Pbs Learning Media: The Human Face of Big Data: The Smallest Heartbeat

Twenty percent of all premature babies contract serious infections while in the hospital. By harnessing millions of heartbeat measurements from the ICU each day, Dr. Carolyn McGregor found she could detect a baby's infection at least one day before it became symptomatic, giving physicians a potential 24-hour jump on treating and beating the bacteria. McGregor's team, called Project Artemis, is still in the process of publishing and confirming the findings, but they hope that ICUs around the world will soon begin using their data as an early-warning system, enabling babies to begin receiving lifesaving treatments before it's too late. [3:41]