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In the US and other high-income countries, typical infusion pumps cost anywhere from $5,000 to $15,000, and are not easily available. RealDrip improves access to precise and smart infusion at a 96% price reduction, with the units currently under development priced at $200.

Created by electronics engineer Taofeek Olalekan, the device is specifically aimed at maternal care units, to administer precise infusions to pregnant women during drip and blood transfusion treatments.

Olalekan hopes that RealDrip will not only improve access to infusion procedures, but also free up essential medical professionals who work in ICUs, where infusion pumps are typically used.

Where traditional infusion pumps require constant manual input and attention, RealDrip updates healthcare professionals remotely via web services and alerts. Using artificial intelligence to monitor dosages, flow rates and intake time, healthcare professionals no longer need to monitor patients’ infusions manually. The system also stores each patient’s medical status, allowing medical practitioners to quickly calculate correct infusion drip rates.

Current processes also require constant retraining on the traditional and complex infusion procedures, but unlike existing clinical tools, RealDrip is very simple to use.

The device operates via a dual-core chip with in-built Wi-Fi, allowing for two-way communication (M2M). Consisting of biosensors which measure and track the intravenous fluid, RealDrip uses edge computing to reduce latency and ensure timely responses from the RealDrip for measurement, analytics and data transmission to the cloud. An Anomaly Detection Algorithm improves efficiency, and an Automatic Reasoning Algorithm predicts, adjusts and maintains flow rate.

Following a successful clinical trial in Nigeria and regulatory approval, Olalekan and his team are now in the final design phase before manufacturing units for 27 hospitals that have pre-ordered RealDrip.

“We have positioned the product to potentially save the lives of 76,000 pregnant women and 500,000 babies every year. We are using the Internet of Things to shift healthcare from curing sickness to enabling wellness.”

Taofeek Olalekan, RealDrip