title: A new venous infusion pathway monitoring system.
abstract: A new infusion catheter pathway monitoring system employing linear integrated circuits and a low-power 8-bit single chip microcomputer has been developed for hospital and home use. The sensor consists of coaxial three-layer conductive tapes wrapped around the polyvinyl chloride infusion tube. The inner tape is the main electrode, which records an AC (alternating current) voltage induced on the patient's body by electrostatic coupling from the normal 100 volt, 60 Hz AC power line wiring field in the patient's room. The outside tape layer is a reference electrode to monitor the AC voltage around the main electrode. The center tape layer is connected to system ground and functions as a shield. The microcomputer calculates the ratio of the induced AC voltages recorded by the main and reference electrodes and if the ratio indicates a detached infusion, alerts the nursing station, via the nurse call system or low transmitting power mobile phone.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Engineering, International Trinity College, Hiroshima 730-0014, Japan. hiromiti.maki@nifty.com
authors.forename: Hiromichi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Maki
authors.forename: Yoshiharu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yonezawa
authors.forename: Hidekuni
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ogawa
authors.forename: Ishio
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ninomiya
authors.forename: Koji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sata
authors.forename: Shingo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hamada
authors.forename: W Morton
authors.initials: WM
authors.lastname: Caldwell
mesh_terms: D003201:Computers; D011211:Electric Power Supplies; D004566:Electrodes; D004867:Equipment Design; D006801:Humans; D007260:Infusion Pumps; D008297:Male; D008838:Microcomputers; D008875:Middle Aged; D008991:Monitoring, Physiologic / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D055672:Static Electricity; D013686:Telemetry