JPS61131744A - Nursing device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to neonatal incubators, and more particularly to temperature control of incubators.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION A neonatal incubator is a medical device designed to provide an optimal environment for premature, frail, and sickly newborns. Such incubators house newborn babies inside a transparent hood made of acrylic or the like, and circulate temperature- and humidity-controlled air inside the hood to reduce internal wind (
The temperature inside the hood) and humidity are maintained at set values.

The temperature control device for incubators that has been widely used in the past is
Manual control that controls the internal heater according to the difference between the set value and detected value of the internal air temperature, and the setting of the safe temperature range of the internal air temperature, as well as the setting value and detected value of the baby's body temperature. According to the difference in temperature, servo control for controlling the internal heater is selectively performed within the safe temperature range.

In this type of incubator, it is an important issue to minimize heat loss from the infant housed in the hood. The causes of heat loss in the infant's body include radiation, transpiration, convection, and conduction, but it has been reported that among these, heat loss due to radiation is the largest, reaching about 43% of the total heat loss.

Radiant heat loss to the baby's body is caused by the temperature difference between the wall temperature of the hood (hereinafter referred to as wall temperature) and the baby's body temperature. The above-mentioned wall temperature changes linearly in proportion to the room temperature at an intermediate point between the temperature in the room where the incubator is installed and the temperature inside the incubator when the air inside the container is constant. For example, if the room temperature is 20°C and the internal temperature is 33°C, the temperature outside the hood wall will be 26°C and the temperature inside will be 27°C. Therefore, even if the internal temperature is controlled to be constant at 33° C., the baby's body is surrounded by a cold hood, and heat is taken away from the baby's body due to the temperature difference between the wall temperature and the body temperature.

Conventionally, in order to reduce radiant heat loss to the baby's body, the hood has been made double-walled, or an internal hood that is curved in a semicylindrical shape has been installed inside the hood, and the baby's body has been placed inside the hood. Methods have been proposed, such as accommodating

Problems to be Solved by the Invention The above-mentioned method of making the hood double-walled has drawbacks such as an insufficient effect of suppressing heat loss and a complicated structure. The above-mentioned method using an internal hood has problems such as the difficulty of inserting a large number of cords and tubes into the hood from outside the hood and attaching them to the baby's body.

Furthermore, in conventional incubators, when direct sunlight shines through or the temperature inside the incubator reaches a high temperature of about 36° C., the baby's body becomes too warm and the body temperature rises. As a result, the proportion of heat loss due to transpiration instead of heat loss due to radiation increased to 56%.
It has been reported that the degree of In this way, it was not possible to prevent an increase in heat loss due to transpiration due to an increase in body temperature.

Means for Solving the Problems The present invention detects the hood wall temperature or the outside air temperature (indoor temperature) in addition to the body temperature and the inside temperature when performing the temperature control described above, and also detects the hood wall temperature or outside air temperature (indoor temperature). In addition to the internal heater, a hood heater is also provided.

Effect By newly introducing the element of outside temperature into conventional temperature control, it is possible to reduce heat loss due to radiation from the baby's body and transpiration at high temperatures.

Embodiment In the present invention, as shown in the drawings, an internal temperature detection section 1,
A body temperature detection section 2 and a wall temperature detection section 3 are provided, as well as a hood heater 4. The internal temperature detecting section 1 is provided, for example, below an air suction port for circulating a temperature- and humidity-controlled air flow inside the hood, as in the conventional case. The body temperature detection section 2 is provided by fixing a body temperature sensor to the abdomen of the baby. Further, as the wall temperature detection section 3, a temperature sensor is installed at a suitable location on the inner wall surface of the hood. Further, the hood heater 4 can be configured, for example, by embedding heating wires in the hood, or by making the hood into a double wall, and between the outer wall and the inner wall, the temperature and humidity controlled air flow is provided. It is provided by flowing a part of it. In addition, for the above hood where the heating wire is buried,
This was proposed by the present applicant in Utility Application No. 58-203383.

