Originally Published MDDI
February 2003
R&D DIGEST
Monitor Noninvasively Measures Premature Infants’ Vital |
| Current systems for measuring neonatal vital signs are invasive and can be used for a relatively short period of time following birth. The new noninvasive device overcomes these limitations. |
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The Purdue Research Foundation (West Lafayette, IN) and Theron Technologies LLC (Indianapolis) have joined forces to develop a noninvasive device to take the vital signs of premature infants. The device, invented at Purdue University (West Lafayette, IN), uses optical techniques to measure systolic, mean, and diastolic blood pressure; heart and respiratory rates; and oxygen saturation in premature and other low-birthweight babies.
Low-birthweight babies, who weigh less than 5 lb, 8 oz, make up 7% of births in the United States each year. Very-low-birthweight babies, weighing less than 3.3 lb, account for about 1% of births. These conditions result in about two-thirds of newborn deaths each year. The blood pressure of these small babies must be monitored to check for indications of hypovolemia—an abnormal decrease in blood volume. Monitoring requires that a catheter be passed through the baby’s umbilical cord to directly measure aortic pressure.
The new device provides a noninvasive yet more comprehensive method to measure blood pressure and other critical blood parameters. The Purdue research team is led by Leslie Geddes, PhD, Showalter Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Bioengineering. Says Geddes, “The neonatologist, the premature infant physician, and the small-infant pediatrician do not currently have one single instrument to measure vital signs in their patients.
And they don’t have a noninvasive blood pressure monitor that’s accurate enough.” Discussing direct umbilical artery catherization, he adds, “Although this method is beyond criticism, it is available for only a short time after birth, before the umbilical artery starts to close. The device we are developing will allow the neonatologist to monitor blood in a noninvasive manner beyond the period of umbilical artery recording. Physicians can also use the device to obtain oxygen saturation and heart and respiration rates with no added effort.”
Theron Technologies is a joint venture of Barnard Life Sciences (Indianapolis) and Theron Inc. (Carmel, IN) that was formed to commercialize this Purdue-licensed technology. To date, Theron Technologies has developed a working prototype of the system and plans to demonstrate its performance in clinical trials. The firm intends to use the technology as the basis for a number of products for several distinct markets.
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