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Low-cost and open-source neonatal incubator operated by an Arduino microcontroller

An unacceptably large number of newborn infants die in developing countries. For a considerable number of cases (particularly in preterm infants), morbidity and mortality can be reduced by simply maintaining newborn thermal homeostasis during the first weeks of life. Unfortunately, deaths caused by...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Cuervo, Rubén, Rodríguez-Lázaro, Miguel A., Farré, Ramon, Gozal, David, Solana, Gorka, Otero, Jorge
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Elsevier 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10393824/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37538251
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ohx.2023.e00457
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author Cuervo, Rubén
Rodríguez-Lázaro, Miguel A.
Farré, Ramon
Gozal, David
Solana, Gorka
Otero, Jorge
author_facet Cuervo, Rubén
Rodríguez-Lázaro, Miguel A.
Farré, Ramon
Gozal, David
Solana, Gorka
Otero, Jorge
author_sort Cuervo, Rubén
collection PubMed
description An unacceptably large number of newborn infants die in developing countries. For a considerable number of cases (particularly in preterm infants), morbidity and mortality can be reduced by simply maintaining newborn thermal homeostasis during the first weeks of life. Unfortunately, deaths caused by prematurity remain inordinately common in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) due to reduced access to incubators in light of the high cost of commercially available devices. We herein describe and test a low-cost and easy-to-assemble neonatal incubator created with inexpensive materials readily available in LMICs. The incubator is based on an Arduino microcontroller. It maintains controlled temperature and relative humidity inside the main chamber while continuously measuring newborn weight progress. Moreover, the incubator has a tilting bed system and an additional independent safety temperature alarm. The performance of the novel low-cost neonatal incubator was evaluated and successfully passed the IEC 60601-2-19 standards. In the present work, we provide all the necessary technical information, which is distributed as open source. This will enable assembly of very low-cost (<250 €) and fully functional incubators in LMICs that should help reduce neonatal mortality.
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spelling pubmed-103938242023-08-03 Low-cost and open-source neonatal incubator operated by an Arduino microcontroller Cuervo, Rubén Rodríguez-Lázaro, Miguel A. Farré, Ramon Gozal, David Solana, Gorka Otero, Jorge HardwareX Article An unacceptably large number of newborn infants die in developing countries. For a considerable number of cases (particularly in preterm infants), morbidity and mortality can be reduced by simply maintaining newborn thermal homeostasis during the first weeks of life. Unfortunately, deaths caused by prematurity remain inordinately common in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) due to reduced access to incubators in light of the high cost of commercially available devices. We herein describe and test a low-cost and easy-to-assemble neonatal incubator created with inexpensive materials readily available in LMICs. The incubator is based on an Arduino microcontroller. It maintains controlled temperature and relative humidity inside the main chamber while continuously measuring newborn weight progress. Moreover, the incubator has a tilting bed system and an additional independent safety temperature alarm. The performance of the novel low-cost neonatal incubator was evaluated and successfully passed the IEC 60601-2-19 standards. In the present work, we provide all the necessary technical information, which is distributed as open source. This will enable assembly of very low-cost (<250 €) and fully functional incubators in LMICs that should help reduce neonatal mortality. Elsevier 2023-07-17 /pmc/articles/PMC10393824/ /pubmed/37538251 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ohx.2023.e00457 Text en © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Cuervo, Rubén
Rodríguez-Lázaro, Miguel A.
Farré, Ramon
Gozal, David
Solana, Gorka
Otero, Jorge
Low-cost and open-source neonatal incubator operated by an Arduino microcontroller
title Low-cost and open-source neonatal incubator operated by an Arduino microcontroller
title_full Low-cost and open-source neonatal incubator operated by an Arduino microcontroller
title_fullStr Low-cost and open-source neonatal incubator operated by an Arduino microcontroller
title_full_unstemmed Low-cost and open-source neonatal incubator operated by an Arduino microcontroller
title_short Low-cost and open-source neonatal incubator operated by an Arduino microcontroller
title_sort low-cost and open-source neonatal incubator operated by an arduino microcontroller
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10393824/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37538251
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ohx.2023.e00457
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