ENGS 89/90 Reports

Year of Graduation

2023

Project Advisor

Geoffrey Luke

Instructor

Solomon Diamond

Document Type

Report

Publication Date

2023

Abstract

The Artery Assist offers an ideal and novel solution to the difficulty in arterial line placement by greatly increasing the accuracy and precision of the Doppler device, but at very little additional cost. Arterial lines (A-lines) are used in the medical field to treat critically ill or surgical patients when frequent blood draws and pressure monitoring are required. To decrease the high failure rate of 28.6% on the first attempt, we designed the Artery Assist, a probe accessory that improves the artery detection capabilities of Doppler ultrasounds. This device adds an intuitive and informative visual output system to the subjective audio output from state-of-the-art Doppler devices. With the Artery Assist’s additional information regarding the artery boundaries and blood flow, healthcare professionals (HCPs) can now more easily cannulate the radial artery of patients with arterial complications. It was built by developing software and hardware to manipulate Doppler signals; by testing with a gel imaging phantom that mimicked the radial artery; and by organizing a user testing day with HCPs. Our iterative process relied on continuous HCP input to ensure completion of design specifications. Having the Artery Assist on the market will not only decrease A-line placement failure rates, but also free up ultrasound imaging devices for use in other areas of the ER, decreasing the time of care for all patients in the hospital.

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