A respiratory servo-control system for chest radiography

Background: In the field of diagnostic radiology, the gold standard for chest imaging requires the patient to perform a controlled deep inspiration followed by a momentary breath-hold. This manoeuvre ensures maximum lung expansion and minimizes motion blur. However, this routine practice is notoriously difficult to apply in clinical settings involving uncooperative patients, such as infants, toddlers, or patients with cognitive impairments. When patients cannot follow verbal commands, radiographic technicians often struggle to time the exposure, leading to repeated radiation doses or poor-quality diagnostic films. To address this gap, our cross-disciplinary team developed a novel respiratory gated mechanism designed to achieve high-precision chest radiography specifically for non-cooperative populations.

Methods: A specialized multi-disciplinary team was assembled, including senior pediatrician with expertise in medical imaging in a tertiary medical center and bioengineers in radiotechnology institute in university. This diverse expertise allowed for the development of a sophisticated electric circuit module that operates as a parallel circuit connectable to standard X-ray equipment. This diverse expertise allowed for the development of a sophisticated electric circuit module that operates as a parallel circuit connectable to standard X-ray equipment. The system utilizes an adjustable elastic belt placed at the lower chest-upper abdomen junction to monitor physical displacement. This belt captures respiratory motion, which is processed and displayed as real-time phasic waves, allowing for the precise identification of the peak inspiratory phase. Validation was conducted through rigorous testing using a phantom infant model attached to artificial ventilation. To ensure measurement accuracy, calibrated markers were assigned to the phantom’s chest wall, and their displacement was monitored to verify the correlation between the physical breath and the electronic signal. Animal experiments were subsequently conducted to confirm the module's performance in a biological environment.

Results: The designed electric circuit module demonstrated seamless integration with existing X-ray hardware. The correlation analysis revealed an excellent linear correlation, expressed by the regression equation Y = 0.5304X – 55.989, where X represented respiratory phasic change readings and Y the respiratory spatial displacement. Data from the phantom infant testing showed a high degree of correlation between the mechanical movement of the chest wall and the electronic trigger. By monitoring the phasic waves, the algorithm successfully identified the optimal time point for radiation exposure during the respiratory cycle. These results were consistent across various ventilation speeds, suggesting the device is robust enough for diverse clinical scenarios.

Conclusion: Our study confirms that this custom-engineered system fulfills the critical clinical need for synchronized radiation exposure in uncooperative patients. By automating the timing of the X-ray exposure to match the peak of natural respiration, we can achieve high-quality diagnostic imaging that mirrors the results seen in the cooperative adult population. We expect that the widespread application of this respiratory detection technology will significantly reduce the need for repeat exposures and improve the diagnostic accuracy of chest X-rays in pediatric and adult medicine.

Dr. Kai-Sheng Hsieh is a distinguished Professor and Vice Superintendent at the China Medical University Children’s Hospital, specializing in congenital heart disease and ultrasound. He earned his M.D. from the National Defense Medical Center before completing a prestigious clinical fellowship at Harvard Medical School and Boston Children’s Hospital. Throughout his career, Dr. Hsieh has held key leadership roles, including General Chairman of Pediatrics for the Chang Gung Medical System. A highly awarded researcher, he received the 2013 Distinguished Devotion Award in Pediatric Medical Care.