Students invent IV bag that doesn't rely on gravity. It could be game-changing at disaster sites.

Innovation is the norm for human society. Humans for thousands of years have advanced civilization using this strategy. One such development is now on the horizon from a team of South Korean students, reports Good News Network. This team is looking to improve the way IV fluids are administered to patients. Their inspiration for doing this came from witnessing the devastation that happened because of the Turkish-Syrian earthquakes in February 2023. The calamity brought with it 55,000 casualties, with a further 100,000 injured. During the rescue effort, medics were struggling to carry IV fluids to the victims. Seeing this, the team came up with the idea of consolidating the entire system into a bag to keep it clean and concise.

The team is associated with Hongik University in Seoul. According to Healthline, IV fluids need both power and gravity to work properly. It is important that the IV bag is kept in a certain position for it to properly travel through the wires into the body. In order to regulate the flow of the IV fluids, electricity is required. The team took care of both of these aspects and created an innovation that works irrespective of gravity and electricity.

They have named their innovation 'Golden Capsule'. Prior to making their idea a reality, the team interviewed many medical experts as per their interview with the James Dyson Award. They all confirmed that carrying IV fluid apparatus during a disaster was a huge hassle. The team communicated their idea to them and received a positive response. This encouraged them to work on it diligently so that they could make a difference. The device is non-powered and hands-free as it utilizes elastic forces and air pressure differences. The design would allow individuals to easily transport IV fluids to people in disasters. They wouldn't need to constantly hold it up or need electricity to alter the infusion rate of the fluid.

“The team has identified the limitations of existing IV injection methods, which rely on gravity and electricity, in disaster zones. Their Golden Capsule offers a much more practical, hands-free solution using a pressurized bladder, which can be positioned anywhere, such as strapped to the patient’s side,” said Sir James Dyson, Founder and Chief Engineer at Dyson. “This slowly deflates, pressurizing the drip into the patient, leaving medics free to perform other life-saving work.”

Certain members of the team wanted to personally be part of the project after suffering due to the inadequacies of the present IV apparatus. One of the members in the video described how her IV set-up was inconvenient during hospitalization. It restricted her movement and as a result, increased her irritability. The team's main objective now is to incorporate improvements into the prototype and collaborate with medical experts. They want to do everything to ensure the equipment's functionality in every situation. If everything goes well, they are going to begin mass production of the apparatus soon.

The team's effort and commitment led to them being presented with the 2023 James Dyson Award. The James Dyson Award is given to individuals who bring forth new designs to solve problems plaguing humanity. It was evident that this award meant a lot to the team, as they seemed elated when their name was announced by Dyson in the video.