Frequently asked questions

If all that’s needed is some degree of warmth, there are lots of options, including heating blankets, thermal warmers, heat lamps, and skin-to-skin contact. But in cases where an infant is born with more serious issues, what’s needed is not only warmth, but consistent/measurable warmth that can be constantly monitored, a bili light, highly filtered air, monitored humidity and oxygen monitoring, all of which the MediCradle provides.

There are, but to the best of our knowledge, none of them with MediCradle features have received any type of international certification. A country in Europe makes an incubator out of unpainted wood, and a company in India makes incubators out of cardboard, but these other options do not meet international IEC standards, which are very strenuous (several hundred pages of requirements, to insure the infant’s safety).

The founder is named John Keltonic. Over the past few decades, he’s led many trips to Africa from his church. In bringing medical supplies, he’d visited many medical facilities, and virtually every one of these facilities asked for an infant incubator. Small clinics might lose a child a week – larger hospitals might lose a child or two a day because they couldn’t provide sufficient heat, clean air, etc. The larger hospitals usually had incubators, but often they were broken because there weren’t parts or technical expertise available to keep the incubators running. Nurses would sometimes build a fire at night in their courtyard, and heat rocks in the fire to bring into the room where the infants were in order to try to warm the room without asphyxiating the infant from the smoke. John saw several children die, and spent a while looking for an existing solution, but because he couldn’t find one, he started MediCradle.

There are two companies that have been incredibly instrumental in designing the MediCradle. Progressive Design started the project with 8 engineers several years ago. When their outside work load increased to the point where it was difficult for them to continue, ILJ Corp took over, was able to make progress and complete the finished design. Currently, ILJ is manufacturing these units. Neither company ever charged a penny – both incurred significant internal and external costs in order to bring this design to life.

While most of the people working on Medicradle are in fact followers of Christ, a person’s faith has never been a requirement to be a part of this work . Those of us who are Christians are simply interested in sharing Christ love with those who are in need, regardless of their religious or political affiliation.

We are currently selling MediCradle incubators for $3,690 (which is our cost), and is 90% less than the cost of most new incubators. 

To order a MediCradle, please reach out to us via the Contact Page here. The cost does not include shipping. You can either arrange for your own shipper, or we will help you secure proper shipping from Richmond, Virginia. Each MediCradle comes in a custom heavy duty carton (designed and manufactured by International Paper pro bono) ready to ship.

Included with each sale is the MediCradle incubator, a skin temperature sensor, power supply, power supply cord, backup battery cable, and a #2 Phillips head screwdriver.

 

Unless things change, right now we are expecting our cost to increase by about $190. Because we have no profit built in, we’ll have to pass these tariff costs on to customers.

Currently, no. Our highest priority was to create incubators with unique features necessary for developing countries where the need is greatest. Virtually no medical facility in the US needs an air filter, battery power, etc. That said, we are currently pursuing FDA approval, so that the device can eventually be made for sale in United States and Europe. Without FDA or CE approval, the unit cannot be used in the US, Europe, Australia, Japan, or South Korea. To the best of our knowledge our IEC validation allows us to distribute the MediCradle in all other countries.

Currently, we cannot pay for of shipping costs, or handle the logistics of import forms and fees etc. for every different country.. But, we are willing to help out in any way that we can. This help would include our contacting the ministry of health in your country. We can also help you to find the cheapest shipping method possible (we are constantly searching for less expensive ways to ship Medicradles). We do not charge anything for this service.

If you are a non-profit entity, or purchasing units for resale, no state or local sales tax is due.

We have a two year parts and labor warranty, unless the unit is abused. But because shipping a unit back to us can be expensive for the owner, it’s usually much less expensive (and faster) if we just ship you replacement parts that you can easily install yourself.

Thank you! You can donate through the Donation Page here, or via a check made out to the MediCradle Foundation. The MediCradle Foundation is a 501(c)(3)Corp, all donations are tax deductible.

