Non-invasive Measurement Tool Research Articles

Impact of Physical Exercise on Breast Cancer-Related Lymphedema and Non-Invasive Measurement Tools: A Systematic Review.

Background/Objectives: Breast cancer-related lymphedema (BCRL) is a chronic disease with lasting effects, making it one of the most feared sequelae of breast cancer with significant personal and social impacts. Therapeutic exercises play a fundamental role in its treatment. This systematic review aims to provide the most up-to-date findings on the impact of physical exercise on the management of BCRL. Methods: Following the PRISMA statement guidelines, searches were conducted in the Web of Science, Scopus, and Science Direct databases. Results: Sixteen studies published between 2019 and 2024 were analyzed in detail. The combination of strength and aerobic exercises emerged as an effective strategy for both the treatment and prevention of lymphedema, also highlighting the innovative potential of virtual reality. Conclusions: It is essential to emphasize tailoring exercise programs to each patient individually. Additionally, the promising role of thermography as a non-invasive and safe tool for evaluating lymphedema progress is underscored.

Prediction of Tidal Volume in Newborns Through a Novel Three-Dimensional Model: A Viability Study.

Although noninvasive monitoring through quantifying rib cage movement has been useful in serial assessment of pulmonary function in newborns, measuring tidal volume (TV) is commonly performed invasively. As it is the most basic measure of pulmonary function, expanding its assessment to a noninvasive measure can contribute to clinical findings and interpretations in neonatal clinical practice. (1) Create a noninvasive measurement tool for TV for neonatal clinical use; (2) Evaluate the agreement between measured TV and predicted TV. Observational study with healthy newborns. Predicted TV was calculated based on the newborns' weight using the mid-range of the volumes usually set during mechanical ventilation of term infants (5 mL/kg). For measured TV, newborns were filmed in supine position using a digital camera, and their chest circumferences were measured with a nonelastic tape. Body markers delimited the segmentation of the area of interest, and a MATLAB software routine established their relationship with the area in cm² and generated a representative image of the thoracic and abdominal areas in a cylindrical, elliptical-based format, as well as a three-dimensional model to represent quantitative data of measured TV. Paired t-test assessed the means of measured and predicted TV, Pearson's correlation assessed level of association, and Kappa coefficient assessed the agreement between them. Newborns' gestational ages ranged from 38 to 40 weeks and weights from 2190 to 4125 g. A total of 56 respiratory cycles were validated for analysis. The mean predicted TV according to weight was 5.06 mL/kg, and measured TV was 5 ml/kg (p = 0.31), with a correlation of 0.7 (p < 0.001) and a kappa coefficient of 0.39 (p = 0.01). MATLAB software routine was a practical and easy-to-use tool to monitor noninvasive TV in a neonatal setting. There was no difference between predicted and estimated TV, with fair agreement between them.

Fast score is associated with patient-reported outcomes in patients with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease.

People with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) frequently report fatigue. This symptom is associated with hepatic inflammation and fibrosis. FibroScan-aspartate aminotransferase (FAST) score is a noninvasive measurement tool that can be used to assess the severity of MASLD. We aimed to investigate the independent factors associated with patient-reported outcomes (PROs) including fatigue, and their FAST scores. We enrolled 116 patients with MASLD. PROs were assessed by the Chronic Liver Disease Questionnaire for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (CLDQ-NAFLD), which consists of six domains including fatigue. Each domain score that was less than 6 was classified into the impairment group. A cutoff value of 0.67 in the FAST score was used to categorize a high or low FAST score. Independent factors associated with impaired PROs and fatigue were analyzed using logistic regression analysis and a graphical model. For factor total, in the logistic regression analysis, the high FAST score was only identified as a negative independent factor for impaired total CLDQ-NAFLD (odds ratio: 5.9, 95% confidence interval: 1.11-31.20, P = 0.034). The graphical model revealed that FAST score, BMI, and age directly interact with impaired total CLDQ-NAFLD. For fatigue, there was no statistically significant factor in the logistic regression analysis. The graphical model revealed that the FAST score, BMI, estimated glomerular filtration rate, and age directly interact with fatigue. We found that the FAST score directly interacted with total CLDQ-NAFLD and the domain of fatigue. The FAST score may be a useful tool to assess impaired CLDQ-NAFLD.

