Complicated Maneuvers Research Articles

Efficient Input‐Output Feedback Linearizing Control of BLDC Drives

ABSTRACTElectrically driven unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are gaining popularity due to use in industrial, military, and civil applications. The UAVs have to execute complicated maneuvers in the air requires accurate control of the BLDC motor propeller systems. In this study, we propose easy to implement field‐oriented adaptive input‐output feedback linearizing control (AIOFL) for controlling propellers as per demand of flight controller. This study aims to compare the proposed field‐oriented AIOFL with usual six step control architecture with a focus on the typical back‐electromotive force (back‐EMF) shapes featured in the propeller motor. The proposed control architecture that does not only regulate speed and torque of the propeller with acceptable torque ripple but it also estimates the rotor magnetic flux and the stator resistance of the BLDC motor to know about stator/rotor condition monitoring, motor fault detection, and temperature rise. To ensure reliable operation in all operational conditions, closed loop stability of proposed speed controller is analyzed based on the Lyapunov method. Particle swarm optimization (PSO) is utilized to accurately tune the PI controller since the trial‐and‐error technique used to choose the PI controller gains resulted in the low stability and poor transient response of the controller. Finally, comprehensive numerical and experimental tests are performed and compared with conventional field‐oriented control to evaluate the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed control system.

Can wound blush be used as an indicator for termination of endovascular procedures in chronic limb-threatening ischemia patients?

Predicting the outcomes of endovascular revascularization of chronic limb-threatening ischemia (CLTI) patients with foot wounds can be challenging. Angiographic wound blush (WB) assessment has been found to be a helpful tool to assess wound perfusion. The aim of this study is to evaluate WB during endovascular revascularization of CLTI patients and its effects on treatment outcomes. This prospective study included all CLTI patients with foot wounds who underwent successful endovascular revascularization of infrainguinal arterial disease between 2019 and 2021. Patients were grouped according to the WB status into positive WB (group A) and negative WB (group B). Both groups were compared for demographics, comorbidities, clinical picture, and 12-month limb-based patency (LBP) and amputation-free survival (AFS) rates. The study included 69 patients of Rutherford classes 5 (46.4%) and 6 (53.6%), with the main arterial lesion located at the femoropopliteal (58%) or infrapopliteal (42%) segments. Completion angiography showed positive WB in 38 (55.1%) patients and negative WB in 31 (44.9%) patients. Both groups were comparable regarding patient presentation, site of the main arterial lesion, and distribution of foot lesions in relation to the feeding artery. The overall 12-month LBP and AFS rates were 21.7% and 39.1%, respectively, with significantly better rates in group A than in group B (LBP, 31.6% vs 9.7%, p = 0.001 and AFS, 54.1% vs 22.2%, p = 0.006, respectively). Successful angiosome-based direct flow to the foot was achieved in 38 patients (55.1%), resulting in significantly better 12-month AFS rates than those with indirect revascularization (54.8% vs 26.3%, p = 0.036, respectively), despite the comparable 12-LBP rates between the direct and indirect revascularization groups (29% vs 15.8%, p = 0.133, respectively). Multivariate logistic regression analysis identified smoking as a significant predictor of a major amputation, whereas positive WB and successful direct revascularization were significant predictors of limb salvage. WB can serve as a predictor for AFS and LBP during endovascular revascularization of CLTI patients with foot wounds. A positive WB may guide the decision to conclude an endovascular procedure, potentially avoiding unnecessary complicated maneuvers to recanalize more vessels. Conversely, a negative WB may suggest the need for further revascularization attempts to augment wound perfusion and healing.

