We read with interest the paper by Ferris and Shepley1 on a human-centered design project with university students on neonatal incubators. It is interesting to see that in the design solutions and concepts as presented by Ferris and Shepley,1 human-centered design played an important role.
In 2005, a master thesis project was carried out in the Delft University of Technology, following a similar human-centered design approach.2, 3 In that design project we also addressed the noise level inside the incubator, as several studies4, 5 have found that incubators’ climate systems itself cause sound levels inside the incubator far above 45 dBA, as recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics.6
The resulting incubator concept, called the BabyBloom Incubator, incorporates many of the features that were presented in the concepts of the mentioned article (for example, sound monitoring and camera feed), although in the field of ergonomics more radical design decisions were made (for example, possibility for full placement over mother’s bed).
Recently, the final design received CE certification, and since that point on it is available on the European market. Therefore, we think that the statement that ‘the fundamental design of the incubator has remained largely unchanged for at least 30 years’ is obsolete.
References
Ferris TK, Shepley MM . The design of neonatal incubators: a systems-oriented, human-centered approach. J Perinatol 2013; 33 (Suppl 1): S24–S31.
Willemsen H Design of a Child- and Parent-Friendly Incubator. December 16 2005, Delft University of Technology. (On-line Abstract http://afstudeerdb.io.tudelft.nl/bekijken.php?afstudeernummer=3102).
Products for Healthcare. Medisign Delft at the Faculty Industrial Design Engineering. Delft University of Technology 2003–2006. ISBN 978-90-5155-036-8, p 34.
Knutson AJ Acceptable noise levels for neonates in the neonatal intensive care unit. Washington University School of Medicine Program in Audiology and Communication Sciences. 17 May 2013.
Hoehn T, Busch A, Krause MF . Comparison of noise levels caused by four different neonatal high-frequency ventilators. J Intensive Care Med 2000; 26: 84–87.
American Academy of Pediatrics. Noise: a hazard for the fetus and newborn. Pediatrics 1997; 100: 724–727.
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Goossens, R., Willemsen, H. Human-centered incubator: beyond a design concept. J Perinatol 33, 989 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/jp.2013.117
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/jp.2013.117