Delphi
The Delphi project will develop a smart brain monitoring system for newborns that may have brain injury. The new system will help to detect the severity of brain damage as soon as possible enabling early intervention and appropriate therapies tailored to each individual baby
Brain injury at birth, potentially due to lack of oxygen or blood supply to the brain, sepsis and other conditions, can leave newborns with permanent disabilities such as cerebral palsy, epilepsy or learning difficulties. Early detection of neonatal brain injury can be vital to improve outcomes and reduce the impact of the brain damage. While vital signs such as heart rate, respiration, temperature and blood pressure are monitored closely when newborns are in neonatal intensive care (NICU), electrical monitoring (EEG) is not routinely available due to its complexity and the need for expert interpretation.
The Delphi project will create a prototype monitoring system using modern deep learning techniques that will analyse neonatal electrical brain patterns and combine this data with other vital signs information to provide an overall brain health index for the baby. Ultimately this system will be integrated into cot-side patient monitoring of all infants admitted to neonatal intensive care units.