This article was originally published here

Annu Int Conf IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc. November 2021; 2021: 4965-4968. doi: 10.1109/EMBC46164.2021.9630388.

If the patient is at risk of removing the catheter by himself, the condition of the catheter needs to be checked frequently. If this is the only way to prevent self-removal, the patient needs to be physically restrained. In addition, it is currently necessary to reduce human-to-human contact to prevent COVID-19 infection. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop a sensor system to prevent the catheter from being removed by itself and reduce the contact between people. The purpose of this study is to examine a sensor system that detects the contact of the patient's hand with the peripheral venous catheter to prevent dementia patients from taking it out by themselves. This study analyzed the use of capacitive sensors and energized sensors to detect the contact of the patient's hand with the catheter. In addition, the time required from the start of peeling the sensor sheet to the removal of the needle was also measured. As a result, the capacitive sensor is difficult to use in a clinical environment because the connection between the seat and the cable may be unstable depending on the connection condition. The energized sensor can recognize the contact between the hand and the catheter by detecting the contact between the hand and the sensor. It takes at least 28 seconds from detection of hand contact to the beginning of needle withdrawal. Therefore, when the sensor sheet detects hand contact, the caregiver can visit the patient's bedside and stop self-removal. This research is the first step in the development of a system to prevent self-removal by detecting hand contact, and requires more steps to be used clinically. In the future, we will investigate more subjects and conduct clinical trials for Alzheimer's disease to test accuracy, precision and repeatability. The use of energized sensors will further develop a self-unloading prevention system for dementia patients. Detect their behavior remotely to prevent self-removal while minimizing the risk of contracting COVID-19.