of computational cost.
Funding
This study was supported by a grant from the National Heart Lung and Blood
Institute (R01-HL092926) and a donation from New York Thoroughbred Horse-
men’s Association. No benefits in any form have been or will be received from a
commercial party related directly or indirectly to the subject of this manuscript.
Conflicts of Interest
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Data Availability
Data are available upon reasonable request.
Ethical Approval
This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals
performed by any of the authors.
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Usability Evaluation of Low-Cost Smart Pill
Dispenser by Health Care Practitioners
1 Introduction
Medication administration is a crucial aspect of patient care, whether the medication is
administered by self, or by health practitioners. Procedural and clinical errors could be
dangerous to the patient, affecting overall treatment process, recovery, immune system,
and possibly fatal effects [1–3]. Several health complications arise from non-adherence
to medications, which is more prevalent among patients with cognitive impairments
and those from low-income, less educated families who may not afford existing med-
ication adherence tools. In addition, most existing tools lack the ability to facilitate
communication between the patient and their doctor, especially in critical situations that
are time-bound such as emergencies. Medication administration is a crucial aspect of
patient care, whether the medication is administered by self, or by health practition-
ers. A number of studies have pointed to the adverse consequences of procedural and
clinical errors in medication administration, which could include hospital readmission
[4] and antimicrobial resistance [5] among others. Poor medication adherence could be
dangerous to the patient, affecting overall treatment process, recovery, immune system,
and possibly fatal effects [1, 6]. In addition, it has the socio-economic consequence
of increasing health costs and making higher demands on health emergency response
systems [7]. This risk of improper medication adherence becomes more exacerbated in
self-administered medications, especially in patients with some known distractive dis-
orders, such as Dementia [8]. Medication adherence is critical for patient recovery and
overall reduction in treatment costs. Disease-related medical costs and hospitalization
rates could be significantly reduced with proper medication adherence [9].
The challenge of medication adherence cuts across various demographic strata, but
tends to be more prevalent in the following groups: i) cognitively impaired [8]; ii) younger
people [10, 11]; and iii) people in the lower socio-economic stratum [12]. [13] found a
concave relationship between age and medication adherence, with adherence being the
lowest with the very young and the very old. They also found cost elements, such as
copayments, to have negative impact on medication adherence.
Mechanical and automatic pill dispensers have been found to improve medication
protocols and adherence. For example, [14] reported that automatic pill dispensers could
reduce medication error by 64.7%. A number of researchers (e.g. [15] believe that while
there is tremendous progress in designing interventions for medication adherence (espe-
cially pill dispensing systems), the level of adherence to medications is still not accept-
able, especially in low income among less educated individuals. The burden of medical
administration puts pressure on the thinly stretched medical workers in the low-income
countries. The World Health Organization recommends a density of about 2.28 health
workers per 1,000 people in order to make good progress towards Universal Health
coverage [16]. This is reflected in the Global Health Workforce Alliance, Health work-
force 2030 – towards a global strategy on human resources [16]. This translates into
about 23 health workers to serve 10,000 people. According to [16], in 2013, there were
average of 33 nurses/midwives and 5 pharmaceuticals personal per 10,000 population.
Africa had a precariously low number of (12 nurses/midwives and one pharmaceutical
personnel per 10,000 populations). This underscores the need to have technology to
assist the few available health workers when delivering services [17]. Emphasized the
need for pharmaceutical care practices during pandemics (e.g. Covid-19) to reduce the
burden on already weakened health systems in low-to-middle income countries. The pill
dispenser could help in pharmaceutical care and also assist in the reduction of infec-
tions during epidemics/pandemics. It is important to understand the challenges faced by
individuals in developing countries when taking prescribed drug regimes, which include
poor power supply, low-to- moderate education on medication sensitivity, and inability
to afford expensive medical care services. These challenges underscore the need for
Usability Evaluation of Low-Cost Smart Pill Dispenser by Health Care Practitioners 19
low cost, efficient and effective medical technologies (including medication dispensing
system) that will suit the needs and economic abilities of low-income countries.
