A new sensor being developed by researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Mass., and Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston aims to assist anesthesiologists performing epidurals and other medical procedures.
Here are five takeaways:
1. At present, anesthesiologists place a four-to-six inch needle through tissue to reach the epidural space. They determine the correct placement for the needle based on the tissue's resistance.
2. If a needle is placed incorrectly, it can lead to a range of issues, spanning reduced effectiveness to spinal cord injury. Complications – which might arise after a needle is inserted too far or placed into the incorrect tissue – occur in up to 10 percent of epidural cases.
3. This new sensor is embedded into an epidural needle and provides physicians with information regarding the chemical composition of the tissue where the needle is currently located.
4. Researchers plan to do multiple animal studies before testing the sensor in human patients. Thus far, they have tested the sensor in pig tissue.
5. The sensor has the potential to improve both safety and quality of care for cancer biopsies, injecting drugs into joints and other medical procedures.