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VEIN LOCATOR

Opportunity Area

How might we improve demand and access to essential maternal health

medicines & supplies in Uganda??

The proposed title of your idea

Vein Locator

Please describe your idea.

The vein locator is a portable non-invasive medical device designed to help

clinicians easily locate veins in patients.

What problem does your idea solve in the market?

In Uganda and in many other LMICs, more than 80% of the patients
admitted into hospital wards need intravenous cannulation to deliver
fluids and medications or for withdrawing blood. In the case of Pediatric
patients, older adults, obese patients, patients with low blood pressure
and/or dark skinned patients, this procedure is often very difficult and
requires complex skill for clinicians to locate a vein beneath the patient's
skin. Failed attempts may result into further complications. In order to

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ensure safe administration of intravenous fluids and drugs, electronic

devices are necessary. ! "

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Briefly explain how you identified the need or opportunity /UpAccelerate/
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We identified a challenge of intravenous cannulation among hospitalized
patients during our clinical site visit to Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital,
and Holy Innocents Children Hospital in August 2015.

Who are the beneficiaries of your solution and how will they benefit?

The end users of this innovation are the clinicians and our target
customers are: health facilities first in Uganda. The beneficiaries of this
innovation are patients with difficulty in vein location. For critically ill
patients, every second counts and therefore we believe that the device will
serve as a convenient non-invasive tool in identifying potential cannulation
sites leading to: reduced tissue trauma, reduced economic costs, and
higher patient satisfaction.

Why are you convinced your solution will solve the problem?

The vein locator uses the principle of red light absorption by deoxy-
hemoglobin content in the patient’s vein. Deoxy-hemoglobin in the vein
absorbs red light and veins therefore show up clearly on the patient’s skin
against the brighter red background of the surrounding tissues. In
addition, red light is non-ionizing in nature, harmless to human skin and
does not need extra equipment to process the image.

What other initiatives like yours exist out there? How will you differentiate your
solution?

To assist in finding a vein, clinicians have used a number of techniques.

These include: use of a tourniquet, palpation, and asking the patient to
make a fist among others. In developed countries, various devices such as:
Veinlite, and Vein Finder (Flex) have been proposed for facilitating vein
location. Unfortunately, such devices are generally expensive in

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implementation and not well suited for low resource settings. Our
innovation therefore delivers a unique and innovative vein imaging ! "
technique that increases first needle success while costing a fraction (https://www.facebo
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other similar products. We have already began a set of feasibility studies
/UpAccelerate/
regarding the applicability of visible light, and we intend to develop the /upaccelerate
device using locally available components.

What have you done up-to date to test your idea with potential users? What
learnings do you have to share?

Our first generation prototype was built by assembling red LEDs on two
separate breadboards with the intention of proving the possibility to
visualize the veins. Over time, the device has been improved to a design
that allows clinicians to cannulate with their hands free. Following a needs
assessment visit to Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital and Holy Innocents
Children Hospital between June -July 2016, we developed the second
generation prototype which incorporated end users feedback. In
November 2016, designers at UIRI worked closely with our technical team
to develop a product suitable for both usability and performance testing.
Currently our team is working on the device charging system, a 3D-printed
casing and in future, we intend to incorporate a tourniquet with this device
to improve intravascular access.

How will you financially sustain your business?

Our current Bill of Materials is about $20 and our device may retail at $40.
To reduce production costs, we plan to have production at scale done by
Uganda Industrial Research Institute. Our business sustainability plan
involves free training services to health workers on how to effectively use
and maintain the device and working with the MoH to gain exposure to
market. We fully expect that the vein locator will be a profitable product
once commercialized to scale. Our implantation partners include:
CAMTech Uganda. Most of our project activities are based at the CAMTech
co-creation lab at Mbarara University of Science and Technology. Uganda
Industrial Research Institute, a centre of excellence for the East African
Community in industrial research. Core activities include value addition

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and capacity. We look forward to working with Design without Borders to

achieve the goal of reduced cost and improved quality of health care. ! "

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Please share a link to a 3 minute online video that best describes your idea and/upaccelerate
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team

https://youtu.be/zJKG9SdJ88U (https://youtu.be/zJKG9SdJ88U)

Please tell us about each founder and their roles on the team. How do you
know your founders and how long have you worked together?

The main strength of our team is its diversity. The team is comprised of
technical, business, and medical personnel. Eng. Emmanuel Kamuhire is a
Data communications Engineer from MUST, Paul Gusimba is a Hardware
Engineering student at MUST, and Solomon Oshabahebwa is a Biomedical
engineering student at Makerere University. The three engineers are the
creative brains behind the prototype design. We have invested time in
researching about the best tools and low cost materials to use in building
the final prototype. Melissa Amwine is a Business expert and she manages
the team's finances. Julius Mubiru and Brian Ssenkumba are medical
students from MUST interacting with nurses, doctors and baby caretakers.
We have worked together on this innovation since August 2015.

Please tell us about other team members that are not cofounders.

1. Dr. Data Santorino (Principal Investigator). He is the Country Manager

for CAMTech Uganda, a Pediatrician and Lecturer in the Department of
Pediatrics at Mbarara University of Science and Technology. 2. Eng. Martin
Mukama, a software developer and CAMTech Uganda co-creation lab
Manager.

Which members of your team will attend the program full-time?

1. Emmanuel Kamuhire 2. Solomon Oshabahebwa 3. Paul Gusimba.

Supporting Documents

# View Document (http://upaccelerate.co.ug/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Vein-Locator-Abstract.pdf)

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# View Document (http://upaccelerate.co.ug/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Vein-Locator-1st-Runner-up-Place.pdf)

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Kamuhire Emmanuel

POSTED 2 YEARS AGO

MODIFIED 2 YEARS AGO

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