Lauren Futami

Lauren Futami is a graduate student in mechanical engineering taking on the challenge of enabling early detection of necrotizing enterocolitis in neonates through novel optical sensing technology. Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is a serious gastrointestinal illness affecting preterm infants, but current diagnostic methods often detect the disease only after significant intestinal damage has occurred. Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) offers a non-invasive pathway to monitor tissue oxygenation continuously, yet commercially available devices prioritize adult cranial applications and are unsuitable for infant abdominal anatomy. Lauren has developed a custom neonatal abdominal NIRS apparatus that measures tissue oxygenation at multiple depths, distinguishing healthy intestinal tissue from low-oxygen states preceding NEC onset. She processes experimental data to validate measurements against blood gas analyses and develops real-time visualization tools for oxygenation mapping. As a MathWorks Fellow, Lauren will advance her computational framework toward deployment in clinical environments. Her research could help establish continuous neonatal monitoring systems that support earlier intervention and improved patient outcomes.