Computerized temperature control of the low-birth-weight infant: A 20- year retrospective and future prospects

H. D. Atherton*, S. Dollberg, M. M. Donnelly, P. H. Perlstein, S. B. Hoath

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

5 Scopus citations

Abstract

This article describes a novel bioengineering approach to regulating the thermal environment of low-birth-weight infants. This system is based upon implementation of a computerized incubator control algorithm using multisite temperature measurements to control the dynamic thermal surroundings of the convectively incubated infant. Refinements in this system over the past 20 years have led to an expansion of micro- and macroenvironmental monitoring capabilities. We believe that noninvasive, continuous modes of electronic data acquisition will become increasingly important fixtures in neonatal intensive care. Current modes of neonatal monitoring are likely predecessors of more sophisticated and, hopefully, inexpensive sensor systems utilizing surface optical determinations and measurement of body-site-specific electrical activities to evaluate functions ranging from blood chemistries to evoked brain potentials. Such on-line physiologic monitoring will necessitate careful attention to the changing sensory environment of the neonate, including the dynamics of the thermal support system employed. In sketching this picture, we do not, in any way, underestimate the problems inherent in real-time, multisensor data acquisition and integration. Realization of the potential of noninvasive, continuous multisensor monitoring and the incorporation of such monitoring into feedback control algorithms will require more than the simple interfacing of novel bioengineering devices with the human infant. There is also a need for new methods of visual data compression, such as phase plane plotting techniques, which will enable bedside biomedical personnel to recognize dynamic feedback patterns and interrelationships between multiple measured variables. The Alcyon system, with its focus on the thermal environment and multisensor feedback control, offers a platform upon which to build these capabilities.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)302-309
Number of pages8
JournalBiomedical Instrumentation and Technology
Volume28
Issue number4
StatePublished - Jul 1994
Externally publishedYes

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