Apparatus and Method For Measurement Of Skin-To-Skin Contact Between Neonate And Parent

An apparatus for measurement of skin-to-skin contact between a neonate and a parent of the neonate, comprising:

• a capacitive touch sensor module configured to receive signals from a first electrode and a second electrode, and produce detected contact information associated with at least one of the first electrode and the second electrode;
• a temperature module having a temperature sensor, the temperature module configured to measure a temperature of an object within a field of view of the temperature sensor, and to generate a corresponding temperature code;
• a clock module configured to (i) implement a real-time chronometer, (ii) generate a time-of-day code based on the chronometer, (iii) time-stamp each collected data sample with the time-of-day code, each collected data sample comprising the detected contact information and the temperature code, and (iv) store the time-stamped data sample on an associated data storage device;
• a processor;
• and
• a memory with computer code instructions stored thereon, the memory operatively coupled to the processor such that, when executed by the processor, the computer code instructions cause the apparatus to coordinate operation of the capacitive touch sensor module, the temperature module, and the clock module.