Peter Schorsch
Hospital patients often rate pain on a scale of 1 to 10. That’s not an option for Florida’s tiniest patients — infants in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit who often struggle to breathe, feed and regulate their own temperature.
Tampa General and the University of South Florida Health Morsani College of Medicine are developing new technology that leverages artificial intelligence to detect real time pain in newborns. The research is in collaboration with the USF Bellini College of Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity and Computing.
“There are many challenges in managing pain in non-verbal and vulnerable preterm infants,” said Dr. Thao “Tina” Ho, associate professor of pediatrics at the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine and practicing neonatologist at TGH.
The system uses noninvasive sensors and cameras to record facial expression, body motion and crying sounds before and after a procedure to pinpoint pain in real time. The new AI system aims to deliver a standardized, continuous and objective assessment. The enhanced access to information enables providers to more accurately treat conditions.
“This study will develop a reliable system to detect pain continuously by interpreting the infant’s physical movements, facial expressions, heart rate and respiratory rate all together,” Ho explained. “This will allow the infant’s bedside nurses to respond timely to their pain to optimize their comfort and minimize medication exposure.”
The first phase of the study led by Tampa General and USF Health is funded by a $1.2 million grant from the National Institutes of Health over two years. There are more than 120 babies participating in the study at Tampa General, as well as Stanford University Hospital in California and Inova Hospital in Virginia.
“We’re leveraging breakthrough research and next-level technology on a daily basis to provide the greatest care and best possible outcomes for our patients, no matter how small,” said John Couris, President and CEO at TGH. “This type of innovation is what patients access when they seek care at a true academic health system like Tampa General Hospital and USF Health.”
The news of AI to detect pain in infants is just the latest coming from the nationally recognized hospital system. Just last week, Tampa General — the No. 1 transplant center in the nation by volume — announced it completed the world’s first bloodless heart-liver transplant surgery. In June, Tampa General — the region’s only Level 1 trauma center — saved the hand of a 9-year-old girl bitten by a shark off Boca Grande.