Safety-Certified Constrained Control of Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships for Automatic Berthing

The berthing of maritime autonomous surface ships (MASSs) is a challenging operation even for an experienced captain due to the required complicated maneuvering at low speeds in a constrained water space. This paper addresses safety-aware automatic berthing of MASSs moving in a constrained water region with stationary and moving obstacles. A safety-critical constrained anti-disturbance control method is proposed for the automatic berthing of MASSs subject to velocity constraints, input constraints, and collision-avoidance constraints, as well as ocean disturbances. At the kinematic level, desired linear velocities and yaw rate are prescribed by incorporating a line-of-sight guidance scheme to achieve position-heading stabilization. At the kinetic level, an anti-disturbance kinetic control law is designed based on an extended state observer. Through converting the input constraints to velocity constraints on guidance signals, the safety-guidance signals are obtained by solving a quadratic programming problem subject to the state, input, and collision-avoidance constraints. It is proven that an MASS controlled by using the proposed method is input-to-state safe in the presence of ocean disturbances. Simulation results are elaborated to substantiate the efficacy of the proposed safety-certified control law for the automatic berthing of an MASS subject to physical constraints and environmental disturbances.

Dynamic Characteristics of Rotor-Squeeze Film Damper-Support System Excited by Base Harmonic Excitations Using MHB-AFT Method

Abstract When operating at high speed, aeroengines mounted on the aircrafts also perform complicated maneuvering flights along with the aircrafts. The engine rotor systems will undergo forced motions excited by base movements and mass unbalance, which may lead to severe vibrations. Squeeze film damper (SFD) is generally used for vibration damping in aeroengine, but it also introduces structural nonlinearity like bistable jump. Moreover, the reliability of SFD is also affected by base excitations. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate the nonlinear dynamic behavior of rotor-SFD-support system excited by base motions. Taking a muti-disk rotor shaft supported by two SFDs with squirrel cages as the research object to simulate a gas generator in a turboshaft engine, the steady-state responses of the rotor system were calculated by multidimensional harmonic balance combined with alternating frequency/time domain method (MHB-AFT). The effects of base harmonic rotations and mass unbalance on steady-state responses of rotor system were investigated. The results indicate that the time-varying parametric excitations of base motions have strong effects on amplitude–frequency response of transverse displacement of rotor system. The critical speeds and resonant amplitudes of responses change with the magnitude and frequency of several base harmonic rotations. The variation of the frequency of base harmonic motion has the most significant impact on the amplitude–frequency response of transverse displacement of rotor system. The increase of base harmonic frequency will lead to multiple local peaks in the response curves, especially in the case of base harmonic rolling motion. In addition, the combination of base harmonic rotation around pitching and yawing axes results in significantly different response characteristics. Therefore, the influence of base harmonic motions should be considered during the structural design and damping optimization of SFDs.

Fishhook Injury to the Upper Eyelid: A Novel Surgical Approach

BackgroundFishhook injuries are an uncommon trauma, and removing a penetrating fishhook is a complicated maneuver, especially if the wound involves delicate anatomical structures like the ocular region. DiscussionSeveral techniques that have been discussed in literature are reviewed and the authors present a novel approach that has been successfully performed on a patient with a fishhook penetrating his upper eyelid after a fishing accident. ConclusionEmergency physicians should be aware of all the possible approaches to fishhook penetrating injuries. If the fishhook does not involve the globe and an ophthalmologist is not available, the injury may be managed in the emergency department.

Single limb dynamics of jumping turns in dogs

Maneuverability is of paramount importance for many animals, e.g., in predator-prey interactions. Despite this fact, quadrupedal limb behavior in complicated maneuvers like simultaneous jumping and turning are not well studied. Twenty adult sport Border Collies were recorded while jumping over an obstacle and simultaneously turning. Kinetic and kinematic data were captured in synchrony using eight force plates and sixteen infrared cameras. These dogs were familiar with the task through regular participation in the dog sport agility. The experiments revealed that during landing, higher lateral forces acting in the forelimbs compared to hindlimbs. During landing, the outer limbs produced about twice the inner limbs' force in both vertical and lateral directions, showing their dominant contribution to turning. Advanced dogs showed significantly higher lateral impulse and stronger inner-outer limb asymmetry regarding lateral impulses than beginner dogs, leading to significantly stronger turning for advanced dogs.Somewhat unexpected, skill effects rarely explained global limb dynamics, indicating that landing a turn jump is a constrained motion. Constrained motions leave little space for individual techniques suggesting that the results can be generalized to quadrupedal turn jumps in other animals.

