Project “NeoVital”: research team from Jena awarded for contactless sensor

In order to avoid having to wire premature babies unnecessarily for medical examinations, researchers from Jena and Ilmenau have developed a contactless 3D measurement technology. The core of the concept is an optical sensor that can measure vital parameters such as heart rate, blood oxygen level and respiratory volume by combining high-resolution 3D measurement technology with nano-optical filters. The measurement is performed at a distance of a few meters without connecting the newborn to devices or cables.

Jan Sperrhake (Friedrich Schiller University Jena) and his team members Chen Zhang (Technical University Ilmenau) and Maria Nisser (University Hospital Jena) received the Edmund Optics Educational Award in the category “Gold” for their research idea. The award with a purse of 7,000 euros was presented to the winning team in the morning of March 4, 2020 at the Abbe Center of Photonics in Jena by representatives of the optics supplier.

Prof. Thomas Pertsch, head of the nano- and quantum-optics research group at the Institute of Applied Physics at the Friedrich Schiller University - who is also the doctoral supervisor of the prizewinner Jan Sperrhake - welcomed around 30 guests at the award ceremony. In his welcoming address he emphasized the importance of interdisciplinary and cross-institutional cooperation for the successful transfer of technologies into concrete applications:

“I am particularly pleased that a young research team is being honored here, whose exceptional commitment and initiative were the essential basis for the award-winning project. I am sure that the award not only honors their courage for the highly interdisciplinary and cross-institutional collaboration, but also provides the team with further incentive to continue their highly relevant research."

The project “NeoVital” - An unexpected journey  

The award-winning project “NeoVital” started in 2018 with a graduate project called “HyperSense” funded by the 3Dsensation research alliance. Participating project partners are the Department of Quality Assurance and Industrial Image Processing of the Technical University of Ilmenau, the University Hospital Jena (UKJ) and the Institute of Applied Physics (IAP) of the Friedrich Schiller University Jena. The Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg also contributed to the promising start of the project.

Over the years, the original project developed into an increasingly concrete application scenario for automatic contactless data acquisition, until finally a strong need for a reliable estimation of vital signs in the field of neonatology was identified. This was followed by clinical tests at the University Hospital Jena (UKJ) and the development of a first prototype suitable for trade fairs. With their appearance at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2020 in Las Vegas, Sperrhake and his team impressively demonstrated the application-readiness of their multifunctional, contactless sensor unit.

The result of this interdisciplinary project idea also convinced the jury of the Edmund Optics Educational Award. In the future, one could imagine to further pursue the technology behind the “NeoVital” sensor and to transfer it into a marketable product together with the project team, said a spokeswoman of the optical component manufacturer at the award ceremony.

Further information:

• Research field Nano & Quantum Optics of the Institute for Applied Physics in Jena