Measurement of the Infusion Flow Rate Produced by a Novel Non-electric-powered Infusion Pump |
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| K-H. Cheong, R. Doihara, N. Furuichi, M. Nakagawa, R. Karasawa, Y. Kato, K. Kageyama, T. Akasaka, Y. Onuma, T. Kato |
- Abstract:
- Intravenous (IV) fluid therapy is a common medical practice that is widespread worldwide, and the method has remained unchanged for more than a century. The IV bag is suspended from an IV stand or pole, and the pressure created by gravity is used to administer the drug. However, this method inevitably reduces the mobility of patients, and may cause accidents such as falls during movement. To solve these problems faced in home care, nursing home, and hospital settings, this study aims to develop a non-hanging, non-electric-powered IV infusion pump with reasonable portability and operability. In this study, instead of gravity, atmospheric pressure is used as the driving force. The infusion device developed is required to achieve a certain level of dosing stability and accuracy, in line with medical guidelines and ideally as comparable to the existing gravity method. We developed a number of prototypes based on different pressurization mechanisms using vacuum piston cylinders as the driving source in order to find an optimum mechanism capable to produce a stable flow rate comparable to the suspended drip system. Tests on performance in terms of discharged flow rate were conducted on three feasible prototypes based on three different pressurization mechanisms, using a gravimetric test bench built for this purpose. The tests show that the pressurization mechanism using an inflating air bag to compress a drip bag has the best performance in terms of flow rate stability.
- Keywords:
- Infusion flow rate; Non-electric infusion pump; IV fluid therapy; Gravimetric test bench
- Download:
- IMEKO-TC9-2019-144.pdf
- DOI:
- 10.21014/tc9-2022.144
- Event details
- IMEKO TC:
- TC9
- Event name:
- FLOMEKO 2022
- Title:
19th International Flow Measurement Conference 2022
- Place:
- Chongqing, CHINA
- Time:
- 01 November 2022 - 04 November 2022