A novel adaptive lane change method in transient dynamic traffic conditions for highly automated vehicles

Trajectory planning with consideration of surrounding vehicles and decision-making in the middle of complicated manoeuvres are some of the most important challenges regarding the implementation of automated driving. Since transient dynamic traffic conditions was limited to the start of the manoeuvre in previous research, no solution was provided for the surrounding vehicles’ transient changes during the manoeuvre. The algorithm presented in this paper is able to adapt to unstable variable traffic conditions and it is robust to changes in the surrounding vehicles’ conditions, even during the lane change manoeuvre. The Adaptive Lane Change algorithm provides all possible safe trajectories for any moment of manoeuvre via applying DE optimization method on a fifth-order polynomial equation. In this way, it is able to make a new decision and plan safe trajectories according to the new conditions of surrounding vehicles during the manoeuvre. Also, it guarantees collision avoidance at all-time via simultaneous longitudinal and lateral vehicle control. Improving the trajectory during a lane change manoeuvre regarding the surrounding vehicles’ conditions is considered as one of the main contributions of the presented algorithm. A second main contribution is the collision avoidance considering the vehicle’s dynamic via returning to the initial lane when there is no safe trajectory in the target lane, even during the lane change manoeuvre. The decision-making unit is evaluated by real driving tests. Then, the whole structure is simulated with MATLAB in complex transient dynamic traffic conditions via various scenarios and its performance is tested with IPG CarMaker in the presence of simulated surrounding vehicles.

Deep-Learning Based Decentralized Frame-to-Frame Trajectory Prediction Over Binary Range-Angle Maps for Automotive Radars

Reliable trajectory prediction methods are critical in providing predictive safety intelligence for vital decision making in intelligent transportation systems to further enhance the safety of drivers and passengers. To tackle complicated maneuvering and interactions between objects, learning-based algorithms were used to replace classic model-based trajectory prediction algorithms. However, most algorithms implicitly presume that they are executed at centralized processing units after gathering data from edge sensors and delivering the results back to the on-board units. This causes an increase in computation time and latency; thus, reducing the reaction time of the drivers. To reduce the computation time and latency and consider the robustness of local sensors, we propose a decentralized radar-dedicated framework with a deep-learning (DL) model, called predictive RadarNet, to predict future trajectories over binary range angle (RA) maps with a probabilistic representation according to the original radar RA maps for presenting the uncertainty of the estimated trajectories. In addition, to reduce the model size for low-complexity, we designed a prepossessing technique that can largely reduce the size of the input tensors without losing information. Moreover, we found that the functions of the DL-model consist of two operations: future inference of original radar RA maps and transformation to binary RA maps. Thus, we designed two models with different kernels that are suitable for dealing with the two operations. Simulations show that the proposed decentralized framework using predictive RadarNet can provide reliable prediction results with a low computation time.

Examination of shape memory polymer-auxetic landing gears on landing approach for quadcopter