Analysis of Cell Dielectrophoretic Properties Using Isomotive Creek-Gap Electrode Device.

Various types of dielectrophoresis (DEP) cell separation devices using AC electric fields have been proposed and developed. However, its capability is still limited by a lack of quantitative characterization of the relationship between frequency and force. In the present study, this limitation was addressed by developing a method capable of fast and accurate quantification of the dielectric properties of biological cells. A newly designed Creek-gap electrode device can induce constant DEP forces on cells, realizing the isomotive movement of cells suitable for DEP analysis. The real number part of the Clausius-Mossotti (CM) factor of cells, Re(β), was obtained by simple cell velocimetry together with the numerical three-dimensional (3D) electric field analysis. Human mammary cells, MCF10A, and its cancer cells, MCF7 and MDAMB231, were used as model cells to evaluate the capability of the proposed device. The estimation of Re(β) using the Creek-gap electrode device showed good agreement with previously reported values. Furthermore, the thermal behavior of the Creek-gap electrode device, which is crucial to cell viability, was investigated by adopting micro laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) thermometry using Rhodamine B. The temperature rise in the device was found to be approximately several degrees Celsius at most. The results demonstrate that the proposed method could be a powerful tool for fast and accurate noninvasive measurement of the DEP spectrum and the determination of the dielectric properties of biological cells.

Research on signal enhancement and flow rate calculation methods of multi-channel ultrasonic flowmeter

Abstract In the field of drilling, accurate measurement of mud flow helps detect potential leaks or abnormal situations, thereby improving overall safety and preventing accidents from occurring. Traditional contact flow meters require breaking the pipeline before installation, making them difficult to install in underground environments. In addition, the complex composition of underground fluids and their corrosive nature can also lead to unsatisfactory measurement results. Therefore, as a non-invasive flow measurement tool, ultrasonic flowmeter is a better choice. However, the ultrasonic echo signals of current ultrasonic flow meters are susceptible to external interference in actual testing, resulting in a decrease in signal quality and making it impossible to perform accurate detection. This article focuses on the research of ultrasound echo signal processing model, designs a four channel ultrasound transceiver model, improves the wavelet denoising algorithm, designs signal reconstruction and baseline correction processing methods, and proposes a pipeline flow calculation algorithm based on Gaussian numerical integration. This method can greatly improve the quality of ultrasound echo signals and the average accuracy of flow measurement. Finally, relevant testing experiments were conducted, and the results of the final performance measurement showed that the method proposed in this paper improved the average accuracy of the measurement by 5.07%, and the relative error remained at around 2%, with a significant improvement in error rate. Therefore, the method proposed in this article has extremely high accuracy in mud flow measurement.

Electrode subset selection to lessen the complexity of brain activity measurement using EEG for depression detection

Depression is a severe neurological disorder characterized by a loss of interest and may lead to suicide. Electroencephalography (EEG) measurement is a non-invasive tool for neural electrical activities measurement which can be further used for different neurological disorder detection such as depression. The number of EEG electrodes used for measurement directly affects the instrumentation and measurement complexity of the experiment. This paper proposes a fisher score–based method for electrode ranking. This paper selects only those electrodes whose fisher score is greater than the mean of fisher scores of all electrodes. It results in a reduced set of electrodes. A deep learning–based model has been proposed which uses the reduced set of electrodes for depression detection. The performance of the proposed model is evaluated on two benchmark data sets having varying numbers of electrodes. The proposed model significantly reduces the number of electrodes to 68.42% and 60.93% for data sets 1 and 2, respectively. The accuracy of 98.73%, precision of 98.50%, recall of 98.75%, F1 score of 98.62% and AUC of 99.91% are obtained for data set 1 and accuracy of 95.48%, precision of 91.93%, recall of 96.11%, F1 score of 93.97% and AUC of 99.49% are obtained for data set 2.

