Infants, especially premature infants, demand extra attention and care as they are extremely fragile and sensitive. When admitted to Newborn Intensive Care Units, biomarkers and wires are attached to their body and blood samples are taken for various lab tests and to monitor their health. These processes require extreme precaution.
Both medical professionals and the infant’s family members want to get rid of those wires. However, is infant care possible with non-invasive and wireless technology? A team of researchers at Washington State University have developed Smart Pacifier to address this issue.
Let’s know more about it in this article.
A Smart Pacifier that Monitors Infant’s Electrolyte Levels
What if a newborn’s pacifier could be used to track electrolyte levels in neonates in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU)?
This question led to the development of the Smart Pacifier by an international research team at Washington State University. The device has the potential to reduce the number of intrusive blood collections required to supply specimens for clinical laboratory testing of important biomarkers.
At the same time, this gadget will monitor an infant’s electrolyte level and send wireless notifications to caretakers in real-time.
“We know that if premature babies receive high-quality care in the first month of their lives, they have a better chance of surviving. Blood is drawn from the newborn twice a day in a hospital setting, thus there are only two data points. This technology allows for non-invasive monitoring of a baby’s electrolyte levels in real-time.” –Jong-Hoon Kim, a co-corresponding author of the study and an associate professor at Washington State University’s School of Engineering and Computer Science.
What are the research results of Smart Pacifier?
The smart pacifier was tested on a group of infants at a hospital, and the results were equivalent to data obtained from routine blood draws. WSU researchers have published these findings in the journal Biosensors and Bioelectronics as proof-of-concept research.
How does the Smart Pacifier Work?
When the Smart Pacifier is placed in the infant’s mouth, saliva is automatically drawn into microfluidic channels—the device does not require a pumping mechanism. Small sensors inside these channels measure the sodium and potassium ion concentrations in the saliva. All the information from this new pacifier is relayed to the caregiver in real-time using wireless Bluetooth technology.
Can Smart Pacifiers change the way infant health is monitored?
The use of wireless technology in medical devices has become more and more common over the past decade. However, this technology has been used solely for patient monitoring to check vital signs or physiological data without affecting patients in any way.
The smart pacifier developed by researchers at Washington State University allows for noninvasive and wireless monitoring of infants. There is ongoing research to make this device noninvasively measure lactate, salt levels and blood glucose in the near future.
With the use of this device and its wireless technology, premature infants can benefit enormously. It will allow real-time monitoring and extra care to infants, at the same time, making them feel safer and at ease throughout their entire stay in NICUs.