The current work examines the perching and flight stability studies of the auxetic landing gear based on shape memory polymers. UAVs are capable of perch-and-stare missions. Most UAV perching approachesinvolve complicated maneuvering and depend on particular structures such as rough attachment walls or grasping tree branches. Perching is accomplished by integrating a compliant, underactuated gripping foot and a collapsing mechanism of the leg that converts the weight of the rotorcraft into tendon tension for passive action of the foot. In-plane isotropic in tiny deformations, the hexachiral structure. The aim of the research is, however, to enhance the two shock absorption properties and the flight dynamic features without substantially affecting efficient yield stress, with important material and a substantial deformity, but also to enhance the hexachiral structure, if exposed to big plastic elastomastic deformation.Tests were conducted on shock absorbance, aerodynamic stability and perched landing characteristics to ensure the stability over dynamic imbalance. Results indicate the minimal force could be achieved with the use of auxetic gripper with a difference of 27.6% over the plain gripper. Also the steady state of pitch, yaw and roll moments could be achieved in the system while perching with a difference of 14.5% in comparison with plain gripper. This novel design ensures the deformation of maximum perching desirability on curvature with the difference of 35.8% in comparison with the plain gripper.

Extraction procedure of a stingray spine.

Stingrays stings are becoming an increasingly common marine injury. Stingray spine extraction is a complicated maneuver without a precise method: we present here a novel approach to safely remove a penetrating stingray sting. This procedure is easy and does not require specialized medical devices.

Photoacoustic imaging for surgical guidance: Principles, applications, and outlook.

Minimally invasive surgeries often require complicated maneuvers and delicate hand–eye coordination and ideally would incorporate “x-ray vision” to see beyond tool tips and underneath tissues prior to making incisions. Photoacoustic imaging has the potential to offer this feature but not with ionizing x-rays. Instead, optical fibers and acoustic receivers enable photoacoustic sensing of major structures—such as blood vessels and nerves—that are otherwise hidden from view. This imaging process is initiated by transmitting laser pulses that illuminate regions of interest, causing thermal expansion and the generation of sound waves that are detectable with conventional ultrasound transducers. The recorded signals are then converted to images through the beamforming process. Photoacoustic imaging may be implemented to both target and avoid blood-rich surgical contents (and in some cases simultaneously or independently visualize optical fiber tips or metallic surgical tool tips) in order to prevent accidental injury and assist device operators during minimally invasive surgeries and interventional procedures. Novel light delivery systems, counterintuitive findings, and robotic integration methods introduced by the Photoacoustic & Ultrasonic Systems Engineering Lab are summarized in this invited Perspective, setting the foundation and rationale for the subsequent discussion of the author’s views on possible future directions for this exciting frontier known as photoacoustic-guided surgery.

Investigating lane change behaviors and difficulties for senior drivers using naturalistic driving data

Introduction: Lane changes can be a complicated maneuver occurring a dynamic environment requiring the integration of many streams of information. Older drivers may struggle with lane changes which may elevate crash risk. Methods: Real-world lane change behaviors were examined using the Second Strategic Highway Research Program Naturalistic Driving Study database. A total of 393 lane changes were observed for two age groups: middle-aged (30–49), and older (70+) drivers. Results: Older drivers were highly likely to fail to execute an over-the-shoulder glance prior to initiation of a lane change (in 98% of left lane changes and 92% for right lane changes). Older drivers also showed higher rates of OTS glance errors at any point during the lane change in 95% of left lane changes and 86% of right-lane changes. Additionally, older drivers frequently failed to activate the turn signal prior to lane change initiation (60% of lane changes for right changes and 59% for left lane changes). Of the older drivers that made side mirror glances, many occurred after the initiation of the maneuver (46% of left lane changes and 58% of right lane changes) suggesting glances were occurring while changing lanes. Conclusions: Results for older drivers showed that many key glances (particularly side mirror checks) and turn signal actuations observed in the current study occurred after the initiation of the lane change, ostensibly when this action may be too late to gather relevant information and avoid a conflict. Practical Applications: Knowledge of glance patterns during lane changes for older drivers can help older drivers maintain travel mobility as they age. Either through training to reinforce OTS and side mirror glances, or supplemental devices like convex mirrors or oversized rearview mirrors, older drivers can reduce high-risk lane change maneuvers and help older drivers to maintain their mobility and independence longer.

