Structured Light Plethysmography (SLP): management & follow-up in children with bronchopneumonia

Structured Light Plethysmography (SLP) is a novel innovative technology for assessing respiratory movements in the chest wall. It captures, records and shows graphical and numerical parameters in real-time functional images of chest wall movement, allowing a better understanding of patient respiratory function. This breakthrough technology allows measurements without physical contact with the patient (Fig. 1). Pneumonia is the leading cause of illness and death in children worldwide. It is estimated that pneumonia has a global annual incidence of 150 to 156 million cases in children, 5 years of age, of whom ∼11 to 20 million of cases need hospitalization and 1.1 million die of this condition. Signs and symptoms of pneumonia vary depending on a child’s age and the etiology of infection. Since the American Academy of Pediatrics suggests a reduced use of chest X-ray for safety and costs, we propose a new method to evaluate the limitation in airways flow in children affected by bronchopneumonia admitted to the hospital.