Device for continuous urine collection in the newborn.

Sir, I read the detailed description given by Lund et al.1 with great interest. Two years ago, while studying very preterm babies, I began to use an almost identical system. Since then I have made several modifications which have increased its versatility, simplified the changing of the slings, and greatly improved its acceptability for use with very small and immature subjects (Figure). As our nursery is equipped with three different kinds of incubator it is inconvenient to use apparatus which matches the fittings of only one particular model. I therefore designed a Perspex tray, 62 x 33 cm, which can replace the mattress in the base of any incubator. A double slope was made to keep the apparatus shallow (height 75 cm) so that the baby remained in the normal nursing position within the incubator, and at the same time provided a sufficiently steep angle in the base of the tray for efficient urine drainage. Each end of the apparatus base consisted of a shallow Perspex 'valley' which sloped from either side at an angle of 150; the central V was 3.5 cm below the top of the tray at either end and sloped lengthways towards the centre of the apparatus at 50, reaching a drainage tube where the ends met. This arrangement gave excellent urine drainage despite the fairly shallow lengthways slope, as the urine tended to form a small rivulet in the central groove. In any case the flow could still be increased by using the incubator base tipping mechanisms which were not obstructed. The most convenient arrangement was to lead the drainage tube out of the incubator through one of the