Now, wearable sensors to track new babies' heart rates
Scientists have developed new
wearable graphene-based sensors that could allow parents to keep track of their
babies' heart and breathing rates with automatic updates to their smartphones. The
sensors which the researchers describe as "the most sensitive liquid-based
devices to have ever been developed" could also be transformative for
anyone with life-threatening conditions such as sleep apnea.
Since graphene is cheap to produce,
the new breakthrough should be affordable, they said. Physicists at the
University of Sussex in the UK created a liquid made from an emulsion of
graphene, water and oil, which conducts electricity. The team was inspired to
create the new health monitor after the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
called for new affordable wearable health technologies for babies in situations
where resources are scarce.
Graphene is a two-dimensional
material made from carbon atoms that is strong, flexible and conductive. When a
channel or tube holding the liquid is stretched, even by a small amount, the
conductivity of the liquid changes. This means that the respiration rates and
pulses of people wearing the device can be tracked. Since the new liquid
technology is so sensitive, it picks up very small signals when attached to the
body.
In order to monitor the pulses of
babies at the moment, clunky sensors need to be attached to babies' tiny feet
or hands, which often fall off, researchers said. The information is then
relayed to a monitor by wires which can restrict the child's movement.
"Using the conducting liquid
emulsions we have developed, we will produce cheap, wearable sensors based on
graphene. The devices will be comfortable, non-invasive and can provide
intuitive diagnostics of breathing and heart rate," said Professor Alan
Dalton from the University of Sussex.
The researchers eventually want to
developed a suit that a baby can wear, which will read-out all vital
information wirelessly. "We hope to see this made available within two to
four years," said Dalton.
"In the laboratory we have
created a sensor that has the potential to drastically improve early detection
of life- threatening symptoms such as sleep apnea or cardiac arrhythmia, where
constant monitoring with conventional equipment is challenging outside of the
hospital environment," Matthew Large, lead researcher on the project
added.
11.01.2018
Happiness is not a station you
arrive at, but a manner of traveling
Margaret B. Runbeck
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