Stick-on sensors will let premature babies get the skin contact they need

DATE: Fri, Aug 15, 2025
PUBLICATION: MIT Technology Review

Babies born too soon have to be closely monitored, but all that equipment stops parents from getting close. A new wireless sensor could help. More than one in 10 babies are born too early. Small and fragile, they often need to be kept warm and monitored closely, usually in a hospital incubator. It’s a sight that pulls at the heartstrings: a tiny premature baby in a nest of wires, surrounded by equipment. But a new monitoring system could make those wires redundant. It relies on two ultra-thin patches, measuring just a few centimeters across, that are attached to the baby’s chest and foot.