There is need to develop usable and affordable medication intervention systems
that would possess enhanced capabilities to facilitate patient-physician interaction. We
developed an initial prototype of an automatic pill dispensing system that would address
these needs [18]. Our current system architecture consists of the following functional
components: audio module (programmed to send person-specific reminders); messag-
ing module (uses GSM capabilities for bidirectional communication); video module
(programmed to use a smart 360-degree camera for video communication); emergency
module (to assist in distress response); and dispensing module (for dispensing pills and
water. Our initial design was meant to dispense two different sets of pills from two
independent chambers.
This study aimed at evaluating the acceptability and usability of the prototype by
medical practitioners such as physicians, nurses, and pharmacists. The focus of our
research was to explore the user perception and attitudes towards the newly developed
smart pill dispenser in addressing drug adherence challenges. This study was conducted
in Kampala, Uganda, which is a developing country context. In Sect. 2, we show our
pill dispenser and its features, while Sect. 3 presents the study methodology. The results
are presented in Sect. 4, while discussion of results is in Sect. 5. Some conclusions are
drawn in Sect. 6.
Our initial system functioned effectively with crude materials, with the ability to
provide user notification, and dispense pills at the appropriate time, in accordance with
programming instructions. The implementation of our current design takes advantage of
the ubiquity of micro-processor systems and utilizes antimicrobial plastic components
for the pill dispensing unit, to make the system smarter and more hygienic. Sustainable
medical practices are growing and re-usable plastics components help keep hazardous
materials out of landfills, thereby protecting the environment. Antibacterial plastics also
have the potential of keeping medical devices and instruments in service longer, and
reduce the possibility of product failures attributable to corrosion. In addition, plastics
20 G. A. Mugisha et al.
Medicine
window
speaker
LCD
display
bu ons
speaker
trough
pathway
Water
reservoir
Stand
are affordable, flexible, and come in different sizes, colours and shapes, especially with
the advent of 3-D printing technology [19].
Our current design includes a water reservoir, which is used in lieu of the water supply
from the water mains. This helps improve portability. In addition, the water supply has
a two-stage control. First, by automatic program control, then followed by pressing a
button upon discretion of the user. This gives the user an ability to control the quantity
of water supply. Other features include the LCD display and multiple pill holders with a
single pathway. The LCD display is programmatically connected to most components to
Usability Evaluation of Low-Cost Smart Pill Dispenser by Health Care Practitioners 21
provide status indicator for each component. Our system has some smart abilities through
the following modules: i) Audio module, which relays information from the memory
card, in the language of the patient, applying varying emotional structures that target
different age groups, to reduce the level of anxiety associated with taking medicine,
especially in children; ii) Messaging module, is equipped with GSM capabilities to
provide notifications to patients as well as allowing bi-directional messaging between
the patient and the medical practitioner; iii) Emergency module, which is activated by the
press of a button, and sends a pre-recorded distress message to the medical practitioner
in the event of an emergency iv) Visual module, consisting of a camera setup with audio
talk back that enables the doctor to directly talk to the patient. The doctor receives live
videos from the patient, which helps in determining the adherence behaviour of the
patient, especially in a hospital setting. With on-board motion sensors, the device can
send an alarm to the medical practitioner in the event of a fall or some type of emergency.
In addition to the camera, the system has a colour coded light indicator for the auditory
impaired.
Figure 1(b) shows the first functional prototype of the system. The wooden case
provides us with a reliable sandbox for the initial concept development, though we
recognize weight challenges associated with wood, and are working on finding light
weight affordable alternatives.
3 Research Methodology
This was designed as a qualitative study to inform the design of a follow-on quantitative
survey that will quantify the attributes identified in this formative study and dig into
the design of the innovation using existing usability models. This study employed key
informant interviews (KIIs) to gain opinions from experts involved in the dispensing
of drugs. Key informant interviews are “qualitative, in-depth interviews of 15 to 35
people selected for their first-hand knowledge about a topic of interest. The interviews
are loosely structured, relying on a list of issues to be discussed” [20]. The study was
conducted in four hospitals including two public and two private, not-for profit referral
hospitals in Kampala city in Uganda. These health facilities included Naguru general
hospital, Mulago Hospital-cancer institute, Kibuli and Mengo hospitals. The hospitals
provide care for patients with chronic conditions such as HIV, cancer, diabetes mellitus,
and hypertension that require long term treatment. In this study, health workers who dis-
pense drugs from both in- and out-patient departments were interviewed. These included
pharmacists, dispensers and any other cadre who dispense drugs.