Using a Portable Ventilatory Airway Screening (PVAS) Device to Evaluate the Difference Between Upper Airway Breathing Pressure and Respiratory Flow in Skeletal Class I and Class II Growing Individuals With Retrognathic Mandible.

Background Upper airway obstruction (UAO) is a significant clinical concern due to its potential to lead to serious health issues, including obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and cardiovascular diseases. Traditional diagnostic methods, such as spirometry, are often invasive and complex. This study aims to validate a portable ventilatory airway screening (PVAS) device as a non-invasive, cost-effective alternative for measuring upper airway breathing pressure and respiratory flow. Objectives To validate the accuracy of the PVAS device in measuring upper airway breathing pressure and respiratory flow by comparing its readings with those obtained from standard spirometry tests. Methods This cross-sectional analytical study involved 40 growing individuals aged 10-14 years, divided into two groups based on cephalometric analysis: Skeletal Class I (20 patients) and Skeletal Class II with retrognathic mandible (20 patients). Breathing pressure, volume, and velocity measurements were recorded using both the PVAS device and spirometry, and their accuracy was compared. Results The PVAS device showed high concordance with spirometry results, demonstrating significant accuracy in measuring breathing pressure, volume, and velocity. Skeletal Class II individuals exhibited significantly higher breathing pressure and reduced respiratory flow compared to Class I individuals, as measured by the PVAS device. Conclusion The PVAS device is a valid and accurate tool for non-invasive measurement of upper airway breathing pressure and respiratory flow. Its ease of use and reliability make it a valuable tool for clinical practice, particularly in the early diagnosis and management of airway obstructions.

AI Somatotype System Using 3D Body Images: Based on Deep-Learning and Transfer Learning

Humans share a similar body structure, but each individual possesses unique characteristics, which we define as one’s body type. Various classification methods have been devised to understand and assess these body types. Recent research has applied artificial intelligence technology utilizing noninvasive measurement tools, such as 3D body scanner, which minimize physical contact. The purpose of this study was to develop an artificial intelligence somatotype system capable of predicting the three body types proposed by Heath-Carter’s somatotype theory using 3D body images collected using a 3D body scanner. To classify body types, measurements were taken to determine the three somatotype components (endomorphy, mesomorphy, and ectomorphy). MobileNetV2 was utilized as the transfer learning model. The results of this study are as follows: first, the AI somatotype model showed good performance, with a training accuracy around 91% and a validation accuracy around 72%. The respective loss values were 0.26 for the training set and 0.69 for the validation set. Second, validation of the model’s performance using test data resulted in accurate predictions for 18 out of 21 new data points, with prediction errors occurring in three cases, indicating approximately 85% classification accuracy. This study provides foundational data for subsequent research aiming to predict 13 detailed body types across the three body types. Furthermore, it is hoped that the outcomes of this research can be applied in practical settings, enabling anyone with a smartphone camera to identify various body types based on captured images and predict obesity and diseases.

Biological validation of faecal corticosterone metabolites as a non-invasive stress assessment in translocated California valley quail (Callipepla californica).

US quail species are vulnerable to population declines as a result of climate change, habitat loss and habitat fragmentation, all of which can result in physiological stress. Additionally, population restoration techniques (PRTs), like translocations, also induce stress. Traditional assessments of avian stress hormone levels include capturing and handling birds to extract blood, methods that are inherently stressful and can compound stress analyses. However, the stress hormone corticosterone (CORT) is metabolized from the blood and excreted in faeces as faecal corticosterone metabolites (FCMs). FCMs have been used as a non-invasive measurement of stress hormone levels in a variety of species, but must be validated for each species. The objective of this study was to biologically validate the use of FCMs as a non-invasive measurement of CORT levels in California valley quail (Callipepla californica). Reference and treatment quail were acclimated for 3 weeks in an outdoor aviary. Subsequently, treatment quail were subjected to a simulated 48-h translocation, a common and stress hormone-inducing PRT. Faecal samples were collected every 4h and processed using an enzyme immunoassay. Mean FCM concentrations of treatment quail (41.50 ± 16.13ng/g) were higher than reference FCM concentrations (24.07 ± 10.4ng/g). These results biologically validate the use of FCMs as a non-invasive method to assess CORT levels in California valley quail, demonstrate diurnal variation in quail CORT levels, and confirm that quail translocations are a stress-inducing PRT. Ultimately, this research validates a new non-invasive tool for stress response measurement to advance quail research, management and conservation.

