Browsing by Author "Adams, C.F."
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Item Design of a Blood-Warming Device for Resource-Limited Settings(EuroJournals Publishing, Inc., 2013) Adams, C.F.; Chirawurah, J.D.; Agbekoh, P.E.; Kaufmann, E.E.Blood warming is usually required to get the temperature of blood to 37oC from storage temperatures of 1–6 oC to prevent hypothermia during transfusions. Needs assessment at various hospitals revealed that blood warming is a major challenge in Ghana. Local methods of warming blood include leaving blood bags on walls in the open at ambient temperature to warm, putting bags in warm water or leaving blood bags under running tap water. These methods are inefficient, unsafe and time consuming. Efficient blood warmers are available but they are very expensive and unaffordable for the resource limited hospitals surveyed. A cost effective, safe and efficient blood warming and thawing device was designed to address the above-mentioned problems in resource-limited settings. Materials and components were selected based on specifications obtained from potential users, functional analysis, existing products and standards. The components of the device are encased in a housing insulated with polymer foam to reduce heat loss to the environment. It is anticipated that this intervention will be invaluable in situations where quick blood transfusions are required to save lives.Item Design of Portable and Attachable Baby Cot(2013-05-01) Nii-Ako, S.B.; Adams, C.F.; Asimeng, B.O.; Kaufmann, E.F.To solve congestion problems facing many hospitals in developing countries, baby cots are being eliminated and mothers are made to sleep on the same bed with their new-born babies; a practice known as co-sleeping. The work presented here seeks to reduce risks of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) and suffocation associated with co-sleeping by employing the formal engineering design process to develop a portable, safe and cost effective baby cot. The cot is attachable to the mother’s bed, has four movement restrictors to regulate the movement of the baby within a given range and a hard surface mattress to ensure the safety of the baby. There are ventilation ports provided to keep the temperature with in the cot comfortable. The design can be modified to be used by older babies and may be mounted on a collapsible stand where space limitations are not critical.