Background

Detecting a possible air leak from the lung in a standard Chest Drainage Unit (CDU) is often misinterpreted by healthcare professionals (nurses and doctors).

Too late removal of a chest tube will lengthen in hospital stay for the patient by days.

Too early removal of the chest tube results in collapse of the lung and replacement of the chest tube which can be an unpleasant and painful experience for the patient, and is expensive for the health care system/health insurances.

Estimated price per day for in hospital stay is €400 while addition of an Eckardt Leakage Detector - ELD® to a conventional CDU is €10-15.

Technology Overview

SDU offer a simple and cost-effective solution to determine the right time for removal of the chest tube, changing the decision from a subjective to an objective assessment. This increases patient safety and wellbeing and minimizes hospitalization of patients.

This invention adds a simple CO₂ detector to the water seal of a CDU and air leakage is seen as a change of color from blue to green (). The color change will follow the CO₂ concentration and following enable the healthcare professional to see if there is any air leakage and the severity of the air leakage.

Stage of Development

A controlled animal (5 pigs) study has shown the technology performs as predicted.

A pilot study with patients with different disease were investigated with the new technology

Finally in collaboration with a chest drain manufacturer a chest drainage unit has been developed and number of patients have been tested in a controlled setup with excellent results. Published: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32819024/

Opportunity

Nonexclusive licensing

Eckardt Leakage Detector (ELD™): Improved Readout of Chest Drainage Unit

Patents

IP Status

Seeking