Infant Incubator
Introduction
• The core temperature of the human body is
~ 37 C. If the temperature goes too high or too down
the organ can be damaged and illness or death can
result.
• The babies whose born before they are due to be
born can be affected by the environment
temperature and they can’t be able to regulate his
temperature
•
The care of premature newborns requires that they
be in an environment in which temperature is
elevated and controlled because they are unable to
regulate their own temperatures.
•
When infants are kept in a chamber maintained
within a specific temperature range, O2
requirements are minimized. This is important for
premature newborns, who are more susceptible to
respiratory problems than full-term infants because
their lungs may be unable to supply enough oxygen
to meet elevated demands.
• Heat lost happens as evaporation, conduction,
convection or radiation.
• Conduction is heat transfer between parts of the
same material or different material which are
adjacent to one another.
• Convection is heat transfer from one material to
another via a medium, such as air or water.
• Radiation is heat transfer without any medium and
through electromagnetic waves, such as between the
Sun and the Earth.
• Evaporation is heat absorption by liquids which then
becomes a gas, such as when you boil water or
simply leave a cup of water around and it is
evaporated after a while.
What is Infant Incubator
• Any incubator is a special ENVIRONMENTAL
CHAMBER designed for the specific purpose of
allowing variable control, primarily of temperature,
but some can and are being modified to vary
ambient pressure and humidity also.
• The human infant incubator, with for example,
optional attachments such as an Oxygen delivery
system, intravenous fluid infusion system, etc…, is
designed to provide a "womb-like” environment for
prematurely born infants.
Main Functions of infant incubators
 Temperature Control
 O2 Concentration Control
 Breathing Gas Filtration
 Humidity Control
Temperature Control
• Temperature-controlled air is passed through
the chamber in which the baby is located to
maintain it at a set temperature.
• Some incubators, instead of controlling the air
temperature directly, use the skin
temperature of the infant as a control
parameter.
• The thermistor is placed against the skin of
the infant, and the controller is set to
maintain the infant's skin at a given
temperature.
• If the infant is cooler than the set point, the
air entering the chamber of the incubator is
heated an amount proportional to the
difference between the set temperature and
the baby's actual temperature
• Incubators also have a simple alarm system to
alert the clinical staff if there is any dangerous
overheating of the device. In some cases, the
circuit also immediately reduces power to the
heater to stop the overheating.
Temperature degree regulator
methods in Incubator
• 1) Linear Method : automatic control (ON or
Off)
• 2) Proportional control method
Incubator Types
• Intensive Care Incubator
• Transport Incubator
• Radiant Warmer
Transport Incubator
Components of a transport incubator
1.Ventilator 2.monitor 3. suction 4. Temp and gas control 5.syringe
drivers 6.battery and power supply 7. gas cylinders
Simple Block Diagram
Ventilation can be detected by one of the
following methods:
1- Transthoracic impedance
2- Movement of the baby on a displacement
detecting pad
3- Movement of the baby’s chest wall
• An alarm is sounded when respiratory activity
ceases for periods of greater than a preset time,
in the range of 15 to 30 s . This is Apnea Alarm
Technical specification:
Air temperature: 32 – 38 C
Body skin temperature: 34 – 36 C
Total gas intake: 35L/min
Relative humidity: 50- 100%
Power supply: ac 220v,50 Hz
Power input: 600 VA
Sensor precision: 0.3 C
Changing of temperature: 0.5 C
Uniformity of temperature: 0.8 C
Temperature rising time: 30 min
Noise level: 55 dB
Inclination of bassinet: 0ْ – 5ْ
• Summarizing points
• 1. Temperature-controlled air is passed through the chamber in which the
baby is located to maintain it at a set temperature
• 2. The temperature in the air-supply line varies a thermistor resistance that
is compared with a fixed resistance that corresponds to the set temperature.
• 3. If the temperature of the air entering the infant’s chamber is lower than
the set temperature, power is applied to the heater to correct for this
difference.
• 4. The amount of power applied to the heater is proportional to the
difference between the actual air temperature and the set point.
• 5. The amount of power decreases as the temperature
approaches the set point (this is important to minimize
overshoot of the set point).
• 6. It is important to detect when apnea has persisted for a
given period of time
• 7. Apnea monitors detect ventilation by one of the following
methods:
• A-Transthoracic impedance
•
B-Movement of the baby on a displacement detecting pad
•
C-Movement of the baby’s chest wall