News • In hospitals
Smart pacifier monitors infant health
A wireless, bioelectronic pacifier could eliminate the need for invasive, twice-daily blood draws to monitor babies’ electrolytes in Newborn Intensive Care Units or NICUs.
Paediatrics
News • Pediatric patients
Simulated heart flow model to treat heart disease
The system could enable significant advances for the 40,000 pediatric congenital heart disease patients born each year.
Article • Infant mortaility
Care of premature newborns: Unequal odds in Africa
Nowhere does the birthplace of a preterm baby determine life or death more than in Africa. A concerted effort is made to reduce the continent’s dramatically high neonatal mortality rates.
News • In children
Treating scoliosis with vertebral body tethering
Fusion surgery has been the long-standing treatment for people with scoliosis. Now, other options have become available.
News • Gamification
Is hyper-optimism good or bad for children?
Young children are more optimistic than adolescents, which stems from not learning enough from bad outcomes.
News • Pediatric patient
High-intensity focused ultrasound used for brain surgery
Children's National Hospital successfully performed the first-ever high-intensity focused ultrasound surgery on a pediatric patient with neurofibromatosis. This is the youngest patient to undergo HIFU treatment in the world.
News • Trauma imaging
Suspected child abuse: Whole-spine MRI warranted
According to new research, whole-spine MRI commonly demonstrates isolated thoracolumbar injuries in children with suspected abusive head trauma.
News • Widespread effects
Tougher childbirth in pandemic Europe
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to deficiencies and large inequalities in the care of mothers and newborns in Europe.
Article • Mass spec, qPCR and more
Newborn screening: early detection – new diagnostic possibilities
Since its introduction around 60 years ago, the screening of newborn babies for immune, hormone and metabolic disorders has prevented many people from experiencing severe disease progression. The scope of systematic early testing has been significantly enhanced through mass spectrometry (MS). In our interview, Professor Uta Ceglarek, one of the driving forces behind the introduction of MS…
News • DNA analysis
Should all babies have their genome sequenced at birth?
Genomics England, a government owned company, recently announced a pilot programme of whole genome sequencing to screen for genetic diseases in 200,000 healthy seeming newborns. But should every newborn baby have their whole genome sequenced? Experts debate the issue in The BMJ. Extensive clinical evidence has shown that screening for genetic diseases saves lives, and research has shown that it…
News • Incubator 2.0
Artificial uterus improves odds for preemies
“An artificial uterus – the incubator 2.0 – will become a reality within 10 years,” says Jasmijn Kok, one of the founders of Juno, a spin-off from the Eindhoven University of Technology, Netherlands. Together with researchers from the department of Industrial Design from the University, including her twin sister Lyla Kok, she wants to bring a technology that increases the chances of…
News • In children
Long COVID symptoms rarely persist beyond 12 weeks
Long COVID symptoms rarely persisted beyond 12 weeks in children and adolescents unlike adults.
News • Immune system research
How the gut microbiome can help prevent brain damage in preemies
Extremely premature infants are at a high risk for brain damage. Researchers at the University of Vienna and the Medical University of Vienna have now found possible targets for the early treatment of such damage outside the brain: Bacteria in the gut of premature infants may play a key role.
News • More nurses, less ventilation and medication
A new approach to improve outcomes for critically-ill children
A major UK clinical trial led by Queen’s University Belfast has shown how a new approach to reduce the use of mechanical ventilation can greatly improve outcomes for critically ill infants and children. The study, funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Health Technology Programme, found that a greater involvement of nurses, minimising sedation use and increasing daily…
News • VR app for children
Kids' fear of MRI: Let the penguins handle it
"You hear the noises, but they don't bother you at all": Since 2019, the “Pengunaut Trainer" has been preparing children for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) examinations through role play. The app was developed under the leadership of the University Duisburg-Essen (UDE) and the Essen University Hospital (UK Essen).
News • Shot or not?
Covid vaccination for children: benefits and risks
The net benefit of vaccinating children is unclear, and vulnerable people worldwide should be prioritised instead, say experts in The BMJ today. But others argue that Covid-19 vaccines have been approved for some children and that children should not be disadvantaged because of policy choices that impede global vaccination.
News • Pediatric oncology cooperation
A royal visit for children with cancer
Queen Máxima of the Netherlands, after whom the Princess Máxima Center for Pediatric Oncology in Utrecht is named, along with several representatives of the center, the Hopp Children’s Cancer Center Heidelberg (KiTZ), University Hospital Heidelberg (UKHD) and the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), signed a memorandum on strategic cooperation in the field of pediatric oncology in Europe at…
News • Paediatrics
Vaccination helps protect unvaccinated from COVID-19
Higher levels of vaccination against COVID-19 were associated with lower rates of infection with SARS-CoV-2 among a group of unvaccinated people of 16 years of age and under.
News • Cardiology
On the way to better analysis of paediatric ECGs
Physicians are increasingly using software to automatically evaluate Holter ECG signals in adult patients, but so far, no software has been developed for children. Cardiomatics and the Medical University of Warsaw are on the way to a breakthrough in paediatric cardiology. They are developing an international tool for automatic assessment, analysis, and interpretation of electrocardiographic…
News • Medication issues
Finding better ways to determine safe drug doses for children
Determining safe yet effective drug dosages for children is an ongoing challenge for pharmaceutical companies and medical doctors alike. To make drugs and their development safer for children, researchers at Aalto University and the pharmaceutical company Novartis have developed a method that makes better use of available data.
News • Photonics21
Infrared scanner spots brain damage in babies early
A new photonics device currently in development aims to reduce unnecessary disabilities by improving the instant, real-time monitoring of newborn babies with harmless light particles.
News • Reducing hospital-related stress and anxiety
Website helps children and parents to prepare for hospitalization
Every year, millions of children around the world are admitted to hospital for having anaesthesia and surgery. Many of them experience preoperative anxiety which negatively affects both their hospital experience and medical outcome, as well as their future relationships with healthcare services from both a short-term and long-term point of view. A new, internationally aimed website offers…
News • Léopold Griffuel Award
Childhood cancer research: Award for Stefan Pfister
Stefan Pfister, a director of the Hopp Children’s Cancer Center Heidelberg (KiTZ), a department head at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and a pediatric oncologist at University Hospital Heidelberg (UKHD), has received the Léopold Griffuel Award from Fondation ARC, the French cancer research foundation. The prize, worth EUR 150,000 in Basic Research category, is one of the highest…
Video • Perinatal imaging
Fetal MRI precisely defines and detects abnormalities in unborn babies
MRI scanning can more precisely define and detect head, neck, thoracic, abdominal and spinal malformations in unborn babies, finds a large multidisciplinary study led by King’s College London with Evelina London Children’s Hospital, Great Ormond Street Hospital and University College London (UCL). In the study, published in Lancet Child and Adolescent Health, the team of researchers and…
News • Alarm system 'ELISE'
A digital 'co-pilot' for paediatric intensive care
Working in intensive care units poses special challenges for healthcare workers. They have to safely and reliably detect whether the condition of their seriously ill patients is deteriorating in a life-threatening way, and they have to do so under great time pressure because every minute counts. The stress level increases even more when the patients are children and adolescents. In paediatric…