More than 5 million people who suffer from cholera each year do not have easy access to IV bags. This results in more than 120,000 deaths due to cholera-related dehydration each year. Yet IV bags cost only two dollars a bag – it’s the weight of filled IV bags (about 38 oz. (1 kg) per bag) that drives up the cost of shipping. During disaster relief efforts, such as after the Haiti earthquake, relief workers must physically carry these bags to remote areas by foot, bicycles or motorcycles. This limits the amount of filled saline bags that can reach victims during disasters.
In order to solve the problem of unnecessary deaths due to cholera , Fosmo Med (a SF Bay Area based start-up) developed Maji, an intravenous (IV) saline bag that can be shipped empty of fluid and filled at the disaster site with any available water source. The bags weigh only 2oz. each and are shipped flat. The Maji IV bags make use of Forward Osmosis to create a sterile saline solution for the treatment of Cholera patients.
As stated in the company’s Indiegogo crowd fundraising campaign:
Forward Osmosis is a proven technology which mimics how membranes in nature work, including the human body. The FO membrane draws the water molecules from any water source utilizing ultrafiltration to achieve clean, sterile water. When combined with salt, the clean, sterile water becomes a saline solution suitable for IV and injection applications for patients.
The technology associated with FO is already being manufactured for water purification and extreme drinking water applications. At Fosmo Med, we are bringing this revolutionary FO technology to medical applications in an effort to achieve positive social impact.
Maji Indiegogo campaign: Save 120,000 lives from Cholera deaths around the world