"Smart" baby clothes

What do you think? Saw this today and thought it was... interesting. Think it will be beneficial to parents or babies? (Cant post a pic but there's a pic in the link).

http://www.livescience.com/25920-smart-suit-infant-death.html

Fitted to a romper suit, the stretchable printed circuit board monitors infants’ breathing.

Help is on the way for parents who lie awake in bed worrying about their newborn babies sleeping in the nursery. New "smart" baby clothing could automatically track infants' breathing and alert parents in case of trouble.
Parents won't have to directly attach sensors to their infants to achieve peace of mind. Researchers fitted a baby romper suit with a printed circuit board — made of stretchable polyurethane — and commercially available sensors to monitor the breathing in a baby's chest and stomach areas. Such work marks yet another step toward the future of "smart" or "intelligent" clothing that could monitor soldiers and babies alike.

"The circuit board we have developed can be manufactured using routine industrial processes, meaning a high throughput and, consequently, good cost-efficiency," said Manuel Seckel, a scientist at the Fraunhofer Institute for Reliability and Microintegration IZM in Berlin, Germany.

Baby suits with the added technological twist could possibly help unravel the mystery of the 4,500 infants in the United States who die suddenly from no obvious cause each year. Health researchers have already set up a database to track cases of sudden unexpected infant death (SUID) to better figure out how to prevent such tragedy. (SUID refers to sudden, unexpected deaths of an infant in which the manner and cause of death are not immediately obvious before an investigation.)

The smart baby suit fits into a broad array of ideas for so-called smart clothing that could transform ordinary shirts, gloves or even underwear into health-tracking devices. Most of today's smart clothing prototypes typically attach stiff electronic chips or parts to flexible clothing materials.
But many labs have struggled with the next step of turning hard electronics into soft, stretchable components that work well with clothing. Several research groups have experimented with making special clothing fibers that can act as soft, flexible touch screens and batteries.

Fraunhofer researchers took a slightly different route by using the stretchable polyurethane circuit board as a middle-man platform for placing electronic components. The positioning is more precise with the printed circuit board compared to placing electronics directly onto clothing materials, Seckel said.
The stretchable circuit board could also help more than just babies and sleep-deprived parents. For instance, a polyurethane plaster with embedded sensors could help nurses find the right place to apply a pressure bandage to the wounds of a burn patient.

It depends, if said baby is known to have breathing issues then yeah I see it a good idea but for a healthy baby that has no issues what so ever then a little much.

I think it's kind of neat.

Quoting Katie {S+S+Z= ♥}:" It depends, if said baby is known to have breathing issues then yeah I see it a good idea but for a healthy baby that has no issues what so ever then a little much."

Even seemingly healthy babies can pass from SIDS though. I can see where it may be helpful but I wonder how practical it is

<blockquote><b>Quoting Ellie.:</b>" Even seemingly healthy babies can pass from SIDS though. I can see where it may be helpful but I wonder how practical it is"</blockquote>

But if SIDS is gonna happen, it's gonna happen. The cause(s) behind it are unknown, so there's not much anyone can do to a solitary prevent it from taking their child.

i think its neat but how much are they going to charge

Quoting kr.r:" <blockquote><b>Quoting Ellie.:</b>" Even seemingly healthy babies can pass from SIDS ... [snip!] ... happen. The cause(s) behind it are unknown, so there's not much anyone can do to a solitary prevent it from taking their child."

True... but can this maybe aid in alterting parents so they can start life saving procedures, or get help sooner?

Quoting Alicia Holz:" i think its neat but how much are they going to charge"

Good point.... and people would obviously need more than one.

<blockquote><b>Quoting Ellie.:</b>" Good point.... and people would obviously need more than one."</blockquote>




cause one thing i have noticed the safer it is for a baby the more money it costs..look at car seats ya you can get one for $50 but if you want a safe state of the art one its going to run you around $400

<blockquote><b>Quoting Ellie.:</b>" True... but can this maybe aid in alterting parents so they can start life saving procedures, or get help sooner?"</blockquote>

It definitely could. I'm just personally wouldn't ever get something like it. I'd be worried sick all the time it was going to go off. I'd probably start to go a little crazy.

Quoting kr.r:" <blockquote><b>Quoting Ellie.:</b>" True... but can this maybe aid in alterting parents ... [snip!] ... ever get something like it. I'd be worried sick all the time it was going to go off. I'd probably start to go a little crazy."

Lol. we're worried no matter what I guess. I've seen these pads you put under a mattress that do the same thing.

<blockquote><b>Quoting Ellie.:</b>" Lol. we're worried no matter what I guess. I've seen these pads you put under a mattress that do the same thing."</blockquote>


Yeh, I had one and hated the damn thing. Glad I was able to get some money out of it though.