Introducing heart rate variability monitoring combined with biomarker screening into a level IV NICU: a prospective implementation study

The aim of this study was to investigate the association between the implementation of a local heart rate variability (HRV) monitoring guideline combined with determination of inflammatory biomarkers and mortality, measures of sepsis severity, frequency of sepsis testing, and antibiotic usage, among very preterm neonates. In January 2018, a...

Towards a quieter neonatal intensive care unit: evaluating and visualizing soundscapes to raise awareness on sound-producing events

A soundscape is the acoustic environment that is constantly surrounding us. Soundscapes in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) might adversely affect neonates, their families, and healthcare providers. In this unit, the number of alarms and nuisance is very high, and studies show that it negatively affects both the well-being of patients and...

Safety Investigation of Millimeter Wave Radar to Monitor Vital Signs in the NICU

Neonates are among the most fragile in the human population. Even more so when born prematurely. Their loss of development time in the womb disrupts their growth, and the neonatal intensive care unit environment can add multiple stresses that hinder their development. This can partly be attributed to the intrusive environment of a neonatal...

Electrical Impedance Tomography applications for the preterm neonate

Data analysis for electrical impedance tomography (EIT) research requires manual selection of sequences with a normal breathing pattern. This procedure is lengthy and the lack of a standardised approach results in different practices among EIT studies, limiting the potential and comparability of the research.<br/>This article presents a new...

The NICU Neighbourhood: Creating a low-stress parental experience

This master thesis is the result of a graduation project for the master Design for Interaction at Delft University of Technology. The aim of this project was to design a concept that improves the parental experience at the Intensive Care Neonatology (ICN) at the Amsterdam UMC. The experiences at the ICN can strongly influence the parental well...

aEEG analog front end IC for a neonatal brain development monitoring

Every year number of prematurely born infants grows. Most underdeveloped organ after birth is brain. Therefore its monitoring is very important, especially as it can provide indications about health state in a future, both short and long term. Non invasive method of brain monitoring is EEG recording. However tedious process of system set up and...

A messenger app for parents with an infant in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

Worldwide, 1 out of 10 newborns is born prematurely... In the Netherlands this means there are over 15.000 preterm births every year... Becoming a parent of a premature infant is very overwhelming and stressful. Parents need to deal with difficult themes, such as the appearance of a sick infant, the fears of the infant’s survival chances, the...

User centred design of an IV set for Neonatal Intensive Care

The value of user centred design lies in the increased product acceptance that can be achieved after new product implementation. In designing for healthcare, barriers that impede successful product acceptance can most often be attributed to the gap that exists between medical professionals and product developers. Centralising the intended user...

Philips AVENT, design opportunities for a go-to hospital strategy

Philips offers a range of mother and child care products under the name of Philips AVENT. As Philips AVENT is the company’s brand for baby feeding, Philips Design sees a potential link with innovation opportunities for optimizing nutrition and partnering with families in the NICU and strengthening the business of Philips AVENT with a market...

Advisory System for Oxygen administration during Resuscitation of preterm infants: The ASOR, a clear view on oxygen saturation

Very preterm infants need support to survive. This support almost always incorporates respiratory support in the form of pressure and additional oxygen. Since late 2010 multiple resuscitation councils have advised oxygen saturation targets after birth. An observational study was conducted to observe to which extent the European Resuscitation...