A team of Rice University students has designed a mousetrap-inspired device that could make IV-fluid delivery a "snap" in developing areas of the world. Treating dehydration among children is currently a challenge in these regions — children may be connected to adult-IV bags, and a tool like this device could serve the crucial role of determining the appropriate amount of fluid to deliver, while avoiding under- or over-hydration.
The device costs just $20 to manufacture, and consists of a mechanical, durable, autonomous volume regulator that uses a lever arm with a movable counterweight, similar to a physician's scale, to incrementally dispense IV fluid. The system uses the change in torque as an IV bag is drained of fluid to set off a mousetrap-like spring that clamps the IV tube and cuts off the flow of saline solution or other prescribed fluids. Tests have shown the device dispenses fluid within 12 milliliters of the desired volume, in increments of 50 milliliters.
The device can be mounted on a wall or attached with clamps to a portable hospital IV pole. Four prototypes of the device will be tested under field conditions this summer in Malawi and Lesotho. Malawi, in southeastern Africa, is among the least developed countries in the world, with a high infant mortality rate and a life expectancy of about 50 years.
Some 1.5 million children in developing countries die annually of dehydration. Simple, inexpensively manufactured tools like these could help deliver much-needed global health solutions to underdeveloped parts of the world.
