Design of an Infant Incubator for Cost Reduction and Improved Usability for Indian Health Care Centers

India is 2nd most populated country in the world and the birth rate is very high. According to market survey's, in India every year 26 million infants are born. Out of 26million 2.6 Million infants are prematurely born with low birth weight (lbw). These LBW infants are generally kept in chambers referred to as “incubators” which are housings with controlled temperature and humidity. Since from the time incubators are introduced in the hospitals, the survival rate of premature babies have significantly raised up. Thus incubators are highly important device in Intensive Care Unit's (ICU) at hospitals. This study is to design an Infant incubator with improved usability targeting low budget hospitals.

To solve the problem, various data is collected, referred and documented from various websites, books and journals. Product study is carried out at a local hospital. Market study is carried to know about the available models. Leading model in the market is selected as benchmark product. Based on literature review, product study, market study and other analytical deisgn techniques, Product design specification (PDS) is generated. Based on the PDS, five concepts are developed. Final concept is selected based on Pugh's method of concept selection. From the study the finalized concept has superior usability features compared to that in the present market.