Engineering students design IV practice sleeve for nursing students

A four-man team of South Dakota State University mechanical engineering students has designed a wearable sleeve that will allow aspiring nurses to practice intravenous (IV) injections. 

"SDSU's College of Nursing currently has quality IV practice arms for their students to practice IV injections," explained Jonah Coffel, an engineering student on the team. "These arms, however, have many drawbacks: they are too large to fit well with the manikin for bedside training, they can be very expensive, and replacing the 'skin' and 'veins' can be challenging." 

Coffel's senior design team, which also includes Nathan Lawrence, Dalton Anderson and Connor Gress, is working to create an improved practice sleeve that addresses these issues. 

"We set out with the goals of a designing a system that provides the realistic blood flashback and is wearable for a training manikin or standardized patient," Anderson said. 

The design team, which is being mentored by Annette Ray, lecturer and simulation site coordinator in the College of Nursing, spent the better part of the 2023-24 academic year researching, designing and testing their practice sleeve. In their first semester of work, the team members received positive feedback from the College of Nursing for their prototype. 

"Mentoring the mechanical engineering students has been a rewarding experience! Their professionalism and desire to create a product that is beneficial to student learning has been inspiring. We have worked together to ensure they had ample opportunities to observe students in the skills lab working with the IV arms and they have worked with not only myself but our simulation and lab technicians to ensure they understand our educational needs," Ray said. "Their work is significant to the nursing program as IV wearable practice devices provide a more realistic experience for nursing students and allows nursing students the opportunity for repetitive practice with the ultimate goal of ensuring patient safety." 

Currently, the College of Nursing utilizes two different apparatuses to practice IV injections. One of the main issues with one of the apparatuses is its lack of blood flashback — when blood returns through the inserted catheter — which hurts the realism that faculty want for their students in the simulation labs. For the team's prototype, flashback was essential as was a "realistic feel." Testing on the prototype was done throughout the semester on multiple vein materials and sizes, as well as various skin brands and materials. 

According to Coffel, the current design is wearable on both a manikin or person — which improves bedside training, is smaller in size with readily available parts to reduce its cost and features easily replaceable "skin" and "veins." 

"We also wanted to make sure the design was sleek and comfortable for better realism," Lawrence said. 

The design was also quite affordable, especially in comparison to products currently on the market. While a direct competitor may sell their arm for nearly $1,000, the team's prototype can be made for around $25. 

"The new wearable intravenous sleeve has the potential to massively change the way nursing students learn a vital technique in the medical realm," Gress said. 

In late April, the team presented its design at SDSU's Engineering Expo. While the expo is a place for engineering students to show off their senior design projects, it also serves as an intra-college competition between the nearly 50 design groups. The team placed third overall. 

When the students regroup in the fall, the team will look to improve on its prototype. 

"Going into our final semester, we are looking to perfect this design for the College of Nursing," Anderson said. "The hope is that it will eventually help thousands of future nursing students be the best they can be."