Port Thermometer
Each year, over 200,000 people in the US receive a long-term central venous catheter called a mediport to infuse medications and nutrition. Unfortunately, the mediport puts them at risk of serious bloodstream infection. A resultant fever is a medical emergency and consequently, quick recognition of fever is important. These patients spend a majority of their time at home, without vital sign monitoring, and home-based fever detection is limited to manual checks or wearable equipment that certain patient populations cannot tolerate. Deciding when and how to check a temperature causes stress and anxiety for the caregiver and decreased quality of life for both caregiver and patient.
Description
Our innovation is the Port Thermometer, a temperature probe that attaches to the mediport, monitors for fever, and alerts caregivers. The thermistor is the temperature-sensing component of the device which continuously monitors an analog signal that changes with temperature fluctuation. An increase in core temperature above 38 degrees Celsius (100.4 degrees Fahrenheit) is converted to a digital signal that is transmitted by the wireless communication chip to a remote recorder. The remote recorder in turn transmits the digital temperature to an application on the caregiver’s phone that is protected by 2-factor authentication, thus alerting the caregiver of a fever. The device is powered by a lithium battery, the same kind used to power pacemakers. All components of this system are as long-lasting as the mediport itself and are entirely biocompatible.Applications
· Home use· Long term care facilities
· Nursing homes
· Hospitals
Advantages
· Measures core body temperature for accurate reading· No manual effort
· Real time, continuous temperature monitoring
· Non-invasive, already part of the port
· Suitable for home use