title: Camera-Based, Non-Contact, Vital-Signs Monitoring Technology May Provide a Way for the Early Prevention of SIDS in Infants.
abstract: Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is the unexplained death, usually during sleep, of a baby younger than 1-year-old. Even though researchers have discovered some factors that may put babies at extra risk, SIDS remains unpredictable up until now. One hypothesis is that impaired cardiovascular control may play a role in the underlying mechanism of SIDS. A reduction of heart rate variability (HRV) and progressive decrease in heart rate (HR) have been observed in infants who have later succumbed to SIDS. Many clues indicated the heart could be the final weakness in SIDS. Therefore, continuous monitoring of the dynamic changes within the heart may provide a possible preventive strategy of SIDS. Camera-based photoplethysmography was recently demonstrated as a contactless method to determine HR and HRV. This perspective presents a hypothesis that a camera-based, non-contact, vital-sign monitoring technology, which can indicate abnormal changes or a sudden loss of vital signs in a timely manner, may enable a crucial and low-cost means for the early prevention of SIDS in newborn infants.
authors.affiliation: Brain and Behavior Discovery Institute and Department of Neurology, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta University, Augusta, GA, USA; Banna Biomedical Research Institute, Xi-Shuang-Ban-Na, Yunnan, China.
authors.forename: Fang
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Brain and Behavior Discovery Institute and Department of Neurology, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta University , Augusta, GA , USA.
authors.forename: Meng
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic and Cardiac Surgery, Shanghai Children's Medical Center, Affiliated with Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine , Shanghai , China.
authors.forename: Zhongyi
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Brain and Behavior Discovery Institute and Department of Neurology, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta University, Augusta, GA, USA; Banna Biomedical Research Institute, Xi-Shuang-Ban-Na, Yunnan, China.
authors.forename: Joe Z
authors.initials: JZ
authors.lastname: Tsien
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic and Cardiac Surgery, Shanghai Children's Medical Center, Affiliated with Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine , Shanghai , China.
authors.forename: Zhaohui
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Lu
keywords: SIDS; camera; non-contact monitoring; prevention; video; vital signs