New Pump Device Offers Safer IV Therapy

Intravenous (IV) therapy is often preferred over the oral route for administering drugs/fluids, explains IV Select’s Chairman, Edric Ackland-Snow. The two main reasons for this are speed of entry into the arterial system and because the drug does not go through the digestive system and have to be metabolised by the liver, which can reduce its concentration by up to 40 times.

Technology improvements have been made in all three types of pump delivery system for IV therapy: ambulatory (portable), volumetric (large volumes of fluid such as saline) and syringe (for accuracy), but the frequency of human error continues to be a problem, whether it is wrong patient, wrong drug, wrong dose, wrong time or wrong site.

Some manufacturers of pumps have attempted to deal with the wrong dose problem, continues Ackland-Snow, by introducing a software library of drugs so that if the nurse attempts to key-in a dose that is outside the usual range, it will warn her of the situation or in some cases prevent her from proceeding. But problems still remain and IV Select says it has found the solution.

The company has integrated the pumping tube into the drug container and incorporated a barcode/radiofrequency identification tag on the container that will have full details of the intended patient, the drug, the dose parameters, the site and the correct time to administer. As soon as the container is placed inside the pump, the reader programmes the pump automatically with the correct dose parameters; it then requires the nurse to scan the patient’s wristband or key in the patient name/ID to verify the correct patient. The system also confirms the time range and directs the nurse to the correct site on the patient.

The pump device also addresses the issue of providing IV therapy in the home without the need for a trained nurse to visit to programme the pump.

The company says that the device has the potential to replace all three existing pump types because it offers accuracy and delivery capacity together with portability.

It has created three production prototypes to demonstrate that the technology works and the company now seeks an established global partner, who has the resources to fund the final development stage and organise manufacture and distribution. Interested parties should visit the company’s website or send an email to: ric.acklandsnow@ivselect.co.uk

Tags: IV Select, IV therapy