Ultra-wideband optical coherence elastography from acoustic to ultrasonic frequencies

Visualizing viscoelastic waves in materials and tissues through noninvasive imaging is valuable for analyzing their mechanical properties and detecting internal anomalies. However, traditional elastography techniques have been limited by a maximum wave frequency below 1-10 kHz, which hampers temporal and spatial resolution. Here, we introduce an optical coherence elastography technique that overcomes the limitation by extending the frequency range to MHz. Our system can measure the stiffness of hard materials including bones and extract viscoelastic shear moduli for polymers and hydrogels in conventionally inaccessible ranges between 100 Hz and 1 MHz. The dispersion of Rayleigh surface waves across the ultrawide band allowed us to profile depth-dependent shear modulus in cartilages ex vivo and human skin in vivo with sub-mm anatomical resolution. This technique holds immense potential as a noninvasive measurement tool for material sciences, tissue engineering, and medical diagnostics.

From biorepositories to data repositories: Open-access resources accelerate early R&D and validation of equitable diagnostic tools.

Diagnostics are critical tools that guide clinical decision-making for patient care and support disease surveillance. Despite its importance, developers and manufacturers often note that access to specimen panels and essential reagents is one of the key challenges in developing quality diagnostics, particularly in low-resource settings. A recent example, as the COVID-19 pandemic unfolded there was a need for clinical samples across the globe to support the rapid development of diagnostics. To address these challenges and gaps, PATH, a global nonprofit, along with its partners collaborated to create a COVID-19 biorepository to improve access to biological samples. Since then, the need for data resources to advance universal rapid diagnostic test (RDT) readers and noninvasive clinical measurement tools for screening children have also been identified and initiated. From biospecimens to data files, there are more similarities than differences in creating open-access repositories. And to ensure equitable technologies are developed, diverse sample panels and datasets are critical in the development process. Here we share one experience in creating open-access repositories as a case study to describe the steps taken, the key factors required to establish a biorepository, the ethical and legal frameworks that guided the initiative and the lessons learned. As diagnostic tools are evolving, more forms of data are critical to de-risk and accelerate early research and development (R&D) for products serving low resource settings. Creating physical and virtual repositories of freely available, well characterized, and high quality clinical and electronic data resources defray development costs to improve equitable access and test affordability.

Swarm intelligence empowered three-stage ensemble deep learning for arm volume measurement in patients with lymphedema

Arm lymphedema is mostly a side effect of the breast cancer surgery and radiation therapy, which may happen after the cancer treatment. Arm volume in patients with lymphedema must be accurately measured at the time of diagnosis to assess its severity and remeasured during the treatment to evaluate response to treatment. In this paper, a swarm intelligence three-stage hetero/homogeneous ensemble deep learning model (named THENDEL), embedded in a camera scanning tool, is presented as an automatic, noninvasive, inexpensive, reliable, and high-speed tool for lymphedema arm volume measurement, suitable for daily use in clinics. THENDEL is a three-stage ensemble deep learning model comprising different deep feature extractors (first heterogeneous stage), different regressors (second heterogeneous stage), and a homogeneous stage for multiple training of each feature extractor-regressor. Hyperparameters of THENDEL (i.e., weights of heterogeneous models) are automatically tuned in an offline procedure via a swarm intelligence algorithm based on grey wolf optimizer. The THENDEL model has been successfully developed to measure the volume of 730 arms from 365 women (age, 62.3 ± 9.6 years; body mass index, 25.4 ± 3.4 kg/m2; arm volume, 2187 ± 373 mL), including healthy and patients with lymphedema. To measure the volume of an arm, it is scanned by taking two images at the same time from orthogonal directions, and then, the arm volume is estimated by the THENDEL model. Experimental results demonstrate the reliability of the proposed method by obtaining 36.65 mL mean absolute error, 1.69 % mean percent error, and 0.992 correlation between the estimated and actual arm volumes.

