Evaluating the robustness of a contact-less mHealth solution for personal and remote monitoring of blood oxygen saturation.

MHealth technologies play a fundamental role in epidemiological situations such as the ongoing outbreak of COVID-19 because they allow people to self-monitor their health status (e.g. vital parameters) at any time and place, without necessarily having to physically go to a medical clinic. Among vital parameters, special care should be given to monitor blood oxygen saturation (SpO2), whose abnormal values are a warning sign for potential COVID-19 infection. SpO2 is commonly measured through the pulse oximeter that requires skin contact and hence could be a potential way of spreading contagious infections. To overcome this problem, we have recently developed a contact-less mHealth solution that can measure blood oxygen saturation without any contact device but simply processing short facial videos acquired by any common mobile device equipped with a camera. Facial video frames are processed in real-time to extract the remote photoplethysmographic signal useful to estimate the SpO2 value. Such a solution promises to be an easy-to-use tool for both personal and remote monitoring of SpO2. However, the use of mobile devices in daily situations holds some challenges in comparison to the controlled laboratory scenarios. One main issue is the frequent change of perspective viewpoint due to head movements, which makes it more difficult to identify the face and measure SpO2. The focus of this work is to assess the robustness of our mHealth solution to head movements. To this aim, we carry out a pilot study on the benchmark PURE dataset that takes into account different head movements during the measurement. Experimental results show that the SpO2 values obtained by our solution are not only reliable, since they are comparable with those obtained with a pulse oximeter, but are also insensitive to head motion, thus allowing a natural interaction with the mobile acquisition device.

[Post-renal transplant pregnancy: a project to plan carefully]. / Gravidanza post-trapianto: un progetto da pianificare.

Kidney transplant is the best treatment for end-stage renal disease (ESRD) as it improves the quality of life and reduces the mortality risk for most patients compared with maintenance dialysis. Additionally, evidence from the literature suggests that renal function, endocrine status and libido rapidly improve after kidney transplant, and one in 50 women of childbearing age become pregnant. Therefore, it seems clear that pregnancy after transplant is a great challenge for physicians involved in this field. The available information on pregnancy outcomes is largely derived from case reports and single-center series, which are unlikely to be representative. Moreover, poor results are less likely to be reported. Many of the reports on long-term outcome show the results of past medical, obstetric, and neonatal care, which may be very different from current practice. Attempts are being made to provide more up-to-date, representative data through national transplantation pregnancy registries. A great number of researchers worldwide have analyzed the biological and endocrinological machinery associated with this event. Additionally, several strategies have been introduced to avoid unplanned pregnancies and to minimize maternal and fetal complications in renal transplant recipients. It seems evident that the return to fertility soon after transplant is often associated with unplanned pregnancy, which can expose both mother and fetus to considerable risks. This underpins the necessity to recommend contraceptive counseling and start clinical follow-up in order to early identify possible pregnancy-related risk factors. In general, pregnancy should not be recommended within the first year after kidney transplant because the risk of acute rejection is greatest and immunosuppressive therapy the most aggressive. It should be planned when organ function and immunosuppressive therapy are stabilized and there is no sign of rejection, hypertension, or chronic infection. Additionally, renal transplant patients and their physicians together must try to identify the best timing, carry out pre-pregnancy screening, and delineate clinical follow-up and future pharmacological programs to minimize or avoid serious maternal and fetal complications. Finally, additional studies are needed to better understand the physiology associated with this condition, improve the pharmacological approach, and analyze the complex ethical and social implications of this important aspect of renal transplantation.