The TubeClear~® System - On the Market for Clearing Clogged Feeding Tubes - and Evaluating Increasingly Challenging Tubes in the Body: SBIR Funded Medical Device Platform

摘要

For a variety of health reasons (e.g., cancer, traumatic injury, Parkinson, Alzheimer), patients may find themselves unable to self-feed. These patients depend on a life-saving device, a feeding tube, to receive their nutrition and/or medications on a daily basis. However for various causes, these critically important feeding tubes become clogged with feeding formula and/or medications. Attempting to clear a clogged feeding tube can be time consuming to a clinician and can lead patients to be without nutrition or medication for an extended period of time. Often, these tubes require replacement, causing the patient to undergo a painful procedure and possibly exposing them to additional risks (e.g., radiation, surgical procedure). The TubeClear® System is a patented, FDA-cleared and CE marked medical device, developed to clear clogged feeding and decompression tubes at a patient's bedside while the tube remains in the patient. Benchtop testing has shown the TubeClear System to be more efficient and faster than current feeding tube clearing methods.