Incubator Health Dictionary

Treatment with light, including sunlight, ultraviolet light, blue light, or lasers. Moderate exposure to sunlight is the most basic form, and is often helpful in treating psoriasis.

PUVA combines the use of long-wave ultraviolet light with a psoralen drug, which sensitizes the skin to light. This is used to treat psoriasis and other skin diseases such as vitiligo. Psoriasis may also be treated using short-wave ultraviolet light, sometimes combined with the application of coal tar.

Visible blue light is used to treat neonatal jaundice (see jaundice, neonatal), which is due to high levels of the pigment bilirubin in the blood. In phototherapy, bilirubin is converted into a harmless substance that can be excreted. To maximize exposure, the baby is undressed and placed under the lights in an incubator to keep him warm.phrenic nerve One of the pair of main nerves supplying the diaphragm. Each phrenic nerve carries motor impulses to the diaphragm, and plays a part in controlling breathing. Injury to, or surgical cutting of, 1 of the nerves results in paralysis of 1 half of the diaphragm.... phototherapy

Birth of a baby before 37 weeks’ gestation. The premature infant may not be sufficiently developed to cope with independent life and needs special care. About 5–10 per cent of babies are born prematurely.

Some 40 per cent of premature deliveries occur for no known reason. The remainder are due to conditions such as pre-eclampsia, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, long-standing kidney disease, and heart disease. Other causes are antepartum haemorrhage, intrauterine infection, or premature rupture of membranes. A common cause is multiple pregnancy (see pregnancy, multiple).

A premature infant is smaller than a full-term baby, lacks subcutaneous fat, is covered with downy hair (lanugo), and has very thin skin. The baby’s internal organs are also immature. The major complication is respiratory distress syndrome. There is increased risk of brain haemorrhage, jaundice, and hypoglycaemia. The baby has a limited ability to suck and maintain body temperature, and is prone to infection. The earlier a baby is born, the more likely it is to have such problems.

Premature infants are usually nursed in a special baby unit that provides intensive care. The baby is placed in an incubator, and may have artificial ventilation to assist breathing, artificial feeding through a stomach tube or into a vein, and treatment with antibiotic drugs and iron and vitamin supplements. With modern techniques, some infants survive even if they are born as early as 24 weeks’ gestation.... prematurity

n. 1. the process of development of an egg or a culture of bacteria. 2. the care of a premature baby in an *incubator.... incubation

(premature birth) birth of a baby before 37 weeks (259 days) of gestation (calculated from the first day of the mother’s last menstrual period); a birth at less than 23 weeks is at present incompatible with life. Such factors as *pre-eclampsia, multiple pregnancies (e.g. twins), maternal infection, and *cervical incompetence may all result in preterm births, but in the majority of cases the cause is unknown. Conditions affecting preterm babies may include *respiratory distress syndrome, feeding difficulties, inability to maintain normal body temperature, *apnoea, infection, *necrotizing enterocolitis, and brain haemorrhages. Supportive treatment is provided in an incubator in a neonatal unit; many infants survive with no residual impairment but the shorter the gestation period, the more serious are the problems to be overcome.... preterm birth