At first glance we can't think of any resemblance between an aseptic incubator for premature babies and a 4x4, right?
However to the doctors in charge of the project "Cart Part Incubator" developed by the Center for Integration of Medicine and Innovative Technology (CIMIT) if they have come up with one: Create a low cost incubator from recycled parts of a Toyota 4Runner SUV.
They have seen that this car model is found in all countries of the world and that with some of its parts (the doors, the headlights, the air filter, the door alarm) they can create incubators so that premature babies born in developing countries they can receive the care they need.
Four million newborns die each year in the world, the vast majority in countries without resources, and 28% of those deaths are from premature babies. The idea is to create low-cost incubators with parts available in any community, since it is impossible to buy them because they are very expensive. The incubator prototype they have created costs only 3% of the total of a conventional incubator.
In the blog we have talked many times about the Kangaroo Method, born, as in this case, in the absence of means to buy incubators. Colombian doctors have thought about placing the baby in his mother's chest to improve his development and has been effective, now using the method in several countries of the world.
It has been shown that skin-to-skin contact with the mother is an excellent treatment for the recovery of premature babies, in addition to having a very low cost. But considering that many women die in childbirth in countries without resources or have to go to work as soon as they give birth, incubators made with car parts are an economic solution to save many lives.
