In what may be good news for those who have to constantly monitor babies at risk for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) researchers in Cork have come up with a new microchip sensor. The senor was developed at the Tyndall National Institute in University College Cork.
SIDS is a respiratory problem which needs immediate action. The microchip sensor may be able to make a difference for not just the babies in cots but also for hospital patients who have respiratory problems. It would even be able to help people who fall asleep while driving a vehicle.
Dr. Domenico Zito
The sensor can be used to monitor people in their homes in real time as data is relayed to GPs and medical staff in hospitals. The device can be used to monitor fitness and personalize health care for independent healthy living for people with respiratory troubles.
The micro chip sensor is an ultra wide band pulse radar that catches small movements. It is sensitive enough to catch the chest movement made by breathing. It is the first time that a radar like this has been integrated into a single silicon chip. The sensor has been safely tested on humans and is likely to get produced commercially next.
Speaking about the breakthrough development, Dr Domenico Zito, leader of the research team, said: "This microchip is the result of a dedicated and highly-skilled research team at Tyndall National Institute which have been developing this microchip for a considerable time within a fruitful cooperation with the research group in Bioengineering led by Prof. Danilo De Rossi at the University of Pisa, Italy. We recently presented our work to the prestigious IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference 2011 in San Francisco, the world-wide top conference in microelectronic design both for industry and academia. We believe that this microchip has the potential to make a profound impact on monitoring the respiratory diseases, as well as the number of deaths resulting from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome or accidents arising from driver fatigue. The microchip gives doctors access to extensive data recorded over long observation intervals, which will allow them to understand more about pathologies and their manifestations."