Engineering Graduates Create Beanies for Preemies

Kindhearted University of Pennsylvania engineering graduates have put their heads together to soothe the experience of premature babies in hospital intensive care units (NICUs.)

As The Daily Pennsylvanian reports, two 2025 School of Engineering and Applied Science graduates have designed a cap for premature newborns called the Sonura Beanie, that can prevent long-term health risks by protecting their hearing.

Journeying to Innovation
The innovators, Sophie Ishiwari and Gabby Daltaso, were moved to create their beanie product after shadowing professionals in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) during their senior year at college.

Ishiwari and Daltaso grasped that the hospital environment was “incredibly harsh” after attending a science engineering  course. Or as Penn Medicine News explains, the NICU’s typical breathing machine beeps over loudspeaker, doors are constantly being opened and closed, and these and other jarring sounds are a far cry from the cosseted environment of the uterus, which protects full-term babies from loud sounds. While some outside noises are muffled for babies in incubators, the sounds of CPAP machines that aid with breathing, and other devices inside incubators are magnified.

In fact, hospital beeps and alarms can emit sounds that are approximately 2,000 Hz, while ventilators can reach four times that figure.

Overall, the ambient noises in an NICU can trigger stress, which can lead to issues such as a high heart rate, low appetite, poor sleep, and a higher rate of language delay in premature babies.

It dawned on these graduates that the problem was solvable, and that they could help.  For their cutting-edge idea, field-tested at the Hospital of the University of the University of Pennsylvania, the pair earned the 2023 President’s Innovation Prize from the university’s president, which came with a significant cash sum to help advance their work.

Daltoso told CBS News that their device is named the Sonura Beanie as “The Latin roots for sound care are sonar and cura, and so we put it together to make Sonura.”

How Does the ‘Sonura Beanie’ Calm Preemies?
This unique device works by filtering out audio frequencies that are higher than 500 Hz, bringing louder hospital  noises down to what babies can safely hear.

After taking a sound engineering class to better understand sound filtering, Ishiwari and Daltaso designed the beanie with soft speakers sewn inside ear flaps.

The beanie connects to an app that can adjust the level of sound the baby hears which can be gently raised in terms of noise level and frequency as the baby ages and develops to the level of a full-term infant.

The beanie adjusts to fit small but growing heads, and accommodates wires and tubes used for breathing and feeding, which are key in the NICU recovery process, and help the hat integrate into the NICU routine.

One of their hat’s key features is its ability to play pre-recorded messages from each baby’s parents via an app. The beanie connects to an app to play the mothers’ heartbeat and recorded audio of parents singing and speaking.  Ishiwari shared that she and Daltaso both know what it’s like not to be able to communicate with loved ones for extended periods.

Kyndall Hawkins, a clinical nurse who helped fit the beanie to one baby, admits to Penn Medicine News of initially being sceptical about any new innovation that disrupts the status quo. However, she felt won over when she witnessed a fussy baby instantly calm down when hearing his mom’s voice.

Ishiwari herself confesses to being moved to tears by the sheer love expressed by parents who are going through extreme worry in their recorded messages to their preemies. Daltoso adds that the act of expressing their energy and love in these recordings can also be therapeutic for the parents themselves.

From Clinical Trial to General Release
Ishiwari and Daltaso launched a clinical trial of their beanies for 30 premature infants in the NICU in late 2025, in which participants were given the beanies for 45 minutes, three times a day, to verify that their invention suits clinical settings. This trial is measuring heart rates and other markers of stress when the babies are wearing the beanie,, and when not.

During the trial, they are working closely with senior staff in the Engineering School and School of nursing, while they are being guided by Nursing School professor , Wendy Henderson, a pediatric gastroenterology expert. Of the duo she is mentoring, she says:  “Their amazing thinking and putting together that engineering insight and innovation is really fabulous, and it’s fun to be a part of… . It feels good to see it actually making a difference in real time.”

This trial is set to be followed by a multi-site trial  to see if regular use during feeding timers, when babies need to be calm, will help them grow faster, the main goal for any preemie.

Significantly, Perelman School of Medicine Emeritus Professor of Anesthesiology and Critical Care, Lee Fleisher, was impressed by how their innovation positively impacts babies and parents. He is acting as a commercial mentor to the pair, who are now working with the US Food and Drug Administration to secure approval for their Sonura Beanie’s launch into hospitals nationwide.