Wireless Heart Sensor for Capturing Cardiac Orienting Response for Prediction of Neurodevelopmental Delay in Infants

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Marcelo Aguilar-Rivera, University of California San Diego; Julie Kable, Emory University; Lyubov Yevtushok, OMNI Net Ukraine Birth Defects Program; Yaroslav Kulikovsky, OMNI Net Ukraine Birth Defects Program; Natalya Zymak-Zakutnya, OMNI Net Ukraine Birth Defects Program; Iryna Dubchak, OMNI Net Ukraine Birth Defects Program; Diana Akhmedzhanova, Khmelnytsky City Perinatal Center; Wladimir Wertelecki, OMNI Net Ukraine Birth Defects Program; Christina Chambers, University of California San Diego; Todd P. Coleman, University of California San Diego
• Language: English
• Date: 2022-12-01
• Publisher: MDPI
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
• License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/s22239140
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: SENSORS
• Volume: 22
• Issue: 23
• Grant/Funding Information: Data analysis and write-up were funded by the NIH Research Grant R01 AA026579-01, funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)—Christina Chambers and Julie Kable (MPIs). Data collection of the Ukraine Cohort was funded by the NIH Research Grant #U01AA014835, funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) and the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS)—Christina Chambers, PI. The Ukraine Cohort data collection was conducted in conjunction with the Collaborative Initiative on Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (CIFASD), which is funded by grants from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). Additional information about CIFASD can be found at www.cifasd.org. Additional support was provided by USDA Agricultural Research Service intramural projects (5306-51530-019-00D). The USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.
• Keywords: cardiac orienting response; wireless sensor; Instruments & Instrumentation; Science & Technology; neurodevelopment delay; Physical Sciences; Chemistry; Engineering, Electrical & Electronic; mobile application; monitoring; Chemistry, Analytical; IMPACT; electrocardiogram; EXPOSURE; auditory and visual stimuli; tablet; CHILDREN; Technology; Engineering
• Research Categories: Health Sciences, Medicine and Surgery; Chemistry, Analytical

Abstract

Early identification of infants at risk of neurodevelopmental delay is an essential public health aim. Such a diagnosis allows early interventions for infants that maximally take advantage of the neural plasticity in the developing brain. Using standardized physiological developmental tests, such as the assessment of neurophysiological response to environmental events using cardiac orienting responses (CORs), is a promising and effective approach for early recognition of neurodevelopmental delay. Previous CORs have been collected on children using large bulky equipment that would not be feasible for widespread screening in routine clinical visits. We developed a portable wireless electrocardiogram (ECG) system along with a custom application for IOS tablets that, in tandem, can extract CORs with sufficient physiologic and timing accuracy to reflect the well-characterized ECG response to both auditory and visual stimuli. The sensor described here serves as an initial step in determining the extent to which COR tools are cost-effective for the early screening of children to determine who is at risk of developing neurocognitive deficits and may benefit from early interventions. We demonstrated that our approach, based on a wireless heartbeat sensor system and a custom mobile application for stimulus display and data recording, is sufficient to capture CORs from infants. The COR monitoring approach described here with mobile technology is an example of a desired standardized physiologic assessment that is a cost-and-time efficient, scalable method for early recognition of neurodevelopmental delay.