Inventors:
Caryl J. Semmler - Dallas TX
Carol A. Cook - Dallas TX
Jackie D. Smith - Lewisville TX
Assignee:
Board of Regents, The University of Texas System - Austin TX
International Classification:
A47D 1300
Abstract:
An infant seat for holding low birth weight neonates which supports an infant in such a manner as to prevent most position-induced deformities from occurring. The seat includes a head-receiving cavity, a back-supporting region and a buttocks-receiving hollow; a leg-containing structure is disposed on each side of the hollow. The back-supporting region is configured to hold an infant in a supine position and includes an arcuate surface on each side for biasing a supported infant to remain in the supine position. The head-receiving cavity is designed to not only maintain the infant's head in alignment with the infant's back, but also engages the infant's head over a large semi-spherically area to prevent flattening of the skull. The leg-containing structure prevents the infant's legs from flailing outwardly away from the infant's body, thus reducing hip rotation deformities and abduction stress in the leg and hip joints of the infant.