Development of an Intravenous Fluid Monitoring, Warning, and Reverse Flow Blocking System

With the advancement of medical technology, the improvement of healthcare requires the integration of cutting-edge technology with medical science to make an effective system. Medical care has increased significantly in recent years as a consequence of technological breakthroughs. A fundamental demand for any hospitalized patient includes advanced care and continuous monitoring. Intravenous (IV) treatment is the fastest and most common way of treatment since it skips the digestive system. When saline is supplied to a patient, the patient is administered it continuously by a nurse. Unfortunately, the nurse could forget to turn off the saline injection system for a variety of reasons, including hectic schedules, forgetfulness, or sleeping at night. The saline tubing system is then re-flexed by the blood of the patient, endangering their lives. Additionally, air bubbles can enter the patient’s body. Consequently, there is a necessity for an automated system for assuring the continual monitoring and regulation of the fluid flow. To answer this, we have developed a remotely monitored saline level and automated alarm system to keep patients safe and preserve their lives during saline feeding hours by employing a microcontroller, load cell, switching valve, and GSM module. The proposed system has a weight measuring sensor that monitors the weight of the saline bottle and processes that weight via a microcontroller unit, which subsequently signals when the saline bottle is empty and automatically shuts off the saline flow when it is completely empty. This system is highly beneficial for accurate intravenous treatment, especially at night.