The non-contact long-term monitoring of infants and small children with respiratory diseases is the goal of a research project in which the TH Mittelhessen works with various partners. These include the leading engineering office for medical technology (IfM) in Wettenberg, the Children's University Hospital of Eastern Bavaria in Regensburg and the Gießen Transmit Center for Bioacoustics and Respiratory Physiology. Responsible at THM is Prof. Dr. Keywan Sohrabi from the Department of Health. The Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) is funding the project with 1.1 million euros.

Respiratory diseases are among the most common health problems in children. In addition to acute diseases, chronic diseases play a major role. Around ten percent of all children under the age of 15 are affected by asthma. In the majority of cases, the disease breaks out before the age of five. However, it is often overlooked or treated too late.

Medical-technical diagnostic methods for assessing respiratory impairment are only available for children over the age of five. In addition, they only provide snapshots during the medical examination and therefore only allow limited conclusions to be drawn about the overall situation in everyday life. A major reason for this is that the symptoms of the disease, such as shortness of breath, occur more frequently at night. Sohrabi therefore sees "a large diagnostic gap for the objective recording of sleep-related respiratory symptoms and breathing behavior as a whole."

The project partners therefore want to develop contact-free long-term monitoring for babies and small children. A 3D camera and microphone are used for this. Various symptoms relevant to the disease, such as coughing, are to be recorded via body movements, body temperature and breathing sounds, and then automatically recognized and evaluated using artificial intelligence.

A monitor provides parents and physicians with an at-a-glance representation of these events, enabling them to identify trends and take action. In addition, a mobile app provides information when critical situations arise. It also enables parents to collect diagnostic data in a standardized way using an electronic questionnaire.

“The new system supports and relieves the parents. Physicians receive objective long-term monitoring of the disease activity, which significantly improves the diagnostic options and therapy monitoring," says IfM Managing Director Klaus Brückner. "The innovative overall concept offers the potential for a sustainable improvement in the situation of the little patients and their relatives," summarizes Sohrabi.

The project will be completed by the end of 2021. It is financed as part of the BMBF programme "Small patients, big needs - medical technology solutions for child-friendly health care".