SIDS
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Sleepace has a sleep tracker for newborn babies
In the mind of any parent is the nagging worry about conditions like SIDS, but you can't be watching your rugrat 24/7. That's why there's been an explosion in devices that can monitor your newborn as they sleep and alert you if, for instance, it fails to detect breathing. Sleepace is joining the line this year with its new sensor, the Smart Sleep Sensor for Babies.
Exmobaby links up with AT&T, lets you keep tabs on sleeping babes
Ask any parent of a newborn what they miss most and they'll almost always mention sleep. That particular baby-borne exhaustion can take an even greater turn for the worse if said rents happen to be worrywarts. But wouldn't it be nice if bleary-eyed Moms and Pops could outfit those fussy babes with bio-monitoring pajamas and catch up on Zzzz's? It's not as far-fetched as it sounds. Exmovere's already introduced tech along those very lines and, now, the company has AT&T as a partner to push its Exmobaby onesies forward. The transmitter-equipped pjs work by collecting critical data from sleeping tots -- like heart rate and temperature -- that can be sent as alerts to phones, tablets and even PCs running the appropriate software. There's no launch date announced for the washable scifi duds nor has pricing been set at this preliminary stage, but chin up -- those night sweats should soon be a distant memory.
Researchers use wireless network to monitor breathing, could save lives
When Neal Patwari and his team of researchers developed a wireless network capable of seeing through walls, we assumed they were simply looking to cultivate their Alastor Moody-like superpowers. Turns out, they had far more important things on their minds. Patwari and his colleagues at the University of Utah have now penned a new study in which they demonstrate how their motion detecting technology could be used to monitor breathing patterns, as well, potentially enabling doctors to keep closer track of patients with sleep apnea or babies susceptible to sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). To do this, Patwari reclined on a hospital bed and surrounded himself with 20 wireless transceivers operating at a frequency of 2.4GHz, as pictured above. He then timed his breathing at about 15 breaths per minute (the average rate for a resting adult), which he measured with his array of nodes and a carbon dioxide monitor. The engineer ultimately found that his system's algorithm could accurately measure respiration within 0.4 to 0.2 breaths per minute -- a relatively low error rate, since most monitors round off to the nearest full breath. Patwari says this development could offer a non-invasive and low-cost alternative to the devices used in most hospitals, and hopes to implement his technology into at-home baby monitors, as well. He acknowledges, however, that it will likely take at least five years before any of that happens -- so don't hold your breath. Full PR after the break.
Exmovere shows off Exmobaby biosensor pajamas for babies, coming to retail in 2011
Baby monitors have become quite commonplace over the past 20 years or so, and come in many variations. Exmovere (a company that previously produced the wearable Chariot) has debuted a new type of monitor, however, which are actually part of the baby's pajamas, and which are said to help monitor heart rate, emotional state and behavior. The outfit -- called Exmobaby -- uses the Zigbee wireless standard, effectively connecting the baby to the home wireless network, enabling the parents (or you know, whoever's around) to track the babies various states via icons on their mobile phones. Sound great? Well, it's heading to limited retail in 2011, though no pricing has been announced yet. Full press release is below.
