The Formula 1 technology that keeps newborns safe

A new hi-tech ‘supercot’ transport system for newborns uses the same technology found in Formula 1 racing cars.

UK company Advanced Healthcare Technology has teamed up with Williams Advanced Engineering, the engineering and technology services division of the Williams Group (which includes Williams Martini Racing) to create the Babypod 20, which can withstand 20 G Force in a crash due to its strong carbon fibre shell – the same composite material that protects drivers in its high-speed racing cars.

The 9kg pod is quick and easy to fix into place in a road or air ambulance, and uses the same strapping that secures a racing driver into an F1 car. It is currently being manufactured alongside the cars at Williams Group HQ in Grove, Oxfordshire.

The Children’s Acute Transport Service (CATS) based at Great Ormond Street Hospital trialled the new pod and assisted with the design requirements.

The traditional way of transporting babies is in large, heavy, expensive metal incubators which need an electricity supply and specially-adapted ambulances, which are not always available.

However, during road accidents, these incubators, which weigh up to 120 kg, were found to cause severe injuries to both babies and ambulance crew if they broke free.

Hertford-based AHT was asked to look for solutions by the NHS and developed a paediatric transport system in 2004. Around 700 original Babypods have been used since then in the UK and overseas, built to withstand 10 G Force.

But when European Ambulance Safety Specifications changed the minimum G Force rating, AHT approached Williams Advanced Engineering.

Babypod 20 took 18 months to design and 16 weeks to be built. Williams has now started production of 300 Babypods this year, and aims to produce 500 a year thereafter.

The Babypod 20 can carry infants from 2kg up to 8kg in weight. It costs £5,000 per unit.

AHT is run by brothers Mark and Geoff Lait. Design director Mark Lait, a biomedical engineer, said: “Using the same technology, materials and design features that protect Formula 1 racing car drivers from injury during a crash, the revolutionary Babypod provides the security and warmth that a newborn needs, at a fraction of the cost of a standard transport incubator, in a package that is light, easy to handle, and can attach to any transport stretcher currently available.”

Craig Wilson, managing director of Williams Advanced Engineering, said “The parallels between a Formula One car and transport device for babies may not be immediately apparent, but both demand a lightweight and strong structure that keeps the occupant safe in the event of an accident, and can monitor vital signs whilst remaining easily transportable and accessible. We have taken the existing BabyPod product and worked with AHT to create a device that is not only more compact and user-friendly but, crucially, can be scaled up in its production so that more hospitals can benefit from this Formula One-inspired technology.”

Eithne Polke, operations manager at the Children’s Acute Transport Services, Great Ormond Street said: “I believe it revolutionised the way we moved term babies into intensive care from a safety and quality perspective. It is lightweight and easy to use especially when transferring babies from ambulances to helicopters. It is one of the best pieces of transport equipment that we have purchased and we use it almost every day.”