SKIN DERIVATIVE CONTROL OF THERMAL ENVIRONMENT IN A CLOSED INCUBATOR

Defining a thermoneutral environment remains difficult because thermon eutrality depends on both physical and physiological factors. A servoc ontrolled skin temperature derivative (SCS) heating device has been de signed to control the thermal environment in closed incubators without the necessity of setting an air or skin reference temperature. The th ermal environment obtained with the SCS program is controlled only by the neonate's skin temperature changes. For each neonate, the program allows the attainment of a specific individual thermal equilibrium (T- eq). Although the mean value of the thermal equilibrium level measured on 29 neonates does not differ significantly from the neutral air tem perature defined from the charts of other researchers, individual valu es of T-eq differed greatly among neonates of similar birthweight and postnatal age. When compared with on/off heating programs, the SCS sys tem permits greater quiet sleep occurrence and seems to provide an opt imal thermal environment. The results suggest that the skin temperatur e derivative heating program takes into account both the ambient and p hysiological factors affecting body temperature regulation of each neo nate.