Ways of reducing commercial deposits loss in interstep and intermediate pillars during alluvial dredging

The drawbacks of the alluvial dredging are mining loses of commercial deposits, which increase due to complication of mining conditions and depth increase of the deposits occurrence. The greatest losses appear in interstep and intermediate pillars during alluvial dredging; where up to 10 – 15 % mineral deposits are left. These losses can be reduced by dredge design changes, additional extraction units; more complicated maneuvering does not provide high efficiency of dredging at more complex alluvial deposits. It is suggested to reduce a significant part of mining losses by preliminary preparation of the polygon to dredging, with parametric control and qualitative characteristics of the productive stratum, as well as by forming interstep and intermediate pillars from stripping soils or low-grade productive sediments. Preliminary mechanical sand loosening allows using dredge as a cleaning unit and reduces processing loss of valuable components.

A New Ultrasonographic Image Displaying System to Support Vein Detection

[abstFig src='/00290002/04.jpg' width='300' text='Virtual ultrasonic probe system' ] The insertion of a peripheral intravenous catheter is often required by patients during a hospital stay. However, approximately 30% of intravenous catheters experience catheter failure. Using ultrasonography to observe the depth and diameter of a vein and to thereby perform catheter site selection is a promising procedure to prevent catheter failure. Nevertheless, it is difficult to perform this procedure, as it is associated with complicated maneuvering in which a nurse simultaneously manipulates an ultrasonographic probe, assesses veins, and inserts a catheter. In this study, a new image displaying system that consists of a camera, head-mounted display, and software is proposed. The newly developed image-processing program detects the fingertip of a user, and the system displays the reconstructed ultrasonographic image at any cross-sectional plane as indicated by the user’s finger. Additionally, veins are superimposed on the ultrasonographic image, and the depth and diameter of veins are also displayed on the image. The newly developed image-processing algorithm detects markers and fingertip in the images captured by the head-mounted camera by robustly detecting the fingertip. This aids in realizing a new ultrasonographic image displaying system. This system is used to increase the success rate of vein detection by nurses in a study of volunteers.

Is there a role for single-port laparoscopy in the treatment of endometriosis?

Endometriosis is among the most common benign gynecological conditions, and it affects 6-15% of women of reproductive. During recent decades, minimally invasive surgical techniques, and especially laparoscopy, have gained significant ground concerning the treatment of gynecological disorders. To date, laparoscopy is considered the gold standard for the diagnosis and treatment of endometriosis. Available English-language papers in PubMed and Scopus databases have been used for the current narrative review. Data from all relevant literature regarding single-port laparoscopy and treatment of endometriosis have been extracted. The main key words used by the authors for the search were: single-port laparoscopy, endometriosis and laparoscopy. Two authors (A.D. and K.C.) performed the data base search and extraction of relevant studies, and a third author (E.A.) consented to the study selection of the 23 relevant papers, consulted and approved the final presentation of the results and conclusions. To date, the laparo-endoscopic single-site surgery (LESS) technique has been used for a variety of procedures in gynecology as well as for a variety of diagnoses. Thus, adhesiolysis, ovarian endometrioma enucleation and salpingo-oophorectomy can be easily performed using the LESS approach. Novel single-site trocars as well as appropriate curved instruments are being designed and produced to facilitate the surgeon utilizing such a demanding technique. However, single-site surgery does not seem to have a place to date in the treatment of deep infiltrating endometriosis due to the complicated surgical maneuvers required for the treatment of this condition combined with technical difficulties posed by the loss of triangulation, and the instrument crowding when LESS is implemented. Apart from being feasible, LESS has also proven to be non-inferior in terms of surgical safety and efficacy, and according to most, but not all, reports, better in terms of cosmetics and postoperative body image perception. Currently, it has been shown that most of the gynecologic operations are feasible using the LESS approach. So, this approach has a role to play in the treatment of endometriosis too, especially concerning the most common manifestations of the disease. However, more extensive research is required to properly evaluate single-port access techniques to conventional minimally invasive ones in the treatment of the different manifestations of endometriosis, concerning short term as well as long term outcomes of the treatment, including the ones associated to fertility.

