Infrared-based low cost alarm and flow stop system for intravenous therapy

摘要

The invention provides an efficient monitoring and control system during intravenous infusion therapy which is a common procedure in hospitals and clinics. This low cost device has been developed to eliminate the risk of excess infusion of fluid into the body or backflow of blood from the body due to complete drainage of infusion tube. The device consists of a sensor strip, a buzzer, a mechanical system to stop the flow of fluid in the tube and an electronic system that activates the buzzer and the flow-stop system. The sensing mechanism is based on the principle of reflection of infrared rays by the fluid in the bottle. The IR based sensor senses the presence and absence of fluid at a specific level and feeds that data for further processing to the microcontroller which decides the initiation of alann and flowstop system. Multiple configurations of the system are possible with different features to suit varied needs.