Multimodal tongue and pulse assessment for diagnosing and tracking asthma in children

Multimodal Tongue-Pulse Information Fusion for Syndrome Diagnosis and Cohort Study in Children With Asthma

This project will test whether combining standardized tongue photos and pulse wave measurements can help diagnose and monitor asthma in children aged 5 to 18 during routine clinic visits.

Quick facts

• Study type: Observational
• Enrollment: 1000 (estimated)
• Ages: 5 Years to 18 Years
• Sex: All
• Sponsor: Shanghai Children's Medical Center (Academic / other)
• Locations: 1 site (Shanghai)
• Trial ID: NCT07383883 on ClinicalTrials.gov

What this trial studies

This single-center observational cohort will enroll children with confirmed asthma at Shanghai Children's Medical Center and collect standardized tongue images and pulse waveform data during outpatient visits when lung function testing is performed. Image processing and signal-analysis methods will extract quantitative features (color, texture, time- and frequency-domain pulse parameters) that will be integrated with clinical data such as asthma stage, spirometry, eosinophil counts, allergy status, and ACQ-5 scores. Data collection is noninvasive and performed under controlled conditions to ensure reproducibility without changing usual clinical care. The study aims to identify associations between multimodal tongue-pulse features and clinical phenotypes or disease control in pediatric asthma.

Who should consider this trial

Good fit: Children aged 5–18 with a confirmed clinical diagnosis of asthma who attend routine outpatient follow-up at Shanghai Children's Medical Center and can cooperate with tongue imaging, pulse recording, and pulmonary function testing are ideal candidates.

Not a fit: Children with other chronic respiratory diseases, major cardiopulmonary malformations, acute respiratory infection or fever at the time of visit, severe systemic illness, inability to cooperate with measurements, or who cannot attend the Shanghai site are unlikely to benefit from participation.

Why it matters

Potential benefit: If successful, this approach could offer a noninvasive, low-cost adjunct to improve phenotyping and monitoring of pediatric asthma.

How similar studies have performed: Multimodal tongue-and-pulse phenotyping is a relatively novel approach with limited validation in pediatric asthma, though small studies have reported correlations between tongue/pulse features and various disease states.

Eligibility criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

* Children aged 5 to 18 years.
* Clinically diagnosed asthma according to established pediatric asthma guidelines.
* Receiving routine outpatient follow-up at Shanghai Children's Medical Center.
* Able to cooperate with tongue image acquisition and pulse wave data collection.
* Able to perform pulmonary function testing when clinically indicated.
* Written informed consent obtained from parents or legal guardians, with assent from the child when appropriate.

Exclusion Criteria:

* Presence of other chronic respiratory diseases (e.g., cystic fibrosis, bronchiectasis, primary ciliary dyskinesia).
* Congenital cardiopulmonary malformations or significant cardiovascular disease.
* Acute respiratory infection or fever at the time of data collection.
* Severe systemic diseases or immunodeficiency that may affect study participation.
* Inability to comply with study procedures or incomplete clinical data.

Where this trial is running

Shanghai

• Shanghai Children's Medical Center — Shanghai, China (Recruiting)

Study contacts

• Principal investigator: Yong Yin — Shanghai Children's Medical Center
• Study coordinator: Yong Yin

Conditions Asthma; asthma; Tongue-Pulse Diagnosis; Multimodal Phenotyping