Length-free near infrared measurement of newborn malnutrition

Abstract

Under-nutrition in neonates can cause immediate mortality, impaired cognitive development and early onset adult disease. Body fat percentage measured using air-displacement-plethysmography has been found to better indicate under-nutrition than conventional birth weight percentiles. However, air-displacement-plethysmography equipment is expensive and non-portable, so is not suited for use in developing communities where the burden is often the greatest. We proposed a new body fat measurement technique using a length-free model with near-infrared spectroscopy measurements on a single site of the body - the thigh. To remove the need for length measurement, we developed a model with five discrete wavelengths and a sex parameter. The model was developed using air-displacement-plethysmography measurements in 52 neonates within 48 hours of birth. We identified instrumentation required in a low-cost LED-based screening device and incorporated a receptor device that can increase the amount of light collected. This near-infrared method may be suitable as a low cost screening tool for detecting body fat levels and monitoring nutritional interventions for malnutrition in neonates and young children in resource-constrained communities.

Near-Infrared Spectroscopy as a Potential COVID-19 Early Detection Method: A Review and Future Perspective

“…These optical properties of a material are expressed using the following terms: absorption coefficient, 𝜇 𝑎 (mm −1 ), scattering coefficient, 𝜇 𝑠 (mm −1 ), and refractive index, 𝑛 [39]. The measurement of optical properties is important for the proper design and manufacture of devices as well as elucidating diagnostic testing [40]. The optical properties can also be utilized to study light propagation in the material using a light transport model, as well as to determine optimal wavelengths and environmental effects.…”

“…Subsequently in step 3, the chemometrics model, such as the PCA/PLS incorporating machine learning technique, can be employed to differentiate the viral strains and fingerprint of SARS-CoV-2, in comparison to healthy and other similar symptoms of COVID-19 (such as the common flu, fevers, etc.). Testing improvements of sensitivity, specificity, etc., offered by adding the appropriate optical components in the NIRS configurations such as an attaching lens, cosine correctors, and different diameters of fiber can also be done in this stage [40,70,73]. Finally (step 4), the infected sample is pre-diagnosed and predicted.…”

“…The COVID-19 measurements from the developed NIRS device can be validated with a reference method such as ELISA or RT-PCR. One of the ways of validation is a determination of the correlation between the measurements from the NIRS device and the reference method by an equation model development [40]. Note that the development processes and steps of the NIRS device in Figure 7 can be back and forth if it is required for further optimization.…”

Measurement Tools of Pediatric Nutrition and Health Suitable or Adaptable for Low- and Middle-Income Countries in Field Research Settings

“…It has been studied in neonatal, pediatric, adult, and, more recently, low-resource settings [47,61,62]. In the neonate, NIRS has also been found to be more sensitive when less fat is present, making it appropriate for the detection of undernutrition [61,63]. The applicability of this to undernourished children outside of the neonatal period is unknown.…”

Model Development for Fat Mass Assessment Using Near-Infrared Reflectance in South African Infants and Young Children Aged 3–24 Months

“…As over fifty percent of under five deaths occur in the neonatal period (first 28 days) and early infancy and the majority of these deaths are in low- and middle-income countries [ 6 ], there is a clear need for a simple, low-cost and portable method for the rapid assessment of body composition. Near-infrared (NIR) reflectance has previously been explored and used as an input to body composition assessment, with several studies evaluating the agreement between commercially-available devices operating on these principles with other reference methods [ 12 , 13 ] and the development of models surrounding body composition [ 14 ]. NIR has been shown to have the potential to offer the low cost, portable method that is needed.…”