THE INITIATIVE
Our Mission
Our mission is to develop a low-cost solution to neonatal mortality due to low birthweight and hypothermia through sustained thermoregulation for patients in low-resource communities.
Background
According to the World Health Organization (Care of the Preterm and Low Birthweight Infant, 2017), “low birth weight contributes to 60 to 80% of all neonatal deaths”. Due to low body fat and underdeveloped organs, neonates are unable to regulate their body temperature. This persists in low-resource countries where quality care for neonates in this condition is unavailable.
The Initiative - Our Team
who we are
The Initiative is a student-led project made up of four subteams dedicated to reducing neonatal mortality in underresourced regions. A bassinet incubator device is being developed that will house an element used to regulate the infant’s temperature. We are working on integrating a commercially available neonatal-specific chemical heating pad in the first phase of development and an electrical heating mattress in the second phase of development. This autonomous unit will work in conjunction with a kangaroo cloth carrier, which provides heating via skin-to-skin contact between the infant and the caregiver. Further iterations are in progress for future semesters as the team continues to pursue and foster relationships necessary for optimizing socially-engaged designs.
our work
Currently, our project team is on V3 of the kangaroo carrier, V3 of the bassinet incubator, and V1 of the electrical heating mattress. After traveling to Kumasi, Ghana during the spring of 2024, subteams are working to implement feedback from physicians, nurses, midwives, mothers, biomedical engineers, and other stakeholders on new prototypes.
our partnerships
Our chief priority is to engineer socially-engaged and community-focused designs that align with the needs of the communities we aim to serve. Our primary community partners are Dr. Joyce Emarkayo Bening and Dr. Ashura Bakari at the Suntreso Government Hospital in Kumasi, Ghana. Additionally, we are conducting customer discovery efforts at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) in Kumasi, Ghana. At the University of Michigan, we are supported by faculty advisors Dr. Solomon Adera and Dr. Julia Kramer of the Mechanical Engineering Department. The Initiative also works closely with 501(c)(3) nonprofits NeoNest Global and Warmilu LLC.
