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Article History

Received: 1 November 2017

Accepted: 30 April 2018

First Online: 9 August 2018

Ethics approval and consent to participate

: The study was approved by the local Medical Ethical Review Committee (Reference number W15_076) at the Academic Medical Center of the University of Amsterdam. Ethical approval was granted according to the national requirements, and the need for written informed consent was waived. Oral informed consent was obtained from the patients prior to enrollment. The sublingual microcirculation measurements were introduced as an additional parameter to the daily nursery protocol, as previously described. These sublingual microcirculation measurements are rapidly performed and do not provide discomfort to the patients.

: Dr. Ince has developed SDF imaging and is listed as an inventor on related patents commercialized by MicroVision Medical (MVM) under a license from the Academic Medical Center (AMC). He receives no royalties or benefits from this license. He has been a consultant for MVM in the past, but has not been involved with this company for more than 5 years now and holds no shares or stock. Braedius Medical, a company owned by a relative of Dr. Ince, has developed and designed a handheld microscope called CytoCam-IDF imaging. Dr. Ince has no financial relation with Braedius Medical of any sort, i.e., never owned shares or received consultancy or speaker fees from Braedius Medical. Dr. Ince runs an Internet site https.ExternalRef removedwhich offers services (e.g., training, courses, analysis) related to clinical microcirculation. The other authors declare that they have no competing interests.

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