Device for non-invasive detection of meconium stained amniotic fluid

Device for non-invasive detection of meconium stained amniotic fluid

Purushotham Tanjeri , E Geethanjali

Need of an innovation: Meconium passes after the baby’s delivery, but about 10-20% of the fetus may release inside the uterus. And its only recognized after the membrane ruptures and the amniotic fluid starts coming out. But the aspiration of meconium can occur even before the obstetrician recognizes passage, leading to mortality and morbidity.
Currently, there is no direct measurement system that could detect the presence of meconium without rupture of the membrane. The fetal heart is not a reliable indicator of taking the sole obstetric decision, and it could change for several other reasons. With this limitation, we are introducing a new exclusive, portable and non-invasive device for detecting the passage of meconium before the rupture of membranes and giving the status of meconium information to the obstetrician. It provides better management for clinicians to avoid neonatal complications with our propriety algorithm using the properties of meconium. It works based on optoelectronics.
Utility, Impact, and cost-effectiveness of the proposed innovation: This device builds based on microcontrollers (MC), Photodiodes(PD’s), LEDs (chosen based on experiments – which will penetrate and identify) and flexible silicone material for adhesive to the skin. The propriety software is built to control accurately and interpret the mother and newborn signals to alarm the individual if any abnormality is found in the amniotic fluid. The microcontroller will operate the amount of light to be sent according to the skin tone [skin color meter], and PD will detect the presence of meconium by sending photons to the tissue layers till the amniotic fluid. The Present innovation will fill the unmet need in identification of meconium before rupture of membrane. It will create impact more in resource limited settings where resuscitation facilitation and expertise is less. Helpful for the doctors who can rule out patient from meconium stained and triage them for better care and even can refer them to higher healthcare center based on assessment of the mother condition. Still product needs more validation from different clinical data and processed with multiple skin tones to accurately measure the meconium presence and stage of meconium grade. We partnered with multiple experts to disentangle the obstacle and get the more evidence-based product by iterating differential experiments. This product exclusively works for meconium detection and guides them for timely clinical intervention. To get remote expert opinions and operate in the deep-rooted rural areas, it comes with cloud monitoring tool to update the information in real-time to the nearest hospital by taking necessary precautions beforehand. We aim to deliver the product less than the average smartphone price and bringing to all deserved clinical settings.