Using a wearable device to monitor infant sleep, activity, and household noise
Official title: Automated Assessment of Infant Sleep/Wake States, Physical Activity, and Household Noise Using a Multimodal Wearable Device and Deep Learning Models
Funded at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign · NIH-11141244 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This study is testing a new wearable device called LittleBeats that helps parents keep track of their baby's sleep and activity at home, so they can better understand how these two important parts of health are connected during early development.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Champaign, United States) |
| Project start | July 20, 2024 |
| Project end | May 31, 2029 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $565,565 |
| NIH project number | 5R01DK138866-02 |
| Project ID | NIH-11141244 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates for this research are infants aged 0-11 months who are experiencing sleep or activity-related concerns.
✕Less likely to help
Patients who are older than 11 months or do not have any sleep or activity-related issues may not benefit from this research.
What this research studies
This research focuses on developing a wearable device called LittleBeats that can monitor infants' sleep and physical activity in their natural home environments. The device collects audio data, heart rate information, and movement patterns to provide a comprehensive assessment of infant health behaviors. By utilizing advanced deep learning algorithms, the study aims to analyze this data to better understand the interconnectedness of sleep and physical activity during early development. This approach addresses the unique challenges of assessing infants, which have not been adequately covered by existing methods designed for older children and adults.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this research could lead to improved understanding and interventions for infant health and development.
How similar studies have gone: While there has been success in using wearable devices for older populations, this approach for infants is novel and untested.
Where this research is happening
-
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Champaign, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Mcelwain, Nancy L — University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- Study coordinator: Mcelwain, Nancy L
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.