Project leaders Iwan Schie, Patrick Bräutigam and Hans Proquitté (from left) behind an incubator. Image: Jens Meyer (University of Jena)
Project leaders Iwan Schie, Patrick Bräutigam and Hans Proquitté ( from left ) behind an incubator. Image: Jens Meyer (University of Jena) - In Germany, doctors have to feed some 200 out of 800 very premature babies every year - mostly due to an infection - by diverting stool out of the body through an artificial intestinal stoma and returning the intestinal contents (chyme) at another stoma, in order to relieve the intestine. Currently, this can only be done manually, which does not guarantee a continuous transfer, requires very intensive care and impairs the babies' development. Therefore, an interdisciplinary team from Friedrich Schiller University Jena and Jena University Hospital (UKJ), coordinated by the University of Applied Sciences Jena (EAH) wants to develop a miniaturised transport system including ultrasound and photonics-based sensor technology to enable both continuous transfer and analysis of the chyme from one stoma to the other. Thus, for the first time, the researchers will invent a controlled continuous external transfer of the chyme by simultaneously recording its composition in real time. This will create a completely new database that will make it possible to offer better medical treatment options for premature babies in the future. The Carl Zeiss-Stiftung (Carl Zeiss Foundation) is funding the "INTACT" project for two years for a total of 750,000 euros.
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