What Babybloom asked us:

From the drawingboard to production

A line up of rectangular ‘boxes’; that was the way a typical neonatal ICU looked like. This is going to change with the design of Cum Laude graduated at the Technical University Delft Heleen Willemsen.

Her design is child and parent friendly and offers the nurses much more freedom of movement than before. Babybloom Healthcare came to Promolding with their initial design because of our expertise in developing medical products and askes us to work together on the development and the production of this innovative incubator.

How did Promolding handle this:

Design optimalisation via prototyping

Creating a technical design is one thing but experiencing the actual functionality of an incubator is a totally different story. Therefore, the product developers of Promolding, did extensive research on an actual and real incubation department of a large hospital before they started to ‘engineer’.

An incubator needs to provide a constant temperature of 37°C, a well controlled level of humidity and circulation of fresh air to create a stabile climate. This is needed to prevent that a baby doesn’t dry up and is being protected against germs.

Based on the field research by Promolding, a first draft design was being made including a detailed description of the product features. This type of visualisation was very helpful for a effective indepth discussion with the teams of Promolding and Babybloom about the exact dimensions, the ergonomics and other crucial features for this new incubator. During this discussion, Babybloom also added valuable insights from the perspective of nurses.

Based on all gathered information and insights, Promolding designed a first version and build a prototype that was extensively being tested, analyzed and discussed with Babybloom. In this phase, also the partners voor delivering the climate control and electronics were being selected followed by defining the final dimensions, size, appearance into a final design of the incubator.

The final prototype has been tested extensively again for all functions such as climate control, mechanical functions, user experience, manufacturing and assembly after which the incubator was taken into production.

Promolding manufactures and delivers all polymer parts and is also involved with the further development of the incubator.

What are the results?

Substantial improvements for the baby, the mother and the nurse.

The innovative Babybloom incubator has become a completely new approach for incubators. The response out of the market is very positive but adoption of this new concept will take time.

The incubator offers important ergonomic improvements:

• The BabyBloom Incubator is the only incubator that can be positioned over a hospital bed, offering intimate contact even from the rst hours after birth. The extreme high-low adjustment also allows a mother in a wheelchair to sit comfortably at the incubator.
• The BabyBloom Incubator is the first incubator that allows any person to work in an ideal ergonomic position while sitting or standing. It has an extensive height adjustment range, large leg space underneath and ergonomic armrests. With these features, the BabyBloom Incubator helps prevent common shoulder, arm, back and neck problems among neonatal personnel.
• The integrated shield and the noise indication light protect the child against light and noise. The innovative climate system produces the quietest environment. This way, the BabyBloom Incubator contributes to reducing stress and to better and faster healing and development, resulting in a shorter NICU stay.