Abstract

Existing vital sign monitoring systems in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) require multiplewires connected to rigid sensors with strongly adherent interfaces to the skin. We introduce apair of ultrathin, soft, skin-like electronic devices whose coordinated, wireless operationreproduces the functionality of these traditional technologies but bypasses their intrinsiclimitations.The enabling advances in engineering science include designs that support wireless,battery-free operation; real-time, in-sensor data analytics; time-synchronized, continuousdata streaming; soft mechanics and gentle adhesive interfaces to the skin; and compatibilitywith visual inspection and with medical imaging techniques used in the NICU. Preliminarystudies on neonates admitted to operating NICUs demonstrate performance comparable to themost advanced clinical-standard monitoring systems