Regulating IV infusion with innovative blind cave fish-inspired sensor
- Date:
- January 21, 2016
- Source:
- ResearchSEA
- Summary:
- Nurses’ workload reduced with the use of this low-cost sensor, while increasing their productivity by 30%; also significantly decreasing the complications of drug infusion via IV therapy.
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Inspired by the blind cave fish, researchers at the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART) have developed Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) flow sensor so tiny and sensitive that it can be implanted into the IV or intravenous set-up, to aid in regulating the velocity of the fluid flow with minimal intervention by the nurses, thereby reducing their workload while increasing their productivity by 30%; and significantly decreasing the complications of drug infusion via IV therapy. These sensors can also be incorporated into marine underwater robots, lending them sensitivities to wakes, akin to the blind cave fish itself, so that the robots can manoeuvre in a highly energy-efficient manner.
This groundbreaking research 'Nanofibril scaffold assisted MEMS artificial hydrogel neuromasts for enhanced sensitivity flow sensing' was just published in Nature Scientific Reports on 14 Jan 2016 and validates the development of superficial neuromast-inspired flow sensors that can attain high sensitivity and resolution through biomimetic soft-polymer materials.
Currently, nurses check the patient's IV about once every hour and after any major position change of the patient to ensure that the IV is still infusing at the correct rate. This is because any small movement by the patient or shift in position can change the rate at which the IV infuses. This rate of flow is controlled by the roller-clamp, which the nurses have to tweak periodically. Inaccurate flow control in infusion therapies could lead to a number of medical complications such as edema, which is potentially fatal.
Researchers at SMART Centre for Environmental Sensing and Modeling have developed these bio-inspired sensors which can be inserted into the IV tube by the manufacturer at its sterile site, and either:
a. Connected to a control unit that can automatically re-adjust the flow velocity; or b. Connected to an alarm to alert the nurses
These sensors cost less than S$1 per IV tube, while the control unit which the researchers are developing, will cost no more than $120. The alternative -- the alarm -- would cost even lesser at $30. These costs are much lower than the peristaltic pump, costing a few thousands, used mostly in the hospital Intensive Care Units.
Story Source:
Materials provided by ResearchSEA. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.
Journal Reference:
- Ajay Giri Prakash Kottapalli, Meghali Bora, Mohsen Asadnia, Jianmin Miao, Subbu S. Venkatraman, Michael Triantafyllou. Nanofibril scaffold assisted MEMS artificial hydrogel neuromasts for enhanced sensitivity flow sensing. Scientific Reports, 2016; 6: 19336 DOI: 10.1038/srep19336
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