Baby Warmers
The Challenge
In Nepal, hypothermia (when infants rapidly lose body heat) is a significant cause of neonatal death in newborns, especially in rural areas where access to adequate healthcare facilities and equipment is limited. Research indicates that out of 1,000 live births in Nepal, 35 infants do not survive the first few months, largely due to inadequate care. Many existing baby warmers are expensive and not designed for local production or the specific environmental and cultural contexts of Nepal. Therefore, the National Innovation Center in Nepal identified the need for an affordable, intuitive, and locally produced baby warmer. The initial design “Nyano Nani”, however, has faced several challenges, including mechanical failures, tolerance issues in assembly, interface difficulties, and lack of essential features like a tilting mechanism.
Our Solution
In order to address these challenges, a collaboration with TU Delft was established. aiming to redesign the baby warmer, Nyano Nani, and enhance its functionality, usability, and local manufacturability. The project will create a redesigned “Nyano Nani 2.0” that provides the full baby warmer usage and experience while maintaining optimal affordability, and also ensuring its functionality, usability, and local manufacturability. The redesign focused on several key areas, such as improving the user interface, optimizing heater efficiency, adding modular components, and adjusting a few mechanisms.
How It Works
- The Nyano Nani baby warmer can be easily assembled using only two tools, allowing healthcare workers to quickly put the device together.
- A tilting mechanism is incorporated, which allows the bed to go up 15° in either direction, supporting caregiving activities.
- The user interface has been completely overhauled, allowing healthcare workers to adjust settings easily. Temperature is monitored consistently, and alert alarms are designed to notify the user of any issues.
- A specially designed heating element that distributes warmth evenly across the infant’s body, and has achieved a 29% increase in energy efficiency.
- The baby warmer can be customized with additional modular components, such as IV poles or medical trays, depending on the specific needs of the healthcare facility. This allows adaptability and easy maintenance.
The Outcome
The project resulted in a significantly improved Nyano Nani 2.0, with enhanced features and lowered costs to produce, making it highly affordable. This can directly tackle the critical issue of neonatal hypothermia, and not only improve the quality of care for newborns but also empower the local healthcare workers. With this tool, Nepal’s healthcare infrastructure is strengthened, ultimately saving lives for the most vulnerable population.