Key informant interviews were conducted with relevant health workers at the four health
facilities in Kampala city to identify key issues related to the smart dispenser innova-
tion. The initial study design proposed a purposeful sampling to conduct six KIIs per
facility. The targeted key informants included at least two trained health workers in the
22 G. A. Mugisha et al.
following health professionals: pharmacist, nurse, and physician. The respondents were
interviewed using an interview guide that captured data on dispensing experiences and
challenges faced by health workers, non compliance, consequences of not adhering to
prescribed medicines, strategies to improve drug dispensing and administration as well
opinions about usability and feasibility of the dispenser when used in different settings.
However, we did not obtain the expected number of participants from all the health
facilities, as staff were busy and not available for the interviews during the study period.
On a positive note, we obtained a good professional representation in the field of nursing,
pharmacy and clinical medicine. Table 1 shows the locations and designations of the
health practitioners that participated in our study.
The prototype of the pill dispenser was demonstrated to each participant prior to
the interview. The participant was also granted an opportunity to independently utilize
the pill dispenser, to personally explore the features and ask relevant questions on the
features and functionalities of the prototype. The KII interviews followed each prototype
demonstration. The prototype demonstration and KII interview took place on the same
day for each participant. A maximum of two participants were interviewed each day.
The semi-structured interview questions focused mainly on the participants’ understand-
ing of patient’s medication adherence behaviours and their assessment of usability and
feasibility of the smart pill dispenser. The interviews were conducted in English, and
covered questions on challenges during dispensing drugs, effects of non-compliances
with dosage instructions, questions about whether the participants (or the health facil-
ity) had measures to ensure medication adherence, and questions about attitudes and
medication preferences. All interviews were digitally recorded with consent of health
workers, then transcribed verbatim by two trained research assistants. The transcripts
were read several times and codes were summarised manually in excel per themes that
were determined a priori as per the semi- structured interview guide.
post evaluation interviews. The interview questions were also pre tested and adjusted
prior to data collection.
Ethical clearances were obtained from the Makerere University School of Social Sci-
ences Research and Ethics Committee MAKSS REC 03.19.277. Written permission to
carry out the research was also obtained from the management of the respective health
facilities. The objectives, benefits and risks of the study were explained to the prospec-
tive study participants and informed consent sought before interviews. Confidentiality
was observed when collecting and handling data and anonymous identifiers were used
in the transcribed data.
4 Results
The essence of the pill dispenser is to make medication administration more effective,
thus reducing the risks associated with poor adherence, both in the hospital and at home.
We examined the challenges faced by the medical practitioners in medication adminis-
tration to determine the need or otherwise, for an aid to make medication administration
more effective. Many (43%) of the participants indicated that time was a major con-
straint as they have so many patients to attend to, so a system that would assist them in
reducing the time spent per patient would be desirable. In addition, 25% indicated that
contamination of dispensers was a major issue due to multiple use of one dispenser. The
solution to this could be sterilization or the use of some disposable materials.
The following comments buttress some of the challenges faced by the healthcare
providers as summarized in Table 2:
“wrong calculation leading to wrong dose or even wrong drug. This could be as a
result of work overload” (Health worker, Kibuli Hospital)
“use one tray to count different types of drugs at the same time” (Health worker,
Nagulu Hospital)
“contamination of drugs from use of contaminated tools; mixture of similar drugs
could occur if drugs look alike, (Health worker, Mengo Hospital)
24 G. A. Mugisha et al.
Patient’s medication adherence behavior was a major issue highlighted by the study
participants. Virtually all participants highlighted patient non-compliance as a major
behavioral challenge in medication administration. This non-compliance has adverse
effects on the individual and on the health system. The study participants identified
prolonged periods of recovery and resistance to drugs, which ultimately leads to higher
cost of treatment – as expressed below:
“non compliance, which will lead to prescription of more expensive drugs; wrong
prescription due to patients attitude makes doctors contribute indirectly to development
of drug resistance” (Health worker, Kibuli Hospital)
The study showed that the primary means of encouraging adherence is the use of
reminders; however, only about 35% of the study participants sent reminders to patients,
others did nothing to encourage adherence. A common theme that emanated from the
study is the focus of nurses on what is considered their primary function in medication
administration, which is:
“to create medication schedule which organizes drugs to be administered in the
morning, afternoon, etc. depending on the SIG (signature, or “let it be labeled.”) of the
prescription” (health worker from Naguru hospital)
The participants indicated that their patients preferred herbal alternatives due to high
costs of conventional drugs (Fig. 2).
