Selected for the Cooper Hewitt’s
National Design Triennial 2009
This fall Design that Matters contracted our team of designers and engineers to build a second generation prototype incubator for developing countries using Toyota truck parts and other off the shelf components.
Every year worldwide over four million infants die within a month of birth. Of this number, 3.9 million are in the developing world. In developing countries, not only is there limited access to modern, high tech incubators, but a lack of infrastructure and replacement parts often render such devices useless. Conventional incubators designed for industrialized markets can cost up to US$30K. These devices are of limited utility in a rural clinic due to cost, maintenance and infrastructure requirements, and the lack of training for clinical personnel.
The goal of NeoNurture is to create a low-cost incubator and isolation unit for infant care in rural health clinics in developing countries using locally available parts and a familiar mechanical language. The challenge is to deliver quality care to a vast patient-base far from an urban center at a low cost. The product’s primary function will be to assist at-risk babies – including those who are premature or who have respiratory complications, bacterial infections, or low birth weight – by providing a temperature controlled environment and by maintaining the infant body temperature within an acceptable range in a rural clinical setting.
MDF and aluminum