Digital Pulmonology Practice with Phonopulmography Leveraging Artificial Intelligence: Future Perspectives Using Dual Microwave Acoustic Sensing and Imaging.

Respiratory disorders, being one of the leading causes of disability worldwide, account for constant evolution in management technologies, resulting in the incorporation of artificial intelligence (AI) in the recording and analysis of lung sounds to aid diagnosis in clinical pulmonology practice. Although lung sound auscultation is a common clinical practice, its use in diagnosis is limited due to its high variability and subjectivity. We review the origin of lung sounds, various auscultation and processing methods over the years and their clinical applications to understand the potential for a lung sound auscultation and analysis device. Respiratory sounds result from the intra-pulmonary collision of molecules contained in the air, leading to turbulent flow and subsequent sound production. These sounds have been recorded via an electronic stethoscope and analyzed using back-propagation neural networks, wavelet transform models, Gaussian mixture models and recently with machine learning and deep learning models with possible use in asthma, COVID-19, asbestosis and interstitial lung disease. The purpose of this review was to summarize lung sound physiology, recording technologies and diagnostics methods using AI for digital pulmonology practice. Future research and development in recording and analyzing respiratory sounds in real time could revolutionize clinical practice for both the patients and the healthcare personnel.

Practicing Digital Gastroenterology through Phonoenterography Leveraging Artificial Intelligence: Future Perspectives Using Microwave Systems.

Production of bowel sounds, established in the 1900s, has limited application in existing patient-care regimes and diagnostic modalities. We review the physiology of bowel sound production, the developments in recording technologies and the clinical application in various scenarios, to understand the potential of a bowel sound recording and analysis device-the phonoenterogram in future gastroenterological practice. Bowel sound production depends on but is not entirely limited to the type of food consumed, amount of air ingested and the type of intestinal contractions. Recording technologies for extraction and analysis of these include the wavelet-based filtering, autoregressive moving average model, multivariate empirical mode decompression, radial basis function network, two-dimensional positional mapping, neural network model and acoustic biosensor technique. Prior studies evaluate the application of bowel sounds in conditions such as intestinal obstruction, acute appendicitis, large bowel disorders such as inflammatory bowel disease and bowel polyps, ascites, post-operative ileus, sepsis, irritable bowel syndrome, diabetes mellitus, neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson's disease and neonatal conditions such as hypertrophic pyloric stenosis. Recording and analysis of bowel sounds using artificial intelligence is crucial for creating an accessible, inexpensive and safe device with a broad range of clinical applications. Microwave-based digital phonoenterography has huge potential for impacting GI practice and patient care.

Targeted Atrial Fibrillation Therapy and Risk Stratification Using Atrial Alternans.

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most persistent arrhythmia today, with its prevalence increasing exponentially with the rising age of the population. Particularly at elevated heart rates, a functional abnormality known as cardiac alternans can occur prior to the onset of lethal arrhythmias. Cardiac alternans are a beat-to-beat oscillation of electrical activity and the force of cardiac muscle contraction. Extensive evidence has demonstrated that microvolt T-wave alternans can predict ventricular fibrillation vulnerability and the risk of sudden cardiac death. The majority of our knowledge of the mechanisms of alternans stems from studies of ventricular electrophysiology, although recent studies offer promising evidence of the potential of atrial alternans in predicting the risk of AF. Exciting preclinical and clinical studies have demonstrated a link between atrial alternans and the onset of atrial tachyarrhythmias. Here, we provide a comprehensive review of the clinical utility of atrial alternans in identifying the risk and guiding treatment of AF.

COVID-19 and its Modes of Transmission.

The World Health Organization recognized SARS-CoV-2 as a public health concern and declared it as a pandemic on March 11, 2020. Over 12 million people have been affected across several countries since it was first recognized. SARS-CoV-2 is thought to commonly spread via respiratory droplets formed while talking, coughing, and sneezing of an infected patient. As several cases, with an absence of travel history to the majorly affected areas were identified, a strong possibility of community transmission could have been possible. Broadly, two modes of transmission of COVID-19 exist-direct and indirect. The direct mode includes (1) transmission via aerosols formed via surgical and dental procedures and/or in the form of respiratory droplet nuclei; (2) other body fluids and secretions, for example, feces, saliva, urine, semen, and tears; and (3) mother-to-child. Indirect transmission may occur via (1) fomites or surfaces (e.g., furniture and fixtures) present within the immediate environment of an infected patient and (2) objects used on the infected person (e.g., stethoscope or thermometer). As many of these modes may be underestimated, it is necessary to emphasize and illustrate them. The goal of this paper is to briefly review how SARS-CoV-2 is shown to transmit via various modes and propose measures to reduce the risk of spread within the population and operating personnel.