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Background
Background
Dr. Iris Chu, project sponsor and Regional Anesthesia Fellow at UCSD, works alongside surgeons in the operating room monitoring the patient’s vitals during surgery. Hypertensive emergencies can indicate acute stroke or organ damage, and hypotensive emergencies can indicate excessive blood loss or a state of shock. When surgeons and technicians lean on the patient to perform surgery, the blood pressure cuff is exposed to forces that change the pressure within the cuff and affect the reading. Sudden changes in the cuff’s pressure can also lead to a postponed reading, which can cause even more uncertainty of the patient’s condition. Our team has designed easy-to-use mechanical shields to minimize the effects that leaning forces have on perioperative blood pressure readings.
BP Cuff Testing.mp4Figure 1: Jeffrey and Albert testing the blood pressure cuff on site with the assistance of project sponsor.
Objective
Objective
The sponsor has proposed creating an add-on to the standard blood pressure cuffs that will minimize the inaccurate readings caused by these pressures. Here are some of the primary objectives presented by the sponsor:
Higher accuracy of blood pressure readings within +/- 5 mmHg of the true systolic and diastolic blood pressures
Maintain structural integrity when a load of 25 lbs is applied for at least 10 minutes
Arm size adjustability to for arms 20.5 - 43 cm in circumference
User-friendly design that requires minimal training for application & use of system
Final Designs
Final Designs
To address the objectives of the sponsor, the team has designed two mechanical shields that protect the blood pressure cuff from external disturbances. The shields allow the cuff to take accurate measurements, even when surgeons and technicians lean on or bump the patient's arm. The designs prioritize size adjustability, ease of use, and low cost.
Wall Shield
The Wall Shield is a rigid plastic shield that allows linear adjustability of the wall component via a linear sliding rail in the base plate. Once properly sized, the set screw locks the wall in place and resists displacement from horizontal lean forces.
Flexible Shield
The Flexible Shield is a more form-fitting and flexible design, formed from a pre-bent polycarbonate plastic sheet. The shield operates under mechanics defined by Hooke's law, and its effective spring constant is sufficiently large to resist extreme deformation under the the maximum expected load. Size adjustability is made possible through Velcro straps or adjustable zip ties.
Sponsored by Dr. Iris Chu, Regional Anesthesiologist Fellow at UCSD
Sponsored by Dr. Iris Chu, Regional Anesthesiologist Fellow at UCSD
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