Every year in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) between 95,000 to 116,000 patients in the United States will experience an IV infiltration. IV infiltration occurs when the fluid administered leaks out of its intended path in the vein and into surrounding tissue. Failure to detect this promptly can often lead to damaging effects such as necrosis and compartment syndrome which increase the length ofhospital stay and cost of care. Currently, nurses monitor the IV site every few hours for symptoms of swelling, blanching, and change in temperature. Nurses are often not able to monitor the IV site frequently enough to catch these early symptoms that present themselves within minutes of infiltration. NICU nurses need a highly sensitive way to rapidly detect IV infiltration in order to minimize time before intervention. While effective in the adult population, current solutions are too expensive for use on all patients and not designed for neonate anatomy. Our solution is a continuous monitoring device to alert exactly when early symptoms of infiltration occur. This low-cost system is designed specifically for neonates and improves nurse workflow by reducing the need for IV site checks every few minutes.
Pediatric IV Infiltration
2020
Team Members:
- Kavya Anjur
- Taj El-Khalili
- Laboni Hassan
- Sneha Kamada
- Benjy Monteagudo
- Rebecca Mosier
- Sophia Triantis
- Jack Walters
Advisors:
- Robin Yang, MD, DDS
- Collin Shale
- Hillary Jenny, MD
- Richard Redett, MD
- Stephanie Morgenstern, RN
- Jim Fackler, MD
- Karina Frank