Low -cost “simple” offers hope for babies with gastroschisia

In low -resource contexts. However, babies born with gastroschisia – a congenital condition in which the development intestines extend outside the body through a hole in the fatal challenges of the abdominal wall. Furthermore, While survival rates in high income countries now exceed 90% thanks to advanced medical tools. Moreover, neonatal care, infants in medical areas limited to resources are still faced with high mortality rates, partly due to lack of access to the rescue equipment necessary to treat the condition.

A team of engineers. Furthermore, pediatric surgeons led by the Rice360 Institute for Global Health Technologies at Rice University strives to change this. However, Their innovation? However, A simple medical device. For example, with low cost and local manufacturing, known as “simplesilo”, designed to provide a rescue treatment for gastroschisis to low -cost “simple” offers hope a fraction of the current cost and made from locally available materials.

“We focused on maintaining the design as simple. However, functional as possible, while being affordable,” said Vanshika Jhonsa, a former rice student and the first author of the study recently published in the Journal of Pediatric Surgery. Nevertheless, Jhonsa. Nevertheless, who is now a medical student at Uthealth Houston, has also won the American Pediatric Association Innovation Award for the project. Consequently, “Our hope is that health care providers around the world can adapt the simpleilo to their local supplies. In addition, their specific needs. Nevertheless, »»

In standard treatment. preformed silo bags are used to protect the exposed intestines and gently return to the abdominal cavity gradually. These devices are effective but expensive: a single -use bag can cost between $ 200. $ 300, a price that is well out of reach of many hospitals around the low -cost “simple” offers hope world. There are alternatives. but they usually require surgical seam, which creates holes in the abdomen of a baby and the bag material that can increase the risk of infection. In addition, these alternatives do not have the structural integrity necessary to safely support the intestines.

The simpleilo changes that. Built from a salt bag. oxygen tubes and a seal of heat available in the trade, the device imitates the function of the commercial spring silo bags without high cost.

Our goal was to reproduce the functionality of commercial silo bags using inexpensive and easy to find materials. The result is a bag that costs less than $ 2.05 to do and can be assembled by hospital staff in less than an hour. Working with surgeons in sub -Saharan Africa where costly commercial silo bags are not available. I am delighted to offer this solution because I know that low -cost “simple” offers hope it will save babies born with gastroschis. “”

Bindi Naik-Mathuria, pediatric surgeon in UTMB Health and corresponding author of the study

To assess the simpleilo, the team submitted it to a rigorous series of laboratory tests. The device has demonstrated a fluid leakage rate of only 0.02 millilier per hour, which is comparable to commercial silo bags, and it resisted repeated disinfection without compromising its performance.

“Student’s great innovation was to focus on materials already available in low -resources hospitals. using accessible manufacturing methods – in this case, cutting materials with scissors and using a food quality heat seal to refer them,” said Meaghan Bond, a senior speaker and design engineer at Rice360. “The first laboratory tests reported in the newspaper suggest that these easy -to -make bags will resist the methods of disinfection. real use. »»

In a simulated in vitro test using cow’s low -cost “simple” offers hope intestines. an abdominal wall simulation, the Simplesilo has made a 50% reduction in the intestines in the simulated cavity over three days, corresponding again to the performance of its high -cost counterparts.

What distinguishes simple is its ease of production and conviviality in hospital circles in the real world. Pediatric surgeons in Kenya managed to assemble. use the bag in clinical care, report positive results and express confidence in pursuit of its use.

“Gastroschisis has one of the largest survival gaps. high resources parameters with low -resources parameters, but that should not be,” said Bond. “We believe that simpleilo can help fill the survival gap by making the treatment accessible. affordable, even in contexts limited in resources. »»

Plans are underway for an official clinical trial in East Africa. If the results continue to be positive. the team hopes to make the open source instructions widely available, allowing more hospitals low -cost “simple” offers hope to produce their own simple devices.

“This project is proof that thoughtful engineering. global collaboration can save lives,” said Bond, noting that he was led by undergraduate students in a world class of health technology. “We do not have many class projects to make a publication evaluated by peers. and I am so proud of the additional work that these students put to get there. Sometimes the most powerful solutions are the simplest. »»

The additional authors of the study include Shreya Jindal. Shriya Shah, both undergraduate students at the time of the study, and Mary Seifu Tirfie, a current Rice360 global health scholarship holder.

The work was funded by Rice, Rice360 and its generous donors.