The problem to be addressed involves a well documented concern in the field of intravenous therapy and invasive hemodynamic monitoring. Fluid filled catheters while infusing fluids into the blood vessels can carry bacteria into a patient's blood leading to nosocomial bacteremias. The part of the problem this project deals with is stopcock contamination. The stopcock is a three-way valve device in the fluid line. The external port on the stopcock is used to gain temporary access to the fluid in the tubing. This project's long-term objective is to assess the feasibility of a product that may decrease bacteremias in those patients with invasive fluid lines where stopcocks are used. The method of resolving the issue involves the development and testing of a specialized cap for the stopcock. The cap is called a SNAP CAP.
The aim i nvolves completing the development of SNAP CAP prototypes and doing a pilot study with bacteriological testing to assess the feasibility of continued testing at multiple hospital sites. Challenges will be: developing a single cavity prototype mold that will be used to make a part consistent with the patented design, and completing the pilot bacteriological study.
