Capstone: Computational Prediction of Premature Infant Apnea
- Tyler Hartley on Tue, 22 Sep 2009 12:52PM EDT
- Public
- Capstone Project
Developing a predictive model of apnea in premature infants for clinical use, thereby providing a better standard of care in the NICU.
Currently, there exists an enormous shortage of care for premature babies in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). As it stands, cases of apnea, or episodic lack of breathing, are unpredictable and potentially life-threatening. However, there exist no predictive signs of apnea, nor do there exist successful methods to declare an infant apnea free. Apnea can lead to severe physical injury, brain damage, or even death. Often, Sudden Infantile Death Syndrome (SIDS) results from severe apneic episodes. However, computational modeling and electrocardiograms can be used as tools to develop predictive algorithms for infantile apnea.
