A cheap and portable wireless incubator for premature babies
A cheap and portable wireless incubator for premature babies
Date
2020-05
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Authors
Mohammed, Khadijahtu
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Abstract
The leading cause of child mortality globally is prematurity. These deaths mostly occur
due to unavailable or high cost of keeping babies in clinical incubators, which provide
controlled environment for premature neonates. The aim of this project is to develop a cheap
and portable wireless incubator for premature babies. The project focuses on reducing the
causes of preterm death and, as such, incorporates measures to minimize such factors. Hence,
the incubator’s other functions are to reduce Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) and
malaria. It has sensors to monitor vital environmental conditions of the incubator. It sends this
information to the pediatrician to keep track of conditions that might affect the health of the
baby. In order to maintain the set temperature continuously, the incubator can be powered from
the grid and a battery used as an alternative. When in use, the battery is monitored with a battery
level indicator. The incubator can maintain a constant temperature of 37C and when the power
supply is removed, it maintains that temperature for a minute and then gradually drops in
temperature. A basket is used as the incubator’s bassinette. The electronic components are cased
and attached to the outside of the basket which makes the incubator portable. Buckwheat hulls
was used for the mattress to help reduce SIDS caused by soft bedding which can lead to suffocation. The baby will be kept in the basket with the required dimension to reduce SIDS by
avoiding instances of the baby rolling and having a face-down sleep as well as prevent bed
sharing. A treated mosquito net is employed to reduce malaria.
Description
Capstone Project submitted to the Department of Engineering, Ashesi University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering, May 2020
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Senior project
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Keywords
premature babies , Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) , neonatal incubator , basket , mosquito net