Increasing Infusion Pump Product Safety and Innovation

ICS Helps Ivenix Combine State of the Art Information Technology and Simplicity with an Adaptive Fluid Delivery System

One of the biggest challenges in the development of medical device technology is safety. The medical device industry is beset with complex manufacturing, market and regulatory challenges. Specifically, the infusion pump category has been slow to evolve despite an increase of drug dosing complexity and demand for interoperability between pump and other systems, including electronic medical records (EMR), with safety always as a top concern.

To solve this challenge Ivenix, a leading innovative medical device company, wanted to deliver an advanced intravenous infusion management system. This system would provide the health care market with a smart infusion pump for efficient clinical use.

Making Smart – Smarter

This medical device group is developing a state-of-the-art infusion pump. To realize its full potential of connected intelligence, Ivenix needed to build an information system that operates within the infusion device.

To enhance safety, it also needed an intuitive user interface (UI) similar to a Smartphone to communicate with a concurrently developed, back-end, healthcare IT infrastructure. The back-end server is intended to house the drug library and clinical dashboard from which to administer multi-pump management.

This management system also needed to enable interoperability with other information systems to actively manage patient-specific infusion information even without integration–and exchange data with an adaptive fluid delivery platform to produce the next generation (NextGen) intelligent infusion pumps. 

Improving Patient Safety and Workflow Efficiency with Qt and ICS  

As a global software development company, ICS had the extensive experience in complex medical device development and operational proficiency needed to create this NextGen system. 

Ivenix chose ICS for its deep experience using Qt/QML within an agile, test-driven production environment. The Qt framework, a cross-platform development tool, known for its ability to create stable, flexible applications, was selected to increase product usability, system stability and safety while reducing costs and time to market. 

We are pleased to have chosen ICS. They went above and beyond during our test-driven development and proved indispensable during integration, also helping with non-Qt related technical issues. The overall productivity and quality of this project was increased with their presence.

- George Gray, Chief Technology Officer, VP Software and Information Systems at Ivenix
 

 

This infusion pump’s design was informed by following rigorous usability testing and regulatory quality assurance processes during its development lifecycle – where safety was at the core of the process. Based on ongoing feedback, ICS adapted and worked well within a development structure method that served to adhere to stringent FDA regulations.

ICS and Ivenix worked together for almost two years within cross-functional agile teams. They worked closely with user experience (UX) designers to develop both rapid prototypes to refine usability and create production quality software for final integration. Qt Modeling Language (QML) accelerated prototype development over other prototype tools previously employed at Ivenix. The mockups used for usability testing ran on actual pump hardware and performed within the hardware and software constraints. Using QML for the UI decreased the time to develop the UX from concept to completion and gave Ivenix confidence that it would work right the first time.

The Next Standard of Infusion Management – Delivered

This transformative infusion management system combines simplicity, state-of-the-art engineering, UX design and information technology within an adaptive, fluid delivery platform. While no medical technology will ever replace an accomplished, qualified clinician, this NextGen infusion pump allows simple clear instruction within a precise touchscreen guidance system designed to reduce human error. ICS seamlessly integrated and delivered both the infusion pump software and its UI into the advanced intravenous infusion management system. This system as a whole will provide the health care market with a smart infusion pump, engineered to save overall costs, protect patients with its high safety standards and provide efficient clinical use. Now, with its modern touchscreen user experience and its scalable computing platform, the pump is currently in the final stages of product design, and will be submitted for FDA review.

ICS delivered more than we expected and provided the technical expertise saving development time and costs. They delivered a state-of-the-art user interface and solid infusion pump software on time and within budget. I would absolutely recommend ICS to anyone.

- George Gray, Chief Technology Officer, VP Software and Information Systems at Ivenix

 

Ivenix is a leading innovative medical device company and is currently developing an advanced intravenous infusion management system. This system provides the health care market with a smart infusion pump for efficient clinical use. Headquartered in Amesbury, Massachusetts,its next generation infusion pump technology incorporates durable, reliable and intuitive interface controls transforming smart infusion pumps to fully integrated intelligent systems for worldwide hospital use. 

 

ICS provides integrated custom software development and UX design for touchscreen, embedded, mobile and desktop applications. Headquartered in Bedford, Massachusetts, ICS has multiple offices throughout North America and Europe. We deliver advanced solutions spanning a range of technologies for leading Fortune 1000 companies across multiple industries and the globe. View some of our recent work at www.ics.com/portfolio.