Shine On‘Smart diapers’ can track your baby’s health
Just when you thought parental instincts were squashed by the Tweet Pee app that tells parents when to change their baby's diaper, along comes the Smart Diaper that tracks an infant's health.
This new sensor-embedded diaper tracks not only when it's time for a nappy change, but also when a baby is dehydrated, has kidney problems or a urinary track infection. It alerts parents to call a doctor when any of these signs are present.
Developed by New York-based startup Pixie Scientific, the Smart Diaper assesses an infant's urine with a patch on the bottom of the diaper that changes colors if it detects something is outside of normal parameters.
Also see: Don't know when to change baby's diaper? There's an app for that
“I was driving with my wife and daughter one day, when my wife asked if the baby had wet herself,” Yaroslav Faybishenko, founder of Pixie Scientific, tells the New York Times. “I realized she was sitting in data.”
The diaper patch has several coloured squares, and each square represents a different interaction with a protein, water content or bacteria. There is also a neutral white square, which makes it easier to check for colour changes in the other squares.
Parents can then scan the diaper code with their smartphone using an accompanying app to get health information about their baby. Data from the patch is also sent to a central location where physicians can assess how the child is doing and whether the baby needs further testing.
Also see: Inventive dad creates bedtime-storytelling PJs
Pixie Scientific has raised just over $10,000 of its $225,000 goal on Indiegogo, with 55 days remaining in its campaign.
The company hopes to raise enough funds to begin manufacturing, conduct a study with the University of California, San Francisco, and secure approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
It turns out that Smart Diaper and Tweet Pee are not the only unusual diaper-related apps on the market.
Sprout Diaper Tracker lets parents track the consistency and colour of their infant's pee and poo, so they can take that information to a doctor if there is ever a problem.
