ABSTRACT
In the untact COVID-19 era, the feasibility of a noncontact, impulse-radio ultrawideband (IR-UWB) radar sensor has important medical implications. Premature birth is a major risk factor for brain injury and developmental delay; therefore, early intervention is crucial for potentially achieving better developmental outcomes. Early detection and screening tests in infancy are limited to the quantification of differences between normal and spastic movements. This study investigated the quantified asymmetry in the general movements of an infant with hydrocephalus and proposes IR-UWB radar as a novel, early screening tool for developmental delay. To support this state-of-the-art technology, data from actigraphy and video camcorder recordings were adopted simultaneously to compare relevant time series as the infant grew. The data from the three different methods were highly concordant; specifically, the ρz values comparing radar and actigraphy, which served as the reference for measuring movements, showed excellent agreement, with values of 0.66 on the left and 0.56 on the right. The total amount of movement measured by radar over time increased overall; movements were almost dominant on the left at first (75.2% of total movements), but following shunt surgery, the frequency of movement on both sides was similar (54.8% of total movements). As the hydrocephalus improved, the lateralization of movement on radar began to coincide with the clinical features. These results support the important complementary role of this radar system in predicting motor disorders very early in life.
ABSTRACT
Anthropometric profiles are important indices for assessing medical conditions, including malnutrition, obesity, and growth disorders. Noncontact methods for estimating those parameters could have considerable value in many practical situations, such as the assessment of young, uncooperative infants or children and the prevention of infectious disease transmission. The purpose of this study was to investigate the feasibility of obtaining noncontact anthropometric measurements using the impulse-radio ultrawideband (IR-UWB) radar sensor technique. A total of 45 healthy adults were enrolled, and a convolutional neural network (CNN) algorithm was implemented to analyze data extracted from IR-UWB radar. The differences (root-mean-square error, RMSE) between values from the radar and bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) as a reference in the measurement of height, weight, and body mass index (BMI) were 2.78, 5.31, and 2.25, respectively;predicted data from the radar highly agreed with those from the BIA. The intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) were 0.93, 0.94, and 0.83. In conclusion, IR-UWB radar can provide accurate estimates of anthropometric parameters in a noncontact manner;this study is the first to support the radar sensor as an applicable method in clinical situations.
ABSTRACT
Recently, noncontact vital sign monitors have attracted attention because of issues related to the transmission of contagious diseases. We developed a real-time vital sign monitor using impulse-radio ultrawideband (IR-UWB) radar with embedded processors and software;we then evaluated its accuracy in measuring heart rate (HR) and respiratory rate (RR) and investigated the factors affecting the accuracy of the radar-based measurements. In 50 patients visiting a cardiology clinic, HR and RR were measured using IR-UWB radar simultaneously with electrocardiography and capnometry. All patients underwent HR and RR measurements in 2 postures—supine and sitting—for 2 min each. There was a high agreement between the RR measured using radar and capnometry (concordance correlation coefficient [CCC] 0.925 [0.919–0.926];upper and lower limits of agreement [LOA], − 2.21 and 3.90 breaths/min). The HR measured using radar was also in close agreement with the value measured using electrocardiography (CCC 0.749 [0.738–0.760];upper and lower LOA, − 12.78 and 15.04 beats/min). Linear mixed effect models showed that the sitting position and an HR < 70 bpm were associated with an increase in the absolute biases of the HR, whereas the sitting position and an RR < 18 breaths/min were associated with an increase in the absolute biases of the RR. The IR-UWB radar sensor with embedded processors and software can measure the RR and HR in real time with high precision. The sitting position and a low RR or HR were associated with the accuracy of RR and HR measurement, respectively, using IR-UWB radar.
ABSTRACT
This study aimed to assess the correlation between political ideologies, government trust, and COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in South Korea during the COVID-19 pandemic. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among South Korea's general population and 1000 respondents (aged 18 years and older) were included. We used multivariate logistic regression models to identify the factors associated with vaccine hesitancy. Respondents who self-identified as liberal or held "no political opinion" had higher rates of vaccine hesitancy than conservative respondents. People's trust in the government's countermeasures was associated with vaccination. Respondents who had risk perceptions (affective and cognitive) of COVID-19 had lower rates of vaccine hesitancy. Perceptions that the vaccine was not safe and being aged 18-29, 30-39, or 40-49 were associated with a higher probability of vaccine hesitancy. This study found that even if vaccine safety and risk perceptions toward COVID-19 were adjusted, self-rated political ideologies and government trust was associated with COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. More effort to communicate with those who are *liberal or "no political opinion", younger, and have lower level of trust in the government are required to dissolve vaccine hesitancy. Further studies should analyze the mechanism of COVID-19 vaccine uptake for effective herd immunity.