wireless sensor New sensors monitor sick babies without wires blocking hugs

Peeping at any AmericanS.In the hospital's infant ICU, you'll see sick and premature newborns covered with wired monitors that tear fragile skin and make it difficult for parents to hug their children.Now researchers have created tiny skin.Just as the wireless sensor may eventually cut off these wires."This demand is so compelling," said John Rogers, a bioengineer at Northwestern University who led sensor development."Without wires, it is easier for parents, especially mothers, to interact and hold their children.Nearly 300,000 in the United StatesS.Newborns enter the neonatal intensive care unit every year because they are premature or have serious health problems.It is critical to track their heartbeat and other vital signs so that doctors and nurses can quickly find out if their youngest patients are in trouble.But today, that means connecting to the sticky electrodes on the various beeps monitors around the incubator via a wire.The nest of the wire blocks the skin.to-Doctors say skin contact with parents helps premature babies thrive, not to mention baby or breastfeedingNorthwest pediatric dermatologist Amy parleNo matter how carefully doctors and nurses take out the electrodes, pretenders who do not fully develop their skin are prone to injuries and scars.Using a wireless network in the NICU is much more difficult than measuring the heart rate of joggers with Fitbit.First, Rogers's team developed an ultra-thin sensor made of flexible silicone, which moves like skin and shell without any strong adhesive.Then the researchers embedded the sensor with a spring.Like an electronic product, bent as the body moves, and waterproof, made of materialUnlike today's NICU monitorDon't interfere with X-X-ray or MRI scanThey don't need batteries, which is the key to their portability.There is a transmitter under the crib mattress that can wirelessly charge the sensor like some smartphone chargersAt the same time, the measured values of all sensors are transmitted to the hospital computer.Replacing multiple monitors today requires only two wireless sensorsOne is made for the chest or back, one is around 1 feet-Work together.For example, the upper sensor measures heart activity, while the foot sensor measures blood oxygen levels using light.Rogers explained how long it takes for the pulse of the heartbeat to reach the foot to correspond to the blood pressureBlood pressure cuff is not needed.How reliable are they?The researchers installed wireless sensors on 20 babies in the northwest.There are also attached NICUs for normal wired monitoring.Rogers and parle reported last week in Science that wireless sensors are also effective."This is a promising technology that may eliminate stickingOn the sensor ."Rosemary Higgins, a neonatal scientist at the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development, did not participate in the study.The study continues, and Rogers says the sensors are now in use in about 80 babies, with similar results and no signs of skin problems."It's really great," said Theodora Flores, who hosted her twin daughter Genesis at Ann & Robert H.Children's Hospital in Chicago this weekGenesis is part of the wireless test, and the new mom said that fewer wires mean "I can move a little freely with her."The Food and Drug Administration approves that more testing is required for wireless sensors.But the bigger demand, Rogers says, is in developing countries that can't afford today's wired monitoring even for preemies.He estimated that the new sensor would cost about $10 to $15.With funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Save the Children Foundation, Rogers is preparing a pilot wireless sensor trial in Zambia in April, the goal is to test up to 20,000 sensors in India, Pakistan and Zambia by the end of the year.The technology "has a huge potential impact on monitoring practices around the world and may give many newborns a fairer chance to survive," Dr.Ruth Guinsburg of the Federal University of São Paulo wrote in a scientific review.