Chroma

What it does

Chroma is a cardiotocography band for pregnant women that can track a foetus's heartbeat and uterine contractions. It can also uphold weight and bodily changes to provide support and comfort.

Your inspiration

From the observation of chromatophores there are cells present in the skin which contain many grains of pigment. They can remain concentrated around the nucleus determining a lighter or less uniform colouration, or they can expand in the cell through cytoskeletal branches giving a darker or more uniform colouration. This biological reference brought us to imagine a pregnancy girdle that communicates the foetus's age to increase the awareness of the mother and of all those who surround her. For the technological and functional side we took inspiration from the evolution of sensor technology and from maternity belts, pregnancy bands and spanx.

How it works

Chroma works through golden circuits called "tocografiche" probes which monitor contraction signals and, using a microphone set in the middle of the circuit, a foetus's heartbeat. The colour changing nature of the band allows the mother to be distracted from the monitoring processes and instead focus on the external communication of her child's health, avoiding stress and tension.

Design process

After having the biomimetic intuition linked to chromatophores and studying it we met with gynecologist Di Palma Giovanni who explained to us the functioning of cardio and toco probes. After some research, we understood that today there aren't probes suited for our purpose so we met with an engineer who recommended we use golden circuits. After that we understood that the idea was achievable. We then studied different materials to find a hypoallergenic material with good resistance to chemical agents for sterilization, as well as being elastic and durable. Afterwards we created a prototype using laser cutting to create the holes.

How it is different

Today there aren't bands that allow for complete foetal tracking from home. Future mothers must go to the hospital regularly and sometimes have to stay for 24 hours. The cardiotografica allows future mothers to continue their daily routine, whilst tracking their foetus from home. Moreover the band is made by layers of a particular elastic material able to easily adapt to the mother's belly shape. As the belly grows the material extends and slowly the layers of different coloured materials will surface, creating a nice visual effect and giving the mother the complete sensation of her growing belly.

Future plans

It is expected an application in the field of products for tracking and pregnant women's health. The product is available in maternity shops and drugstores. For an environmental matter the probe will be reusable, so at the end of the pregnancy this will be brought back to the shop where the band was bought. The gynecologist will have an app connected to the probe to monitor the returning.

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