- This topic has 1 voice and 0 replies.
-
Posts
-
-
#News(General) [ via IoTForIndiaGroup ]
Babies born long before their due dates often spend several weeks in the neonatal intensive care unit, tethered to wires and medical gadgets. These devices monitor their vital signs, breathing, and even blood pressure—keys to keeping the babies alive—but are unwieldy and cumbersome, and often prevent their mothers and fathers from having that equally vital bonding time.
Because the equipment is crucial, doctors and parents have to make do, often forgoing some of that essential time. But a team of researchers at Northwestern University recently created small, sticker-like wireless biosensors that monitor necessary vital signs—all without large equipment and wiring.
The biosensor system works as a pair of two devices, both operating wirelessly. They are time-synchronized with one another and stream data to an external monitor or tablet. The sticker placed on the infant’s chest measures heart rhythms in the form of an ECG as well as other vital signs like temperature and heart rate, while the one on the foot measures blood oxygenation, which is the amount of oxygen present at any given time in a baby’s blood. Though not studied in this paper, the researchers have also used the pair together to study blood pressure, by tracking the amount of time it takes for blood to flow from one sensor to another (for the chest to the foot.) And perhaps further down the line, Rogers says, they may be able to combine all the sensors into one patch that would be worn on the chest.
-
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
