I-Corps: Autonomous smart Intravenous (IV) Pole that follows patients to reduce falls and collisions

这个I-Corps项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力是开发一种智能静脉（IV）杆，以帮助防止患者在医院摔倒。患者房间中相对较大百分比的福尔斯跌倒与IV杆相关联，这引入了严重的风险。 该解决方案在医院和长期护理机构中具有潜在的应用，其中发生IV杆相关的福尔斯。患者福尔斯跌倒影响了100万住院患者，每年花费美国护理提供者500亿美元。住院福尔斯是“永不发生的事件”，Medicare Medicaid Services中心不会报销。此外，更严重的福尔斯导致住院时间更长，并可能导致其他并发症，如感染风险增加。利用所提出的解决方案还可以为医院提供其他切实的好处，因为它可以提高医院的安全评级和患者体验。该I-Corps项目基于智能静脉输液架设备的开发，该设备与目前市场上的该产品版本有根本不同，可以降低医院和其他医疗机构的福尔斯风险。该产品基于人工智能的功能可以消除与当前IV杆相关的多种风险。该团队先前的研究表明，70%和23%的跌倒起始，分别是在去浴室和在床上的旅行中，与静脉输液架有关。受试者-环境-设备/家具相互作用导致的患者强制姿势变化被确定为跌倒起始的关键决定因素。当连接到静脉输液架时，运动涉及持续的推、拉和其他强制姿势变化，这引入了与跌倒引发相关的不稳定生物力学力。使用所提出的技术解决方案消除了由IV杆强制的姿势改变，释放患者的双手以进行任务，并且使得能够同时使用步行者或轮椅，以及其他安全改进。一项针对年轻健康受试者的初步研究显示，步态速度和躯干倾斜度（与福尔斯相关的两个因素）有了实质性改善。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of a smart intravenous (IV) pole to help prevent patients from falling in the hospital. A relatively large percentage of falls in a patient’s room are associated with the IV pole, which introduces a serious risk. The solution has potential applications in both hospitals and long-term care facilities, where IV pole-associated falls occur. Patient falls affect one million hospitalized patients and cost US care providers $50 billion annually. Hospital falls are “Never Events” that are not reimbursed by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. In addition, more serious falls result in longer length of stay and may cause additional complications such as the increased risk of infections. The utilization of the proposed solution also may provide other tangible benefits to hospitals as it may improve the safety rating of hospitals, and the patient experience. This I-Corps project is based on the development of a smart intravenous IV pole device that is fundamentally different from the versions of this product currently in the market that may reduce the risk of falls at hospitals and other healthcare settings. The artificial intelligence-based features of this product may eliminate multiple risks associated with the current IV poles. Previous studies by the team show that 70 and 23 percent of all fall initiations, in a trip to the bathroom and around the bed respectively, are associated with the IV pole. Patients’ forced postural changes resulting from subject-environment-equipment/furniture interactions were identified as a key determinant of fall initiations. Movement, while attached to an IV pole, involves constant pushing, pulling, and other forced postural changes, which introduce destabilizing biomechanical forces associated with fall initiations. Using the proposed technology solution eliminates postural changes forced by the IV pole, releases both hands of a patient for conducting tasks, and enables simultaneous use of a walker or wheelchair, among other safety improvements. A preliminary study with young, healthy subjects shows a substantial improvement in gait speed and trunk lean – two factors associated with falls.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.