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
Prefer herbal General apathy Concerned about Indifferent or good
alterna ves towards drugs costs of drugs a tude
utility and features such as camera, two-way voice communication, and water dispensing
capability. However, major area of concern was the size of the dispenser, which needs
to be considerably reduced. In addition, respondents suggested increase in the number
of pills dispensed and issues that relate to its smart abilities. The suggested areas of
improvement are shown in Table 3 and in the quotes below:
Table 3. Respondent’s opinions on aspects of the pill dispenser that require improvement
“power to include solar due to lack of electricity in some areas”. (health worker from
Kibuli hospital)
“make it less bulky; make it a touch screen; Some drugs are hydroscopic and need
air tight containers so the storage chamber needs to be air tight. However, some jobs
cannot be replaced by a machine so nurses/attendants still needed. (Health worker from
Mengo hospital)
5 Discussion
In this paper we explored the challenges faced by the medical practitioners while admin-
istering medicine. The key challenges were time constraints, heavy workload, contami-
nation of same trays used for multiple drug dispensing and non-compliance issues with
patients. We also sought opinions from health workers regarding the usability of the
prototype. The respondents rated the prototype highly, especially with respect to the
camera, water dispenser, user friendliness and high utility.
Respondents also discussed risks associated with medication non-compliance. Poor
medication adherence has been attributed to a number of reasons such as forgetful-
ness, memory impairment, confusion, heath status, socio-economic status and literacy
[21]. Our study showed that the primary means of encouraging adherence is the use of
26 G. A. Mugisha et al.
reminders but few study participants reported to have sent reminders to patients. A num-
ber of medical practitioners do not consider reminders and other medication adherence
efforts to be part of their responsibilities. This problem is compounded by the high cost
of phone communication to out-patients, especially in developing countries. Our study
also confirmed previous studies that forgetfulness and revealed that some patients do not
comply with medication instructions due to forgetfulness and being medication weary.
In addition, we found out that most patients value reminders as a means of overcoming
non-compliance. In view of this the automated dispenser we believe comes in handy to
address the challenge of sending prompt reminders.
Medication compliance is a major unsatisfied need, especially in developing coun-
tries. The World Health Organization’s [6] life expectancy report indicates that life
expectancy in Africa is growing at a fast pace (currently at 60), which implies that
the population of the aged (65 and above) will likely increase significantly in the very
near future. This increases the shift toward in-home and group home car, and opens
opportunities for medication adherence assistance devices, especially to the aged and
the cognitively impaired. The potential value derivable from automated pill dispensers,
especially in the developing world cannot be overemphasized. According to Future Mar-
ket Insights [22] the use of medication dispensers is expected to grow at a fast rate in
developing regions of the world by the year 2020. This growth will be fuelled by rapid
improvement in healthcare services, increase in awareness, and affordability of pill dis-
pensers. There are only very few companies in Africa that focus on the manufacture of
pill dispensing systems, and the penetration of automated pill dispensers is extremely
low.
The study further revealed that patients preferred herbal alternatives. This poses a
challenging dimension to the adherence question. If patients show apathy toward hospital
prescribed drugs and go for herbal alternatives instead, there might be risk of overdosage
and use of wrong medications, the risks of which are high and unpredictable. The use
of automated dispenser will assist in monitoring of taking of prescribed drugs and any
variance will be promptly noticed by health workers to counsel the patient accordingly.
The drug dispenser can be a remedy to some challenges associated with medication
administration However, this brings us to the question of whether the pill dispenser could
provide a cost-effective solution for medication administration in a manner that would
address patient forgetfulness, drug weariness, apathy and cost concerns. Obviously, the
cost element may only be controlled through pharmaceutical companies; however, the
smart capabilities of our pill dispenser provide the patient with reminders, and user-
friendly interface.
