About Tap4Life

Tap4Life is a registered nonprofit organization based in Stockholm, Sweden. We have developed two apps to support health care staff during neonatal resuscitation, NeoTapLS for smartphone and NeoTapAS for Ipad. Both apps can be downloaded free of charge. Our aim is to advance healthcare in the world, increase adherence to guidelines, decrease risk of asphyxia and improve registration and decision-making at the time of and around birth. We target health care staff in low-, middle- and high-resource settings.

2013
Research project in Uganda

The Tap4Life project started as part of a research project in Uganda involving Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda, The Center for International Health in Bergen, Norway, and Karolinska Institutet, Sweden

2013
First NeoTap prototype

Dr. Nicolas Pejovic and software developer Michael Vaganov build the first NeoTap prototype in 2013 as a response to the lack of reliable monitoring equipment for babies in the delivery room. It was developed as an android software for point-of-care data registration and monitoring.

Fully integrated mHealth platform NeoTapLS

The system was further developed by Dr. Pejovic and Dr. Myrnerts Höök with help from donations and software developers into a fully integrated mHealth platform NeoTapLS.

2015
Development of NeoTapAS

NeoTapAS was developed in 2015 by a team from Bergen University and Karolinska Institutet in collaboration with Sachs’ Children and Youth Hospital and with support of The Swedish Patient Insure Agency (LÖF).

2015
1/1/2019
Research and Development

Apps tested in simulated and clinical environment in several countries leading to peer-reviewed papers.

1/1/2019
Today
Where we are now

Today we have developed two apps, NeoTapLS for smartphone and NeoTapAS for Ipad. They can be downloaded free-off-charge.

Today
Future
Our Plans

We want to make NeoTap even more accessible by translating the app into multiple languages. We are currently collaborating on translating NeoTapLS to Vietnamese.

Future

Why it is important

Heart rate is one of the most important clinical parameters in evaluating the status of a neonate, to guide neonatal resuscitation and to predict early neonatal mortality and morbidity. Both pulse oximetry and electrocardiography are valuable tools, but resource-limited settings rarely have access to them. Auscultation is then recommended, but it is often inaccurate. Therefore, there is a need to develop a low-cost, rapid and accurate alternative method for monitoring HR during neonatal resuscitation.

The risk of dying is highest in the first month of life. Successful resuscitation could prevent many early neonatal deaths and decrease the morbidity of neonates surviving asphyxia and improve the outcomes of neonates surviving asphyxia.

By 2030, end preventable deaths of newborns and children under 5 years of age, with all countries aiming to reduce neonatal mortality to at least as low as 12 per 1,000 live births and under-5 mortality to at least as low as 25 per 1,000 live births.
SDG Goal 3.2
million
newborns die in the first month of life.
Most in the first week after birth and about a third the same day they were born.
rd
Birth asphyxia is the third leading cause of neonatal death.

Research Partners & Donors​

Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden – The Department of Global Public Health
University of Vienna, Austria
CUAMM-Medicin con l’Africa, Italy
Centre Muraz Research Institute, Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso
Laerdal Foundation, Norway
Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda
Mulago National Referral Hospital, Kampala, Uganda
Padua University, Padua, Italy
Sachs´Children and Youth Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden
The Norwegian Research Council
The Swedish Patient Insurance, LÖF
University of Bergen, Norway – The Centre for International Health (CIH)
Phu San Hanoi Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital
Other private donors