LehighWeek Volume 02, Issue 23

              Faculty Achievements, Bulletin Board  2
Visiting Lecturers, Executives 5
Three Exhibits Open March 29 6
Calendar Of Events.... 8
MR.    PHILIP   A.    ME
UNIV LIBRARIES
LINDERMAN LIBRARY
BL.D6 #30     B0306
ii
America needs to step up to this major
competitiveness challenge and use all
relevant resources, public and private?'
—lacocca Institute executive director Laurence W. Hecht
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Volume Two,
Issue Twentythree
m*W^*m Lehigh University, mWFm       A       T^   Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
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Bethlehem, Pa. 18015
March 15,1989
John Ochs (left), professor of mechanical engineering, explains the student-designed isolette "shaking
mattress" to Terry Ruggles (center), science reporter for WCAU-TV10, the CBS-affiliate in Philadelphia.
PHOTOGRAPH By JOHN PAPPAS
'Shaking Mattress' May Help Premature Babies
By Barbara Dolan
Lehigh University Writers' Group
Every year in the U.S.. thousands of premature babies
suffer from apnea, a condition in which infants' underdeveloped neurological systems cause them to stop breathing.
But John Ochs. professor of mechanical engineering at
Lehigh, thinks he and his students may have hit upon a
solution to help parents of premature infants sleep more
soundly.
The Lehigh team has designed a device that can help
prevent the dangerous effects of apnea. At the request of Dr.
Andrew Unger. chief neonatologist at.St. Luke's Hospital.
Bethlehem. Ochs and his students have developed a device
that gently shakes a baby when an apnea monitor signals
that the infant has stopped breathing.
Currently, when the monitor's high-pitched alarm goes
off. a parent or nurse must quickly respond to shake the
baby to stimulate breathing. The monitor, even though
close to the baby, usually fails to wake the infant.With some
premature infants, this frightening scenario can be repeated
more than twelve times an hour.
Prompt reaction to every alarm is crucial, according to
Dr. Unger. "In thirty to forty seconds, you can go from a
baby who will respond to scratching his back to a baby who
needs bag and mask resuscitation—who needs CPR." lie
says.
The device designed by Ochs and his students is a
platform installed under the baby's mattress in an isolette, a
crib with a controlled environment used for premature
infants in hospital nurseries. Triggered by a monitor's
sound, the device begins vibrating immediately, thus
shaking the infant.   The instant stimulation of the child
saves precious seconds that it would take for a nurse or a
sleeping parent to respond.
Ochs says the device is sound from an engineering
standpoint, but notes that its effect .on babies must be tested.
thoroughly before it can become a useful product.
"This device is set up to vibrate the baby, to tactilely
stimulate it." says Ochs. "But many questions remain to be
answered: What vibration levels can a newborn take? How
much stimulation does it take to wake the child up? And at
what point do you start to cause injury?"
Although the device exists now only in a Lehigh
engineering laboratory. Ochs and Unger hope to bring it to
the market.
"With the help of Dr. Unger and biomedical engineering
researchers like Ben Marcune at Lehigh, at some point this
device will be commercially available." Ochs says.
Panel Will Study
Lehigh's Structure
Lehigh University president Peter Likins has
announced the appointment of a blue-ribbon panel
to evaluate the University's response to the cost-
control challenges which confront every college
and university in America. The ad hoc Visiting
Committee on University Management will encourage new efforts to control spiraling costs associated with maintaining and improving educational
and research quality.
Chairing the new visiting committee of ten will
be alumnus and trustee Ronald R. Hoffman, group
vice president of ALCOA, Pittsburgh. The committee is comprised of trustees and distinguished
visitors from other academic institutions, including
the chairman of the corporation (board of trustees)
of MIT and vice presidents from Columbia,
Virginia, and Carnegie-Mellon Universities (see
box on Page 3).
Appointment of the panel is the first step in a
restructuring plan to be phased in by July 1990.
The review and restructuring process unveiled by
Likins calls for a study of all University administrative, academic and research aativities during the
next 16 months to uncover potential operating
efficiencies and cost savings. The proposal was
drafted by the president after extensive consultations with the executive committee of the board of
trustees, members of the president's council, and
Continued On Page 3>
WLVR To Broadcast Nationals
Lehigh University radio station WLVR (91.3 on the FM
band) will feature sessions of the NCAA wrestling tournament Friday and Saturday. March 17-18. from the Myriad
in Oklahoma City.
Broadcasts are scheduled 7^1 1 p.m. EST Friday and.
6:30-10 p.m. EST Saturday. The tournament starts Thursday. March 16. Describing the action will be John Harmon.
WGPA broadcaster. Dr. John Lux. longtime collegiate
wrestling authority, and Frank Vresics. a former Lehigh
matman.
They'll be paying particular attention to Engineer
entries Rick Hartman at 118 pounds. All-American EIWA
Continued On Page 4>
NEXT LEHIGHWEEK IS APRIL 5
LehighWeek will not be published during Spring Vacation
or the week following the break. The next issue will be
distributed April 5: deadline for material is
Friday, March 30.