One of the most joyful moments in the NICU was the first time I got to hold my son in my arms. I was excited yet terrified because he was tiny and attached to so many leads and wires. I was afraid that I would detach something or pull something that would hurt him.
The nurses instructed me on how to hold him and brought my rocking chair closer so that the wires weren’t taut. I held my breath every time they removed him from his isolette and when it was time to place him back in. Nothing bad happened that first day or any other of the days that we bonded. But what if there was a better way?
A team of researchers have developed new technology that can replace the bundle of wires that monitor babies’ vital signs in the NICU. Northwestern Medicine magazine details the background of this new innovation and how soon we may see it in local NICUs.
An interdisciplinary Northwestern team has developed a pair of soft, flexible wireless sensors that replace the tangle of wire-based sensors that currently monitor babies in hospitals’ neonatal intensive care units (NICU) and pose a barrier to parent-baby cuddling and physical bonding.
The scientists concluded that the wireless sensors provided data as precise and accurate as that from traditional monitoring systems. The wireless patches also are gentler on a newborn’s fragile skin and allow for more skin-to-skin contact with the parent. Existing sensors must be attached with adhesives that can scar and blister premature newborns’ skin.
Rogers estimates that his wireless sensors will appear in American hospitals within the next two to three years. With support from two major nonprofit organizations, Rogers’ team expects to send sensors to tens of thousands of families in developing countries over the next year as part of an international effort.
Read more at magazine.nm.org
