Proof of concept of monitoring solution of risk factors in the care of infants usi...
Abstract
While Sudden Death Syndrome Infants (SIDS) is the sudden death of babies from birth to one year old, affecting 55.3 per 100,000 live births (8% of infant deaths), the Apparent Life Threatening Event (ALTE) is another condition that affects 5 infants per 1000 live births, with the mortality rate being around 7.6%. One of the main symptoms is the prolonged apnea. In both SIDS and ALTE risk factors or symptoms can not be easily assessed by traditional electronic nannies, who typically transmit the image and sounds of the babies, and do not detect the risk factors for both conditions SIDS and ALTE. Considering that the rise of women in the labor market has increased significantly over the last decades, childcare has been a major challenge for families, and distance monitoring is a great way to reduce parental stress. In Brazil, to our knowledgment, there are no studies with the intention of producing apparatuses capable of detecting risk factors for SIDS or ALTE for monitoring at home, thus the research in this area is crucial. The present project aims to prove the concept of technology for the detection of risk factors of SIDS and apparent life-threatening events for babies from 0 to 1 year. Therefore, a solution based on the development of a wearable device with non-invasive sensors for detection of the position of the baby, breathing pattern, heart rate and body temperature has been proposed, with the transmission of this information carried out by means of wireless communication to a device connected to the Internet. In an Internet-connected server the data will be analyzed by computational algorithms and compared with the expected values in the pediatric protocols for generating alerts to baby caregivers via, for example, smartphone. There is no product in this category into the country, but at least five main competitors abroad have developed apparatus with some of the applications, named Mimo, Owlet, Sproutling, Snuza and Babysense. In contrast to these, our proposed innovation differs by using IMU technology (Inertial Measurement Unit) simultaneously to monitor position and frequency respiratory system positioned in the body of the baby, also associated with body temperature sensors and baby position, which can be used in the future in the form of accessories in baby clothes non-invasively. A scanner connected to the internet (gateway) may contain ambient temperature sensor which is also a risk factor for sudden infant death. The main technical challenge to be overcome in this project is to define the proper positioning of the sensors and to validate the concept that this technology is accurate enough to detect the desired parameters. In order to overcome this technical challenge, we propose the development of a prototype and execution of tests in this phase 1 stage in Wistar rats, which are similar in size and weight to that of preterm newborns, comparing the parameters obtained with reference equipment. The expected results are the validation or invalidation of the hypothesis that the selected technology can be used to detect risk events in infants for further development of a product based on technology and human testing. (AU)