Patrycja Wizińska-Socha

"Stillbirths and miscarriages remain a difficult reality for modern pregnancies, affecting 12 of every 1,000 births around the world. The most effective prevention method involves continuous monitoring of the health of your unborn baby. The most comprehensive approach is through frequent CTG examinations, which often do not occur frequently enough to detect a serious issue.

However, young Polish innovator, Patrycja Wizi?ska-Socha, is making it possible for parents to monitor the health of their baby from anywhere, at anytime, as often as they like. This advancement has been made possible by combining proven and trusted CTG technology with the simplicity and mobility that the modern parent expects. Thanks to her project Pregnabit, Wizi?ska-Socha has earned herself the title of MIT Technology Review’s Innovators Under 35 Poland 2016.

Pregnabit is the first tele-CTG mobile device for independent use, allowing parents to freely administer examinations from home. This miniaturized device has disrupted its field as it addresses the need for more frequent CTG exams during a mother’s final trimester, while combating the discomfort and risks that come alongside traveling to and from the doctor’s office.

A great deal of Pregnabit’s innovation lies in its ability to conduct remote analysis by a team of experienced medical personnel, available 24/7 for online tele-CTG Monitoring. These medical professionals respond to the data that is automatically uploaded to the cloud center when the device is used. This prompts Nestmedic’s team of obstetricians to review and respond to the test’s output within 10-15 minutes, allowing them to address any abnormalities.

Pregnabit’s greatest innovation can be found in its advanced medical algorithm, which enables the mobility of the device. Wizi?ska-Socha explains, “We’ve created a special algorithm which distinguishes the mother’s heartbeat from the fetus which is our innovation. So you don’t need medical staff to administer the examination, because you can now do it alone with our specialized sensor and data analysis algorithm”.

According to Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Electronics and Information Technology at Warsaw University of Technology and judge for MIT Technology Review’s Innovators Under 35 awards, Tomasz Starecki, declared that “the invention is expected to have a substantial impact on the society”."