Postoperative tissue flap vitality monitoring enables early detection of clinical complications, allowing for intervention. Timely re-operation can prevent the need for extensive correction procedures, thus reducing healthcare costs and hospitalization time. Statistics show that monitoring can increase the success rate of flap survival to 95% or higher. However, despite the significant progress in monitoring techniques, major and minor complications, leading to the loss of the flap, still occur. This clinical application review aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the recent advancements and findings in flap surgery reconstructions, transplants, and systems for their postoperative assessment. The literature from the years 1925 to 2024 has been reviewed to capture previous and current solutions for monitoring flap vitality. Clinically acclaimed methods and experimental techniques were classified and reviewed from a technical and clinical standpoint. Physical examination, metabolism change, ultrasound method, and electromagnetic (EM) radiation-based measurement methods were carefully evaluated from the perspective of their considered applications. Guidelines aiding engineers in the future design and development process of monitoring systems were proposed. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of the monitoring techniques used in postoperative flap vitality monitoring. It also gives an overview of each approach and potential ways for future development.

Aim The study aims to verify whether there is a significant difference between countries that have implemented sugar tax policies and those that have not. The research hypothesis states that a sweetened beverages tax (SBT) has a natural effect on reducing the problems of obesity and diabetes. Subject and methods In the article, we assess the impact of the introduction of the sweetened beverages tax on differences in the incidence of diabetes and obesity using the Mann–Whitney and Wilcoxon rank-sum tests. In addition, the health effects associated with SBT consumption, such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular heart disease, liver cancer, gout, and deterioration of bone mineral density, have been described, including the impact of each condition on health systems from both a technical and economic point of view. Results Our findings indicate that in the research sample that implemented sweetened beverage taxes, there is no significant difference in the incidence of diabetes and obesity. This may suggest that there is no basis for claiming that implementing a tax on sweetened beverages improves public health. Conclusions Contrary to other studies, a research sample consists not only of individual countries but rather of worldwide data. The criteria for selecting countries for the study were based on the state of healthcare reports and the availability of comparable data. Such actions helped to ensure the study’s robustness, preventing the test’s importance from being overestimated or underestimated.

It is estimated that 13 % of population over 50 years old suffer from symptomatic or asymptomatic peripheral artery disease (PAD). Ankle-brachial index (ABI) is viewed as a useful parameter in diagnostics of peripheral arterial disease, however screening tests with usage of this method are not advised. Hypoxia causes increase in lactate values and decrease in blood glucose. We hypothesize that the deficit in blood supply to the muscles of the lower limbs will manifest itself in a lower blood glucose concentration, e.g. in the toe measurement compared to the reference measurement taken in the part of the body where the blood supply is normal or slightly worse. We proposed simple method for determining the foot-toe glucose index (FTGI) based on automatic measurement of glucose concentration in a blood sample. Obtained results suggest that proposed method is more sensitive than cuff/ultrasound doppler method.

Peripheral artery disease (PAD), condition in which narrowed arteries reduce blood flow to the arms or legs It is estimated that 13% of the population over 50 years old suffers either from symptomatic or asymptomatic PAD. Ankle-brachial index (ABI) due to relatively low sensitivity and specificity is not recommended for screening. In this article we evaluate use of Active Dynamic Thermography as the alternative technique for the ischemia classification. By initially cooling the subject's tissue and then observing with a thermal camera, we were able to visualize vascularization and measure the tissue's ability to return to its initial state. Thermographic parameters obtained correspond well with age of the patient.

A smart bathroom scale is presented in the paper. It is a classical bathroom scale enriched with the possibility of measuring a reflective photoplethysmographic (PPG) signal. To achieve such functionality an optical reflective transducer was developed. Its location in the scale platform was selected according to the anatomical structure of the foot and the typical procedure of weight measurement when using the scale. An electronic circuit for the sensor was designed and developed. Its performance was examined and compared with the commercial system. However, in the latter system, a plethysmographic signal was measured on the hand finger. This signal was utilized as an accurate timing synchronization one. Finally, we have shown preliminary results obtained due to performing measurements on a small group of healthy volunteers. Additionally, an algorithm for pulse rate estimation that could apply to such, relatively low-quality data was proposed.