A Chihlee University of Technology team has invented a low-cost baby monitor to alert parents to asphyxiation or baby-snatching by issuing automatic alarms to the their mobile devices.
Information management professor Peter Lu (呂崇富) and his students late last month were awarded a gold medal at the World Genius Convention in Tokyo, Japan, for their invention.
The device monitors the rising and falling of a baby’s chest for abnormalities that could indicate asphyxiation, Lu said, adding that it can detect a variety of scenarios, such as a baby choking on milk, sleeping face down or being smothered by a blanket.
Photo courtesy of Chihlee University of Technology
When an asphyxiation warning is triggered, an alert is sent to the parents’ designated mobile devices along with first-aid instructions they can use until paramedics arrive, he said.
The monitor also maintains a Bluetooth connection with the parents’ devices; when it is moved more than 10m away, an alarm for baby snatching is issued automatically, he said.
There are many wearable health monitors on the market, but most are expensive and cause chafing, Lu said.
However, the team’s monitor costs less than NT$1,000 to manufacture per unit and is small enough to be clipped to a diaper, avoiding skin contact, Lu said.
The monitor is better positioned for the mass consumer market than its competitors, as it is lighter, smaller, cheaper and more convenient for travel, Lu said.
The team is registering the invention with the patent office and is looking for a company to commercialize it, he added.
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