Design Of Low Cost Temperature Controlled Neonatal Transportation Device

Temperature instability in preterm neonates is one of the major causes of morbidity andrnmortality. The immature systems and organs of preterm neonates in combination with poorrnfacilities and after birth care lead to lifelong health complications, if not death. The drop ofrntemperature in preterm neonatesneonate highly increases while they are transported through thernembrace of nurses from delivery rooms to Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICUs) in referralrnhospitals. They may also be transported by ambulances for large kilometers, because NICUs inrnEthiopia are found only in referral hospitals. A significant drop of temperature in the surroundingrnenvironment during transportation makes the preterm neonates hypothermic and affects thernwhole function of their body. Therefore it‟s necessary to measure and optimize the neonates‟rnbody temperature to the normal level while they are being transported. rnIn order to solve this problem, in this thesis we have designed and prototyped a novel portablerndevice that can be used to transport the neonates in a temperature controlled environment. Wernbelieve that this device, once fully developed and implemented, can save thousands of lives ofrnpreterm neonates and avoid the pain caused to parents due to lose of their new born babies. Thernprice and simplicity of our design makes it convenient for use in low resource settings and lowrnincome countries like Ethiopia. rnIn our design, we have used temperature sensors and microcontroller to measure the bodyrntemperature of the preterm neonates and make the right decisions. Heater and fan are used torngenerate and circulate heat around the preterm neonate. Based on the temperature readingrnobtained from the temperature sensors, the microcontroller decides whether or not to turn thernheater and fan ON. The system uses dis

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