Peripheral intravenous (PIV) therapy is the direct delivery of fluids or medication into peripheral veins through a small flexible tube known as a catheter. Infiltration occurs when the catheter is dislodged from the vein, causing fluid to build up in the surrounding tissue. When undetected, this can lead to bruising, scarring, nerve damage and amputation in extreme cases. This is especially problematic among children who may have trouble articulating the pain that is associated with infiltrations. According to medical records published by the US National Library of Medicine[1], infiltrations occur in over 20% of the 100 million pediatric patients who receive peripheral IVs annually. Observations at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) revealed that infiltrations are detected manually through hourly assessments by nurses as they look for swelling and feel for a decrease in temperature near the IV site. As these indicators can be difficult to detect before complications arise, nurses and safety specialists alike expressed the need for a device to detect infiltrations before the human eye can. Our solution is IVSight, a noninvasive monitor that combines biological inputs and a proprietary risk assessment algorithm to detect peripheral IV infiltrations. IVSight monitors the IV site using the same infiltration indicators that nurses look for: swelling and decrease in skin temperature. IVSight combines a thermal camera with a flex sensor, each programmed with a specific threshold to detect the changes that indicate an infiltration. IVSight has been engineered with human factors in mind, so that it is easy for nurses to use and seamlessly integrates into their workflow, quickly detecting infiltrations and minimizing complications.
[1] Driscoll Md, C., Langer, M., Burke, S., & El Metwally Md, D. (2015). Improving Detection of IV Infiltrates in Neonates. BMJ quality improvement reports, 4(1), u204253.w3874. doi:10.1136/bmjquality.u204253.w3874
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