-
-
Skip navigation
(Access key: S).
Contact information.
Each year many patients undergo femoral vein catheterization. Insertion of a femoral vein catheter is common in procedures where access to a large blood flow or a clear pathway to the heart is desired. Hemodialysis, angioplasty, invasive blood pressure monitoring and drug infusion are examples of such procedures. Insertion of the catheter can be difficult, as the femoral vein makes several turns before it meets the inferior vena cava. Often the patient’s leg must be put into a position that is optimal for placement of the catheter. This position may be difficult to maintain during the procedure and often assistance is required to hold the patient’s leg. Another complication during femoral vein catheterization is obstruction of the operating area due to the patient’s pannus. Currently, a resident physician or nurse must hold both the leg and the pannus, if necessary. This can be both hard work and can crowd the operating room. Development of a leg positioning device that both secures the patient’s leg at the optimal angles and provides a method for retracting the pannus away from the operating field will provide tremendous assistance in the operating room.
(From left to right): Jenna Spaeth, Matt Kudek, Aaron Freis, Tim Balgemann
The team presented at the Biomedical Engineering Design Expo. The presentation went very well and our client was pleased with our final prototype. We are currently putting the finishing touches on the final paper.
SolidWorks drawing of the final prototype showing the pannus retractor in position.
The final prototype was constructed from high density polyethylene. HDPE is very strong and this was important so that the members that experienced
large moments would not deform considerably.
The pieces with the larges moments are the pannus retractor and the leg rod.
Subject strapped into the positioner. The hip and knee angles meet the angles required by our client.
With the leg in this position, the convoluted path of the femoral vein is straightened.
This makes the insertion of a catheter into the femoral vein much easier.
| Week | Reporting Period Beginning | Activities |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | January 25 | The team decided on a project for the semester. |
| 2 | February 1 | Met with our client Dr. Jaffery about what he wants the project to consist of. Research on the design was split up between the meet |
| 3 | February 8 | Continued to research different topics. Most the research centered around: materials, femoral vein catheterization procedure, and current products. The team got together and started a preliminary brainstorm to see what kinds of ideas everyone on the team had. Based on the ideas generated, more research was done. This research was primarily focused around the componants of the new ideas |
| 4 | February 15 | The ideas generated during brainstorming were similar but differed mostly in the different components. Because of this, the team began to develop several component matrices in order to determine which components would work the best. Research also continued on what kinds of current products exsited. A rough draft of the product design specifications was developed as well. |
| 5 | February 22 | Met with Dr. Jaffery to update him on the teams progress and to see what he thought about our designs. The meeting went very well and we were able to get a lot of constructive feedback from Dr. Jaffery. |
| 6 | February 29 | With the majority of our design finalized, the team began determining what materials to order. The design matrix was finalized and the team settled on a final design. |
| 7 | March 7 | Began working on our mid-semester report and presentation. The materials ordered arrived and we will be finalizing the design plans by next week. |
| 8 | March 14 | The team finished working on the mid-semester report. The team also sat down and assesed what items would be needed for the final design. One of the major points the team discussed was how each of the elements of the design would be attached to one another. The team tried to minimize the amount of moveable joints to reduce complexity, but maintain the range of motion necessary to obtain leg angles needed. |
| 9 | March 21 | Spring break - Tim, worked on learning how to use SolidWorks and also did some research for what the dimensions need to be. |
| 10 | March 28 | The team continued to research materials and to find primary research sources to gain more information about the angle the leg must be in to facilitate catheter insertion. |
| 11 | April 4 | The team met with Dr. Jaffery to discuss the current design. The team also bought adhesive and several brackets to test what could be used on the prototype. The team also met and used an anthropometric table to determine the dimensions of the leg rod and bottom board. |
| 12 | April 11 | The team started cutting the high density polyethylene for the bottom board |
| 13 | April 18 | The team began cutting out all of the pieces for the final prototype. 3M high strength adhesive was used to bond the polyethylene pieces together to increase the thickness from a .5" to 1". The dove tail joint in the butt board was also cut using a digital mill. This would ensure that the cut was a constant depth and distance from the edge. |
| 14 | April 25 | Construction of the prototype continued. With the dimensions finalized, a SolidWorks drawing of the prototype could be made. The team also begain putting the poster presentation together. |
| 15 | May 2 | Construction of the prototype was finished, the team presented at the BME Design Expo, and the final paper was started. |
 |
Mid-semester presentation (Mar 7 2008, 2109 kb) |
 |
Mid-semester report and PDS (Mar 12 2008, 607 kb) |
|
Final Poster (May 12 2008, 1016 kb) |
|
Final Paper (May 12 2008, 818 kb) |
