Development Of A Dedicated Transport Isolette Vibration Test Apparatus

• Author(s) / Creator(s)

  • Hurley, Jason
  • Langlois, Robert
  • Green, James
  • Chan, Adrian
  • Gibb, Keely
  • Kehoe, Patrick
  • Greenwood, Kim
  • Aubertin, Cheryl
  • Ibey, Andrew
  • Redpath, Stephanie

• The Neonatal Patient Transport System (NPTS) collaborative research team seeks to measure and mitigate vibrations experienced by neonatal patients during ground and air transport. A custom test apparatus was designed for use with an electrodynamic shaker to investigate the effectiveness of transport mattresses and harnesses used inside the isolette. The apparatus couples the shaker with a representative transport isolette, which is the portion of the NPTS in which the infant travels. The design allows the isolette to be shaken along any principle axis while maintaining the vertical orientation of the isolette. Linear guides without rolling elements were used to constrain motion to the preferred excitation axis. Preliminary results using a prototype apparatus revealed that the vertical axis requires a guided carriage system to generate purely linear excitation, rather directly affixing the isolette to the shaker head. Once fully operational, the apparatus will enable a parametric study of the vibration performance of transport mattresses and harnesses.

  Part of the Proceedings of the Canadian Society for Mechanical Engineering International Congress 2022.

• Date created

  2022-06-01

• Subjects / Keywords

  • neonatal transport
  • mechanical design
  • vibrations testing

• Type of Item

  Article (Published)

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/r3-851b-5564

• License

  Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International