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Now a smart textile for monitoring progress of newborns

16 Jan '16

3 min read

An Italian SME has developed a wearable monitoring system called Newmoon (Smart Garments in Newborns and Babies Monitoring) for babies in the first two to four sensitive hours of life. It is completely non-invasive and enables continuous monitoring of the baby, which can be very useful in emergent situations, the European Commission said in a press release.

The first two to four hours of life are the most sensitive for newborns. In this timeframe, during which the baby is in a transient state from pre- to post-natal, continuous monitoring of bio-signals can be very useful for preventing critical situations.

Describing the system, Alessia Moltani, CEO of ComfTech and coordinator of Newmoon, said the monitoring system aims to impact the organisation of the nursing staff's work, while increasing the quality of healthcare through the use of continuous quantitative monitoring rather than a qualitative observation repeated over time in a discontinuous manner.

She, however, warned that the sensitive monitoring system was not a replacement but a complement to the traditional existing system of visual recognition by nursing staff: The system has not been designed to avoid the visual monitoring recognition implemented by nurses, but to complement it with real data (ECG, respiration). In case of anomaly, the monitoring system immediately sends a notification to the caregiver.

The system, which received European Union funding under Horizon 2020, is completely wireless. It comprises three parts: 'sensitex unit' or the garment with embedded textile sensors manufactured in soft cotton. The shape of the garment has been carefully studied in order to minimise impact during the skin to skin contact; the 'beat unit' — a small electronic device that collects the data in order to send it to caregivers via smartphones or hospital systems — is small and compact, and the case or cover that protects the device. It is soft and covered with waterproof fabric, according to a Community Research and Development Information Service report of EU.

At present, the traditional 'wired' monitoring systems are invasive and incompatible with the bonding procedure, as well as with the skin-to-skin contact between mother and baby which is considered to be of utmost importance. This is why most hospitals use these systems only for premature babies or if they foresee any risk for the newborn, and this means that the possibility of extending monitoring to all newborns is a real clinical challenge.

“We developed our wearable monitoring system with three objectives in mind: the system would have to be accurate and reliable, comfortable and wireless with no impact on 'bonding moments', and very easy to use”, MS Moltani said of the Newmoon garment.

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