Often, the gravest problem can be solved by the simplest solution. All it takes is to recognise the difference between 'need' and 'want'.
Often, the gravest problem can be solved by the simplest solution. All it takes is to recognise the difference between 'need' and 'want'.
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Today, however, the quartet is in India -- they set up base in Bengaluru in 2008 -- and ready with a low-cost and, more significantly, portable infant warmer that can save the lives of millions of low-weight and premature babies in the country. "We were asked to design a low-cost incubator for a class project.
But Linus visited Kathmandu and found that besides cost, there were other matters to consider such as availability of electricity and trained personnel. So, we asked the NGO what their need was -- low-cost incubators or healthy babies?" says 30 year-old Panicker, a PhD-holder in Artificial Intelligence and Optics. The quartet set upon finding a solution that took the local context into account.
"Every year, millions of newborns in India die because they are low-weight or premature," says Panicker. "About 80 per cent of these deaths can be prevented if the baby is provided adequate warmth in its first month. Medical science has known this for 100 years, but this knowledge has not reached rural areas."
A low-weight baby weighs less than 1.5 kg at the time of birth, and lack of proper care can lead either to death or complications later in life, such as low brain development, early onset of diabetes and poor physical health.
What's more, in rural India, most births happen at home, and often babies are not kept warm enough when transported to the hospital. Even primary health care centres are notu00a0 well-equipped to provide something as basic as warmth.
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"We visited over 12 states, met more than 150 doctors and worked through 10 versions of the warmer in two years," says 28 year-old Murty, an aerospace engineer. "We saw babies being warmed under light bulbs, or being brought to hospitals red from being swathed in blankets," he says.
All their travelling helped the quartet realise what was needed to make the incubator work. For one, they decided to make two types of baby warmers -- one which operates on electricity, for hospitals, and another that uses boiling water, for rural areas. Further, instead of using number indicators for temperature, which many potential users may not be able to read, the Embrace infant warmer has a smiley face, a universally recognised symbol for 'all good'.
The incubator comprises a heater, a wax pouch and a sleeping blanket. The heater switches off as soon as the wax pouch reaches 37 degrees Celsius. It can then be placed inside the blanket, and remains warm for four hours.
Conventional incubators cost anything upward of Rs 30,000 but the electric infant warmer will cost nearly a quarter of that.
"A low cost product does not mean a low quality product," says Panicker who has been conducting clinical trials in private hospitals. The electric version will be sold by General Electric in the first half of 2011, while the rural version will take another eight months to be ready.
To volunteer or donate, visit www.embraceglobal.org/main/involve
Embrace
was founded by four graduates of Stanford University to bring their million-dollar idea of a low-cost incubator to rural India and save the lives of millions of babies
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