Premature babies are very unstable with respect to breathing and heart rate. Many conditions can lead to cessation of breathing (apnea). Apnea often coincide with a drop in heart rate (bradycardia). Prolonged apnea may lead to lack of oxygen that is harmful for the brain. Therefore, episodes of apnea with bradycardia require prompt interventions by the nurses. This is only possible with a sound monitoring system.

Chest impedance (CI) is the current standard for cardiorespiratory monitoring, that record every movement of the chest and translates this signal in breathing. Transcutaneous dEMG measures the activity of the main muscle that is responsible for breathing. It is thus a direct measurement of respiration, whereas CI records every chest movement, also movements that are not breathing related. It has been demonstrated that dEMG is more accurate in detecting central apnea.