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Corey McCall

Alumni

Department of Electrical Engineering

Corey McCall

Bio

Spaceflight is known to cause cardiovascular deconditioning and increased risk for cardiovascular diseases due to exposure to microgravity and space radiation. As space agencies push toward deep space, most current space-compatible cardiovascular monitoring instruments used to mitigate this are not practical in the expected small volumes of deep space transports (DSTs). My research proposed the use of a novel monitoring system designed for DSTs that combines fixed-platform ballistocardiography with other noninvasive sensors to practically measure hemodynamic changes indicative of cardiovascular deconditioning in deep space. The system was built and characterized, then deployed for human testing in the confined microgravity environment of parabolic flight. The results of this testing indicate that the signal quality of the proposed system was higher than the previous state of the art in terms of signal-to-noise ratio, and that relevant hemodynamic changes could be detected.


Education

Ph.D., Electrical Engineering, Stanford University, 2022.
M.S., Electrical Engineering, Stanford University, 2013.
B.S., Computer Engineering, University of Central Florida, 2011.

Research Interests

Medical Instrumentation, Physiological Signal Processing, Autonomic Activity Estimation, Embedded Systems


Projects

emotion

Opportunistic Physiological Measurements from the Bio-Gamepad
Stanford Transducers Lab (PI: Dr. Gregory Kovacs)

This is my main project validating the utility of opportunistic measurements collected from handheld form factors such as the Stanford bio-gamepad, a physiological monitoring platform we invented for the project. The platform includes heart rate (PPG/ECG), respiration (IPG), and hand movement (accelerometer) sensors integrated into a modified XBox 360 gamepad. The prototype was shown with Texas Instruments at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2014, and has since been featured in the New York Times, ABC News, and National Public Radio.
More Info: [Press]

zerog

Ballistocardiography-based Hemodynamic Monitoring in Microgravity
Stanford Transducers Lab (PI: Dr. Gregory Kovacs, Dr. H. Craig Heller)

We demonstrated the use of a ballistocardiograph (BCG) hemodynamic monitoring scale in microgravity, and its utility for space applications by establishing the correlation between ground-based and microgravity measurements. BCG diagnostic methods, such as monitoring cardiac output, stroke volume change, contractility change, central pressures, and arterial stiffening, are useful to detect well-known cardiovascular physiology changes in weightless environments, where astronauts often return to Earth with microgravity-induced deconditioning. I directed this project in it's second year, organizing a week long experiment with 14 participants aboard NASA's reduced gravity aircraft at Ellington Field Air Force Base.
More Info: [Conference 2014] [Conference 2015] [Symposium] [Technical Report] [Press] [Thesis]

classification

Feature Selection for Hierarchical Classification
UCF Computer Vision Lab (PI: Dr. Mubarak Shah)

A hierarchical classifier is able to distinguish between a large number of confusing classes by exploiting the fact that similar classes according to one feature set may be dissimilar according to another, allowing normally confused classes to be grouped and handled separately. However, determining these macro-classes of similarity is not straightforward when the selected feature set has yet to be determined. A new greedy forward selection algorithm is presented to simultaneously determine good macro-classes and the features that best distinguish them in a K-NN hierarchical classifier. The algorithm was tested on the CMU-MMAC dataset, as well as new aerobic action dataset that we collected from a 9-axis smartphone inertial sensor for this project.
More Info: [Conference] [Dataset]

medmonitor

Automated Medication Adherence Monitoring
UCF Data Systems Group (PI: Dr. Cliff Zou)

An inexpensive home-based medication dispensing and monitoring device was developed to enable outpatients to independently manage a complex medication regimen. In the system, an RFID tag containing a small amount of rewritable memory is fixed to each medication container and updated with the precise weight of the container before and after dispensing medication. An Arduino-based embedded system dynamically builds an efficient dosage schedule and can notify the patient or caregiver via cell phone text message if the patient is late or if there is a dosage noncompliance or inconsistency.
More Info: [Journal] [Conference] [Symposium] [Thesis] [Press]


Publications

[Google Scholar Link]

Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles

M. Forouzanfar, F. C. Baker, M. de Zambotti, C. McCall, L. Giovangrandi, G. T. A. Kovacs, "Toward a better noninvasive assessment of preejection period: A novel automatic algorithm for B‐point detection and correction on thoracic impedance cardiogram" Psychophysiology 55:8, March 2018.
[Article]

C. McCall, B. Maynes, C. Zou, N. Zhang, "An Automatic Medication Self-management and Monitoring System for Independently Living Patients," Medical Engineering & Physics 35:4, April 2013.
[Article]

Peer-Reviewed Conference Proceedings

C. McCall, R. Rostosky, R. M. Wiard, O. T. Inan, L. Giovangrandi, C. M. Cuttino, G. T. A. Kovacs "Noninvasive Pulse Transit Time Measurement for Arterial Stiffness Monitoring in Microgravity," Milan, 2015.
[Article] [PDF:Poster]

C. McCall, Z. Stuart, R. M. Wiard, O. T. Inan, L. Giovangrandi, C. M. Cuttino, G. T. A. Kovacs "Standing Ballistocardiography Measurements in Microgravity," Proc. of IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Conference, Chicaco, IL, 2014.
[Article] [PDF:Slides]

C. McCall, K. Reddy, M. Shah "Macro-class Selection for Hierarchical K-NN Classification of Inertial Sensor Data,"Proc. of Pervasive and Embedded Computing and Communication Systems Conference, Rome, Italy, 2012.
[Article] [PDF:Slides]

C. McCall, B. Maynes, C. Zou, N. Zhang, "RMAIS: RFID-based Medication Adherence Intelligence System," Proc. of IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Conference, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2010.
[Article] [PDF:Slides]

