Need (Why)

Each year over 4M infants in developing countries die within a month of birth due to complications of prematurity, low birth weight and infection. We could prevent more than 1.8M of these deaths by providing at-risk newborns with a warm and clean environment in which to grow stronger. Conventional newborn incubators are complex, expensive to own and operate and difficult to keep clean.

Otter is a durable, washable warming bassinet for premature and low birthweight (LBW) newborns. A single-newborn warming mattress that supplies steady warming at body temperature, Otter will eliminate the risk of hypothermia and reduce the incidence of hospital-acquired infection. Otter is also small and portable. It can accompany newborns on the trip from the delivery room to the neonatal ICU. Otter will both complement phototherapy devices like DtM's Firefly and D-Rev's Brilliance, and function as a stand-alone device. To facilitate adoption, the device will comply with existing international standards for conductive newborn warming devices.

We have completed market analysis, including surveys of existing warming devices for newborns. We will pursue manufacture through technology licensing agreements with multinational medical device companies targeting developing countries who have already expressed interest in this project.