6 Conclusion
Our study revealed the need to find ways to re-engineer distribution of medication in
busy facility settings. One way this can be accomplished is through the use of a smart
pill dispenser that provides the health workers with reminders and other value-added
support that would reduce the anxiety and apathy toward medication adherence among
patients. Nurses and other support medical practitioners are in short supply in the devel-
oping countries. Taking on the responsibility sending patient reminders would add to
Usability Evaluation of Low-Cost Smart Pill Dispenser by Health Care Practitioners 27
the workload of the nurses and limit the number of patients they could attend to. A
pill dispenser, equipped with automated reminder capabilities will increase the nurse’s
efficiency in medication administration and also improve patient’s adherence to medi-
cations, which will in turn reduce re-hospitalizations, drug resistance and other negative
effects of non-adherence.
Based on the findings from our study participants, we intend to: 1) further refine the
pill dispenser to make it more portable, while maintaining affordability and local content
- exploring the possibilities of utilizing stainless steel or wood/plastic composites that
are lighter and more durable; 2) utilizing the power of 3-D printing in producing some
components – taking advantage of flexibility and scalability of production; 3) partner-
ing with investors and industry to produce the first set of commercial grade dispensers
based on our refined design; 4) testing and conducting further acceptability studies on
the product among both health worker and patients within health facilities and home set-
ting; and 5) engaging in full scale commercial production. In refining the pill dispenser
to a number of factors would be considered, including but not limited to: 1). Clinical
level quality consideration: Most studies have focused on individual level factors that
could impact on medication adherence; however, [23] emphasized the need for payor,
pharmaceuticals and clinical level system level considerations. The use of smart pill
dispenser in medication administration could be considered at both the individual (in
private homes) and system levels (in hospitals and other medical facilities); 2). Consider-
ation for user physiological characteristics such as visual and auditory impairment, and
age-related characteristics [24]; 3) Monitoring: every medication management system
requires proper monitoring to ensure adherence and avoid complications resulting from
non-adherence. The Internet of Things (IoT) age makes it possible for monitoring capa-
bilities into healthcare systems [25]; building this capability into the smart pill dispenser
would greatly enhance usability of the system.
While it is possible to gain insight into patient medication adherence from the view-
points of experienced health workers who have been attending to patients in big hospitals,
it may not be a good representation of patient medication attitudes. We recommend addi-
tional patient consultation in the design stage of the follow-up prototype to ensure the
consideration of patient-desirable features.
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Dynamic Causality Knowledge Graph
Generation for Supporting the Chatbot
Healthcare System
Institution for Research in Applicable Computing, School of Computer Science and Technology,
University of Bedfordshire, Luton, UK
hongqing.yu@beds.ac.uk
Abstract. With recent viruses across the world affecting millions and millions of
people, the self-healthcare information systems show an important role in help-
ing individuals to understand the risks, self-assessment, and self-educating to
avoid being affected. In addition, self-healthcare information systems can per-
form more interactive tasks to effectively assist the treatment process and health
condition management. Currently, the technologies used in such kind of systems
are mostly based on text crawling from website resources such as text-searching
and blog-based crowdsourcing applications. In this research paper, we introduce
a novel Artificial Intelligence (AI) framework to support interactive and causality
reasoning for a Chatbot application. The Chatbot will interact with the user to
provide self-healthcare education and self-assessment (condition prediction). The
framework is a combination of Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Knowl-
edge Graph (KG) technologies with added causality and probability (uncertainty)
properties to original Description Logic. This novel framework can generate causal
knowledge probability neural networks to perform question answering and condi-
tion prediction tasks. The experimental results from a prototype showed strong pos-
itive feedback. The paper also identified remaining limitations and future research
directions.
1 Introduction
Self-healthcare information system interventions became an important component to
improve all range individual’s capabilities on self-health management, testing and aware-
ness [1]. Our research focus is on self-awareness area, especially applying knowledge
and NLP based AI technologies to provide a potential solution to self-education and
self-testing. If every individual can gain pre-knowledge of health conditions, such as
symptoms and potential risks to others, then the healthcare outcomes to the individual
and publics in the community will be improved. Not surprisingly, research results have
supported the above hypothesis, e.g. [2] suggested that health education could improve
patient engagement and treatment outputs. Moreover, self-education could also play a
unique role in chronic disease management [3].