Other Presentations

C. McCall, "Fixed-platform Ballistocardiography for Hemodynamic Monitoring in Deep Space," Doctoral Dissertation, Stanford University Department of Electrical Engineering, Stanford, CA, 2022.
[PDF:Article] [PDF:Slides]

C. McCall, Z. Stuart, R. M. Wiard, O. T. Inan, L. Giovangrandi, C. M. Cuttino, G. T. A. Kovacs., "Ballistocardiography for Monitoring Cardiovascular Deconditioning in Long-Duration Missions," NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Symposium, Stanford, CA, 2014.
[PDF:Poster]

C. McCall, "Discriminative Ensemble Averaging for Accelerated Denoising," Technical Report. Stanford CS229: Machine Learning Final Project, Stanford, CA, 2013.
[PDF:Article] [PDF:Poster]

C. McCall, B. Maynes, C. Zou, N. Zhang, "A Prototype Device that Implements RFID and Remote Monitoring Technology to Track Medications for Elderly Healthcare Patients," UCF Showcase for Undergraduate Research Excellence, Orlando, FL, 2010.
[PDF:Poster]

C. McCall, "An Automatic Medication Management System for Independently Living Healthcare Patients," Undergraduate Honors in the Major Thesis, UCF Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Orlando, FL, 2010.
[Article] [PDF:Slides]


Selected Press Articles and Videos

Physiological Emotion Sensing for Gaming
Press: Stanford News, New York Times (print and online), ABC News (TV and online), IEEE Spectrum Blog, ACM Communications, Engadget, Wired UK Blog, National Public Radio, Huffington Post
Videos: Youtube (Stanford), ABC News, Youtube (Texas Instruments)

Ballistocardiography-based Hemodynamic Monitoring in Microgravity
Press: Stanford News
Videos: Youtube (Stanford)

Automated Medication Adherence Monitoring
Press: UCF Today


Distinctions and Awards

Honorable Mention Poster Award, UCF Showcase for Undergraduate Research. Awarded for poster "A Prototype Device that Implements RFID and Remote Monitoring Technology to Track Medications for Elderly Healthcare Patients" (3 awards of 33 applicants). 2010.

Invention Competition Winner, UCF Inventing Entrepreneurs Innovation Competition. Awarded for best product prototype (first place of ~20 applicants). 2010.


Grants and Scholarships

Research Assistantship Grant (Annual), Texas Instruments. Awarded for research conducted with Dr. Gregory Kovacs at Stanford. 2012-2014

Graduate Research Fellowship (3 years), National Science Foundation. Awarded for research conducted with Dr. Gregory Kovacs at Stanford (2,000 awards of 12,000 applicants). 2011.

Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Grant, National Science Foundation. Awarded for undergraduate research conducted with Dr. Mubarak Shah at UCF. 2011.

"Inventing Entrepreneurship" Grant, National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance. Awarded for invention of medication monitoring device. 2010.

Honors College Scholarship, UCF Burnett Honors College. Awarded for best undergraduate research project in UCF Computer Engineering department. 2009.

Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Grant, National Science Foundation. Awarded for undergraduate research conducted with Dr. Cliff Zou at UCF. 2009.


Professional Involvement

Society Memberships

  • Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
  • IEEE Engineering in Medicine & Biology Society (EMBS)

Paper Reviewer

  • International Journal of Pervasive and Mobile Computing, 2022.
  • IEEE Journal of Biomedical and Health Informatics (JBHI), 2018.
  • IEEE Journal of Biomedical and Health Informatics (JBHI), 2017.
  • IEEE Journal of Biomedical and Health Informatics (JBHI), 2016.
  • IEEE Biomedical Circuits and Systems Conference (BioCAS), Lausanne, Switzerland, 2014.
  • IEEE Journal of Biomedical and Health Informatics (JBHI) (Formally Transactions on Information Technology in Biomedicine), 2014.
  • IEEE Global Conference on Signal and Information Processing (GlobalSIP), Austin, TX, 2013.

Undergraduate Mentor, Stanford Transducers Lab, Stanford, California. Mentored 4 Stanford undergraduate students working on electronics and signal processing projects for 12 months. 2012.

Conference Session Chair Invitation (Embedded Systems Design). International Conference on Pervasive and Embedded Computing and Communications Systems Conference (PECCS), Rome, Italy, 2012.


Work Experience

1/2020-6/2022
Hardware Prototyping Consultant
, MProto.io, Foster City, CA.

6/2014-10/2019
Co-founder
, Nitrio, Inc., Palo Alto, CA.

11/2011-6/2014
Research Assistant
, Stanford Transducers Lab, Stanford, CA.

1/2012-4/2012
Teaching Assistant (Intro to Electronics)
, Stanford Department of Electrical Engineering, Stanford, CA.

1/2011-9/2011
Research Assistant
, UCF Computer Vision Lab, Orlando, FL.

1/2011-4/2011
Teaching Assistant (Computer Networking)
, UCF College of Engineering and Computer Science, Orlando, FL.

1/2010-8/2010
Tutor (Engineering and Computer Science)
, UCF College of Engineering and Computer Science, Orlando, FL.

8/2009-12/2010
Research Assistant
, UCF Data Systems Group, Orlando, FL.

4/2009-8/2010
Co-founder and President
, UCF Student Chapter of International Council on Systems Engineering, Orlando, FL.

1/2007-8/2007
Internship (Web Development)
, Florida Department of Transportation, Ft. Lauderdale, FL.


Contact Information

Stanford University
Allen Building
Room 218X
Stanford, CA 94305

Email: cmccall "at" stanford "dot" edu