Tassie tech goes global

System helps get proper oxygen levels to babies

A TASMANIAN mathematical breakthrough that enables hospital neonatal staff to better regulate oxygen supplies to premature babies will be adopted worldwide.

The algorithm, which has been developed by a team of University of Tasmania researchers over 10 years, works in a similar way to smart cruise control on a car, but instead adjusts the delivery of oxygen to a baby.

A British manufacturer of infant support devices, SLE Ltd, this week agreed to use the technology in its ventilator machines.

Since announcing the breakthrough about a year ago, Peter Dargaville, a neonatal specialist at the Royal Hobart Hospital, and at the Menzies Institute for Medical Research, along with Tim Gale a biomedical engineer with UTAS School of Engineering, have been trialling their technology with babies at the Royal Hobart Hospital’s Neonatal and Paediatric Intensive Care Unit.

Professor Dargaville said the algorithm, guided by a smart sensor that could gauge a baby’s blood oxygen level through contact with the baby’s skin, was better than humans at ensuring babies got the right amount of oxygen.

He said even a slight over exposure to oxygen could impair the development of a baby’s eyes, lungs and gut, while under exposure could increase the risk of neonatal death.

“The ability to breathe normally is often the biggest challenge facing premature babies, many of whom need respiratory support, including oxygen therapy for some time after birth,” he said

“Conventionally, keeping a preterm baby’s blood oxygen concentration at the right value is a challenging task which, despite constant vigilance from bedside staff, is difficult to achieve.”

Prof Dargaville said the agreement with SLE included an undertaking to supply the smart ventilator machines at low cost, to maximise adoption by hospitals particularly in developing countries.

He said the trade-off would be a reduced royalty stream, to UTAS.

SLE managing director Bernard Nelligan said “this is a very exciting breakthrough in infant respiratory support”.

“The incorporation of the technology into our current and future respiratory devices will make our automated oxygen control accessible to many millions of infants worldwide,” Mr Nelligan said.