Surrey Memorial Hospital NICU receives cutting-edge technology to improve monitoring for high-risk babies

Surrey Memorial Hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) has recently acquired a groundbreaking technology that has the potential to save the lives of high-risk newborns by providing real-time monitoring of their brain oxygen consumption.

Dr. Samer Yousfi, a highly regarded pediatrician and neonatologist at Surrey Memorial Hospital, expressed his enthusiasm at the arrival of four Near Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS) monitoring devices at the hospital. These innovative devices are designed to continuously monitor how much oxygen a patient’s brain is utilizing, with the aim of assessing and addressing any potential issues early on.

According to Dr. Yousfi, the brain is the most critical organ to monitor during a patient’s time in the intensive care unit, as it can significantly impact their long-term neurological development. Traditionally, the brain has not been continuously monitored due to limitations of existing technology, but the arrival of NIRS devices marks a significant advancement for the NICU.

These monitoring devices, which have already been in use in adult intensive care units, are relatively new to NICUs in British Columbia. This development makes Surrey Memorial Hospital one of the first in the province to implement NIRS technology to improve the care of high-risk babies.

The introduction of NIRS monitoring devices will provide clinicians with vital information about tissue oxygenation saturation in cerebral tissue and other organs for high-risk babies undergoing treatment in the NICU. Unlike traditional monitoring, which often relies on a patient alerting healthcare providers to a problem, NIRS technology can offer continuous feedback about the brain’s oxygen consumption, prompting any necessary interventions without delay.

Dr. Yousfi emphasized that not every patient in the 32-bed NICU will require this monitoring, explaining that the technology will primarily be reserved for patients deemed to be at a higher risk. With approximately one out of every eight neonates facing critical conditions posing a risk of central nervous system injury, the use of NIRS technology can be a critical tool in improving outcomes for these vulnerable patients.

The generous donation of £60,000 from Ken and Ena McIntosh to the Surrey Hospitals Foundation facilitated the acquisition of these NIRS monitoring devices for the NICU at Surrey Memorial Hospital. The McIntosh’s decision to contribute was based on their firsthand experience with the exceptional care provided by the hospital’s NICU staff during the stay of their prematurely born twin granddaughters.

Dr. Yousfi expressed profound gratitude to the McIntosh’s for their generous donation and highlighted the profound impact their contribution will have on the hospital’s ability to provide the best care for vulnerable newborns in the community. Janet Murphy, Executive Director of Maternal, Infant, Child and Youth at Fraser Health, also extended her appreciation, emphasizing the critical role of philanthropy in advancing healthcare infrastructure for maternity, neonatal, pediatric, and women’s health at Surrey Memorial Hospital.

By introducing state-of-the-art NIRS technology to the NICU, Surrey Memorial Hospital is taking a significant step towards enhancing the quality of care for high-risk babies, with the potential to significantly improve long-term outcomes for these vulnerable patients.