Internet of medical things – integrated, ultrasound-based respiration monitoring system for incubators

The study's aim was to develop a non-contact, ultrasound (US) based respiration rate and respiratory signal monitor suitable for babies in incubators. Respiration rate indicates average number of breaths per minute and is higher in young children than adults. It is an important indicator of health deterioration in critically ill patients. The current incubators do not have an integrated respiration monitor due to complexities in its adaptation. Monitoring respiratory signal assists in diagnosing respiration rated problems such as central Apnoea that can affect infants. US sensors are suitable for integration into incubators as US is a harmless and cost-effective technology. US beam is focused on the chest or abdomen. Chest or abdomen movements, caused by respiration process, result in variations in their distance to the US transceiver located at a distance of about 0.5 m. These variations are recorded by measuring the time of flight from transmitting the signal and its reflection from the monitored surface. Measurement of this delay over a time interval enables a respiration signal to be produced from which respiration rate and pauses in breathing are determined. To assess the accuracy of the developed device, a platform with a moving surface was devised. The magnitude and frequency of its surface movement were accurately controlled by its signal generator. The US sensor was mounted above this surface at a distance of 0.5 m. This US signal was wirelessly transmitted to a microprocessor board to digitise. The recorded signal that simulated a respiratory signal was subsequently stored and displayed on a computer or an LCD screen. The results showed that US could be used to measure respiration rate accurately. To cater for possible movement of the infant in the incubator, four US sensors were adapted. These monitored the movements from different angles. An algorithm to interpret the output from the four US sensors was devised and evaluated. The algorithm interpreted which US sensor best detected the chest movements. An IoMT system was devised that incorporated NodeMcu to capture signals from the US sensor. The detected data were transmitted to the ThingSpeak channel and processed in real-time by ThingSpeak’s add-on Matlab© feature. The data were processed on the cloud and then the results were displayed in real-time on a computer screen. The respiration rate and respiration signal could be observed remotely on portable devices e.g. mobile phones and tablets. These features allow caretakers to have access to the data at any time and be alerted to respiratory complications. A method to interpret the recorded US signals to determine respiration patterns, e.g. intermittent pauses, were implemented by utilising Matlab© and ThingSpeak Server. The method successfully detected respiratory pauses by identifying lack of chest movements. The approach can be useful in diagnosing central apnoea. In central apnoea, respiratory pauses are accompanied by cessation of chest or abdominal movements. The devised system will require clinical trials and integration into an incubator by conforming to the medical devices directives. The study demonstrated the integration of IoMT-US for measuring respiration rate and respiratory signal. The US produced respiration rate readings compared well with the actual signal generator's settings of the platform that simulated chest movements

Mimo pillow : an intelligent cushion designed with maternal heart beat vibrations for comforting newborn infants

Premature infants are subject to numerous interventions ranging from a simple diaper change to surgery while residing in Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICUs). These neonates often suffer from pain, distress and discomfort during the first weeks of their lives. Although pharmacological pain treatment often is available, it cannot always be applied to relieve a neonate from pain or discomfort. This paper describes a non-pharmacological solution, called Mimo, which provides comfort through mediation of a parent's physiological features to the distressed neonate via an intelligent pillow system embedded with sensing and actuating functions. We present the design, the implementation and the evaluation of the prototype. Clinical tests at Máxima Medical Centre in the Netherlands show that among the 9 of 10 infants who showed discomfort following diaper change, a shorter recovery time to baseline Skin Conductance Analgesimeter (SCA) values could be measured when the maternal heartbeat vibration in the Mimo was switched on and in 7 of these 10 a shorter crying time was measure

Development of low-cost IOT based infant incubator in Tanzania: a case of east African community region

A Project Report Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements of the Award of the Degree of Master of Science in Embedded and Mobile System of the Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and TechnologyPhysical adjustment to life outside of the mother's body of a baby might be challenging due to health issues and other environmental factors. Prematurity is one of the most crucial problems in Tanzania since it contributes to a greater infant mortality rate. Despite the vital function that infant incubators play, their operation cost is too expensive for low-income countries to obtain and it relies only on electricity for their operation. The fundamental goal of this project is to create an inexpensive, efficient, and dual-powered incubator that saves premature infants' lives. We developed the system which utilizes ESP32 as the Microcontroller Unit board interfaced with DHT22, a thermistor for skin temperature computation, MAX30102 to evaluate heart rate and oxygen saturation in the blood. An oxygen sensor measures the air quality in the chamber, and a ultraviolet sensor records the light intensity of the phototherapy unit used to treat jaundice. The computed information is displayed and transferred to a webpage that tracks the infant's data. When the system detects a critical condition, it sounds an alarm and sends short messege services to medical personnel via Global System for Mobile Communication. The system adjusts the environment using a heater, humidifier, and oxygen valve. The final design was implemented on a Printed Circuit Board and tested after a circuit was designed and simulated. The sensors were calibrated against standard sensors to receive accurate measured data, and then transferred via Wi-Fi through the ESP32 to a webpage for remote monitoring and control. In conclusion, based on the test-performed the developed system can save the lives of premature babies, is low-cost, and is applicable in areas with limited resources. Furthermore, we recommend an easy way to assess the functionality of the locally developed systems by the regulatory institutions involved so as to be implemented successfully

