Automatic Vibrotactile Device for Interruption of Apnea in Premature Infants

Apnea in premature infants is a common medical problem faced daily by neonatal intensive-care unit staff worldwide. The condition is defined as a pause in breathing that lasts for 20 s or longer and is traditionally treated by manual simulation administered by a nurse. This work proposes a design of an automatic apnea interruption system for infants, which utilizes a noninvasive vibrotactile (vibration feedback) unit to replace the traditional manual stimulation. The overall system consists of a vibrotactile unit and a device/user control interface that are used with a commercial patient monitoring device. The system monitors physiological signals associated with apnea, such as heart rate and blood oxygen level, and activates the vibrotactile unit in a closed-loop fashion. The system provides multimode haptic feedback for individualized patient treatment by allowing the care provider to adjust the magnitude and duration of the tactile stimulation from the user interface. As a preliminary evaluation, the system is tested for safety and performance using simulated data.