NeokoM

The vital signs of premature infants are monitored particularly closely in clinical settings. Conventional contact sensors are typically used to monitor cardiac and respiratory activity. However, these can irritate the infant’s delicate skin and disrupt important rest and sleep periods. Furthermore, the use of disposable sensors entails significant staffing requirements and high costs for hospitals.

The "NeokoM – Neonatal contactless Monitoring" project is researching a radar system that can easily, simultaneously, and contactlessly monitor multiple vital signs of premature infants in the clinical setting, particularly respiration and heart rate. The radar, positioned at the patient’s crib, is designed to detect respiration and pulse waves caused by even the slightest movements on the skin’s surface. The greatest challenge for the researchers lies in robustly separating the signal components of respiration and heartbeat, as well as in detecting interference signals ("artifacts") caused by the child’s movement.

Experts from research and medicine expect that the contactless recording of vital signs will have positive effects on the care and treatment of premature infants, improving their starting conditions and reducing long-term consequences resulting from premature birth.

Tasks of the Project Partners

In the "NeokoM" project, the Fraunhofer IDMT contributes its experience from developing a radar system for use in sleep monitoring of adults. Through a novel measurement approach and optimal positioning of the radar, vital signs from specific body regions are recorded, enabling more robust signal separation of respiration and heartbeat. The researchers are adapting the existing technology for vital sign monitoring on the much smaller bodies of preterm and newborn infants. This also includes the development of automatic data analysis, including artifact detection using AI algorithms.

The project is coordinated by GETEMED Medizin- und Informationstechnik AG, which focuses not only on requirements management and the specification of radar functions but also on the design and implementation of a technology demonstrator.

The Department of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine at Jena University Hospital is contributing important insights from patient care to the project. It is collecting reference data and conducting initial pilot studies. The demonstrator being developed as part of the project will also be tested in everyday clinical practice.