UNI Medical

No More Worries about Overdosing, the First Drug Injection Sensor Developed   To prevent medical accidents caused by drug overdoses, a drug infusion pump equipped with a drug injection sensor technology has been developed in Korea for the first time in the world.   The Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials (Director Ryu Seok-hyun) Daegu Convergence Technology Research Center's Medical Machinery Research Lab led by Researcher Dong-gyu Lee, under the Ministry of Science, announced that they have developed a customized sensor module technology that can measure ultra-low flow rates of drug infusion pumps and the presence of air bubbles in tubes.   Currently, in medical facilities, narcotic painkillers are infused at a rate of 1-2 ml per hour to immediately reduce strong pain in patients who have just undergone surgery. Existing drug infusion pumps only display the initial infusion speed of the drug, but do not provide real-time information on the speed at which the drug is infused into the patient. As a result, drug overdoses due to pump malfunctions frequently caused medical accidents such as shock deaths.   The research team developed a thermal flow sensor using a microheater (heat source) and multiple temperature sensors to accurately measure the ultra-low flow rate of the drug.   Recently, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) changed the medical device regulations to include a sensor that recognizes air bubbles in the drug infusion pump, considering patient safety. The researchers have developed a sensor that can also measure the presence of air bubbles.   In addition, when the drug infusion tube is attached to the sensor, non-contact measurement of the drug speed and air bubbles are possible. The existing technology for measuring the number of drops of IV fluid has a very low accuracy of around 10%, making it difficult to use at low speeds.   There are also advantages in terms of economic aspects as well as technical aspects. Existing precision flow sensors are mainly produced by expensive semiconductor processes and are used as disposable sensors, which places a heavy economic burden on users. In contrast, the sensor newly developed can be recycled and costs 75% less than disposable sensors.   When applied, this technology can prevent medical accidents caused by overdosing of painkillers after surgery or malfunctions of drug infusion pumps. It can also transmit real-time information on drug infusion speed and dosage to medical staff, relieving the workload of medical staff and significantly improving medical services in the future.   This device will be mass-produced by Unimedix, a Korean drug infusion device manufacturer, and will be available in actual medical fields in the second half of 2024. #UNI #UNIMedical #Korean #Medical #MedicalDevice #Healthcare #Hospital #Clinic #Diagnosis #Equipment *Image Source: Korea Institute of Machinery & Materials