Medical devices: overview and applications

Catheter insertions take place in medical facilities across the United States every day on a consistent and ongoing manner. As one recent study determined central venous catheter (CVC) insertion is required for many patients who are critically ill (Timsit, 2003) and that the insertion site for each patient should be based upon the most effective, efficient and ease of placement due to the many risks associated with the CVC procedure. Care must be taken, therefore, to ensure that the catheter is placed correctly with every single insertion. Venous insertions of catheters take place to allow medical access for drawing blood, chemotherapy, transfusions, and (amongst other uses) dialysis. Ensuring that the catheters are placed in the proper position is the responsibility of the individual surgeon or radiologist who is charged with placing the catheter in the patient (Ohio State, 2013).

Sometimes, however, mistakes are made, and the catheter is inserted into the patient's body incorrectly or in the wrong place. These type of mistakes can be the cause of serious problems for the patient, and it is important to provide a high degree of certainty that the insertion will be done in the correct manner.

A recent report shows that complications when placing (or in this specific case mis-placing) a venous line into an artery can be quite devastating for the patient. Ho et al. states that arterial puncture and arteriovenous fistula "are recognized complications of internal jugular vein cannulation" (Ho, Spanger, Hayward, McNicol, Weinberg, 2014, p. 794) which means that even those medical personnel with experience in placing venous catheters or lines can mistakenly guide the line in the wrong direction, resulting in serious medical problems for the patient. Therefore, care must be taken to ensure that the catheter is placed correctly with every single insertion. Venous insertions of catheters take place to allow medical access for drawing blood, chemotherapy, transfusions, and (amongst other uses) dialysis. Ensuring that the catheters are placed in the proper position is the responsibility of the individual surgeon or radiologist who is charged with placing the catheter in the patient (Ohio State, 2013).

Sometimes, however, mistakes are made, and the catheter is inserted into the patient's body incorrectly or in the wrong place. These type of mistakes can be the cause of serious problems for the patient, and it is important to provide a high degree of certainty that the insertion will be done in the correct manner.

One of the best methods for ensuring that the correct placement takes place is by conducting an ultrasound on the patient. One of the problems with conducting an ultrasound on the patient is that it can take a matter of time, trouble and expense to schedule the ultrasound with the proper technician available.