Swiss test wireless cameras to monitor newborns’ vital signs

Swiss researchers said Monday they have developed a wireless camera system to monitor vital signs in premature babies, a move that could replace uncomfortable and highly inaccurate skin sensors.

The skin sensors currently used to monitor vital signs in babies born prematurely generate false alarms in up to 90 percent of cases, mainly set off by the baby’s movement.

“This is a source of discomfort for the babies, because we have to check on them every time,” Jean- Claude Fauchere, a doctor at University Hospital Zurich’s neonatal clinic, explained in a statement.

“It’s also a significant stress factor for nurses and a poor use of their time –- it distracts them from managing real emergencies and can affect quality of care,” he added.

His hospital is preparing to begin tests of a new, contactless system created by researchers at the EPFL polytechnical university in Lausanne and at the Swiss Center for Electronics and Microtechnology, CSEM, in Neuchatel, the two schools said in a statement.

The system should allow premature babies kept warm in neonatal incubators to be medically monitored using highly sensitive cameras that detect the newborn’s pulse by detecting and analyzing its skin color, which changes ever so slightly every time its heart beats.

“Breathing is monitored by measuring movements of its thorax and shoulders. At night, infrared cameras take over, which means that monitoring can be carried out non- stop,” the statement said.