Human Drivers Based Active-Passive Model for Automated Lane Change

Lane change maneuver is a complicated maneuver, and incorrect maneuvering is an important reason for expressway accidents and fatalities. In this scenario, automated lane change has great potential to reduce the number of accidents. Previous research in this area, typically, focuses on the generation of an optimal lane change trajectory, while ignoring the human behavior model. To understand the human lane change behavior model, we carried out experiments on Japanese expressways. By analyzing the human-driver lane change data, we propose a two-segment lane change model that mimics the human-driver. We categorize the driving environment based on the observation grid and propose different lane change behaviors to handle the different scenarios. We develop an intuitive method to select the suitable lane change behavior, for a given scenario, using active (accelerate/decelerate) and passive (wait) information derived from the distance and related velocity (dx/dv) graph. Additionally, we also identify the most desirable and safe conditions for doing lane change based on the human driver preference data. We evaluated the proposed model by performing lane change simulations in the PreScan environment, while considering the vehicle motion/control model. The simulation results show the proposed model is able to handle complicated lane change scenarios with human driver-like performance.

Drivers' Visual Search Patterns during Overtaking Maneuvers on Freeway.

Drivers gather traffic information primarily by means of their vision. Especially during complicated maneuvers, such as overtaking, they need to perceive a variety of characteristics including the lateral and longitudinal distances with other vehicles, the speed of others vehicles, lane occupancy, and so on, to avoid crashes. The primary object of this study is to examine the appropriate visual search patterns during overtaking maneuvers on freeways. We designed a series of driving simulating experiments in which the type and speed of the leading vehicle were considered as two influential factors. One hundred and forty participants took part in the study. The participants overtook the leading vehicles just like they would usually do so, and their eye movements were collected by use of the Eye Tracker. The results show that participants’ gaze durations and saccade durations followed normal distribution patterns and that saccade angles followed a log-normal distribution pattern. It was observed that the type of leading vehicle significantly impacted the drivers’ gaze duration and gaze frequency. As the speed of a leading vehicle increased, subjects’ saccade durations became longer and saccade angles became larger. In addition, the initial and destination lanes were found to be key areas with the highest visual allocating proportion, accounting for more than 65% of total visual allocation. Subjects tended to more frequently shift their viewpoints between the initial lane and destination lane in order to search for crucial traffic information. However, they seldom directly shifted their viewpoints between the two wing mirrors.

MATHEMATICAL MODEL AND METHODOLOGY FOR CALCULATION OF MINIMIZATION ON TURNING RADIUS OF TRACTOR UNIT WITH REPLACEABLE SUPPORTING AND MANEUVERING DEVICE

Smooth plowing with the help of reversible plows has replaced an enclosure method of soil treatment. The method may cause a formation of back ridges or open furrows. Due to this fact turnings of a tractor unit with a minimum radius required in order to ensure shuttle movements each time in the furrow of the preceding operating stroke have become a dominant type of turnings. Non-productive shift time is directly dependent on them and it is on the average 10–12 %, and it is up to 40 % in small contour areas with short run. Large non-productive time is connected with the desire to reduce headland width at field edges, and then a turning is made in several stages while using a complicated maneuvering. Therefore, an increase in efficiency of a plowing unit by means of minimization on its turning radius and execution of turning at one stage in the shortest possible time are considered as relevant objectives. In such a case it is necessary to take into account the fact that potential capabilities of universal tractors having established time-proved designs in respect of reduction of turning radius are practically at the end. So it is expedient to solve the matter at the expense of additional removable devices that ensure transformation of tractor wheel formula at the run end in order to reorient its position. Finally high quality plowing ensured by future-oriented reversible plows will be accompanied not only by output increase per shift, but also by decrease in headland width, their compaction and abrasion due to suspension systems and increase in productivity. The developed design having a novelty which proved by an invention patent and representing an additional supporting and maneuvering device significantly minimizes all the above-mentioned disadvantages and does not require any changes in tractor production design. Investigations have been carried on the following topic: “Minimization of turning radius for universal tractors by transformation of wheel formula”. The paper presents a mathematical model, which reflects all the parameters having an effect on a tractor unit with a supporting and maneuvering device and it also considers a longitudinal and transverse stability.

