LEXINGTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--MC10, Inc., the company that developed the BioStamp nPoint® System, Northwestern University’s Center for Bio-Integrated Electronics (CBIE), the Institute for Innovations in Developmental Sciences (DevSci), an academic institute focusing on early life mechanisms of lifespan health and disease, and the Stanley Manne Children’s Research Institute at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, announced today a collaboration to study the impact of prenatal stress on maternal and infant health, a project of the Manne Research Institute Perinatal Origins of Disease Strategic Research Initiative.
This collaboration bridges MC10’s expertise in wearable health solutions, DevSci’s leading-edge research on how the prenatal environment shapes early brain and behavioral development, and Lurie Children’s expertise in research at the maternal-fetal interface. Through this collaboration, DevSci and Lurie Children’s aim to improve children’s health and neurodevelopment, by improving the health of the prenatal environment through the “Promoting Healthy Brain Project” effort. Northwestern and Lurie Children’s investigators and data scientists will use MC10’s BioStamp nPoint System to measure maternal heart rate, activity, and heart rate variability along with maternal reports of stress collected via text messaging to guide the delivery of tailored stress reduction intervention to improve maternal health and well-being and infant outcomes. The effects of this intervention will be traced in relation to infant brain and behavioral development from birth, including natural sleep MRI scans conducted in DevSci’s neurodevelopmental core.
“This study underscores the unmet need for the comfort and seamless wear of BioStamp sensors; we are excited to be a part of this groundbreaking research,” said Dr. Arthur Combs MD, Chief Medical Officer of MC10.
MC10 and Northwestern University’s Center for Bio-Integrated Electronics recently collaborated on a clinical feasibility study using first-generation BioStamp technology to monitor motor symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease, a degenerative disease of the central nervous system. The study, “Wearable sensors for Parkinson’s disease: which data are worth collecting for training symptom detection models,” was conducted by Prof. Roozbeh Ghaffari and Prof. John A. Rogers of Northwestern University’s Center for Bio-Integrated Electronics and Dr. Arun Jayaraman of the AbilityLab of Chicago. This study provided valuable insights that led to the development of the FDA-cleared BioStamp nPoint System. Prof. John Rogers and Prof. Roozbeh Ghaffari are co-founders of MC10, Inc., and their research led to the development of the BioStamp platform.
“The small, form-factor and data analytic capabilities of the BioStamp sensor minimize the burden on pregnant mothers and allow us, for the first time, to utilize biometric information to guide real-world intervention in the home that might otherwise only be available in a clinic setting. This capability has enabled true scientific leaps, with this first study of its kind to utilize technology for prenatal health promotion designed to improve children’s brain and behavioral health even before they are born,” commented Dr. Lauren S. Wakschlag, Principal Investigator of the Promoting Healthy Brain Project and director of the DevSci Institute at Northwestern University.
The 510(k)-cleared BioStamp nPoint System enables continuous collection of physiological data and is optimized for clinical trials deployment in-home and in-clinic. The system reports vital signs, activity and postural classifications and a suite of sleep metrics. The BioStamp nPoint System is in use today by numerous pharmaceutical companies and in academic research across several therapeutic areas.
“We are excited to see how this study transforms our approaches to optimizing newborn and childhood health, through helping mothers reduce their stress levels during pregnancy. Novel wearable technologies like the BioStamp System will also give us opportunities to study the mediating role of the placenta in reducing the effects of stress on brain development,” commented Dr. Karen Mestan, Director of the Manne Research Institute Perinatal Origins of Disease Strategic Research Initiative.
About MC10
MC10 is a privately held company, backed by a strong syndicate of financial and strategic investors, that is improving human health through digital healthcare solutions. The company combines its proprietary ultra-thin, flexible body-worn sensors with advanced analytics to unlock health insights from physiological data. MC10 is headquartered in Lexington, MA. Visit MC10 online at www.mc10inc.com. MC10®, BioStamp nPoint®, and the MC10 logo are registered marks owned by MC10, Inc.
About Northwestern University’s Center for Bio-Integrated Electronics
The Center for Bio-Integrated Electronics (CBIE) was established in 2016 by Prof. John Rogers as part of the Simpson Querrey Institute for BioNanotechnology. The CBIE supports fundamental, applied and translational biomedical research to develop soft, biocompatible forms of bioelectronics with unique functionality that could fundamentally transform health care. For more information please visit http://bioelectronics.northwestern.edu or email cbie@northwestern.edu.
About Institute for Innovations in Developmental Sciences (DevSci)
The Institute for Innovations in Developmental Sciences (DevSci) strives to advance its Healthier, Earlier mission by bringing together biomedical and social scientists to catalyze developmental team science research and amplify its impact on population health and wellbeing, beginning even before birth. By facilitating scientific collaboration, data sharing, training and funding opportunities, the Institute aims to establish Northwestern as a center of excellence in transdisciplinary developmental sciences, by becoming a progressive scientific hub and putting forth new paradigms that shape the developmental sciences of the future. For more information please visit https://devsci.northwestern.edu/.
About Stanley Manne Children’s Research Institute at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago
Research at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago is conducted through the Stanley Manne Children’s Research Institute. The Manne Research Institute is focused on improving child health, transforming pediatric medicine and ensuring healthier futures through the relentless pursuit of knowledge. Lurie Children’s is ranked as one of the nation’s top children’s hospitals in the U.S. News & World Report. It is the pediatric training ground for Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Last year, the hospital served more than 212,000 children from 49 states and 51 countries. For more information, please visit www.luriechildrens.org.
