Baby Monitoring Belt

In the first few months of an infant’s life, skin-to-skin contact between the parent(s) and the infant - also called ‘kangaroo care’ - is crucial to develop an emotional connection.

When babies are born premature and need to be incubated for a long(er) period of time, that vital connection gets lost, often putting a lot of stress on both the parents and the baby. When a baby is taken out of an incubator, it is important to monitor the baby’s vital signs. Nowadays, this is done through wires and leads, thereby restricting the connection between the infant and the parents and decreasing mobility. TNO at Holst Centre helped Bambi Medical to develop a vital signs monitoring belt that alleviates this burden.

The baby monitoring belt demonstrates the value TNO at Holst Centre attaches to the human-centric aspect. The building blocks of this clothing belt are similar to the health patches. The belt contains dry electrodes that communicate data to an external device via a Bluetooth connection. Heart rates are measured with ECG electrode and respiration rates are measured through bio-impedance. When monitoring the vital signs, health professionals are able to determine the well-being of the baby without restricting the skin contact between the parents and the baby.

The areas of application of infant monitoring wearable systems are versatile. The emphasis lies on the adaption to your individual case, taking into account crucial features such as the right material for the sensitive skin of infants. The device can also aid in the research of possible causes of sudden infant death syndrome. The belt can measure the history of a baby’s well-being, thereby providing valuable clinical data to healthcare specialists during check-ups.