Modeling the probability of freeway lane-changing collision occurrence considering intervehicle interaction

ABSTRACTObjective: To better capture the relationships between lane-changing collisions and explanatory variables, a microscopic model is developed for freeway lane-changing collisions based on the interactions between lane-changing vehicles.Methods: The model applies an intervehicle interaction structure to account for the occurrence mechanism of lane-changing collisions. The occurrence mechanism can be described as the failure of a vehicle driver of an adjacent lane in avoiding the lane-changing vehicle, which disturbs the smooth movement of the adjacent lane vehicle and requires the driver's brake action to avoid an angle collision. This model is examined using data collected from freeways in Washington State during 2010 to 2011 and validated using lane-changing collision data for the SR 520 freeway.Results: The findings of this study show that generalized truck percentage has a significant decreasing effect on lane-changing collision risk, whereas average spacing and several roadway characteristics have significant increasing effects. The frequency of slight collisions during peak hours is higher than that during off-peak hours. Young female drivers are more likely to be involved in collisions during lane-changing than young male drivers, but the result for senior drivers is opposite, with older male drivers having a higher probability of lane-changing collisions than female drivers in the same age group.Conclusion: The process of lane-changing collisions is a complicated maneuver. Truck percentage, average spacing, and good roadway characteristics, such as straight and level segment, in the target lane have a significant effect on the occurrence of lane-changing collisions. Age and gender are also 2 important factors contributing to the relationship between lane-changing collisions and explanatory variables.

Effects of Sustained Lung Inflation, a lung recruitment maneuver in primary acute respiratory distress syndrome, in respiratory and cerebral outcomes in preterm infants

BackgroundSustained Lung Inflation (SLI) is a maneuver of lung recruitment in preterm newborns at birth that can facilitate the achieving of larger inflation volumes, leading to the clearance of lung fluid and formation of functional residual capacity (FRC). AimTo investigate if Sustained Lung Inflation (SLI) reduces the need of invasive procedures and iatrogenic risks. Study design78 newborns (gestational age≤34weeks, weighing≤2000g) who didn't breathe adequately at birth and needed to receive SLI in addition to other resuscitation maneuvers (2010 guidelines). Subjects78 preterm infants born one after the other in our department of Neonatology of Catania University from 2010 to 2012. Outcome measuresThe need of intubation and surfactant, the ventilation required, radiological signs, the incidence of intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH), periventricular leukomalacia, retinopathy in prematurity from III to IV plus grades, bronchopulmonary dysplasia, patent ductus arteriosus, pneumothorax and necrotizing enterocolitis. ResultsIn the SLI group infants needed less intubation in the delivery room (6% vs 21%; p<0.01), less invasive mechanical ventilation (14% vs 55%; p≤0.001) and shorter duration of ventilation (9.1days vs 13.8days; p≤0.001). There wasn't any difference for nasal continuous positive airway pressure (82% vs 77%; p=0.43); but there was less surfactant administration (54% vs 85%; p≤0.001) and more infants received INSURE (40% vs 29%; p=0.17). We didn't found any differences in the outcomes, except for more mild intraventricular hemorrhage in the SLI group (23% vs 14%; p=0.15; OR=1.83). ConclusionSLI is easier to perform even with a single operator, it reduces the necessity of more complicated maneuvers and surfactant without statistically evident adverse effects.