05:35
Mr. Asim Rajput
Maternal monitoring: A tool designed by the West Wireless Health Institute measures fetal heart rate by an ultrasound monitor (lower belt) & maternal contractions by another sensor (higher belt), & then transmits the information by Bluetooth to a tablet (left).
Credit: West Wireless Health InstituteThe tool, a cardiotocography machine dubbed Sense4Baby, was designed by engineers at the nonprofit West Wireless Health Institute, a medical research organization whose mission is to make use of wireless know-how to reduce the cost of health care.
An cheap transportable tool could make it simple to monitor fetal health in remote locations, & it might also provide an alternative to more pricey machines currently used in doctors' offices in the developed world.
Cardiotocography machines are currently used by obstetricians, usually in the coursework of the third trimester & in high-risk pregnancies, to measure fetal heart rate & uterine contractions as an indicator of fetal distress. The heart rate of a healthy fetus drops in the coursework of a contraction & then quickly comes back to normal. "If the doctor sees a lack of modify or early or late changes in heart rate, it could be a sign of trouble," says Steven Garverick, an engineer at West Wireless who has been leading the project.
"We designed Sense4Baby from the ground up to be low-cost," says Joe Smith, West Wireless's chief medical officer. "It takes every advantage of consumer-scale microelectronics & ubiquitous low-cost communication infrastructure." The institute is now planning field tests of the tool in Mexico & is in talks to organize tests at major healthcare systems in the United States. The tool has not yet been approved by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration.
An cheap transportable tool could make it simple to monitor fetal health in remote locations, & it might also provide an alternative to more pricey machines currently used in doctors' offices in the developed world.
Cardiotocography machines are currently used by obstetricians, usually in the coursework of the third trimester & in high-risk pregnancies, to measure fetal heart rate & uterine contractions as an indicator of fetal distress. The heart rate of a healthy fetus drops in the coursework of a contraction & then quickly comes back to normal. "If the doctor sees a lack of modify or early or late changes in heart rate, it could be a sign of trouble," says Steven Garverick, an engineer at West Wireless who has been leading the project.
"We designed Sense4Baby from the ground up to be low-cost," says Joe Smith, West Wireless's chief medical officer. "It takes every advantage of consumer-scale microelectronics & ubiquitous low-cost communication infrastructure." The institute is now planning field tests of the tool in Mexico & is in talks to organize tests at major healthcare systems in the United States. The tool has not yet been approved by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration.
1 comments:
Has anyone thought of making this waterproof as well?
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