Standard of care management in neonatal and pediatric intensive care units (NICUs and PICUs) involve continuous monitoring of vital signs with hard-wired devices that adhere to the skin and, in certain instances, include catheter-loaded pressure sensors that insert into the arteries. These protocols involve risks for complications and impediments to clinical care and skin-to-skin contact between parent and child. Here we present a wireless, non-invasive technology that not only offers measurement equivalency to these management standards but also supports a range of important additional features (without limitations or shortcomings of existing approaches), supported by data from pilot clinical studies in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) and pediatric ICU (PICU). The combined capabilities of these platforms extend beyond clinical quality measurements of vital signs (heart rate, respiration rate, temperature and blood oxygenation) to include novel modalities for (1) tracking movements and changes in body orientation, (2) quantifying the physiological benefits of skin-to-skin care (e.g. Kangaroo care) for neonates, (3) capturing acoustic signatures of cardiac activity by directly measuring mechanical vibrations generated through the skin on the chest, (4) recording vocal biomarkers associated with tonality and temporal characteristics of crying impervious to confounding ambient noise, and (5) monitoring a reliable surrogate for systolic blood pressure. The results have potential to significantly enhance the quality of neonatal and pediatric critical care.In the United States, over 480,000 critically-ill infants and children enter intensive care units (ICUs) each year. Those less than one year of age suffer from the highest morbidity and mortality rates and therefore require the most intensive care 1,2 . These fragile patients include

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Indwelling arterial lines, the clinical gold standard for continuous blood pressure (BP) monitoring in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU), have significant drawbacks due to their invasive nature, ischemic risk, and impediment to natural body movement. A noninvasive, wireless, and accurate alternative would greatly improve the quality of patient care. Recently introduced classes of wireless, skin‐interfaced devices offer capabilities in continuous, precise monitoring of physiologic waveforms and vital signs in pediatric and neonatal patients, but have not yet been employed for continuous tracking of systolic and diastolic BP—critical for guiding clinical decision‐making in the PICU. The results presented here focus on materials and mechanics that optimize the system‐level properties of these devices to enhance their reliable use in this context, achieving full compatibility with the range of body sizes, skin types, and sterilization schemes typically encountered in the PICU. Systematic analysis of the data from these devices on 23 pediatric patients, yields derived, noninvasive BP values that can be quantitatively validated against direct recordings from arterial lines. The results from this diverse cohort, including those under pharmacological protocols, suggest that wireless, skin‐interfaced devices can, in certain circumstances of practical utility, accurately and continuously monitor BP in the PICU patient population.

Robust literature supports the positive effects of kangaroo mother care (KMC) on infant physiologic stability and parent–infant bonding in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Comparatively little is known about kangaroo father care (KFC) in the NICU, and KFC implementation has been limited. Our pilot feasibility study objective was to examine KFC effects on premature infants and fathers as compared to KMC. Parents of preterm NICU infants independently completed a 90‐min Kangaroo Care (KC) session on consecutive days. Infant heart rate variability (HRV) and apnea/periodicity measures were compared (pre‐KC to KC; KFC to KMC). Additionally, we assessed the feasibility of administering three psychosocial questionnaires to fathers and mothers in the NICU and after discharge. Ten preterm infants completed 20 KC sessions (334/7–374/7 weeks post‐menstrual age). Results demonstrated similar infant physiologic responses between KMC and KFC, including significant differences in measures of HRV (p < .05) between KC and non‐KC periods. Eighty‐eight percentage of questionnaires administered were completed, supporting the utilization of these instruments in future research of this population. If confirmed, these preliminary results identify an opportunity to objectively assess KFC effects, supporting the development of empirically based KFC programs benefitting NICU families.

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