ABSTRACT

Temperature plays an important part in our environment. Changes in temperature can affect the behavior of human beings, plants and even materials such as semiconductors. This project is to control the temperature of a given environment such as Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Neonatal Intensive Care Unit provide warmth and prevent heat loss to significantly improve survival rates. The use of air-heated Neonatal Intensive Care Unit has been the standard method of providing a stable, individualized thermal environment for the newborn infant at risk. A microcontroller is used to control the temperature in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Where the temperature had to be kept constant at 36.9 0C as in mothers womb. The system will function as stated in the programming code of ATMEL in order to keep the temperature stable. A simple temperature controller which has least complex circuitry has to be designed so that it saves space and be more reliable for an incubator.

INTRODUCTION
Of the four million babies worldwide who die in the first month of life, one million die on their first day. Preterm birth is attributed, either directly or indirectly, to at least 25 percent of neonatal deaths, and low birth weight (LBW) newborns are at the greatest risk. About half of the worldwide total, or 1.8 million babies each year, die for lack of a consistent heat until they have the body fat and metabolic rate to stay warm. The current recommended method of providing infant

temperature regulation in resource constrained settings is Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC), the practice of placing newborns directly onto the mother's chest. KMC has demonstrated benefits in terms of improved weight gain for preterm infants, earlier hospital discharge and higher breast feeding rates. At the same time, KMC also has important limitations: If the mother either dies in childbirth (as one of the 529,000 maternal deaths annually worldwide), or is too ill after delivery, mother is unable to provide KMC. The majority of mothers have other obligations that prevent them from being able to provide continuous KMC, such as other children and/or a job to which they must attend. If no one else is able to provide KMC, a baby sent home for this care may receive it inconsistently at best and therefore suffer the complications of hypothermia, including respiratory distress, acidosis, hypoglycemia and even death. Skin to skin contact is considered a culturally inappropriate violation of privacy in some areas that rely on KMC. As a consequence, at risk newborns in developing countries need a warm, clean environment in which to grow stronger. Incubators can help provide millions of at risk infants with shorter hospitals stays and can enable infants who might otherwise have faced a lifetime of severe disability to experience active lives.

OVERVIEW
This project is to design a temperature controller to be used to control the temperature of a small environment such as a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. A Neonatal Intensive Care Unit is an infant stimulating system used for intensive care of the newborn, premature or sick baby.Itprovides a safe and clean environment, which has fresh air, clean and sterile ambient conditions for the babies. Usually the controller used in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit is a Microprocessor.

PROBLEM STATEMENT
Premature or tiny babies are unable to keep themselves sufficiently warm. They are also very weak and prone to infections. An incubator is a special type of a coat which provides an ideal environment for the baby. It tries to stimulate the conditions as inside the mothers womb.

NEEDS FOR Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

Temperature regulation is one of the most important factors affecting survival in newborn infants. Infants typically lose heat to their environment in four different ways: through conduction, convection, radiation, and evaporation. Premature infants, as compared to term infants, are at an even greater disadvantage in temperature maintenance, because of the larger skin surface area to body mass ratio, decreased subcutaneous fat, and low supplies of brown fat. Furthermore, the normal surge in metabolic rate that occurs after birth is reduced in preterm infants, resulting in limited heat production. Preterm infants

birth rates are especially high in developing countries. A combination of poor facilities, poor after birth care and a lack of knowledge have propelled preterm birth to be one of the leading causes of infant mortality in developing countries. Neonatal Intensive Care Unit provide warmth and prevent heat loss to significantly improve survival rates. The use of air-heated incubators has been the standard method of providing a stable, individualized thermal environment for the newborn infant at risk. One of the very first Neonatal Intensive Care Unit invented by Stephane Tarnier in the late 19th century, reportedly reduced mortality among infants with birth weights between 1200 and 2000 g from 66% to 38%. The availability 4 of Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and radiant warmers in industrialized countries has made neonatal hypothermia uncommon, except in infants transported over long distances.