Project Description:

A key component of a successful surgery is properly cleaning the surgical site in order to prevent infections. Around 83% of surgical techs and doctors do not consistently follow antiseptic application guidelines, specifically scrub time at the incision site, which increases the risk of surgical site infections. On average, there are 300,000 surgical site infections per year with an annual cost of $3.5 billion dollars. Our project aims to provide surgeons and operating room staff with a standardized process for preoperative application of antiseptic agents to prevent surgical site infections. In order to do so, we designed ScrubSense, an adhesive patch that contains an analog microfluidic timer that can indicate when scrubbing time and drying time have passed. The timer is activated by swiping the antiseptic solution along the blade of the device. The user will then go about scrubbing the incision site of the patient. After the scrubbing time has passed, the user will swipe the opposite side of the device to activate the drying timer. When the solution has traveled to the indicated line, they will know they have achieved proper scrubbing or drying time. Since our device uses paper fluidics, the components are low cost, which yields a $0.98 average cost of materials per unit. ScrubSense can be utilized in nearly every sterile procedure, so we have identified a serviceable market of $270 million dollars within the United States alone. Our device uses a simple visual timing indicator and does not require electrical input or components, so it can be marketed globally to anyone who performs surgeries. ScrubSense would yield key benefits of ensuring proper skin preparation, including a decrease in rehospitalization cases and the related costs due to infections, but most importantly, it would improve patient outcomes.