Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2017 Dec 4:4:2333794X17742751.
doi: 10.1177/2333794X17742751. eCollection 2017.

Initial Experience and Usage Patterns With the Owlet Smart Sock Monitor in 47,495 Newborns

Michelle I Dangerfield  1 , Kenneth Ward  1 , Luke Davidson  1 , Milena Adamian  1
Affiliations

Initial Experience and Usage Patterns With the Owlet Smart Sock Monitor in 47,495 Newborns

Michelle I Dangerfield et al. Glob Pediatr Health. .

Abstract

We report the largest experience, to our knowledge, of home cardiorespiratory monitoring in 47,495 newborns using the novel Owlet Smart Sock (OSS) technology (October 2015 to May 2017). On average, 47,495 newborns were monitored for 6 months, 4.5 d/wk, 9.9 h/d. Continuous readings of oxygen saturation and heart rate were obtained from 39,626 full-term newborns. OSS users were likely first-time parents in their 30s with at least a college degree; 37% had a healthcare professional in the family; and 28% were at or below median income level per the US Census Bureau. "Peace of mind" was the reason to own an OSS in 75%, and 82% of parents followed Safe Sleep Guidelines. A total of 94% of parents reported a better quality of sleep. The fast and continuous pace of device adoption and reported experience suggest excellent parental acceptance of the OSS. Prospective studies are warranted to further evaluate its applications in the high-risk newborn population.

Keywords: cardiorespiratory monitoring; general pediatrics; neonatology; pulse oximetry.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting Interests: The author(s) declared the following potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: Michelle I. Dangerfield, Luke Davidson, and Milena Adamian are employees of Owlet Care, Inc. Kenneth Ward is a consultant and medical advisor to Owlet Care, Inc, and owns stock options in the company.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Owlet Smart Sock System (OSS) and its key differentiating features. a Industry standard measurement for radio wave absorption is known as specific absorption rate (SAR) and is measured in watts per kilogram of flesh (W/kg). The maximum safe SAR level set by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for transmitters on a human appendage is 4.0 W/kg. The OSS level is 0.0005 W/kg, which is 8000 times below the maximum safe threshold and more than 2000 times less than that of common cellular phones. b Base station sounds an 80-decibel alarm [dB(A)/10 cm], which is in accordance with Food and Drug Administration standards that requires no less than 75 dB(A) for in-home monitors and no less than 70 dB(A) for hospital monitors.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Owlet Smart Sock System (OSS) usage patterns: hours of daily use and number of devices used in 47,495 newborns.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Apnea of prematurity (AOP) registration and waveform tracing the Owlet Smart Sock System in a 4-day-old premature infant.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Zhu Z, Liu T, Li G, Li T, Inoue Y. Wearable sensor systems for infants. Sensors (Basel). 2015;15:3721-3749. doi:10.3390/s150203721 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Freed GE, Meny R, Glomb WB, Hageman JR. Effect of home monitoring on a high-risk population. J Perinatol. 2002;22:165-167. doi:10.1038/sj.jp.7210662 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Bonafide CP, Jamison DT, Foglia EE. The emerging market of smartphone-integrated infant physiologic monitors. JAMA. 2017;317:353-354. doi:10.1001/jama.2016.19137 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Carlin RF, Moon RY. Risk factors, protective factors and current recommendations to reduce sudden infant death syndrome. JAMA Pediatr. 2017;171:175-180. doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2016.3345 - DOI - PubMed
    1. American Academy of Pediatrics Committee of the Fetus and Newborn. Apnea, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, and home monitoring. J Pediatr. 2003;111:914-917. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources