Protective glove for intravenous cannulation for children
Image credit: Ausmed
Darko SavicJul 01, 2021
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The idea is to create a glove that protects the intravenous cannula from being pulled out and protects the intravenous insertion site from external factors (shower, dust, etc). The secondary purpose of such a glove is to make it look cool to wear in public or disguise the IV site.
This would be especially useful to kids that have to undergo daily IV therapies but otherwise don't require hospitalization. It would also be useful to adults for the same reason.
I was able to find solutions like these, but they don't look cool and don't look like you could shower with them:
For children I was thinking more along these lines:
Details to think about:
prevention of contamination around the puncture site
mechanism that prevents a toddler from taking the glove off
easy access to the disguised IV port
how to protect the puncture site from getting wet or have it dry out at the same rate as the rest of the skin
As my title suggests, I think the material is the key. It is also quite important to maintain natural skin breathing, as a complete closing of the punctured spot is not good for either the spot or general secondary infections that can get developed easily in such an environment. Then, we would have to consider how good it is for children to completely forget they have a needle (a metal or plastic one, regardless) in their palm.
So, my ad hoc proposal would be to have a stylised glove which has a semi-translucent (coloured or non-coloured) piece with small holes for natural flow of airway, and the rest can be designed according to the favourite superhero, etc. Additionally, that part can be made accessible to the suringe only, so there wouldn't be a need for opening the glove by either the kid or nurses.
Concerning the mechanism of safety-locking the whole glove, perhaps a simple one such as those for concert bracelets. So, once opened it cannot be reused again. This can be made economic if there is a hole throughout the end of the glove, so a new bracelet like this can be pulled through, like the thread in the trousers (that sort of a mechanism), while the glove gets to be desinfected and reused.
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A bracelet/wristband instead of a glove
Povilas SJul 01, 2021
The main disadvantage of wearing a glove for this purpose is that it's uncomfortable. Unless it's a winter season and you wear it outside, your skin will get sweaty, it will become too warm for the hand, uncomfortable to handle things compared to bare hand, etc. Of course, it's possible to develop a Gore-Tex type of glove to make it feel somewhat like a second skin, but this is an additional hassle. Moreover, if such an item is intended to be used for masking the cannula, a glove is not a good option for this either, because such an item is not supposed to raise suspicion for why it is being worn, on the contrary - it's supposed to minimize suspicion. So I think a bracelet or a wristband (depending on the place of the cannula and the size of it) is a better fit for this.
A bracelet would cause the least suspicion, especially if it is worn only on one hand (which is usually the case with catheters). A stylish-looking bracelet would simply be perceived as a piece of jewelry (or in the case of kids something used for fun/style purposes). The cannula would be sealed with rubber-like materials, also the ends of the bracelet, where the water can enter from, and maybe a thin layer of such waterproof material could be present underneath or above the entire surface area of the bracelet. The bracelet would have to be thick enough to cover the cannula and perhaps have a decorative element resembling a tiny knob, diamond, etc. which would be a detachable lid for an entry point of a needle.
A wristband is convenient for covering a larger area of the hand/wrist, it could cover various cannulas more easily and effectively than a bracelet, it attracts attention more, but nevertheless can look cool. I've recently stumbled upon pictures of
archery arm guards and some of them look very nice on a person's arm. They are usually quite big and might be clumsy, but a similar style could be used to make a smaller wristband for the purpose of this idea. Something like this:
A bigger and thicker wristband could also be used to incorporate digital devices with touchscreens, something like a hybrid between a smartwatch and a tablet could fit onto it. That way it would have a secondary practical purpose which would justify the motivation for wearing and would mask the cannula hiding reason even better while at the same time providing the person with digital possibilities at hand.
Darko Savic Jul 01, 2021
