Tech Spotlight: Isolette

Ellie's current bed is the isolette (commonly referred to as an incubator) pictured here. It monitors the temperature and humidity inside as well as Ellie's temperature. The humidity is set for a target value and keeps it there with the built-in humidifier. This is an example of an open-loop control system because there is no feedback loop. Meanwhile the temperature control system is a closed-loop control system. The nurse chooses the temp they want Ellie's body temp to be. So her body temp is the desired output of the system. But the temp probe on her tells the bed if she's too hot or too cold. This information is used as an input to decide whether to heat up the bed or keep it the same. Since the output is taken back and used as an input it's considered a closed loop system. When the nurse put clothes on Ellie she also changed this setup. She set the bed temperature at a certain value regardless of Ellie's body temp. Thus she converted it from a closed loop system to an open loop system. Nerds like me would say she "opened the loop." (Okay, now I'm off my control systems soap box for awhile.) Ellie's first isolette was the Omnibed, a scaled up model worth fifty large (that's $50k). The Omnibed, pictured here, includes a top that slides up quickly to allow easy access in urgent situations. (Notice the third pedal near the floor.) The only time this feature was needed for Ellie was shortly after her birth. This enabled a team of medical staff to easily access Ellie. Meanwhile the infrared heater in the hood kept Ellie warm even though she wasn't enclosed by radiating heat down upon her. (Basically a fancy heat lamp.) Oh by the way, these beds also raise up and down and can tilt Ellie's sleeping platform so she can be slightly upright for better digestion during feedings. There are portholes through which you can put your arms, or you can take down the entire side to remove Ellie. When you've got the bed open you can press a button to create an air curtain (like when you walk into Dillons) that keeps warm air in the bed separate from the colder room air. The bed also has a built in scale that the nurses use to weigh Ellie every evening. And currently I'm trying to program it to change Ellie's diaper. No luck yet, but if I succeed we might have to get one for home. I think I've left out a few features we don't know about, but this post is long enough anyway. These models both plug into the wall, so they are both different than the very first bed she used. We don't have any pictures of that bed, but it was the one that carried her from the OR where she was born down two floors to the NICU. So what does it all mean? Well for one thing it means that all of us are very blessed to have such technology available to take care of our little Ellie. We thank God daily for blessings like this. It also means that Ellie's first two weeks of life she slept in three beds whose combined value is greater than the house that Mandy and I don't even own yet. (Not that we're looking for a house ... I'm just saying.)