RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Our study contributes to the further understanding of the mechanism of foot reflexology. Foot reflexology has been reported to affect hearing recovery, but no physiological evidence has been provided. This lack of evidence hampers the acceptance of the technique in clinical practice. CASE SUMMARY: A girl was taken to North Sichuan Medical University Affiliated Hospital for a hearing screen by her parents. Her parents reported that her hearing level was the same as when she was born. The girl was diagnosed with sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) by a doctor in the otolaryngology department. After we introduced the foot reflexology project, the parents agreed to participate in the experiment. After 6 months of foot reflexology treatment, the hearing threshold of the girl recovered to a normal level, below 30 dB. CONCLUSION: Foot reflexology should be encouraged in clinical practice and for families of infants with SNHL.
RESUMO
An overview of the numerous latest research in microfiber humidity sensors is carried out with a specific focus on measurement methods, humidity sensitive materials, probe structures, and sensing properties of different sensors. First, five mainstream measurement structures, including taper, fiber grating, coupler, resonator, and interferometer are reviewed. It is concluded that these measurement structures sense the physicochemical property variations of microfibers or sensitive films and exhibit the change of optical signal when exposed to environment. Second, the basic preparation methods, humidity-sensing properties, and their advantages and disadvantages as humidity sensitive material are addressed. Then, the advantages and disadvantages of all the above sensing structures are also discussed and compared. Finally, the main existing problems and potential solutions of microfiber humidity sensors are pointed out.
