Detection of intravenous infiltration using impedance parameters in patients in a long-term care hospital

Abstract

This study was aimed to evaluate the changes of impedance parameters of patients who were admitted to a long-term care hospital by measuring bioelectrical impedance. The subjects were 18 patients who had infusion therapy through peripheral intravenous (IV) catheters and had at least an infiltration. The impedance parameters were measured with a multi-channel impedance measuring instrument (Vector Impedance Meter) twice; at starting IV infusion after catheter insertion and infiltration detected. As results, the resistance (R) after infiltration significantly decreased compared to the initial resistance. At 50 kHz, the resistances were 498.2±79.3 [Ω] before infiltration and 369.4±85.6 [Ω] after infiltration. The magnitude of the reactance (XC) decreased after infiltration. At 50 kHz, the measured reactance was -31.1±8.3 [Ω] before infiltration and -24.5±5.9 [Ω] after infiltration. The data points plotted in the R-XC graph shifted from the first quadrant before infiltration to third quadrant after infiltration. Our findings suggest that bioelectrical impedance is an effective method for detection of infiltration in a noninvasive and quantitative manner.

Scoping Review of Early Intravenous Infiltration and Extravasation Detection Devices

“…Five of the technologies focused solely on signal processing mechanisms 14,15,18,21,23. Signal processors are composed of 3 general components: a source, a medium, and a receiver.…”

“…Saade and Brennan14 collected radiofrequency tissue data from 25 adults and detected all stages of early leakage/infiltration. On 18 adult patients, Jeong et al23 found that bioimpedance was an effective method of infiltration detection, as the impedance parameters of resistance, reactance, and capacitance showed significant differences before and after infiltration.…”

“…Saade and Brennan, 14 Du et al, 18 and Ishihara et al 15 used electromagnetic radiation in the form of radiofrequency, infrared, and near-infrared sensing, respectively, to measure fluid density changes in tissues. Jeong et al 23 used electrical sensing in the form of vector impedance to measure tissue resistance, which is independent of swelling or motion. The device from Acuff et al 21 is more niche in that it specifically detects infiltrations of radiotracers to ensure that enough of the tracer enters the circulation for proper follow-up imaging.…”

“…Five of the technologies focused solely on signal processing mechanisms. 14,15,18,21,23 Signal processors are composed of 3 general components: a source, a medium, and a receiver. The source and receiver change depending on the type of signal being processed; however, in all these devices, the medium is the tissue that is susceptible to infiltration.…”