Contrast-enhanced subharmonic aided pressure estimation for assessment of intracranial pressure in vivo.

Intracranial pressure (ICP) monitoring in children currently requires invasive techniques. Subharmonic aided pressure estimation (SHAPE) uses contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) to measure intravascular and interstitial pressure, but utility in ICP measurements has yet to be explored. The objective of this study was to investigate SHAPE as a novel tool for noninvasive ICP measurements in fetal lambs. Eighteen fetal lambs at 107-139days gestational age (term = 145days) underwent subdural ICP catheter placement. The brain was imaged in the coronal plane in CEUS mode optimized for SHAPE, while infusing an US contrast agent into the fetal circulation. After SHAPE calibration, saline was infused via the subdural catheter to increase ICP. Five-second SHAPE cine clips were obtained at various ICPs. Subharmonic intensity values of the whole brain and thalami were correlated with ICP values using mixed effects linear regression analyses and the strength of the relationship was evaluated by Spearman's rank-order correlation. Forty-nine experiments produced 723 datapoints, including SHAPE intensity values and mean ICP measurements. There was a statistically significant inverse relationship between SHAPE intensity values and ICP measurements in the whole brain and thalami (median rho value - 0.58 and - 0.56, respectively). SHAPE intensity values of the brain demonstrate an inverse and statistically significant correlation with in vivo ICP measurements in an animal model.

Hair cortisol levels in cats before and during their first month at a homeless animal shelter.

Hair cortisol analysis is a helpful tool for non-invasive measurement of the long-term activity of the HPA (hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal) axis. Long-term exposure to stressors affects, among others, animals staying in shelters for homeless animals. The study aimed to assess the hair cortisol level in cats from 8 different shelters. Hair grows on average about 1 cm per month. Therefore, it was concluded that the cortisol level in the hair closer than 1 cm to the skin reflected the cortisol level in cats during their stay in the shelter (A period). In contrast, the cortisol level in the rest of the hair corresponded to the cortisol level preceding the cat’s admission to the shelter (B period). Hair cortisol levels in the cats were higher before they arrived at the shelter than during their stay. Hair cortisol levels in the period before the shelter were higher in females than they were in males. On the other hand, during the stay at the shelter, the opposite was true: the cortisol level in females was lower than in males.

Highly thermally stable upconversion in copper(II)-doped LiYF4:Yb,Er microcrystals toward ultrahigh temperature (micro)thermometers

Lanthanide-based optical ratiometric thermometer is a promising temperature detecting tool for noninvasive temperature measurements. However, owing to the thermal quenching of upconversion luminescence (UCL), the traditional temperature sensing range is limited to less than 600 K. In this work, highly thermally stable UCL is observed through introduced appropriate Cu 2+ ions into LiYF 4 :Yb/Er (20/2 mol%) microcrystals (MCs) and on which are further used for temperature sensing applications. As gradually increases the doping of Cu 2+ ions, the octahedron morphology of LiYF 4 MCs with smooth surfaces gradually aggregates smaller particles on their surface forming diamond-like micro-clusters. Based on the single-particle spectroscopy technique, the temperature-dependent UCL properties were systematically investigated and demonstrated. Doping of Cu 2+ ions can efficiently adjust and enhance the UCL in the LiYF 4 :Yb/Er (20/2 mol%) MCs. The UCL thermal quenching temperature is less than ~670 K for Cu 2+ -free MCs. In contrast, the quenching temperature extends to as high as ~870 K when doping with 2 mol% Cu 2+ ions. Furthermore, these highly thermal stable MCs are utilized to detect the temperature in a wide temperature ranging from 298 K to 873 K. A maximum relative sensitivity ( S r ) of 1.23%K −1 at 298 K is obtained and temperature uncertainty δ T < 0.091 K is determined under the measured temperature for the 2 mol% Cu 2+ -doped MCs. The highly thermally stable UCL properties and excellent thermometer performance of these MCs, particularly conducted at single-particle spectroscopy technique, can be potentially applied to micro-scale thermometers. • Cu 2+ ions manipulate the morphology and size of LiYF 4 :Yb 3+ /Er 3+ microcrystals. • Appropriate Cu 2+ ions improve the upconversion luminescence thermostability. • High-temperature thermometers achieved at single-particle spectroscopy technique.