The MediCradle is controlled and monitored by use of a touch sensitive color screen with several different pages, From the main screen, you can monitor or change the set temperature, skin sensor temp, humidity, electrical source, bili light, interior light, and health of the unit. You can also access other pages (history screen, basic manual, diagnostic screen, etc.) It usually takes the user about 30 minutes to become familiar and comfortable with the operations of the unit. (There are several help screens available). The unit is not controllable via wi-fi or blue tooth. This is primarily for safety reasons. The operator of the unit should monitor the infant in the unit in person, instead of remotely.

MediCradle has an oxygen sensor which is constantly measuring the percentage of oxygen in the interior of the unit. When supplying the oxygen to the infant with an external source, use a bubble CPCP or low flow nasal cannula. If the oxygen percentage in the chamber itself should become too high, the unit will emit an audible alarm and the main screen 02 icon will also light up (see below), and fans will begin to remove excess oxygen from the chamber. This is a safety feature, as excess oxygen in the chamber could increase the chances of fire should this oxygen come in contact with a flame, cigarette, or any type of spark. As always, it is entirely the responsibility of the medical professional operating the MediCradle to monitor the oxygen usage, to insure that the infant does not receive too much oxygen, which could cause retinopathy of prematurity, blindness, or other serious issues.

There is a humidity sensor in the chamber which measures the percentage of water in the atmosphere, and displays this percentage on the main screen. The humidity can be increased by placing a bowl of sterilized water in the chamber with the infant. We do not use a system which automatically adjusts the humidity, as such a system would add hundreds or thousands of dollars to the cost of the MediCradle. Remember, one of our primary goals here is to make MediCradle’s incubators as affordable as possible to as many as possible.

With most incubators, the most expensive consumable is a non-reusable skin sensor, which can cost over a hundred dollars. Because the MediCradle uses a custom, reusable sensor that can be cleaned by immersing it in boiling water, this is not a continuing expense. Other than normal cleaning products, the only ongoing expense is the custom 3 µm (0.3 micron) replacement air filter, which costs around a dollar, and should be replaced every 60-90 days, depending on the cleanliness of the environment.

There is a self test screen menu for testing all alarm systems including visual and audible alarms. This feature walks the user through the testing of individual alarms. There is also a diagnostic screen which allows the user to make sure that all fans, heating systems, etc., are working correctly.

Unlike virtually every other incubator, the MediCradle uses a voltage converter placed in the AC cord far away from the unit itself, where AC power is converted to much safer 12V DC power. This means that high voltage never gets anywhere close to the incubator or the infant.

Not yet. In order to supply parts, manufacturers need to abide by internationally agreed ISO 13485 regulations, which set out the requirements for quality management system specific to the medical devices industry. That said, we are looking to find such manufacturers in many countries around the world, hoping that they can partner with us and producing replacement parts. Many of the MediCradle parts have been custom designed, and can be re-printed on a high resolution 3-D printer very inexpensively.

The main reason that we don’t include a battery is because most of our units are shipped by air, and there are significant hazmat and security regulations that now prohibit or limit the shipping batteries by air. Details as to what type of battery works best are found in the manual.

Yes. The unit needs up to 150W of power (average usage is 80W). 1 kwh is 1000/80 = 12.5 hours of operation. For continuous 80-watt power, especially with variable sunlight, using multiple panels totaling 120-120 watts is recommended. Smaller solar panels can be used to charge extra 12V batteries.

There are several reasons for this, the first of which is cost. By not having a cart, we are able to lower the cost. Also, because the incubator is so light, it can easily be moved to place to place by two people using the attached hand straps at the bottom of the unit. The hand straps can also be used to tie the unit down firmly to a sturdy table or other surface, so that it cannot accidentally be knocked over. Finally, not having a cart makes the unit itself smaller, which means that it can be transported in a car, etc., much more easily.

This is actually a safety feature, to help ensure that the unit remains operational whenever it is plugged in to AC power, or hooked to DC power. Should all external power be cut off to the unit, the MediCradle will end at a warning beep for several minutes in order to give the user time to address this problem.

Most incubators are very complicated, and take a great deal of technical expertise and hard to get parts in order to keep operational. We have taken a completely different approach. All of the most crucial functions components (the heaters, CPU units, fans, etc.), are enclosed in one very easy to replace box, accessible from the top of the incubator, using only a screwdriver. Other parts (doors, straps, etc.) are also easily replaceable using only a screwdriver.