Design Team 8

At any given time, nearly 1.4 million American children require feeding assistance. Of these children, around 117,000 are neonates and infants who experience persistent, severe feeding dysfunction and must be fed through gastrostomy tubes, the current standard for long-term gastric enteral access. However, in this population, 22% of G-tubes are displaced within 3 months of placement, before the recommended replacement period. Tube displacement, ranging from persistent and excessive motion at the insertion site to complete dislodgement, can cause complications such as gastric leakage, skin irritation and infection, and may even necessitate hospital readmission for tube replacement. This is particularly debilitating for these children who are at the most critical stage of development.

Neonates and infants with gastrostomy tubes need a way to minimize the frequency of displacement in order to reduce these complications. G-tube displacement is largely attributed to the failure of the internal retention mechanism and the excessive force applied when managing the tube. Most G-tubes feature a balloon retention mechanism which is prone to leaking or deflation, and in neonates and infants especially, G-tube replacement can be painful for the patient and challenging for parents and caregivers. Our team is targeting this gap by designing a G-tube for neonates and infants that features a secure internal retention mechanism with an easy insertion/removal method optimized for all users. By reducing the risk of tube displacement, we hope to provide neonates and infants with a reliable method of assisted feeding, enabling them to receive the nutrition they need for healthy development.

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