AWARD YEAR
2021
CATEGORY
Body
GOALS
Good Health & Well-being, Reduced Inequality
KEYWORDS
newborn health, incubator, Battery, Africa, non-power
COUNTRY
Switzerland
DESIGNED BY
Fabien Roy / EPFL Essential Tech Center
WEBSITE
https://fabienroy.com/RobustNest
RobustNest
Portable newborn incubator adapted to the context of district hospitals in sub-Saharan countries.
According to UNICEF, every year in sub-Saharan Africa, 1.1 million newborns die of hypothermia during their first month of life.Existing newborn incubators in industrialized countries cannot fulfill the technical specifications of this context. The main causes are their inability to provide heat during frequent power outages and their vulnerability to high humidity rates, dust and high temperatures (not weatherproof).Developed in collaboration with EPFL’s Essential Tech Center, “Robust Nest” is a newborn incubator adapted to the context of district hospitals in sub-Saharan countries. Compact, robust and affordable, “Robust Nest” allows the transport of patients in vehicles, resists frequent power cuts thanks to a special thermal battery developed by EPFL and is characterized by components that can be easily replaced. This ensures that babies are kept warm.