From the scientific point of view, our research aims are to provide a novel frame-
work for supporting efficient machine-oriented health knowledge study and causality
reasoning. There are currently many open remaining issues around these two areas.
For example, most of the machine knowledge study processes are treated as the clas-
sic machine learning processes to mostly studying relational raw data, which leads to
learning probability distributions of the raw dataset. As a result, the learning results are
difficult to transfer as knowledge to human users. In the knowledge presentation domain,
the most advanced KG (Knowledge Graph) framework has a high capability to represent
knowledge. However, KG data are difficult to be the direct inputs for machine learn-
ing algorithms without encoding steps. The encoding will destroy most the knowledge
constructive properties. The major reason of adapting machine learning process with
KG together is that the current KG standards have lacks of uncertainty and causality
supported reasoning. Therefore, a novel framework that can support KG retrieval with
uncertainty and causality reasoning facilities will build the foundation for us to develop
an AI embedded self-health care awareness system.
In this paper, we will illustrate a Causal Probability Description Logic (CPDL)
framework to provide novel reasoning capabilities with uncertainty and causality. Then,
a health domain Causality Knowledge Neural Network (CKNN) can be generated based
on CPDL. Besides, we introduce a Chatbot interactive environment to allow users to set
up the learning topics and accessing the knowledge as self-education. In the meantime,
the Chatbot can provide symptom-based predictions according to the knowledge to
support self-diagnosis process.
The paper is structured as:
Section 2 discusses the related research work in the healthcare domain. Section 3
explains the CPDL framework with key terminologies and computation algorithms.
Section 4 introduces the working process of Chatbot application in detail. Section 5
presents the evaluation and future research directions. Section 6 concludes the research.
2 Related Work
Machine Learning (ML) technologies are widely applied in healthcare and medicine
domain recently. The areas covered from fatal disease early identification to drug dis-
covery and manufacturing. There was a lot of promising results suggested that the ML
approach provided huge benefits to healthcare professionals. For example, most of the
ML algorithms can provide more than 90% accuracy on breast cancer detection tasks
and MLP (Multilayer Perceptron) algorithm can achieve 99.4% accuracy [4] worked
on the Wisconsin diagnostic dataset1 . The other example is Deep Learning-based ML
approach e.g. a deep learning-based automatic detection algorithm (DLAD) was devel-
oped for detecting chest radiographs [5] that can achieve 95% accuracy as well as a
neural network based deep learning classification algorithm for skin cancer detection by
Stanford research team [6]. There are many other research works focused on individual
1 https://www.kaggle.com/uciml/breast-cancer-wisconsin-data#data.csv
32 H. Q. Yu
but different types of diseases [7–13]. However, at the current state of art, there are two
major limitations of these ML and Deep Learning (DL) approaches according to our
research goals:
1. These approaches only work on the raw experienced clinical data for a certain pre-
diction or classification task without creating fundamental inferable knowledge.
Therefore, the outcomes are purely the statistical fitting models that cannot pro-
vide explanations and traceable evidences. However, the explanations are extremely
crucial for self-care system to enable individuals to understand insight of the health
condition for achieving education and awareness goals.
2. The learning datasets are isolated to each different health model without any relations.
In healthcare domain, there are many important relations can affect diagnosis such
family health history, pre-conditions and life-style may all have relationships to each
other, especially and importantly the causal relations among them. However, these
relations cannot be expressed by isolated single dataset without a comprehensive
knowledge linking framework.
