A wearable device to measure the palmar grasp reflex of neonates in neonatal intensive care unit

The examination of palmar grasp reflex is frequent in neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) to evaluate the neuro-sensorimotor developmental disorders and pathological abnormalities during the infancy period of clinically complicated neonates. In this study, we develop a wearable pressure sensing device to quantitatively measure the elicited palmar grasp strength of clinically complicated neonates aged 0–2 months. A capacitive pressure sensing device was fabricated using Ecoflex which acted as a dielectric material sandwiched between two copper electrodes, and further assembled with the coupling parts to provide comfort to neonates. The characterization of the fabricated device showed a linear sensitivity (0.13 kPa⁻¹), a high pressure range up to 530 kPa, and excellent working stability. Clinical experiments were performed on 33 newborns by investigating the laterality and hand preferences in male and female neonates, the development of palmar grasp behavior in the first three days of life, the influence of weight loss on palmar grasp reflex, and difference in palmar grasp strength of term and preterm neonates. The developed device was capable of measuring the elicited grasping reflex of neonates reliably, mimicking the conventionally used diagnostic method in NICU.