ProtectIV

IV’s are a popular access device to provide the medicines and nutritional support for premature infants. IV infiltration is the penetration of IV fluids or medicines into the surrounding tissue from a punctured vein or dislodged catheter. This penetration of fluids can cause severe and irreversible damage especially when undetected and untreated. Almost 90% of IVs fail and up to 78% of these failures in a single NICU can be due to IV infiltration. Neonates in lower to middle income countries are at a higher risk of infiltrations due to a lack of resources necessary to observe and monitor IV sites. Therefore, there is a need for an affordable and accessible detection method for IV infiltration. ProtectIV’s solution is an adhesive patch with two mechanisms that instantaneously monitor for the symptoms of IV infiltration. When infiltration is detected the patch gives a visual color indication to alert an observer that an infiltration has occurred.