Sensor technology for improved patient safety in critically ill babies

Unpredictable flow variability is a serious problem in intravenous (IV) infusion therapy, especially for
vulnerable patients in neonatal and paediatric intensive care units (NICUs and PICUs). Studies show
that over 60% of IV infusions suffer from a flow rate error that is undetected by current infusion
systems1. The resulting flow discrepancy leads to accidental over/under dosage, with serious clinical
consequences (e.g. neurodevelopmental impairment) for the baby. Unfortunately, the current standard
of care is either too late or simply incapable of detecting flow rate variability in the IV infusion line. The
FDA has noted that the risks of adverse drug events (ADE) due to lack of flow continuity are especially
high at low infusion flow rates, where the current infusion systems are especially inaccurate. To address
this pressing issue of patient safety, Sencilia is developing a first-of-its-kind IV monitoring device, “Rely-
V”, that measures the IV flow rate in real-time and alerts the NICU/PICU clinicians instantly whenever
any flow discrepancy in the IV line is detected.

In this project, Sencilia will collaborate with nanofabrication (Prof. dr. Ajay Kottapalli) and mechatronics
(Prof. dr. Bayu Jayawardhana) experts at the University of Groningen to realize a fully-functioning
prototype that is compatible with commercial IV tubes and high-risk IV drugs in the NICU/PICU
environment. The main challenges associated with IV flow sensors, which this project aims to solve,
are: maintaining clinical usability in the NICU/PICU environment, accuracy at low flow rates (0.1–5
mL/hr), stable sensor performance in a simulated NICU environment, and easy integration into
commercial IV sets used in NICUs using in the Erasmus MC. The end goal is to develop a prototype
that is ready for clinical use by the end of the project, taking the TRL from 3 (current) to 5 (project end).