Objective. Pneumonia is the single largest cause of death in children worldwide due to infectious diseases. According to WHO guidelines, fast breathing and chest indrawing are the key indicators of pneumonia in children requiring antibiotic treatments. The aim of this study was to develop a video based novel method for simultaneous monitoring of respiratory rate and chest indrawing without upsetting babies. Approach. Respiratory signals, corresponding to periodic movements of chest-abdominal walls during breathing, were extracted by analyzing RGB (red, green, blue) components in video frames captured by a smartphone camera. Respiratory rate was then obtained by applying fast Fourier transform on the de-noised respiratory signal. Chest indrawing was detected by analysing relative phases of regional chest-abdominal wall mobility. The performance of the developed algorithm was evaluated on both healthy and pneumonia children. Main results. The proposed method can measure respiratory rate with an overall mean absolute error of 1.8 bpm in the range 18–105 bpm. Phase difference between regional chest wall movements in the chest indrawing (pneumonia) cases was found to be 143 ± 23.9 degrees, which was significantly higher than that in the healthy cases 52.3 ± 32.6 degrees ( p < 0.001). Significance. Being non-intrusive and non-subjective, this computer-aided method can be useful in the monitoring for respiratory rate and chest indrawing for the diagnosis of pneumonia and its severity in children.

Synchrotron X-ray radiation (SXR) has been widely studied to explore the structure of matter. Recently, there has been an intense focus on the medical application of SXR in imaging. This review is intended to explore the latest applications of SXR in medical imaging and to shed light on the advantages and drawbacks of this modality. The article highlights the latest developments in other fields that can greatly enhance the capability and applicability of SXR. The potentials of using machine and deep learning (DL)-based methods to generate synthetic images to use in regular clinics along with the use of photon counting X-ray detectors for spectral medical imaging with SXR are also discussed.

Pulsed electromagnetic fields (PEMF) have been widely studied for vascular and microcirculatory modulation, yet their effects on pulsatile hemodynamic organization remain poorly characterized. It is also unclear whether reversing field direction under otherwise comparable exposure conditions can alter vascular waveform behavior. This study investigated acute direction-dependent responses to PEMF using Doppler ultrasound and photoplethysmography (PPG). Twenty healthy volunteers underwent PEMF exposure (10 Hz, 100 µs pulse width, 15 V) over the brachial artery with the coil in two opposing orientations, such that the local induced electric-field component along the arterial axis was directed either with (Forward) or against (Reverse) physiological blood flow. Downstream responses were assessed using radial artery Doppler and index-finger PPG. Participant-level feature summaries were analyzed using paired Wilcoxon signed-rank tests with Benjamini–Hochberg false-discovery-rate correction, including direct comparison of baseline-corrected Forward and Reverse responses, complemented by descriptive kernel-density L1 (KDE-L1) analysis. PPG showed the clearest participant-level responses. Six Forward features involving temporal, morphological, and pulse-area characteristics remained false discovery rate (FDR)-significant ( q = 0.018 − 0.037 ), whereas five Reverse features involving systolic amplitude, notch timing, and spectral organization remained significant ( q = 0.003 − 0.012 ). Direct Forward–Reverse comparison identified significant differences in eight PPG features spanning amplitude, area, temporal, and spectral domains ( q = 0.005 − 0.029 ). Doppler showed a more selective response, with Forward cardiac cycle duration (CCD) remaining FDR-significant ( q = 0.014 ), together with broader KDE-L1 redistribution of arterial velocity-waveform characteristics. These findings demonstrate orientation-sensitive peripheral pulse-wave responses together with complementary arterial waveform changes, supporting field direction as a potentially relevant exposure parameter in vascular PEMF research.