A Novel smart jacket for blood pressure measurement based on shape memory alloys

Smart textiles with medical applications offer the possibility of continuous and non-invasively monitoring which benefit patients and doctors. To measure blood pressure in premature infants a miniature actuator that can be sewn to the fabric is required. For this reason, an actuator based on shape memory alloys has been designed so that it compresses as a conventional air cuff but with 3.5W power consumption and can be controlled by applying different Pulse-Width Modulation (PWM) signals, thus offering several levels of compression. In addition, the first concept prototype of the smart jacket is achieved; made of a natural fiber fabric that incorporates: an optical sensor, a capacitive pressure sensor with great accuracy, the force actuator and a Lilypad Simblee control board which can be sewn to the fabric, is washable and has a Low Energy Bluetooh module (BBE) to connect to other devices. All this allows the systolic, diastolic and cardiac pressure to be measured for the first time in the world with the smart jacket by a semi-occlusive method. Altogether with a mobile application which allows doctors to monitor the patient at every moment, perform remote control, data measurement and recording in a comfortable and intuitive way that satisfies the necessity for a better clinical management to the growing number of patients and is a source of savings for the clinical services

Switches and mortar in the Internet's shadow : a study of the effects of technology on competitive strategy for the Internet's landlords

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 2000.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 132-138).Communications technology has experienced a period of explosive growth, driven by a confluence of legal, political and technical factors including the following: the 1968 Carter Phone and 1980's competitive carrier decisions, the 1984 divestiture of AT&T, the Telecommunications Act of 1996, the development and standardization of new technologies, and the proliferation of the Internet and World Wide Web. This thesis asks the fundamental questions: How has the rapid growth of the Internet and other communications technologies changed the competitive strategy of commercial tenants, and how have these changes affected commercial real estate developers? This study proposes that developers and landlords need to use more forward-looking theories of competitive strategy in order to understand the current and future real estate needs of technology-driven commercial tenants. Telecommunications deregulation and the growth of the Internet led to the creation of a new and rapidly growing high technology industry and commercial tenancy. Deregulation and the Internet also transformed the way traditional commercial real estate uses information technology, encouraged the forging of partnerships between commercial real estate professionals and "last mile" information technology contractors, and resulted in the creation of a new commercial real estate product-the telecom hotel.' Current literature suggests traditional commercial tenants might differ from Internet-based business tenants in four general areas of the development process: feasibility, site selection, design and building operations. The proliferation of the Internet as a catalyst for new real estate products, commercial tenants and partnerships, and the observed differences in development practices between traditional and commercial tenants are both clues to fundamental differences between these two tenants' competitive strategies. It is possible to understand these clues to tenant behavior by taking an in-depth look at how these two tenants compete in their respective industries. Traditional commercial business tenants appear to conform to Michael Porter's theories on competitive strategy and advantage. High-tech tenant's competitive strategies seem to be more accurately reflected by Gary Hamel and C.K. Prahalad's model of competition for the future. These two theories, and the industries they represent, differ in four dimensions: Future versus Past/Present orientation, technology use, rate of growth, and resource use. In comparing three case studies on these four strategic dimensions, this thesis concludes that Porter's more stable, efficiency-oriented model does explain the strategy of Northwestern Mutual, a large insurance organization. Hamel and Prahalad's model better explains the hectic, high growth, future orientation of Akamai and YankeeTek Incubator as well as Teleplace, a telecom hotel service company. Hamel and Prahalad and Porter's frameworks explain significant discrepancies between predicted development practices based on current industry thinking, and observed development practices based on these in depth case studies. This thesis thus verifies a need by real estate developers and landlords to use forward-looking theories of competitive strategy when examining the current and future needs of hightech tenants.by Geoffrey Morgan and Benjamin V.A. Pettigrew.S.M