Infant incubator with non-contact sensing and monitoring

DETAILED DESCRIPTION The present invention relates generally to incubators and more particularly to incubators having non-contact sensing of physiological parameters and monitoring of an infant contained therein.
It is known to control the temperature of the air adjacent an infant in an incubator.
It is also known to circulate the air within an incubator with a blower driven by a motor and to vary the blower speed based on the temperature of the air within the incubator.
Thermistors for sensing air temperature and motor controllers are known and have been used to control the temperature of the air adjacent an infant in an incubator and to reduce the blower speed and thereby the associated noise in the enclosure.
It is also known to attach transducers to infants in an incubator to directly measure the infants temperature, respiration rate, pulse, and other physiological parameters.
The attachment of transducers to infants creates several problems, including the inadvertent detachment of the transducer by infant movement, and limitation of infant movement.
The infant incubator having means for controlling the environment in which the infant resides disclosed herein includes an infant support surface disposed within an enclosure having a canopy, a sensor spaced apart from the infant to sense a physiological condition and provide a sensor output, and a controlling means responsive to the sensor output to change the environment.
Additional features of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment exemplifying the best mode of carrying out the invention as presently perceived.