Sensors for Newborns

When a newborn baby is in critical condition, doctors need to continuously monitor even the smallest changes in how their body is functioning. One of the key indicators is oxygen saturation, the level of oxygen in the blood. For babies who require intensive care, continuous monitoring of this vital sign is an essential part of everyday medical supervision.

Today, St. Nicholas Children’s Hospital of the First Medical Union of Lviv needs 200 Masimo LNCS Neo SpO₂ sensors specifically designed for newborns. The total cost of these essential medical supplies is UAH 187,000.

St. Nicholas Children’s Hospital is one of Lviv’s key pediatric medical institutions. It provides care to children with a wide range of illnesses and injuries, newborns, and young patients who require intensive care or prolonged hospitalization. The hospital is part of one of the largest medical unions in Western Ukraine, which provides specialized and highly specialized care to adults and children around the clock.

Since the beginning of the full-scale war, the pressure on Ukraine’s healthcare system has increased significantly. In these circumstances, it is especially important that hospitals have not only modern medical equipment but also a sufficient supply of the consumables required to operate it. Even the most advanced medical technology cannot function properly without the components needed for the daily monitoring and treatment of patients. In its official request, the First Medical Union of Lviv emphasizes the importance of ensuring the uninterrupted operation of medical equipment and providing high-quality, safe medical care during the war.

Masimo LNCS Neo sensors are special pulse oximetry sensors designed for newborns. They allow medical teams to monitor a baby’s blood oxygen saturation and pulse rate non-invasively. The sensor transmits the readings to a monitor, enabling doctors and nurses to continuously observe the condition of their young patient and respond promptly to any changes.

To an adult, a small sensor may seem like just one of many medical consumables. But in a unit caring for newborns, it gives doctors another vital way to continuously see how a baby is doing and whether their body is receiving enough oxygen.

This type of monitoring is particularly important for the smallest and most vulnerable patients, whose condition requires constant observation. Each Masimo LNCS Neo sensor is intended for individual use by a single patient, which means the hospital needs a continuous supply of these consumables. In its request, the hospital identified the purchase of these sensors as one of St. Nicholas Children’s Hospital’s current needs.

The project aims to purchase 200 Masimo LNCS Neo sensors at UAH 935 each. The total fundraising goal is UAH 187,000.

The Medical Innovations Charitable Foundation is launching this fundraising campaign to provide St. Nicholas Children’s Hospital with the sensors it needs and help medical teams continuously monitor the condition of their smallest patients.

Behind each of these 200 sensors will be a real child. A tiny hand or foot to which the medical team will attach the sensor, readings on a monitor watched closely by doctors and nurses, and parents for whom, at that moment, only one thing in the world will matter: that their baby is safe and receiving the care they need.

For a doctor, it is a medical consumable without which proper monitoring would be impossible. For a family, it provides additional reassurance that their child’s condition is being closely watched. And for a tiny patient, it is part of the enormous effort medical teams make every day to help them recover, grow stronger, and return as soon as possible to the place where they belong most: at home, in the arms of their family.

Please help us purchase 200 Masimo LNCS Neo sensors for St. Nicholas Children’s Hospital. Let us make sure doctors have everything they need to protect what matters most: the lives and health of their smallest patients.

"The doctors predicted he would be a strong, healthy baby, but he arrived 1.5 months early: here’s the story of little Markiyan, the early arrival.

At St. Nicholas Children’s Hospital, doctors fight every day to save the lives of premature babies. Often, these babies require months of close medical supervision and round-the-clock monitoring of their vital signs. Individual sensors are needed to monitor each child. That’s why we’re launching a new fundraiser for these vital supplies. Please join us!

One of these little patients is Markiyan. For his mother, 33-year-old Vasylina from the Lviv region, this was her first pregnancy. At first, everything was going well: the test results were perfect, and during the ultrasound, the doctors said the baby was large and would weigh over 4 kg at birth. But suddenly, at 34 weeks, her water broke, and despite the doctors’ efforts to prolong the pregnancy, labor began anyway.

Vasylina had originally wanted to name her son Mykhailo—after her younger brother, who was killed in the war. However, when the baby decided to be born on the 18th, just like his late uncle, she was frightened by this coincidence. So she decided not to pass on her brother’s fate to her son and simply chose a new name between contractions.

Markiyan was born weighing 2,600 grams, and his lungs had not yet fully matured. He developed respiratory distress syndrome—severe breathing difficulties typical of “preemies.” The boy was immediately transferred to the neonatal intensive care unit, and he spent his first days in an incubator on CPAP respiratory support and was fed through a feeding tube.

The medical staff continuously monitored Markiyan’s heart rate and oxygen saturation. After all, a newborn baby cannot say when it is short of breath. Special pulse oximetry sensors attached to his tiny hand or foot “speak” for him. They transmit data to a monitor in real time, allowing doctors to respond to emergencies in a matter of seconds—to prevent respiratory arrest or adjust treatment in a timely manner.

Each sensor is intended for individual use by a single young patient. Therefore, these are consumables for which there is a constant need. Currently, supplies of these sensors at St. Nicholas Hospital of the First Medical Association in Lviv are running low. Support our youngest patients. Every contribution counts! And our patient Markiyan is already making tremendous progress: he has started breathing on his own and eating actively, gaining precious grams as he prepares to be discharged home.