Continuous Temperature Monitoring for a Ward full of Newborns

The Celsi Monitor was developed with a very specific use case in mind.  The target product profile sought a highly visible temperature alert that could simultaneously track multiple newborns in a busy ward.  Multiple design elements ensure that teams have a much more frequent update on infant core temperature (measures infant temperature from 25°C to 43.9°C with an accuracy of ±0.3°C).  

The resulting device uses a probe attached around the infant's chest with a silicone strap, and attached to a small monitor with a cord. The small monitor (with very large font readout) clips readily on the side of any cot or bassinet with an adjustable silicone strap.

The large font measurement of temperature is complemented by a highly visible light across the top of the device.  As pictured here, a red light means the temperature is too high or low.  A green light across the top of the device means that the temperature is within a normal range.  Adding a third feature, the devices will sound an alarm if the temperature is too high.   Leaving nothing to chance,  the LCD screen also reads 'HI' if the infant is hyperthermic and 'LO' if the infant is hypothermic.

In practice, if each infant bassinet is equipped with a Celsi monitor, and they are all properly attached to the infant's skin, a glance around the room will give a moment by moment update on the state of each infant's temperature.  Each Celsi monitor updates the temperature measurement every ten seconds, giving a near real-time assessment of temperature.

Our partners, in a recent visit to a busy ward in Tanzania, shared the following vignette of the Celsi in action:

"We observed that two of the infants being monitored with the Celsi monitor were hypothermic.  The infants were taken out of the ward, warmed and put in radiant warmers.  The Celsi is meant to work like this,  through continuous monitoring of every infant in the ward."  

The Celsi Monitor ushers in a new, near real-time way to measure temperature across a busy neonatal ward.