**Introduction**

**Chapter 1**

**Provisional chapter**

**Introductory Chapter: Non-Invasive Diagnostic**

**Introductory Chapter: Non-Invasive Diagnostic** 

DOI: 10.5772/intechopen.82209

The main purpose of the book is to present examples of non-invasive methods that allow for automatic analysis of biomedical images and signals. These methods can be used to support diagnosis, therapy and monitoring of patients' health [1, 2]. Moreover, the book discusses some selected solutions enabling observation and assessment of health status with the support of information technology. By means of the described methods, it is often also possible to quantify the health status, which allows for the standardization and increased objectivity of the assessment as well as improved diagnosis. These methods are not inconvenient for the patient, which enables to use them in many cases. The current research of non-invasive diagnostic methods uses, among others, standard X-ray images [3, 4], computed tomography images [5, 6], microtomographic images [7] as well as thermographic and ultrasound images [8, 9]. In addition to human tissue testing and assessment, the results of image processing can be also used to evaluate the quality and correctness of assembly of prosthetic elements, implants and endoprosthe-

The first presented method is monitoring the foetal health based on the observation of cardiotocographic (CTG) signal and heart rate variability (HRV). The study was conducted in 49 women divided into four groups, characterized by different pregnancies and well-being. A group of features describing the condition of the foetus containing information from CTG and HRV was preselected from the examined data set. They were then evaluated on the basis of ROC curves and Spearman correlation, choosing those best correlated with the Apgar score. The STV and

> © 2016 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

© 2018 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use,

distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

**Methods in Medicine**

**Methods in Medicine**

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

ses, which may affect the effectiveness of therapy [10, 11].

**2. Biomedical signal analysis**

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.82209

Mariusz Marzec

**1. Introduction**

Mariusz Marzec
