Astarte Medical, headquartered in Yardley, has closed a deal with St. Bernards Medical Center, Jonesboro, Ark., for its newborn intensive care feeding software. The high-tech system monitors neonatal nutrition, protecting some of the most vulnerable patients a health care system can treat.

The capability, NICUtrition, takes part of its name from the acronym for neonatal intensive care unit, a hospital resource dedicated to treating critically ill and at-risk premature babies.

NICUtrition is a clinical decision support solution that standardizes and streamlines neonatal nutrition. It helps ensure that early-life nutritional needs are met, increasing the likelihood of healthy physical and neurological development for the fragile patient’s future.

NICUtrition can be interfaced with a hospital electronic medical records to capture feeding metrics and milestones. Its predictive capabilities allow for early intervention to improve outcomes and quality of care.

“The neonatal intensive care unit at St. Bernards Medical Center has recognized the imperative for standardizing the practice of feeding for preterm infants,” said Tracy Warren, Astarte Medical CEO. “[St. Bernards Neonatologist Dr. Enrique Gomez] and his team are partnering with us to leverage NICUtrition to evolve care by automating planning and tracking compliance.”

Dr. Gomez commented on the new technology, saying, “St. Bernards recognizes that every improvement made in neonatal intensive care carries huge benefits to our tiny patients and their families alike.

“We appreciate our partnerships with Astarte Medical and HealthTech Arkansas and look forward to the NICUtrition platform helping us monitor and tailor the nutritional needs of all our infants.”