Mechanical design and prototyping of a neonatal incubator for areas with intermittent electrical grid power

Every year, 1.1 million infants die from complications related to preterm birth. An estimated 80% of these deaths could be prevented through the use of non-intensive methods, including thermal regulation. Neonatal incubators are common life-preserving devices for preterm infants in developed countries, but are under-utilized in much of the developing world due to designs intended for large hospital settings their need for constant electrical grid power and. A design is here proposed for a portable off-grid neonatal incubator for use in those areas. The design is honed through human-centered design practices and the use of SolidWorks representations. Early-stage prototypes are constructed from foam and ABS. Prototyping in ABS required overcoming difficulties presented by the size constraints imposed by the thermoforming machines available in the Laboratory for Manufacturing and Productivity.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2012

Author dc:creator

• Present, Elaina Kim

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Sanjay Sarma.

• Mechanical Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/75675

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/75675