Known as Dose Error Reduction Systems, these smart technologies are a "must" to minimize infusion errors, according to ECRI Institute. The smart pumps can warn users of medication delivery errors , calculation errors, and mis-programming that would result in under- or over-medication.

"Smart pumps allow you to program drug libraries or protocol libraries that are specific to each institution's requirements, formulary or order sets," explained Martha Sewall, Vice President of Marketing for the Infusion and Vascular Access Divisions of Smiths Medical. "Ideally the smartest pumps are wireless in their ability to communicate. Once you have safety software with limits and controls you can change and update your entire system quickly."


It's not just a futuristic scenario. The company already offers an ambulatory PCA infusion pump platform that will allow future wireless connectivity, the CADD®-Solis system. (CADD stands for computerized ambulatory delivery device.) The CADD®-Solis is a linear peristaltic pump, which uses a mechanism like a series of fingers that move fluid along with precision. Applications include pain relief medications such as narcotics for post-surgery, trauma, cancer and L&D (labor and delivery). The lightweight pump, about 20 ounces, moves with the patient to encourage faster return to activity, an important aspect of recovery.



But it's the software that really sets the smart pumps apart. In fact, they don't just "listen" to clinician instructions, they also communicate back to the clinicians by displaying messages and feedback based on programming that has been input into the pump. The CADD®-Solis can use two-way communication through its richly detailed monitor display or future wireless capabilities. It can indicate immediate patient care issues to caregivers at bedside, and report data to the hospital information system for quality improvement efforts.

"Traditionally, the caregiver had to provide care in the manner that the pump would allow because the pump was engineered a particular way.... So your forms were written to mimic what that pump did and the caregiver had to follow a prescribed route," said Mark Vaughan, a marketing director at Smiths Medical. "Today, we're empowering clinicians to say 'we want our decision making to look this way,' and the software allows them to configure the pumps to meet their needs as opposed to the clinicians being constrained by what the pump can do."

More Industry Headlines