Vulcan Patents LLC

British Columbia Cancer Agency Branch

Karon MacLean

William L Verplank

Scott Snibbe

Jayne B Roderick

Henry H Voss

Liisa Holsti

Adverse effects of pain in a premature infant, especially a very or extremely premature infant may be ameliorated by exposing the infant to stimuli comprising one or more of vertical oscillating motion simulating breathing, skin contact with an interface that mimics human skin and exposure to sounds and/or vibrations that simulate heartbeats. A device including a movable platform provides such stimuli within a neonatal intensive care incubator. The device provides simulated maternal breathing through vertical movement at a rate and speed similar to that experienced by an infant lying upon its mother's chest. It further provides simulated maternal skin interface feel as well as heartbeat sound. These simulated sensory parameters appear to have an innate calming effect upon a preterm infant that reduces the duration and severity of the infant's response to a pain event. The same stimulations may reduce occurrence of below-baseline fluctuations of brain blood oxygen content.

Apparatus and methods for improving health outcomes of preterm infants

A pushbutton user interface enables a user to preview the effect of activating a pushbutton of the interface before the pushbutton is activated. The pushbutton user interface can be implemented so that an input (preview input) to the pushbutton that does not produce an activation of the pushbutton is sensed and, in response to the sensed input, a preview is displayed that indicates the effect of activating the pushbutton. The preview input can be sensed using, for example, a force-sensitive resistor, potentiometer or strain gauge. The preview display can include, for example, a visual display, an audio display, a haptic display, or a combination of two or three such displays. The pushbutton user interface can be implemented so that the preview input and an activation input (i.e., an input that produces an activation of the pushbutton) are sensed as a result of an input to the pushbutton along the same axis or along different (e.g., orthogonal) axes.

Pushbutton user interface with functionality preview

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Vancouver, Canada

Karon MacLean