PleuraFlow, a device we reported receiving FDA approval last December, won a 2011 Medical Design Excellence Award.
The device from Bend, Oregon’s Clear Catheter Systems clears chest tubes of clogging material using a magnetic guidewire.
Of note, the technology was designed with help from Carbon Design Group of Seattle, Washington.
The PleuraFlow is a novel chest tube clearance accessory developed to maintain chest tube patency after heart and lung surgery. Clogging of a chest tube with a clot in the setting of continued postoperative drainage can contribute to impaired patient outcomes and even death. Nurses often have to improvise to keep the tubes open by tapping, squeezing, and milking the tubes in an attempt to clear the clots in the post operative setting. This can be frustrating and time consuming and is not always successful. Chest tube clearance with the PleuraFlow is achieved by advancing the specially designed clearance member back and forth within the chest tube under sterile conditions, breaking down and pulling clots back out of the tube, thereby leaving the inner portion of the chest tube clear of any obstructing material.
Press release: PleuraFlow™ Awarded Medical Device Excellence Award
Product page: PleuraFlow…
Link: All MDEA winners…
Flashback: PleuraFlow Active Tube Clearance System Receives FDA Clearance