Challenge
To repair a significant tear in the feeding tube of a 6-year-old female patient who was unsuitable for surgical replacement.
Design Approach
Modify a previously deployed design to accommodate the patient’s severely degraded feeding tube.
Delivery
A novel “clam-shell” designed sealing device was designed, fabricated, tested, and deployed within 48 hours of the initial request.
Background
The patient is a child who is fully dependant on PEG Feeding for nutritional support, however their PEG tube was found to have significant degradation proximal to the fixation device. The tube had become swollen and distended, with a split approximately 8mm in length running parallel to the central axis. Due to the patient’s complex clinical condition, she was not deemed suitable for surgical replacement of the PEG tube.
Objectives
After consultation with the RIU team, the key objective was to create a repair for the PEG tube that would not cause any further damage during fitting due to the tubes severely degraded state.
Results
Overnight, a novel “clamshell” design was created based on a previous PEG repair that was created by the RIU team. The new design allowed the sealing device to be placed over the site of the tear and clamped in place without placing any strain on the rest of the tube. The device was printed using a Connex 500 3D printer, using Med 610 biocompatible material. The device was fitted 2 days after the patient met with the team, and her feeds were recommenced overnight without further issue.
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- School of Architecture and Product Design UL