To address these two major limitations, the causality based knowledge generation
framework is required as the base for developing a self-healthcare system. In fact, causal
relations analysis is widely used in health, social and behavioural research since Neyman-
Rubin causal inference theory was published in 1986 [14]. However, the concepts of
causal and association or correlation are always been mixed or misunderstood until the
formal mathematics models are represented in 2010 by Pearl in [15]. The model applies
probability joint distribution computation on the directional graph that satisfying the
back-door criterion and a changing function of do(X=x) rather than a random x to have a
probability prediction on Y based on statistic knowledge. In simplified terms, the causal
relation can be observed if one property is modified, then the other property of a proba-
bility distribution will also change. Therefore, we can distinct associational relations and
causal relations. Most recently, this idea has been applied on top of the Reinforcement
learning process by the DeepMind team [16]. On a separate note, introducing probability
concepts into knowledge graphs is another path to express knowledge with belief rating
thresholds. Based on this idea, a Probabilistic Description Logic (PDL) was explained
in 2017 [17] to deal with subjective uncertainty. The PDL extended Tbox and Abox
definitions in the classic Description Logic (DL) in Eq. (1) and (2) with probabilistic
thresholds notations as P∼n over concepts and individual instances, where ~ can be oper-
ated from ≤, <, =, >, ≥ and n defines the thresholds value. However, the extended PDL
requires manually encoding the default probability thresholds that are hard to implement
in a dynamic knowledge learning system.
Language: Finnish
Kirj.
Albert Kukkonen
SISÄLLYS:
Runoilijan alkulause.
Johdanto.
Eero Varis Albert Kukkoselle
Runoilija Pentti Lyytisen patsasta paljastaissa.
Nykyinen aika.
Kansanjuhlassa Rautalammilla.
Kansanopistolla Äänekoskella lukuvuotta alkaissa.
Vanhan miehen miettehiä Lomakurssien lopussa.
Nuorisoseuran kokouksessa.
Vielä virttä viinan töistä.
Maamiespäivillä Rautalammilla.
Pellervon päivillä Helsingissä.
Valtiopäiväin avaamisesta.
Keisari Aleksanterin kuolinpäivästä.
Kiistelystä kielen päältä valtiopäivillä.
Suomenkielen asia ritari- ja aatelisäädyssä valtiopäivillä.
Hiljaiset Valtiopäivät.
Nuorisollen neuvoksi välttämähän väkijuomat.
Entisistä ja nykyisistä ajoista.
Rautatie-kokouksessa Pieksämäellä.
Muistelmia Iisalmen näyttelyssä käynnistä.
Teaterihuoneella juhlassa kylvettäjäin hyväksi Kuopiossa.
Kirurgisessa sairaalassa olostani Helsingissä.
Muistelmia vuosisadan vaihteessa.
RUNOILIJAN ALKULAUSE.
Rupeaisinpa runollen,
Läksisinpä laulutyöllen,
Kuin ois oppia otsassa,
Tuntoa tuolla tukan alla
Eli taitoa takana;
Vaan olen aivan oppimaton
Kirjoitusta koittamahan,
Paperille piirtämähän.
———
Kuin ois kaunis Kalevala,
Kantelettaret kädessä,
Niissä oppia olisi,
Oivallista ojennusta,
Kaikki kaunista tekoa,
Niissä on runot rustattuna,
Niissä laulut laitettuna,
Sananlaskutkin saneltu,
Kaikki laatunsa mukaiset,
Joka sorttihin sopivat:
llolaulut, surulaulut,
Miesten laulut, naisten laulut,
Vaimojen valituslaulut,
Laulut lapsille hyville,
Laulut päiville pahoille,
Neitosille naitaville,
Kosioillen katsottuna.
Vielä on vanhan Väinämöisen
Loihturunot runsahasti
Kalevalahan koottu,
Joissa on oppi oivallinen,
Kaikki taito tarpeellinen,
Suomen kielellen sopiva
Suomalaisten suosioksi.
———
Kiitän vielä viimeseksi
Niiden herrojen hyvyyttä,
Jotka ylös ottelevat,
Vanhat laulut laittelevat,
Kelpo kirjaksi kyhäävät.
Olkoon kiitos kirjoitettu,
Sanottu Savon ukolta,
Teillen taitavat tekiät,
Hyvät herrat Helsingissä,
Että ootten etsinynnä
Suomesta suloiset laulut.
Niinpä saatamme sanoa
Maamme puolelta puhua:
Ei ne herrat helpommasti
Maata, ruualle rupia,
Jotka kaikki kiertelevät,
Laajaa maata matkustavat,
Suomen sukua hakevat.
Suomella on vähän sukua,
Aivan vähä aatelia,
Vielä on Virossa vähäsen,
Venäjällä veikkosia.