SurePulse: Next Generation Multiparameter Vital Signs Monitoring for Newborns

十分之一的婴儿在出生时需要帮助他们的呼吸，七分之一的婴儿将被送往新生儿护理中心，即10.5万(英国)和2000万/年。原因包括出生过早或有意外的创伤或感染。在整个新生儿期接受最佳治疗的婴儿通常会继续过上正常的生活，然而，那些不是这样的婴儿面临着包括器官损伤在内的长期问题的风险。医疗专业人员有几种方法可以帮助生病的新生儿，但要做到这一点，他们需要可靠地监测婴儿的生命体征。这包括测量婴儿的心率(HR)和氧气水平，并确保他们的体温稳定。父母和婴儿之间的皮肤接触有相当长的长期好处。然而，当前的监测解决方案并不是针对新生儿的独特需求而设计的(通常这些解决方案是为成人设计的，并针对新生儿护理进行了调整或改变用途)，而且可能会很麻烦，阻碍了最佳护理和父母的结合。我们已经开始通过设计一种独特的软帽来解决这些限制，该软帽包含一个小而安全的无线光学传感器，可以测量新生儿的心率，同时保持新生儿的体温。这种监护仪已经被批准在英国、欧洲和美国使用。现在，我们希望为护理最脆弱的高危婴儿的医疗保健专业人员提供另一种具有扩展功能的先进设备，包括心电、氧气水平和温度。这将使父母更容易和更自然地进行必要的新生儿皮肤到皮肤护理，因为他们知道自己的婴儿受到安全的监测。这种新的多功能设备与我们先进的帽子相辅相成，将是一种安全、温和、可穿戴和无线的设备，旨在改善婴儿的长期结局。该设备的好处包括为医疗专业人员提供更多信息，更好的父母皮肤对皮肤体验，以及改善患者安全。我们估计，五年后，这项技术每年将造福约525,000名婴儿及其父母。

One in ten babies need assistance with their breathing at birth and one in seven will be admitted to neonatal care i.e. 105,000 (UK) and 20 million/year worldwide.The reasons for this include being born too early or with unexpected trauma or infection. Babies receiving optimal treatment across the neonatal period will generally go on to lead normal lives, however, those where this is not the case are at risk of long-term problems including organ damage.Healthcare professionals have several ways in which they can help sick newborn babies, but to do this they need to reliably monitor the baby’s vital signs. This includes measuring the baby's heart-rate (HR), oxygen levels and making sure their temperature is stable.There are considerable long-term benefits of skin-to-skin contact between parents and baby. However, current monitoring solutions were not designed for the unique needs of newborn babies (often these were designed for adults and scaled or repurposed for neonatal care) and can be cumbersome and get in the way of optimal care and parental bonding.We have started to address these limitations by designing a unique soft cap containing a small and safe, wireless optical sensor that measures newborn HR whilst keeping the newborn warm.This monitor is already approved for use in UK, Europe and America. We now wish to give healthcare professionals, caring for the most vulnerable high-risk babies another advanced device with extended features including ECG, oxygen levels and temperature. It will make it easier and more natural for parents to have the essential neonatal skin-to-skin care knowing their baby is safely monitored. This new multi-function device, complementing our advanced cap, will be a safe and gentle, wearable and wireless, and aimed at improving a baby's long-term outcome.The benefits of this device include improved information for healthcare professionals, a better parental skin-to-skin experience, and improved patient safety. We estimate after five years that this technology will benefit the lives of ~525,000 babies and their parents/year.