The £2 valve that stops doctors and nurses mixing up drips
Many of the sickest hospital patients will have drips in their veins and arteries; the former usually for drugs, while a line into an artery in the wrist is usually used to measure blood pressure and monitor health. If the two are mixed up, the consequences can be devastating – the most severe being amputation of the hand or fingers. A new device called NIC (noninjectable arterial connector) invented by a young anaesthetist – used by around one in four acute hospitals – ensures drugs cannot be administered into the artery, thereby preventing potentially lethal infections.