Experts Develop Smart Mattress that Accurately Monitors Premature Babies' Temperature to Avoid Complications

Nottingham Trent University experts are now working with Rober Ltd, a Chesterfield-based company, in developing smart mattresses to accurately monitor and keep premature babies at their ideal temperature to prevent any health complications.

According to Daily Mail, premature babies cannot maintain their body temperature on their own because of their system are not yet fully developed. Thus, they need to have a person or system to monitor their temperature at all time.

Premature Baby Smart Mattress that Accurately Monitors the Temperature

With advanced technology progressing fast, tech companies are developing smart gadgets built with artificial intelligence on mobile phones, cars, speakers, light bulbs, and homes as a whole. They would generally make life much easier and technologically connected.

If temperatures of premature babies are not properly managed, it can lead to breathing difficulty, metabolic problems, and other health issues. This is the reason AI is now being used in medicine to help improve the care and supervision standard for patients.

NTU School of Art and Design product design expert Professor Peter Ford who leads the project, said that it is vital for clinicians to provide reliable and accurate thermal management. However, it is quite difficult to do so outside an incubator since newborn babies and those very young premature ones cannot thermoregulate like adults, "so maintaining an appropriate body temperature at such a vulnerable age is essential."

Products creators claim the new smart bed can even detect minimal temperature fluctuations as well as warm up instantly to avoid the baby from getting any colder. This would make the healthcare staff's work much easier, but manual supervision is still necessary. The smart bed has significant advantages in the health of the babies and may even prevent untoward risks and even deaths.

"Babies not kept at the right temperature face increased risk of developing complications, so we were keen to develop something which helps ensure that their chances of normal development are maximized," Prof. Ford said.

Meanwhile, Rober Ltd Managing Director Michael Hutson added that the technology they are developing will offer vital support to the most fragile lives across the globe.

Hutson noted that by allowing newborn babies to sleep on these smart mattresses that monitor and provide precise temperature that suits their needs, any risks of temperature-related complications will be minimized.

Smart Mattress price and availability

While there is already a prototype created, which is built from foam and polyurethane, there is still no current price and timeline for the release of the device. It is still being tested, but the team hopes to launch the product the market "in due course."

"We look forward to testing the technology thoroughly with view to providing a product to the open market in due course," Hutson added.

Baby's Temperature: Why it is vital to keep it monitored?

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, when using an oral thermometer, it is normal for a child to have an average temperature of 35.5°C in the morning up to 37.7°C later in the day. However, oral temperature checks are not always accurate.

Instead, a rectal thermometer is regarded as more accurate while a baby's temperature is normal from as low as 36°C in the morning up to 37.9°C later during the day.

However, Health Line noted that if the baby's rectal temperature is below 35°C, it is already considered having low body temperature or hypothermia. It can be dangerous for babies, may even lead to death.

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Written by CJ Robles