The Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital Tainan Branch and the Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology have jointly developed a new tourniquet with pressure sensing and temperature control functions. This invention is to address issues traditional pressure tourniquets have. In the future it could also be fitted with information communication technologies, to provide instant user alerts.
高雄榮民總醫院台南分院與南台科技大學合作研發「溫控式洗腎廔管壓力偵測止血裝置」，可改善傳統只以壓力帶止血的不足。未來還可望結合資訊通訊技術，提供隨身警示。
Most kidney patients need hemodialysis treatment, in which a needle is inserted into the patient’s dialysis fistula, and blood from their body flows into the dialysis machine. After it has gone through the molecular exchange process the blood, which has now been cleansed of most of the waste, flows back into the patient’s body.
大多數洗腎患者是採用血液透析治療，將穿刺針打入病患的洗腎廔管中，藉此引出體內血液進入透析機器，進行分子交換後，再把去除大部分廢物的血液流進病患體內。
When the dialysis treatment is complete, the nurse removes the needle and applies pressure to the needle puncture point to stop the blood. If during this process the nurse applies excessive pressure, it could affect the function of the dialysis fistula, or even damage or flatten it, so that it has to be recreated. However, if insufficient pressure is applied, it will not staunch the bleeding.
當透析治療結束後，護理人員拔除穿刺針，會於穿刺點加壓止血。過程中若用力太過，可能會影響洗腎廔管的功能，甚至造成廔管損壞、狹窄而須重建；若用力不夠，又會產生止血失效而流血。
This new device utilizes a smart chip that measures pressure, and detects the amount of pressure applied when the blood flow is being stopped, displaying the numerical value on the device’s screen. Then, by adjusting the amount of pressure applied, it works out the most appropriate value. The device is also fitted with a cooling module, which can reduce the temperature of the skin surface at the point the pressure was applied, to facilitate the staunching of the blood.
溫控式洗腎廔管壓力偵測止血裝置，主要是利用壓力感測智慧貼片，於加壓止血時偵測所施壓力，數值會顯現於裝置面板；再藉以調整加壓力道，找出最適當的壓力值。另外，裝置內建一致冷元件，可讓加壓點的皮膚表面溫度降低，以加速止血效果。
Source article: http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/lang/print/2017/03/12/2003666577