Smart nipple for premature babies

History

2022: Device Announcement

At the end of May 2022 at Washington State University, a team of specialists introduced a smart nipple that can provide continuous monitoring of electrolyte levels in saliva. The device can help avoid taking blood from premature babies two times.

Blood sampling is common practice to control signs of dehydration, which can be dangerous for babies born prematurely. The smart nipple uses microfluidic channels to absorb saliva, and then sensors inside the device measure the concentration of sodium and potassium ions and wirelessly transmit data Bluetooth to the device of medical personnel or relatives. Premature babies are incredibly gentle and require special care, so care needs to be made as non-invasive for babies as possible, according to the researchers.

{{quote 'You often see pictures from the intensive care unit where babies are connected to a pile of wires to check their health status, such as pulse, breathing rate, body temperature and blood pressure. We want to get rid of these wires, and this device is a non-invasive way to monitor the concentration of electrolytes in babies in real time, "said one of the developers of the new device, Jong-Hoon Kim. }} Methods for measuring electrolyte levels in saliva exist, but they usually require taking a saliva sample that is inserted into bulky equipment. The researchers turned to nipple as a way to obtain real-time measurements that did not require manual sampling or invasive blood sampling.

The device does not require a pump to move saliva, as the microfluidic channels inside it naturally draw saliva in through the capillaries. For May 2022, the researchers tested the device on several babies and found that the electrolyte measurements that the smart nipple provides were comparable to those obtained with routine blood sampling.^[1]

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