Every 40 seconds, a baby dies from the complications of preterm birth, totaling over 2,000 babies globally per day. Preterm birth rates are rising, yet doctors have few reliable methods for determining which pregnancies are most at risk. When a baby is born prematurely, the risk of brain, developmental and respiratory problems increases – impacting the baby, their family and the healthcare system at large.
But what if doctors could prepare instead of react, anticipate instead of respond? What if they could identify risk before preterm birth begins?
Biomedical engineering students at Florida International University have helped develop a device designed to detect early signs of preterm labor risk in about five seconds. The system, called PPRIM (Portable Preterm Imaging), could flag risk up to three months earlier than current screening methods.
Professor of biomedical engineering Jessica Ramella-Roman runs FIU's Medical Photonics Lab. She has been developing this technology for over a decade. Working in Ramella-Roman's lab, doctoral students JunZhu (Jenny) Pei and Amanda Sanchez are leading the effort to commercialize PPRIM as PolarDoc. The team recently advanced to the final eight at this year's Hult Prize competition.
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