HEATING DEVICE

Technical Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a thermal monitoring system that provides an additional safety measure by indicating the homogeneous distribution of temperature values obtained from the body of a newborn.

State of the Art

A radiant heater is used in newborn care facilities in order to keep a small or premature infant with the desired warmth. Basically, radiant heater devices have one heater element, one device body, two body-mounted skin probes and one control system. The heater element emits heat energy to provide warmth to an infant, the skin probe measures the infant's skin temperature, and the control system adjusts the heater element according to the measured skin temperature. It is aimed to minimize the energy spent in metabolic heat production with incubators and radiant heaters in order to maintain the body temperature of newborns. Devices with these system properties, which have different properties but have a common purpose, are commercially available in the market.

The heat energy provided by these devices is usually regulated by the control system in order to keep the skin temperature constant with the help of the probe attached to the abdomen of the newborn. The biggest advantage of the radiant heater is that it provides easy access to critically ill babies without disturbing the thermal environment. The major disadvantage thereof is the increase in the imperceptible water loss produced by the radiant heater. Systems in available devices usually adjust/monitor temperature monitoring and control based on temperature data received from one or more regions. In the use of a conventional neonatal heater, there are some technical problems in regulating the neonatal temperature. In available radiant heater systems, temperature data is only based on data/information received from that part since newborn body temperature measurement is taken from certain parts of the body with sensors. However, temperature data cannot be obtained from those regions when the newborn body is considered as a whole, in cases where hyperthermia and/or hypothermia occur in some regions. As a result, body temperature data obtained from newborns may vary (and vice versa) and such a problem may affect the entire system.

Specifically, a skin-mounted temperature sensor only measures temperature from a small body part, but skin temperature may vary with different parts of the body of an infant. This sensor may become dislodged, creating a risk of overheating or underheating. In particular, a conventional radiant heater may have trouble making sense of data from a partially displaced or slowly detaching sensor over time that measures between ambient and skin temperatures. In this case, hypothermia and/or hyperthermia may be experienced in parts of the newborn's body that cannot be measured from the sensor.

Many of the available systems helps to warm the newborn's body by adjusting the power of the radiant heater module on the system with the control system when said systems detect that the newborn's body has lost heat. While doing this, it can only do this with the data taken from the probes placed in certain parts of the body. However, in some cases this is not enough. For example, some parts of the newborn's body overheat, while others do not increase linearly. Or, in case of existing infection, some parts of the body are overheating.

In available systems, there are alarm systems in universal standards against the complications of hyperthermia and/or hypothermia that may occur as a result of overheating of the newborn. However, these alarm systems use available system data. If the data from the system is not meaningful under ideal conditions, the heater algorithm does not work properly.

In order to prevent hyperthermia or hypothermia complications in newborns, real-time monitoring of all parts of the body should be provided. In order to achieve this, sensors with optical sensor technology should scan the whole body. Thus, a two-dimensional image can be created by compiling data from almost every part of the body. In the research conducted, no integrated structure using this technology was detected in any of the known available devices.

The invention, which is the subject of the application numbered "US6735379B2" in the state of the art, relates to a radiant energy sensor to detect radiant heat energy incident on a surface. The energy sensor has a body portion with a pair of sides. A temperature sensor is located on each side of the body portion.

In the invention, which is the subject of the application numbered "US6735379B2" in the state of the art, a detector remotely senses infant radiated energy so as to determine the extent of infant warmth, and a controller responsive to the detector regulates the heater radiant energy accordingly.

Consequently, the disadvantages disclosed above and the inadequacy of available solutions in this regard necessitated making an improvement in the relevant technical field.

Objects of the Invention

The present invention relates to a thermal monitoring system that provides an additional safety measure by indicating the homogeneous distribution of temperature values obtained from the body of a newborn.

The most important object of the present invention is to sense the body as a whole and to convert the temperature data into two-dimensional images. Thus, a solution has been provided to the physical and/or ergonomically inappropriate problem of placing these sensors in every part of the newborn's body by means of the adjustment of the heater power by taking measurements by sensors placed only in certain parts of the body.

Another object of the present invention is to detect the temperature distribution in the newborn's body with the image shown on the screen on the heater device.

Another object of the present invention is to sense a displaced thermistor or a thermistor that is slowly disengaging over time.

Another object of the present invention is to detect temperature changes in different parts of the body of an infant. Yet another object of the present invention is to control whether the newborn is in the bed, as it creates an image consisting of temperature data. Thus, unnecessary operation of the radiant heater system is prevented, ensuring energy efficiency, and supporting energy sustainability.

