I-Corps: Recording system for improving outcomes in preterm infants

这个I-Corps项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是，该项目影响了如何提供护理，并改善了新生儿重症监护室（NICU）中早产儿的结局。由于早产儿暴露在与子宫环境非常不同的医院环境中，以响亮设备和工作人员互动形式出现的声音刺激创造了一个可能对人类发育产生负面影响的环境。早产儿在NICU中度过数周甚至数月，因此长时间暴露于这些潜在的非理想环境中。该项目开发的技术可能提供一种具有成本效益和简单的方法，以改善NICU中早产儿的结局和发育。利用作为该团队研究的一部分开发的数字技术，该I-Corps项目探索了应用记录的，个性化的，孕妇腹内声音的泌尿学研究的商业潜力。 这些声音应用于NICU中的婴儿，以改善他们的身体和智力发育结果。这项研究表明，这些低成本的技术可以改善早产儿的生命体征不稳定和压力水平。 I-Corps在这个项目中采用的技术涉及一种可穿戴设备，可以捕获子宫周围的高保真录音。这些录音包括生物声音，如心脏，肺和肠在一个较低的音调没有捕捉到目前可用的商业产品。当以专门的方式回放给婴儿时，这些录音有可能对早产儿的人类生长和发育产生积极影响。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is that the project influences how care is delivered and improves outcomes for premature infants in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Because preterm babies are exposed to hospital surroundings that are very different from the environment of the womb, sound stimulation in the form of loud equipment and staff interactions creates an environment that can potentially negatively affect human development. Premature infants spend weeks or even months in the NICU and are thus exposed to these potentially nonideal environments for long periods of time. The technology developed with this project can potentially provide a cost-effective and simple method to improve outcomes and development of premature infants in NICU.Leveraging a digital technique developed as part of this team's research, this I-Corps project explores the commercial potential of neonatology research applying recorded, individualized, intra-abdominal sounds from pregnant mothers. The sounds are applied to infants in a NICU in order to improve their physical and intellectual development outcomes. The work builds off research showing that these low cost techniques can improve vital sign instability and stress levels in premature infants. The I-Corps technology pursued with this project involves a wearable device that can capture high fidelity recordings around the womb. These recordings include biological sounds such as the heart, lungs and intestines at a low pitch not captured in currently available commercial products. When played back to infants in a specialized manner, these recordings have the potential to positively influence human growth and development in premature infants.