Babies Breath

The dim glow of the hospital room cast flickering shadows as Soheil Ghiasi, Ph.D., gripped his wife’s hand. The rhythmic beeping of the fetal monitor filled the air, punctuated by the quiet murmur of nurses and the occasional contraction-induced groan. He had spent his career solving complex engineering problems, but none of that prepared him for this moment—the birth of his first child.

 “I’m concerned about your daughter’s heart rate. I’d like to consider a C-section,” the doctor said, his voice calm but firm. 

 

Ghiasi’s heart pounded. He looked at his wife, exhausted but resolute. Within the hour, their daughter was delivered safely via Cesarean section. Relief flooded through him. Mother and child were fine—but the reality of the major surgery meant a long and difficult recovery for his wife.

In the weeks and months that followed, Ghiasi couldn’t shake the thought that there had to be a better way.

 “I was new to this. I did some research and connected with colleagues at UC Davis Health who work on the obstetric side as well as those working with animal models. There’s a large body of research about fetal oxygen levels,” he later recalled in a UC Davis interview.

 What he discovered stunned him. Non-reassuring fetal heart traces—like the one that led to his wife’s C-section—are common, yet often unreliable indicators of fetal distress. In the United States, nearly one-third of all births occur via C-section, a rate significantly higher than most developed countries, despite no corresponding improvement in maternal or neonatal health outcomes. 

For Ghiasi, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at UC Davis, this revelation sparked a mission. He envisioned a world where doctors had access to precise, real-time data on fetal well-being, reducing unnecessary interventions while ensuring babies in distress received timely care. That vision became the foundation of his UC Noyce Initiative-funded research.

Engineering a Breakthrough

Fetal monitoring today relies on heart rate tracing, a method that has remained largely unchanged for decades despite its well-documented shortcomings. It is an indirect measure of fetal distress, prone to misinterpretation, and has led to an increase in unneeded surgical births. 

“Today’s approach is inaccurate for detecting babies at risk of birth asphyxia. A large number of women undergo medically unnecessary C-sections, which are expensive for the healthcare system and can lead to inferior outcomes compared to safe vaginal births,” Ghiasi explained in a UC Davis interview. 

Determined to develop a better solution, Ghiasi and his team focused on non-invasive fetal blood oxygen saturation measurement—an arguably better indicator of fetal distress. Their research led to a pioneering technology that employs advanced sensing systems and computational modeling to provide real-time fetal oxygen saturation data. The prototype device, validated in preclinical models, is now undergoing pilot testing at the UC Davis Medical Center.

The Promise of a New Standard of Care

 The potential impact of this technology is profound. By providing accurate, real-time insights into fetal health, ACE monitoring could transform the standard of care in labor and delivery rooms across the world.

 “Our research promises to reduce the rate of medically unnecessary interventions, such as emergency Cesarean sections, which are expensive and tend to have inferior maternal and neonatal health outcomes,” Ghiasi said. 

In addition to improving childbirth outcomes, this technology may assist in obtaining critical insights into human development, placental function and the causes of preterm labor.

From Lab to Real-World Impact 

Thanks to funding from the UC Noyce Initiative, Ghiasi and his collaborator, Professor Herman Loscin Hedriana, a maternal fetal medicine expert at UC Davis School of Medicine, were able to demonstrate the viability of their approach in a clinical setting.

 “This support has been instrumental in advancing our technology from concept to patient care. It has significantly de-risked the technology and provided a clearer roadmap for stakeholders and potential partners,” Ghiasi emphasized. 

The success of this research has attracted additional funding, including grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF), totaling more than $4 million. Additionally, Ghiasi has co-founded Storx Technologies, a UC Davis spin-off company dedicated to commercializing the transabdominal fetal oximetry (TFO) technology. 

Ghiasi and Hedriana’s team has grown to include seven Ph.D. engineering students and two maternal-fetal medicine fellows. Their collaborative work has led to multiple peer-reviewed publications, four issued patents and three pending patent applications (one of which was filed during the UCNI project period), reinforcing the scientific community’s recognition of their breakthrough

THIS SUPPORT HAS BEEN INSTRUMENTAL IN ADVANCING OUR TECHNOLOGY FROM CONCEPT TO PATIENT CARE. IT HAS SIGNIFICANTLY DE RISKED THE TECHNOLOGY AND PROVIDED A CLEARER ROADMAP FOR STAKEHOLDERS AND POTENTIAL PARTNERS.

A Future Without Unnecessary C-Sections 

For Ghaisi, the driving force behind his work is deeply personal. He still remembers the anxiety of that hospital room, the uncertainty of his daughter’s birth, and his wife’s long recover. His goal is simple yet ambitious: to give every expectant mother access to precise, reliable fetal monitoring, so that critical decisions during labor are made with confidence and clarity. 

“With this technology, we are not just improving patient care,” said Ghiasi, whose daughter is now nine years old, “we are redefining what’s possible in maternal-fetal medicine.”