Infra-red test to help target life-saving treatment for premature babies

Neonatal respiratory distress syndrome (NRDS) is the most common cause of death in premature babies, and is caused by deficiency of surfactant in under-developed lungs.

The condition, which also affects one per cent of babies born at full term, prevents the lungs absorbing enough oxygen, and can lead to complications such as chronic lung changes and bleeding in the brain.

The syndrome can be treated with administration of surfactant. However, not all premature babies need the treatment, which can damage their sensitive airways if given incorrectly.

Now a highly sensitive test that uses a mid-infrared scanner and machine learning to detect surfactant levels in babies’ gastric fluid has been developed to predict those that will go on to develop NRDS.

The tool, being developed by Stevenage-based SIME Diagnostics, takes approximately five minutes to produce a result, according to chief executive Povl Verder. It was recently published in the journal ACTA Paediatrica.

“The problem is we don’t know which babies have immature lungs at birth,” said Verder. “They may seem fine at birth, but then if they are left for a couple of hours they can suddenly become ill with respiratory distress syndrome, where they are not able to absorb enough oxygen,” he said.