A team of researchers from Stanford University and the University of Oxford has created a wearable ultrasound patch that continuously monitors babies during pregnancy. They believe this could help catch complications sooner and lower the risk of stillbirths.
The device, called UPatch, can provide real-time fetal imaging and track blood flow for hours, even when structures like the umbilical cord are moving. The researchers pointed out that existing monitoring techniques often lead to many false alarms or rely on sporadic hospital scans by trained professionals. Their findings appeared in Nature Biotechnology.
Professor Sheng Xu mentioned that with continuous monitoring, doctors can set individual baselines for patients and spot changes that might indicate issues. In trials involving over 100 pregnant women in the U.S. and the U.K., the patch's blood flow measurements closely aligned with what standard ultrasound machines show.
The team noted that the device successfully detected severe intrauterine growth restriction in one case of pre-eclampsia, which resulted in a caesarean section that likely avoided a stillbirth.
Now, they're working on a wireless version meant for daily use at home, hoping this tech can enhance prenatal care even in areas with limited resources.
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