We are looking to raise funds to produce the Children's Vacuderm, to help with the painful procedure of inserting a needle into the vein. Up to 50% of the time practitioners fail in positioning the needle. This is due to many factors: Very small veins, kids can be nervous and scared with unpredictable behaviour when presented with a needle. The child may be undergoing treatment that has made their veins difficult to access e.g. chemotherapy, other long term treatments.
We have developed a unique smart tourniquet the Vacuderm, designed to increase success in phlebotomy & cannulation procedures (inserting a tube into the vein), increase child comfort & help improve the experience of mostly unpleasant hospital encounters.
Phlebotomy & cannulation procedures are the most common invasive medical procedures performed world wide, with a current failure rate up to 30% in adults and 50% in children.  The Vacuderm is a smart tourniquet with a dome designed to further aid filling of the targeted vein, saving time, cost, trauma and control infection rate.
The need for the Children's Vacuderm has been from Health Care Professionals, Parents and Children.  Currently, there is no standard procedure to cannulate a child, it can take several attempts, several members of staff and with every attempt that is made, the child is traumatised, has an increased risk of infection and further complications.  We have designed the Vacuderm for kids with fun and interactive features. Feedback from professionals suggest this will help improve comfort to the child.
The dome part of the Vacuderm can be pumped by the Child and used as a distraction when the needle is inserted.  Overall, the idea is to reduce trauma to the child by reducing the number of attempts made. Not only can the Vacuderm assist to make a tiny vein bigger, but it will assist to comfort and distract the child making the procedure more successful first time. See childs response at
https://youtu.be/1FjqFt3j2Oo