Kinect-Based Assessment of Lower Limbs during Gait in Post-Stroke Hemiplegic Patients: A Narrative Review.

The aim of this review was to present an overview of the state of the art in the use of the Microsoft Kinect camera to assess gait in post-stroke individuals through an analysis of the available literature. In recent years, several studies have explored the potentiality, accuracy, and effectiveness of this 3D optical sensor as an easy-to-use and non-invasive clinical measurement tool for the assessment of gait parameters in several pathologies. Focusing on stroke individuals, some of the available studies aimed to directly assess and characterize their gait patterns. In contrast, other studies focused on the validation of Kinect-based measurements with respect to a gold-standard reference (i.e., optoelectronic systems). However, the nonhomogeneous characteristics of the participants, of the measures, of the methodologies, and of the purposes of the studies make it difficult to adequately compare the results. This leads to uncertainties about the strengths and weaknesses of this technology in this pathological state. The final purpose of this narrative review was to describe and summarize the main features of the available works on gait in the post-stroke population, highlighting similarities and differences in the methodological approach and primary findings, thus facilitating comparisons of the studies as much as possible.

Comparison of three validated systems to analyse spinal shape and motion

The assessment of spinal shape and mobility is of great importance for long-term therapy evaluation. As frequent radiation should be avoided, especially in children, non-invasive measurements have gained increasing importance. Their comparability between each other however stays elusive. Three non-invasive measurement tools have been compared to each other: Idiag M360, raster stereography and Epionics SPINE. 30 volunteers (15 females/15 males) have each been assessed by each system, investigating lumbar lordosis, thoracic kyphosis and spinal range-of-motion in the sagittal plane. Lumbar lordosis differed significantly (p < 0.001) between measurement devices but correlated significant to each other (Pearson’s r 0.5–0.6). Regarding thoracic kyphosis no significant difference and a high correlation (r = 0.8) could be shown between Idiag M360 and raster stereography. For lumbar mobility resulting measurements differed significantly and correlated only moderate between Idiag M360 and Epionics SPINE. Although the different measurement systems are moderate to high correlated to each other, their absolute agreement is limited. This might be explained by differences in their angle definition for lordotic and kyphotic angle, their measurement placement, or their capturing of mobility (static vs. dynamic assessment). Therefore, for long-term evaluation of the back profile, inter-modal comparison of values between different non-invasive devices should be avoided.

Reds Lung Fluid Monitoring For Assessing Lung Disease In Patients With Covid-19 Infection

BackgroundClinical manifestation of COVID-19 infection vary from asymptomatic to severe ARDS pneumonia. Chest CT is highly sensitive in detecting lung injury due to COVID-19, but is not routinely used for serial monitoring. ReDS™ is an FDA-approved, non-invasive measurement tool for monitoring lung fluid content in HF patients (normal values ranging 20-35%). ReDS has proven to have excellent correlation with CT in quantification of lung fluid and may have the potential to assess the severity of lung injury in patients infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus.MethodsCone Health is a six-hospital system in central NC. In March 2020, the previous Women's Hospital site was converted into a 120-bed (24 ICU/96 Medical) COVID hospital. In this prospective, feasibility, pilot study we used the ReDS Clip to evaluate whether it was possible to measure bilateral lung fluid status on a daily basis in qualifying patients with COVID-19 lung infection. Secondary endpoints included correlations between the daily ReDS measurements and standard markers of clinical status. Patients were excluded if they had an implantable cardiac device, did not meet BMI criteria, were in the ICU prior to enrollment or had physical/cognitive limitations that precluded obtaining accurate readings.ResultsIn May - June 2020, 83 patients who met the inclusion criteria were enrolled. The mean age was 56yr, 60% male. Medication regimen included 100% vitamin C and zinc, 72% steroids, 34% remdesivir, 39% tocilizmab. No patients received hydroxycholoroquine. Over the 2month study period, 78% (65/83 patients) were able to receive daily ReDS measurements. Four patients missed 1 or 2 readings during hospitalization due to oxygen saturations dropping or too weak for minimal movements in bed to place the ReDS Device. Eight patients refused to continue study after 1 reading due to weakness or shortness of breath. ReDS readings were held during ICU stay. Six patients (7.2%) were moved to ICU, of which two patients died (33%). For the studied chohort, six patients (7.2%) died during evaluation. Only 2 patients had a documented history of heart failure. For the entire cohort, the average ReDS reading was 37%. Patients with higher supplemental oxygen demand (O2 > 5 L/min or need for BIPAP) had higher ReDS readings than patients with low oxygen demands, ReDS 43% vs ReDS 35%. Patients who were referred to ICU had higher ReDS readings than patients who were discharged home, ReDS 47% vs ReDS 37%.ConclusionIn this single-center feasibility study, ReDS lung fluid was able to be measured on a daily basis in 78% of the hospitalized study cohort. ReDS measurements correlated with then need for higher levels of O2 supplementation and worsening clinical status in patients with COVID-19 lung infection. More research is warranted to determine if daily monitoring with this technology can assist in early prediction of disease trajectory.

