ESA technology helps produce pyjamas to prevent cot death
A new brand of baby pyjamas that help prevent cot death has been designed with the help of technology developed as part of the European Space Agency's (ESA) Technology Transfer Programme. 'Mamagoose' pyjamas draw on technology used in two ESA space applications: the analogue biomechanics recorder experiment and the respiratory inductive plethysmograph suit. The pyjamas have been developed by Belgian company Verhaert Design and Development and the University of Brussels (ULB), with additional financing from the German Space Agency and IWT, the Belgian institute for the promotion of scientific and technological research in industry. The babysuit constantly monitors infants while they sleep and sounds an alarm at the first symptoms of possible unexpected death. Five special sensors built into the cloth are positioned over the chest and stomach to monitor the infant's heart beat and breathing. Signals from the sensors are constantly monitored by a control unit programmed to scan respiration patterns and detect dangerous situations. In case of danger, an alarm is triggered. The control unit also retains data for a specific time before and after the alarm is activated to help doctors make their diagnosis. The Mamagoose prototypes are currently undergoing extensive testing. Once the tests have been completed, the biomedical physics laboratory of ULB will provide paediatricians with feedback on the research results. Information can also be fed into a computer for further analysis. It is hoped that the pyjamas, which expect to on the market in the next 18 months, will help research into the cause of cot death. Cot death is the common name for SIDS, 'sudden infant death syndrome.' In the United Kingdom alone, SIDS affects around four out of every 10,000 healthy babies, 86 per cent of whom are less than six months old. The ESA's Technology Transfer programme aims to help provide the commercial and industrial sectors with access to space technology developments.