A Smart Infusion Pump System for Remote Management and Monitoring of Intravenous (IV) Drips

The current state of the art of intravenous (IV) fluid administration systems lacks remote monitoring and control capabilities. This study presents an intelligent infusion pump system for automatic and remote management and monitoring of IV drips. This work used Arduino based microcontroller for controlling drop counter, detecting tube blockage and monitoring the emptying of drip bag. This system used low power laser diodes and optical sensors for the aforementioned monitoring tasks. The flow rate (in drop per minute) and infusion-interruption problems were monitored remotely via transmission of data wirelessly to users' smartphones using Blynk mobile application and computer based applications. This study found no difference between the manual and automatic counting reading. In addition, the system is able to notify its users of empty bottle and line blockage. This work concluded that the developed prototype may be further enhanced (in its design and features) and tested for its effectiveness and consistencies in real clinical settings.