A federal government grant-backed trial in Queensland will be testing an intravenous treatment monitoring system on hospitalised babies. 

The monitoring system involves attaching a near-infrared sensor to a baby’s skin near the IV site to monitor continuously the surrounding tissues. It sets off alarms when it detects a volume change in those tissues. 

WHY IT MATTERS

In Australia, over 18,000 infants below age 1 are admitted to hospitals each year with about 60% of them requiring drip treatments, such as for rehydration and antibiotics. 

Citing studies, Amanda Ullman, professor at the University of Queensland School of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work, said between 33%-45% of these IV treatments in babies stop working before they are completed. 

“The vein where the IV is placed can be damaged during treatment, resulting in the fluid pooling in the tissue rather than being administered into the bloodstream,” explained Prof Ullman.

“Even with the best care and monitoring, unintentional injuries from IVs can occur because by the time signs of injury appear such as pain, redness and swelling, the damage has already happened.”

The trial, which started last year, targets to recruit over 500 babies in three years. It aims to enhance the delivery of IV treatments to babies in hospitals by detecting issues in IV treatments early. 

The IV monitoring device is being trialled at Queensland Children’s Hospital, Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital Neonatal Unit, and the Neonatal and Child and Adolescent Units at Sunshine Coast University Hospital. The trial has received funding from the federal government’s Medical Research Future Fund. 

THE LARGER TREND

Remote infant monitoring technologies have also been developed and tested in recent years in neighbouring state, South Australia. For example, an AI-powered computer vision system was used as an alternative to ECG to remotely monitor the vital signs of babies in the NICU of Flinders Medical Centre in Adelaide.

Meanwhile, a foetal monitoring system powered by AI is now part of the standard of care across public maternity sites in Western Australia. This comes after successfully trying out the AI-powered system in 2021. 

The Gold Coast Hospital and Health Service in Queensland is also trialling a remote pregnancy monitoring platform, which is being eyed as a standard in caring for high-risk pregnancies at its Women Newborn and Children Services.