Design of an Improved Rapid Infuser for Safe and Reliable Fluid Resuscitation during Surgical Care

Abstract: Rapid infusers are used for rapid fluid administration as a part of medical treatment during surgical procedures. The rapid infusers on the market today have proved to present various functional, usability and safety issues for the customers and the problems have not been adequately addressed. This has motivated SLL Innovation to develop a new improved rapid infusion system. The primary reason for considering the development of a rapid infuser device was to meet customer demands and improve safety during the acute situations when the system is to be used. The Quality Function Deployment method was used to describe the design problem systematically and facilitate the development of an improved design. To investigate the users’ issues with existing rapid infusion devices, qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted individually with hospital staff that had experience with the rapid infuser. Customer requirements were subsequently identified to form a basis for the development process. The results of the study indicated an evident demand for a new product. A three-dimensional (3D) computer aided design (CAD) solution was presented with enhanced properties and features that met the specifications identified. All the customer requirements were addressed in the final result. Safety was the highest rated engineering specification, thus a lot of time and effort was dedicated to solutions that could affect the safety of the system positively. Although the final design is expected to be more efficient and safer than the competition, further research and work is needed before this can be ensured.