Lifelight(R) Junior: a contactless early infection detection tool for clinically vulnerable children

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Southampton-based SME "xim" is developing Lifelight(R) Junior, a technology that can measure a child's heart rate, respiratory rate, blood pressure and oxygen saturation and detect fever in just 40 seconds using only a smartphone camera.The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of physical activity, socialisation and education on the mental, social and physical development of all children. Nevertheless, it remains common for parents to restrict the activities of clinically vulnerable children to minimise exposure to any infection. The result is lower academic attainment, higher rates of social isolation and mental illness, etc. Other parents do not restrict activities but live with heightened anxiety.Frequent vital sign monitoring of clinically vulnerable children can reassure parents that if their child does contract infection, it can be detected before significant deterioration occurs. This may make them more confident to allow their children to engage in everyday childhood activities, as is recommended for most of these children by their healthcare teams.Lifelight(r) Junior brings peace of mind to parents who wish to be alerted to early signs of infection in their children, providing a risk-measured way for the mental, physical, social and educational needs of clinically vulnerable children to be more greatly met. This is because its contactless nature and ability to operate on everyday smartphone technology makes regular vital sign monitoring effortless. It is particularly useful for those who find traditional equipment, such as blood pressure cuffs and thermometers, distressing or inconvenient.The aim of this 24-month project is to build, train and test Lifelight(R) Junior using data collected from xim's three past clinical trials (VISION D, VISION Acute and VISION MD) which together collected more than 20,000 training datasets.Lifelight(r) Junior is the second solution to be developed by xim. Lifelight(r) First is xim's first solution - a contactless, CE-marked tool that measures heart rate, respiratory rate and blood pressure in adults aged 18 years and above.Xim has previously won £5M+ to fund Lifelight(r) First R&D:\*SBRI - Phase 1 and Phase 2\*Innovate UK -- Smart Award, A4I, Innovation Loan\*NIHR -- AI in Health and Care Award\*SIGHT\*KEEP+Lifelight(r) has been named the "Most Cutting-Edge Blood Pressure Monitoring Solution" in the 2020 MedTech Awards, received a Med Tech Innovation Briefing from NICE in 2021, appointed a "Global Digital Health 100" company by mHealth journal, and was featured in Wessex AHSN's 2020 & 2021 Annual Reviews.