PNEUMACRIT: Preterm Neonate / neonatal Embedded Universal Microelectronic wearable Acquisition For Cardio Respiratory Intensive Therapy

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PNEUMACRIT will provide a revolutionary multi sensor wearable imaging system that will inform lung function diagnosis for infants and children with conditions that can lead to respiratory problems. Although respiratory support, especially mechanical ventilation, can improve their survival, it may also cause severe injury to the vulnerable lungs, resulting in chronic pulmonary morbidity lasting into adulthood. PNEUMACRIT has the potential to provide early detection of respiratory failure in infants, by providing a low-cost monitoring system, which will also facilitate optimisation of the respiratory support. This will provide both immediate benefits and decrease the risk of patients developing long-term respiratory disorders. PNEUMACRIT pursues breakthroughs in analytical measurement, microsystems embedded in flexible printable wearable materials, signal processing, and organic devices, to produce multi-parameter clinical measurements obtained from the data produced from electrical impedance tomography (EIT), Electrocardiogram (ECG) and apnoea monitoring. EIT is a non-radiative, inexpensive technique that uses small electrical currents to produce cross sectional images of the body that can facilitate real time dynamic monitoring of lung aeration, and recent studies have shown that it is effective in monitoring aeration in preterm babies in a clinical setting. However, to maximise its diagnostics potential, this EIT information need to be combined with other non-invasive measures. Advances in electrode technologies within the project will enable multi-site recordings, without the need for physical interconnection and integrated power supplies, opening the door to a new generation of diagnostic wearables. Such monitoring is crucial because each year millions of babies across the world suffer from respiratory failure due to immaturity of the lung or infectious diseases. In addition, standard lung function tests are not suitable for use with babies and young children until they are old enough to actively co-operate with instructions (~age 7 years). Therefore, PNEMACRIT could, in future, provide valuable lung function information to this age group as well.