Evaluation of the effect of endotracheal aspiration at different head heights on oxygenation of the brain by non-invasive method in intensive care patients.

To determine the effect of endotracheal aspiration at different head heights on oxygenation brain by non-invasive method in neurosurgery intensive care patients. Head elevation of mechanical ventilator-dependent neurosurgery patients and the possible risks of endotracheal aspiration are closely related to the clinical conditions of the patients. A prospective quasi-experimental study with repetitive measurements in a single group. In the study, neurosurgery intensive care patients were adjusted to a head height of 15, 30 and 45° (n=46, power analysis %90). Cerebral oxygenation levels were determined with a non-invasive device at each head height before and in the 1st, 5th and 30th min of endotracheal aspiration. Data were collected with Patient Information Form and cerebral oxygenation device based on NIRS technology. This study performed according to the TREND reporting guidelines for non-randomized/quasi experimental study. The highest cerebral oxygenation value was obtained at 30min. The decrease in the cerebral oxygenation levels of the patients was highest in the 1st min after endotracheal aspiration, at a head height of 15 degrees for the right cerebral region and at a head height of 30 degrees for the left cerebral region. The increase in oxygenation of the right and left cerebral regions occurred highest at a head height of 45 degrees. The ideal head height should be 45 degrees during and after endotracheal aspiration in regard to maintaining cerebral oxygenation in neurosurgery intensive care patients. It is extremely important to monitor the cerebral oxygenation status of patients, with non-invasive measurement tools during and after endotracheal aspiration, to prevent secondary complications. This study reveals the importance of raising the head 45 degrees in the best preservation of cerebral oxygenation values in neurosurgery intensive care patients. Intensive care nurses should pay attention to maintaining this head height.

Accuracy of Body Mass Index and Obesity Status in Police Trainees.

The first aim of this study was to compare body mass index (BMI) (indirect method) classification with the body fat percent (PBF) (direct method) and to determine how BMI classifies subjects with different levels of skeletal muscle mass percent (PSMM). The second aim was to determine the prevalence of overweight and obesity status among police trainees (PTs). A total of 103 male PTs participated in this research: age = 21.46 ± 0.64 years, body mass (BM) = 75.97 ± 8.10 kg, body height (BH) = 174.07 ± 6.31 cm, BMI = 25.05 ± 2.12 kg/m2. The InBody 370 multichannel bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) measured body composition. Study results indicated that muscular PTs could be misclassified as overweight and that PBF identified more subjects as obese. Namely, three PTs were obese according to BMI, while 13 were obese according to PBF. The information provided by this research could be used to help professionals understand the importance of measuring body composition, and the inaccuracies in BMI classification. In conclusion, whenever possible PSMM and PBF should replace the utilization of BMI to screen overweight and obesity in PTs. Agencies may think of using BIA as non-invasive, quick and inexpensive measurement tool.