UFMG researchers create a device with LED light that helps to save premature babies

Prematurity is the leading cause of death in newborns younger than 28 days. In the world, per year, more than one million children of this group do not resist, according to the World Health Organization. To avoid this situation, researchers at a public university developed a device with LED light technology capable of more accurately determining the gestational age.

The information is important to define appropriate procedures to adopt with the baby soon after birth, such as temperature control, breathing equipment and even transfer to reference centers. The first 24 hours can be crucial to saving the baby.

It is in this period that the unprecedented technology, called Preemie-Test, works, according to Professor Zilma Reis, who coordinates the study developed by the Skinage group, from the Faculty of Medicine of UFMG (Federal University of Minas Gerais).

“In many situations, the mother does not follow up [pré-natal], particularly in low-income countries. When you do not have the correct gestational age, there is a risk to the baby’s survival. That’s because it’s not sure if he’s premature or how premature he is. Recognizing this condition soon after delivery is the first step to avoid complications”, says Zilma.

The test is done on the sole of the baby’s foot with a device slightly larger than a thermometer. The LED light shines differently on the nine-month-old and prematurely born, and the Preemie-Test calculates based on skin penetration.

Weight is also considered. Then, an artificial intelligence algorithm makes the calculation more accurate, with about 90% accuracy, according to the team. The result is immediate.

“Premature babies have transparent skin, so light penetrates a lot. In a non-premature baby, it works like a mirror, [a luz] hits and returns to the machine. We developed a scale to determine skin maturity proportional to transparency”, explains the professor.

The study was carried out with 781 babies from January 2019 to May 2021, in five Brazilian public hospitals: Maranhão, Brasília, Rio Grande do Sul and two in Minas Gerais. Another stage was carried out with 305 children born weighing less than 2.5 kilos in Brazil and Mozambique.

According to the WHO, preterm birth is one that occurs before the 37th week of pregnancy, or less than 259 days after the last menstrual period. At this stage, the baby may not be ready to face the world outside the womb without adequate support.

Annually in Brazil, according to the Ministry of Health, 300,000 children are born prematurely. In 2021, the mortality rate for this population was 15.06 for every thousand preterm infants.

Professor and gynecologist Zilma, linked to the Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics at UFMG, explains that it may happen that the baby is born apparently well, but the situation changes.

“He starts to go into respiratory failure because the lung is not prepared. With the LED light, the idea is to identify this premature and provide quick information for an adequate immediate care. The main thing of this technology is to support the decisions of health professionals. “

Ruth Guinsburg, professor of neonatal pediatrics at the Escola Paulista de Medicina at Unifesp (Federal University of São Paulo), says that the moment of birth and the first day of a child’s life are critical.

When the baby is born, everything changes abruptly and he has to adapt. Therefore, she says that at the time of delivery, there needs to be a structure that meets the complexity of the birth of a premature baby, who will have more difficulty making the transition from breathing.

“In the uterus, the baby receives oxygen from the mother. When he is born, he needs to breathe and fill his lungs with air, but he no longer has the placenta to help. This transition is extremely critical for babies not to die in the first hours of birth. life”, says the Unifesp professor.

The company BirthTec, licensed by UFMG, based in Brazil and Portugal, was created to produce and market the Preemie-Test worldwide. Rodney Nascimento Guimarães, director general, explains that the objective is to donate the equipment to some hospitals in Brazil and in other countries.

“We are doing a study to identify in which birth scenario the equipment could help the most. We are already sending the device to India, Mexico, Colombia and 13 more countries, such as Guatemala, Costa Rica, Trinidad and Tobago, Ecuador, Chile, Argentina and United States.”

Guimarães says that Anvisa must approve the device in November. The Ministry of Health reported that it has reinforced care and assistance for pregnant women and babies in the SUS (Unified Health System) and that the maternal and child care network prioritizes the improvement of health care actions for women and children, strengthening health services. high-risk pregnancy.