Big data, artificial intelligence (or AI), and Cardiovascular Technology are some of the terms we are taking into the future. Pretty soon, you will be able to monitor your baby’s cardiovascular health through a wearable gadget. Here is the catch; the baby will still be a fetus in the womb.
Artificial intelligence continues to grow border by margin with machine learning. Simultaneously, we are becoming more advanced in how we process big data. AI will come up with flexible electronics that will constantly rely on big data to monitor the health of the fetus and the expecting mother.
The Need for Cardiovascular Technology Advancement
A common heart disorder that constantly affects unborn babies is congenital heart disease or CHD. Statistics show that CHD affects up to 25% of infants within the first year of being born. Some infants are lucky to have the condition diagnosed before they are born. When the health issue goes undetected, the cardiac lesions that form in the infant’s tiny heart can lead to death. It is therefore important that diagnosis is timely to ensure the unborn baby is not in harm’s way.
However, this presents a challenge. It is only possible to monitor an infant’s cardiac health periodically when the mum goes for prenatal checkups. Anything could happen to the unborn child before the next checkup is due. Therefore, there is a need for technology that will monitor the heart’s health 24/7. This technology has to be consumer-friendly as well not to offset your current medical policy.
Flexible Electronics Are the Future
This flexible electronic comes in the form of a wearable sensor that will be designed to offer personalized care to people. The sensor will be in the form of a flexible chip that will be etched on the skin. This chip will constantly monitor fetal health, as well as the mum, throughout the 9 months to delivery.
The wearable chip will then transfer information wirelessly to an app on your phone giving you a daily report of the fetus’ health. Physicians and health scientists hope that this wearable device will reduce the number of undetected congenital heart disease cases in unborn babies. Experts believe that this lower significantly the rate of infant mortality.
Final Thoughts
By and large, our world today is heavily interconnected by the smart devices that we own. Cardiovascular technology hopes to tap into this digital network to improve heart screen program sessions in infants. Expecting mothers will finally rest at night knowing that a ‘guardian angel’ is watching over their unborn child’s heart health.
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