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With the continuous progress of technology, the subject of life science plays an increasingly important role, among which the application of artificial intelligence in the medical field has attracted more and more attention. Bell facial palsy, a neurological ailment characterized by facial muscle weakness or paralysis, exerts a profound impact on patients' facial expressions and masticatory abilities, thereby inflicting considerable distress upon their overall quality of life and mental well-being. In this study, we designed a facial attribute recognition model specifically for individuals with Bell's facial palsy. The model utilizes an enhanced SSD network and scientific computing to perform a graded assessment of the patients' condition. By replacing the VGG network with a more efficient backbone, we improved the model's accuracy and significantly reduced its computational burden. The results show that the improved SSD network has an average precision of 87.9% in the classification of light, middle and severe facial palsy, and effectively performs the classification of patients with facial palsy, where scientific calculations also increase the precision of the classification. This is also one of the most significant contributions of this article, which provides intelligent means and objective data for future research on intelligent diagnosis and treatment as well as progressive rehabilitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At present, traditional Chinese medicine treatment is considered safe for treating peripheral facial paralysis (PFP). Acupuncture-only and acupuncture combined with tuina are widely used for this purpose. However, it is not clear whether acupuncture combined with tuina is better for treating PFP than acupuncture-only. Conventional meta-analysis and network meta-analysis were used to compare the clinical efficacies of acupuncture combined with tuina and acupuncture-only in the treatment of PFP. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs), with the subjects being patients with PFP and treatment interventions including acupuncture combined with tuina, acupuncture-only, tuina-only, placebo, single Western medicine, and steroids combined with other Western medicine were searched from both Chinese and English databases. The primary outcomes included Modified House–Brackmann (MHBN) scores and Sunnybrook Facial Grading System, whereas the secondary outcomes included cure time, Portmann scores, and physical function scale of Facial Disability Index, using conventional meta-analysis and network meta-analysis. The study included 22 RCTs with a sample size of 1814 patients. The results of conventional meta-analysis (MD = 16.12, 95%CI 13.13,19.10) and network meta-analysis (MD = 14.53, 95%CI 7.57,21.49) indicate that acupuncture combined with tuina was better than acupuncture-only in improving MHBN and shortening the cure time (MD = − 6.09, 95%CI − 7.70, − 4.49). Acupuncture combined with tuina was the optimal therapy for improving MHBN (SUCRA was 100%) and shortening the cure time (SUCRA was 100%). The results of this meta-analysis indicate that acupuncture combined with tuina can significantly improve MHBN and shorten the cure time, compared with acupuncture-only. However, the current evidence is insufficient, and more high-quality clinical studies are needed. Registration: This study had been registered with PROSPERO (CRD42022379395). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]