The company behind designs for a neonatal birth unit which uses blockchain technology has announced it will raise €15 million to help get the product to market.

The Neonatal Birth Unit from NnBU (PRNewsfoto/NnBU Holdings Ltd)

The company, NnBU, has already completed conceptual designs and patents for the device. The funds will be raised as part of an initial coin offering (ICO) and will be used to develop the machine and market it to hospitals and clinics internationally.

The device is intended to help deliver healthy outcomes for babies born by caesarean-section.

The NnBu unit is designed to massage the torso of a C-section newborn to simulate the positive stresses of natural birth. The device also creates a comfortable waking process for the newborn baby by focusing light on its fontanel.

The NnBU baby care unit uses three functions of blockchain, incorporating medical staff, security and medical records. The first is a system that ensures only suitably qualified medical staff who have been trained to use the device can physically operate it. The second is a security feature to ensure that only qualified medical personnel can carry out maintenance work on the unit. Finally, treatments received by each baby will be recorded, subject to parents’ permission, in order to create a research tool relating for children born by C-sections.

It’s estimated that 40 million C-section deliveries take place around the world every year. Studies have shown that children born by C-section have a higher rate of medical issues than those who are born naturally. For instance, a study from the University of Edinburgh found that babies delivered by C-section have a 59% higher risk of obesity under the age of 5, and a 21% increased risk of asthma under the age of 12.

NnBU CEO Frédéric Vo Van said: "I myself was born through caesarean section. In my thirties, I realised I was developing symptoms which studies have shown are connected to conditions typically experienced by a significant proportion of people born by C-section. This is a superb initiative that allows people to get involved with a far-reaching, long-sighted, technological innovation that is set to improve health outcomes for many children for several decades to come."