A portable near infrared spectroscopy system for bedside monitoring of newborn brain.
BACKGROUND
Newborns with critical health conditions are monitored in neonatal intensive care units (NICU). In NICU, one of the most important problems that they face is the risk of brain injury. There is a need for continuous monitoring of newborn's brain function to prevent any potential brain injury. This type of monitoring should not interfere with intensive care of the newborn. Therefore, it should be non-invasive and portable.


METHODS
In this paper, a low-cost, battery operated, dual wavelength, continuous wave near infrared spectroscopy system for continuous bedside hemodynamic monitoring of neonatal brain is presented. The system has been designed to optimize SNR by optimizing the wavelength-multiplexing parameters with special emphasis on safety issues concerning burn injuries. SNR improvement by utilizing the entire dynamic range has been satisfied with modifications in analog circuitry.


CONCLUSIONS
As a result, a shot-limited SNR of 67 dB has been achieved for 10 Hz temporal resolution. The system can operate more than 30 hours without recharging when an off-the-shelf 1850 mAh-7.2 V battery is used. Laboratory tests with optical phantoms and preliminary data recorded in NICU demonstrate the potential of the system as a reliable clinical tool to be employed in the bedside regional monitoring of newborn brain metabolism under intensive care.
Bozkurt
Alper
A
School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems, Drexel University, 3141 Chestnut Street Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA. alper.bozkurt@drexel.edu
Rosen
Arye
A
Rosen
Harel
H
Onaral
Banu
B
D001921:Brain / Q000098:blood supply* / Q000378:metabolism*; D003936:Diagnosis, Computer-Assisted / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D015931:Intensive Care, Neonatal / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008991:Monitoring, Physiologic / Q000295:instrumentation; D010092:Oximetry / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D010108:Oxyhemoglobins / Q000032:analysis*; D019095:Point-of-Care Systems; D013055:Spectrophotometry, Infrared / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods
D010108:Oxyhemoglobins