Page 49 - Status Report

The Context

Lack of skilled workers has contributed to nearly
330,000 stillbirths among other morbidities in
India. India has roughly 900,000 Accredited
Social Health Activists (ASHAs) and 200,000
Auxiliary Nurse Midwives (ANMs). These
workers are tasked with ensuring that pregnant
women remain healthy, deliver safely and
take appropriate care of newborns. Currently,
they have limited tools at their disposal for
monitoring fetal wellbeing. Fetal Heart Rate is
a good indicator of several parameters of fetal
health. Equipping community health workers
with a readily usable device to monitor fetal
heart rate during pregnancy can go a long way
to reduce stillbirths, enhance neonatal health
and social well-being.

The Initiative

The project aims to develop a
biomedical device for monitoring
fetal heart rate during the course of
pregnancy to help clinicians screen
high-risk cases and take decisions
regarding possible interventions to
reduce the high rate of stillbirths. The
team is working on a device Brün
which is meant to monitor several
critical parameters closer to the
delivery date. The device is based on
plurality of Ultrasound and Doppler
sensors and captures the fetal
movement without causing any stress
to the baby. An algorithm analyzes the
data to determine if it is reactive or
non-reactive. A simple LED indicator
then shows whether the baby is safe
or not. The device is compact and is
equipped to gather data and transmit
it through a smart phone by primary
healthcare workers to a point where
they can be clinically examined. Brün
is a revolutionary new labor-monitoring tool. Its technology ensures easy detection of vital signs
improving its ability while keeping costs manageable.

The Outcome

The product is currently in the development phase with early clinical data being obtained to display
efficacy. The device is slated to be commercialized in December of 2017.

Status Report 49