When performing manual control, the switch 5 is closed to the contact m side.

The internal temperature setting section 7 sets the internal temperature to tAo.

This set value tao and the detection value tA detected by the internal temperature detection section l are compared in a comparison section 9, and the output of the difference between the two is applied to the internal heating control section 10 via the switch 5. The internal heating control unit 10 controls the internal heating device 1 according to the output of the difference.
Control 1. Thereby, the temperature inside the chamber is controlled to the above-mentioned tAo.

At the same time, the above t and the detected value LR of the wall temperature detection section 3 are applied to the programmable temperature adjustment section 12. The adjustment unit 12 calculates the amount of heat required for the hood heater 4 so that the difference between tA and t falls within a preset range, using a prestored program. The hood heating control section 1°3 controls the hood heater 4 according to the above calculated amount of heat.

According to the above, the temperature inside the chamber can be controlled to the set value tao, and the wall temperature can be controlled in relation to the outside temperature and the temperature inside the chamber. That is, when the outside temperature is lower than the inside temperature, the wall temperature can be lowered, and when the outside temperature is lower than the inside temperature, the wall temperature can be raised.

Next, when performing servo control, the switch 5 is closed to the contact S side.

The body temperature setting section 8 sets the body temperature to tao, and this tI
The comparison unit 14 compares LO with the detection value t8 of the body temperature detection unit 2. The output of this difference is applied to the internal temperature limiting section 15. On the other hand, the safe temperature range of the internal air is set by the internal hot water upper and lower limit setting section 16.

The internal temperature limiter 14 receives the difference output from the comparator 14, the safe temperature range, and the detected internal air value tA. Then, when the current internal air tA is within the safe temperature range, the output of the difference is applied to the internal heating control section 10 via the switch 5. The internal heating control section 10 is
The internal heater 11 is controlled according to the output of the difference. This controls the air inside the vessel and brings the body temperature to the set value. controlled by. Along with this, the programmable temperature adjustment section 12
program controls the food heater 4 based on tA+'H.

According to the above, it is possible to control the body temperature to a set value by controlling the air inside the vessel, and to minimize heat loss due to radiation and transpiration of the baby's body in relation to the air inside the vessel, body temperature, and outside temperature. It is possible to programmatically control the wall temperature.

Further, as described above, the body temperature sensor is attached to the abdomen of the baby, but if the body temperature sensor falls off or is covered by the baby's arm or the like, the detected value will increase rapidly. Furthermore, when the body temperature sensor gets wet with urine, disinfectant, etc., the detected value drops rapidly. If this is left unattended, the temperature inside the vessel will drop or rise abnormally = water control will work, but
In this embodiment, a safe temperature range for the air inside the vessel is set, so even if the above-mentioned accident occurs, the air inside the vessel is controlled within the safe temperature range.

In this embodiment, the wall temperature detection unit 3 detects the temperature of the hood wall surface to indirectly perform control related to the outside temperature, but the outside temperature may be directly detected. .

Effects of the Invention The influence of outside temperature is newly taken into account in conventional temperature control, and the temperature of the hood wall is determined based on the internal air (temperature inside the hood) and the outside air temperature or the temperature of the hood wall that reflects the outside temperature. Since the temperature is controlled, the temperature can be controlled so that the heat loss of the baby's body is always minimized.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawing is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the invention. In addition, in the symbols used in the drawings, 1-------
−−1・−1−−−−−−Internal temperature detection section. 3------------------------One wall temperature detection section 11----------1.-Food heater 1
2---------------- Programmable temperature control section.

Claims (1)

[Claims] An incubator configured to control the temperature inside a hood housing a baby, including a heating means for heating a wall surface of the hood, wherein the difference between the inside temperature of the hood and the hood wall surface temperature or the outside air temperature of the hood is within a predetermined range. The incubator is configured to programmatically control the heating means so that the heating means is maintained at a constant temperature.