He is only in his early 20s, a recent graduate from Loughborough University, but James Roberts has been named the international winner of this year’s James Dyson award. He receives £30,000 in prize money to help develop a low-cost inflatable incubator for prematurely born babies.
Roberts, 23, hopes his so-called Mom incubator could slash the high death rate of premature babies in developing countries. More than one in 10 babies worldwide are born prematurely. According to the World Health Organisation, 75% of deaths resulting from premature birth could be avoided if inexpensive treatments and practical medical help were more readily available.
Roberts believes his ingenious device could transform healthcare in poorer countries, where the average £30,000 price of an incubator is unaffordable to many hospitals.
Roberts, who graduated this year with a BSc in product design and technology, says: “I was inspired to tackle this problem after watching a documentary on the issue of premature babies in refugee camps. It motivated me to use my design engineering skills to make a difference. Like many young inventors, there have been struggles for me along the way; I had to sell my car to fund my first prototype! The dream would be to meet a child that my incubator has saved – living proof that my design has made a difference.”
Roberts plans to travel to Brazil and India where he would like to launch his incubators once they roll off the production line after a programme of extensive testing. His research focused on these countries and helped him to strip down his design to the bare essentials needed for the developing world. He has spoken to neonatal specialists and NGOs on the ground to find out what would be most help to their mission to save young lives.
Providing the same performance and standards as a modern incubation system, Mom costs only £250 to manufacture, test and transport. The device can be collapsed for transportation and runs off a battery that lasts 24 hours, in case of power unreliability.
The incubator is inflated manually and is warmed using ceramic heating elements. A screen shows the temperature and humidity, which can be custom set, depending on the baby’s age. An alarm sounds if the desired temperature changes. For babies suffering from jaundice there is a phototherapy unit which is also collapsible. Mom complies with British incubation standards, delivering a stable heat environment, humidification and jaundice lighting.
The James Dyson award will inject £30,000 into more prototyping and testing, with a view to further cost reduction and ultimately mass production. The project has picked up a cluster of other awards, including funding from the James Dyson Foundation University Grant and the Glendenbrook Prize for Innovation from Loughborough University. The incubator will now be subjected to extensive medical and clinical testing.
The device was one of a large number of submissions for this year’s competition that had a humanitarian purpose. Sir James Dyson says: “James’s invention shows the impact design engineering can have on people’s lives. The western world takes incubators for granted; we don’t think about how their inefficient design makes them unusable in developing countries and disaster zones. By bravely challenging convention, James has created something that could save thousands of lives.”
Dr Steve Jones, consultant paediatrician at the Royal United hospital in Bath, says: “Mom is a really interesting piece of innovation. I particularly like the integration of phototherapy, as jaundice is a very common co-morbidity alongside prematurity. Its use needn’t be limited to developing-world scenarios. I could see it being used in the UK to support community midwifery units, or following home births.”
The prestigious international competition awards design and engineering students from 18 countries in Europe, North America, Asia and Oceania, with a cash prize going to each national winner and a larger international prize to the overall winner. “The world is full of problems,” Dyson says of the need to encourage new talent, “and only engineers and inventors can solve them.”
