Perinatal Medicine

Impact: Research Topic/Theme (at group level)

Beschrijving van impact

“Family-centered care innovations for the first 1000 days of life”

The first 1000 days of life start with conception and are followed by the prenatal(pregnancy), delivery (child-birth), and neonatal (newborn) phases. All phasesare very different in nature and yield important needs and opportunities fortechnology-based innovation. In the unique collaboration between hospital,university and industry, e/MTIC focuses on non-invasive monitoring techniquesand on educational simulators. These focal points are intertwined via commonwork on physiological models. They match naturally to the available expertiseof the partners and to several important wheels that are already in motion.Last but not least, they foreshadow an important innovation potential,scientifically, clinically, and commercially. All projects contribute to ourfamily-centered care innovation vision.
Our themes:

o Pregnancy monitoring:
Pregnancy and delivery are risky phases in the life of mother andchild. Key health risks include premature delivery and poor placenta function,which are both potentially lethal to the fetus or can lead to life-longdisabilities. Current monitoring techniques leave much to be desired: theyfrequently fail to detect critical risks yet also lead to many unnecesaryinterventions.Moreover they are only sparsely available (20-week echo,antenatal visits, delivery) so that risks that develop in between are likely togo undetected. Our aim is to a) strongly improve the dependability of pregnancymonitoring (especially Doppler ultrasound), and b) to make a step towardscontinuous monitoring (by analyzing electrical signals recording on thematernal abdomen).

o Neonatal monitoring &simulation:
The Neonatal Mointoring & Simulation program line develops newtechniques for safe and quiet care of the newborn, facilitating family-centerdcare and mother-child bonding, in order to improve patient outcome. We focus onthe development of new parameters and on unobtrusive measurement ways of theseparameters. Moreover, we investigate techniques for predictive monitoring usingbig data. To investigate the effects of clinical interventions on neonataloutcome, we develop simulation (mathematical and physical) models. The modelsare primarily used for the formulation of hypotheses, that are then tested in aclinical setting

o Family health:
In the Parents & Kids program line weinvestigate the perinatal period. Being pregnant, delivery and neonatal careare not separate events, they are part of continuum of professional-care andself-care that starts with the desire to have a child to bringing the child up,and supporting the best development possible. We aim for a holistic solution,where services are accessible and relevant for professionals, parents, thechild and his family in different contexts and time. We investigate and designproduct-service systems, and address the complexity, growth and openness ofthese systems. Special attention is paid to ensure meaningful experiences inthis domain for the different end-users.
Categorie van impactResearch Topic/Theme (at group level)

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