Safety in pediatric IV infusions

Intravenous therapy / IV therapy is the method of administering liquid medicines to one's body. This is done by inserting a tiny flexible catheter directly into the vein of any patient. This is one of the most preferred methods of medication administration as it is much faster to provide medicines rather than by mouth or shots.

Dehydration induced by Diarrhea is the second leading disease causing death in children that are under the age of five. Serious cases of dehydration like this are treated with IV fluid therapy. However, a greater risk is Overhydration caused by the absence of frequent monitoring by nurses. By taking this into account children under the age of 16 can be categorized into the ones that are at greater risk in hospital while undergoing treatment. The errors happen mainly due to a lack of staff resources to monitor the children under IV therapy and not have sufficient financial capabilities for better medical equipment.

When we take this up with developing countries the number of errors happening in the pediatrics ward is enormous. Most of the developing countries cannot afford the heavily priced infusion pumps which need constant maintenance.

We have developed a low-cost, wireless smart infusion monitor to trim down the gap caused by a lack of frequent monitoring. Dripo wireless infusion monitoring system can be used to monitor more than 50 iv fluids simultaneously under a single nursing station. When attached to the IV drip chamber, the device shows the real-time drip rate to nurses so that they can set the flow rate accurately. The device will alert the nurses via pagers and notification with sound on the nursing station for flow rate errors and completion of drips. This in fact lessens the cases of overhydration in children as nurses will be able to act on events in IV fluid administration at the right time.

This product will be of greater help for pediatric infusions as they need accurate infusions at lower volumes to prevent overhydration compared to adults. IV flow regulators are one of the major alternatives being used in setting the flow rate accurately. But drip brings more advantages in terms of remote monitoring and affordability as it can be reused multiple times, unlike flow regulators which are disposable.