Prolonged Continuous Monitoring of Regional Lung Function in Infants with Respiratory Failure.

Rationale: Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) allows instantaneous and continuous visualization of regional ventilation and changes in end-expiratory lung volume at the bedside. There is particular interest in using EIT for monitoring in critically ill neonates and young children with respiratory failure. Previous studies have focused only on short-term monitoring in small populations. The feasibility and safety of prolonged monitoring with EIT in neonates and young children have not been demonstrated yet. Objectives: To evaluate the feasibility and safety of long-term EIT monitoring in a routine clinical setting and to describe changes in ventilation distribution and homogeneity over time and with positioning in a multicenter cohort of neonates and young children with respiratory failure. Methods: At four European University hospitals, we conducted an observational study (NCT02962505) on 200 patients with postmenstrual ages (PMA) between 25 weeks and 36 months, at risk for or suffering from respiratory failure. Continuous EIT data were obtained using a novel textile 32-electrode interface and recorded at 48 images/s for up to 72 hours. Clinicians were blinded to EIT images during the recording. EIT parameters and the effects of body position on ventilation distribution were analyzed offline. Results: The average duration of EIT measurements was 53 ± 20 hours. Skin contact impedance was sufficient to allow image reconstruction for valid ventilation analysis during a median of 92% (interquartile range, 77-98%) of examination time. EIT examinations were well tolerated, with minor skin irritations (temporary redness or imprint) occurring in 10% of patients and no moderate or severe adverse events. Higher ventilation amplitude was found in the dorsal and right lung areas when compared with the ventral and left regions, respectively. Prone positioning resulted in an increase in the ventilation-related EIT signal in the dorsal hemithorax, indicating increased ventilation of the dorsal lung areas. Lateral positioning led to a redistribution of ventilation toward the dependent lung in preterm infants and to the nondependent lung in patients with PMA > 37 weeks. Conclusions: EIT allows continuous long-term monitoring of regional lung function in neonates and young children for up to 72 hours with minimal adverse effects. Our study confirmed the presence of posture-dependent changes in ventilation distribution and their dependency on PMA in a large patient cohort. Clinical trial registered with www.clinicaltrials.gov (NCT02962505).

Multiwavelength laser designed for single-frame digital holography.

In this paper, we present a tailored multiwavelength Yb-fiber laser source in the 1.03 µm spectral region for spatially multiplexed digital holographic acquisitions. The wavelengths with bandwidths below 0.1 nm were spectrally separated by approximately 1 nm by employing fiber Bragg gratings for spectral control. As a proof of concept, the shape of a cylindrically shaped object with a diameter of 48 mm was measured. The holographic acquisition was performed in single-shot dual-wavelength mode with a synthetic wavelength of 1.1 mm, and the accuracy was estimated to be 3% of the synthetic wavelength.

Full-field 3D deformation measurement: comparison between speckle phase and displacement evaluation.

The objective of this paper is to describe a full-field deformation measurement method based on 3D speckle displacements. The deformation is evaluated from the slope of the speckle displacement function that connects the different reconstruction planes. For our experiment, a symmetrical arrangement with four illuminations parallel to the planes (x,z) and (y,z) was used. Four sets of speckle patterns were sequentially recorded by illuminating an object from the four directions, respectively. A single camera is used to record the holograms before and after deformations. Digital speckle photography is then used to calculate relative speckle displacements in each direction between two numerically propagated planes. The 3D speckle displacements vector is calculated as a combination of the speckle displacements from the holograms recorded in each illumination direction. Using the speckle displacements, problems associated with rigid body movements and phase wrapping are avoided. In our experiment, the procedure is shown to give the theoretical accuracy of 0.17 pixels yielding the accuracy of 2×10-3 in the measurement of deformation gradients.

Phase-derivative-based estimation of a digital reference wave from a single off-axis digital hologram.

This paper describes a method to obtain an estimated digital reference wave from a single off-axis digital hologram that matches the actual experimental reference wave as closely as possible. The proposed method is independent of a reference flat plate and speckles. The digital reference wave parameters are estimated directly from the recorded phase information. The parameters include both the off-axis tilt angle and the curvature of the reference wave. Phase derivatives are used to extract the digital reference wave parameters without the need for a phase unwrapping process. Thus, problems associated with phase wrapping are avoided. Experimental results for the proposed method are provided. The simulated effect of the digital reference wave parameters on the reconstructed image phase distribution is shown. The pseudo phase gradient originating from incorrect estimation of the digital reference wave parameters and its effect on object reconstruction are discussed.

Fast and robust automatic calibration for single-shot dual-wavelength digital holography based on speckle displacements.

The objective of this paper is to describe a fast and robust automatic single-shot dual-wavelength holographic calibration method that can be used for online shape measurement applications. We present a model of the correction in two terms for each lobe, one to compensate the systematic errors caused by off-axis angles and the other for the curvature of the reference waves, respectively. Each hologram is calibrated independently without a need for an iterative procedure or information of the experimental set-up. The calibration parameters are extracted directly from speckle displacements between different reconstruction planes. The parameters can be defined as any fraction of a pixel to avoid the effect of quantization. Using the speckle displacements, problems associated with phase wrapping is avoided. The procedure is shown to give a shape accuracy of 34 µm using a synthetic wavelength of 1.1 mm for a measurement on a cylindrical test object with a trace over a field of view of 18 mm×18 mm.

Dual-wavelength digital holography: single-shot shape evaluation using speckle displacements and regularization.

This paper discusses the possibility of evaluating the shape of a free-form object in comparison with its shape prescribed by a CAD model. Measurements are made based on a single-shot recording using dual-wavelength holography with a synthetic wavelength of 1.4 mm. Each hologram is numerically propagated to different focus planes and correlated. The result is a vector field of speckle displacements that is linearly dependent on the local distance between the measured surface and the focus plane. From these speckle displacements, a gradient field of the measured surface is extracted through a proportional relationship. The gradient field obtained from the measurement is then aligned to the shape of the CAD model using the iterative closest point (ICP) algorithm and regularization. Deviations between the measured shape and the CAD model are found from the phase difference field, giving a high precision shape evaluation. The phase differences and the CAD model are also used to find a representation of the measured shape. The standard deviation of the measured shape relative the CAD model varies between 7 and 19 µm, depending on the slope.