Yet another object of the present invention is to allow for forming an image of whether the patient is in the optimal heating region. Thus, it is ensured that a patient receives the optimum heating benefit from a radiant heater.

Structural and characteristic features of the present invention as well as all advantages thereof will become clear through the attached figures and the following detailed description provided by making references thereto. Therefore, the assessment should be made by taking these figures and the detailed description into consideration.

Description of the Figures

Figure -1 is the drawing that illustrates the thermal monitoring system.

Figure -2 is the drawing that illustrates the side view of the thermal monitoring system.

Figure -3 is the drawing that illustrates the image created by the control board by the data received from the thermal sensor.

Figure -4 is the drawing that gives a schematic view of the thermal monitoring system.

Description of the Invention

The present invention relates to a thermal monitoring system that provides an additional safety measure by indicating the homogeneous distribution of temperature values obtained from the body of a newborn.

The thermal monitoring system designed for newborns provides a two-dimensional visualization. In addition, it prevents the dangers of incorrect temperature value due to dislocation over time and/or reduced contact of the sensor with the body surface.

The thermal monitoring system comprises radiant heater device body (1 ), radiant heater device wheels (2), thermal sensor (3), radiant heater (4), infant bed (5), display (6), control board (7). The radiant heater device body (1 ) have a thermal sensor (3), radiant heater (4), bed (5), and display (6), thereon. The radiant heater device body (1 ) provides the placement of the thermal sensor (3). In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the radiant heater device body (1 ) is used, however, the thermal sensor (3) can be positioned in other ways even if it is not. The thermal sensor (3) is placed approximately 15 cm away from the radiant heater (4). The reason why the thermal sensor is placed in the body of the device instead of placing it on the armature part is due to the armature moves to the right and left.

The radiant heater unit wheels (2) allow the radiant heater unit body (1 ) to be moved. There is a radiant heater (4) system inside the armature structure at the top of the device.

The bed (5) is fixed to the radiant heater body (1 ) and the newborn infant is placed in it.

The radiant heater (4) provides heating of the area where the bed (5) is located.

The thermal sensor (3) enables the infrared ray energy and temperature data to be detected on the body surface of the infant placed in the bed (5). The position of the thermal sensor (3) should be on the body of the device and the field of view should be such that the field of view is on the bed where the newborn is placed.

The control board (7) consists of the components of microcontroller, high-resolution ADC board, system information display, motion sensor, buzzer, connection connectors, data transfer interface and power control circuit, therein. The control board (7) communicates with the thermal sensor (3) and probes embedded in the infant's body. The microcontroller in the control board (7) converts the data received from the thermal sensor (3) and the temperature data of the infant placed in the bed (5) into a 32x24 pixel image. The control board (7) ensures that the generated two-dimensional image is sent to the display (6) at certain frequencies. These images show a distribution of the heat values obtained by the sensor. The control board (7) enables the microcontroller inside to generate the temperature information at different points of the infant. The control board (7) allows the accuracy of the probes' measurements to be checked by comparing the temperature data obtained from the probes embedded in the infant's body with the thermal sensor data. This will help to detect probes that have detached from the infant or are not measuring correctly. The buzzer on the control board (7) compares the temperature data obtained from the probes with the thermal sensor data and warns when the difference exceeds a preset error value. The control board (7) calculates the error value as follows; error value=error value + [(thermal sensor temperature data - probe temperature data) * time]. The user will be alerted when the error value exceeds a predetermined value. Here, not the instantaneous state of the difference, but the time-dependent saturation filling rate will be considered.

The display (6) provides the display of the two-dimensional image created by the microcontroller inside the control board (7). The display (6) provides displaying the temperature information at different points of the infant created by the microcontroller in the control board (7).

The thermal monitoring system is a system that ensures that a patient receives the optimum warming benefit from a radiant heater (4). This is achieved by creating a visual of whether the patient is in the optimal heating region. It creates an additional security system in case of incorrect readings of temperature data obtained from bodymounted probes. Technically, this is accomplished by a sensor that displays a two- dimensional image on the display (6) of the device. In the system, the temperature information of the areas of the infant with probes attached to certain points of the infant in the bed (5) heated by the radiant heater (4) is obtained. The temperature information of the infant's whole body is detected by the thermal sensor (3). The temperature information is converted into a two-dimensional image by the control board (7) and presented to the user on the display (6). The microcontroller in the control board (7) compares the temperature information from the probes and the thermal sensor (3). When the difference between the temperature data obtained from the compared probes and the thermal sensor (3) data exceeds a preset error value, a warning is given by the buzzle on the control board (7).