Hasta La Ideas

Small children sometimes need surgery, too. And sometimes they need anesthesia. But, as nurse Monica Dahlstrand experienced when assisting during an operation, ordinary masks do not work very well with small children. She started thinking of a better way. Babies find comfort when breast fed and they also find comfort with pacifiers. When brought in for surgery, babies, like adults, have not eaten for some time. But unlike adults, babies have very little impulse control, making it difficult to put them under and keep them there for the duration of the surgery. But, by combining a baby sized anesthesia mask with a pacifier, Monica Dahlstrand made the whole process of performing surgery on babies much easier. She has won several inventor’s prizes and the pacifier mask is protected by a world patent. More on the Swedish National Museum of Science and Technology website (Swedish only).brbr