Wireless patches can comfortably monitor sick babies’ health
New skin sensors are less invasive and don’t harm an infant’s fragile skin
Wireless skin patches that measure a baby’s vital signs could offer a safer, more comfortable way of monitoring premature and sick infants in the hospital.
Each year, about 300,000 newborns are admitted to U.S. neonatal intensive care units, or NICUs, including preemies that are vulnerable to heart problems, breathing trouble and other medical complications (SN Online: 2/16/11). Doctors need to keep constant tabs on these tiny patients’ vital signs, and that typically involves outfitting a newborn with rigid sensors that are wired into machines around the baby’s cradle.