Scientists Develop Wearable Ultrasound Patch for Monitoring Babies
Researchers have designed a wearable ultrasound patch aimed at continuously monitoring unborn babies, with aspirations of enhancing early detection of pregnancy complications.
The team explains that current ultrasound technologies come with significant limitations. For instance, the traditional methods for monitoring heart rates and contractions often lead to a high number of false alarms. And while handheld ultrasound devices can be effective, they are generally used for a limited number of scans, typically needing a trained operator to administer them.
“Current diagnostic tools only provide a snapshot of the baby’s condition,” noted Prof Sheng Xu from Stanford University, one of the senior authors of the study. “Measurements are often restricted to hospital visits, which means that valuable data can be overlooked during gaps between these visits.”
In contrast, Xu emphasized that a wearable device offers the capability to continuously capture data, regardless of location. “You won’t miss crucial information. This allows for identifying baseline signals for each patient and analyzing changes over time,” he explained, which could pave the way for tailored diagnoses or interventions.
Xu and his team developed a patch that can image the fetus for several hours, tracking real-time blood flow, including that within dynamic structures like the umbilical cord.
Currently in a proof-of-concept stage, the device, termed UPatch, is tethered to external electronics and requires conventional ultrasound for initial setup. However, the team believes this is the pioneering technology of its kind.
“This paper represents a significant leap in demonstrating the feasibility of such a device,” said Dr. Antoniya Georgieva, a senior author from the University of Oxford.
In their report published in the journal Nature Biotechnology, the team detailed how they tackled several challenges, such as signal loss caused by fetal movement and weak signals stemming from blood vessel depths using various electronic components and algorithms.
The researchers, many affiliated with health tech firms, conducted trials of UPatch in both the US and UK.
In one evaluation involving 62 pregnant participants, they compared blood flow data from UPatch with that from standard handheld devices. “We found that the readings from the wearable patch closely matched those from conventional ultrasound equipment,” stated Tom Park, a PhD student at UC San Diego and the lead author of the study.
The patch was also utilized to continuously monitor fetal heart rate and blood flow in 52 women, which proved critical in one particular case.
“In a pre-eclamptic situation, UPatch revealed severe intrauterine growth restriction, resulting in a timely cesarean to avert stillbirth,” the team reported.
Park mentioned that another significant finding was that fetal blood flow can vary dynamically over time, with temporary shifts that don’t always signal a lasting issue. “This illustrates the shortfalls of relying solely on intermittent scans,” he noted.
The team is currently working on a wireless version of the technology. “We envision a wearable ultrasound system that could be used continuously in everyday life, including at home,” Park explained.
Xu highlighted the advantages of wearables, especially in lower-resource settings like developing countries, while Georgieva emphasized the far-reaching benefits these devices could bring.
“The potential to directly prevent stillbirth is enormous,” she stated, also emphasizing the importance of data collected through such devices in advancing academic research. “Having this data could vastly enhance our understanding of what contributes to survival in the womb for some babies compared to others.”
