Importance

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Abstract

A patch of temperature-sensitive liquid crystal material adheres to a patient's skin to serve as an indicator of infiltration during intravenous (or intraarterial, intra-lymphatic vessel, etc.) insertion procedures. The material is selected so as to have a constant color over a temperature range which spans the normal skin temperature range. The patch is placed immediately downstream of the insertion point and preferably has a straight forward edge to permit rapid color change over a broad section of the patch in response to infiltration. The patch may include a downstream extension, remote from the likely infiltration region, which experiences infiltration-responsive color change considerably later than the forward edge, thereby providing a color contrast to facilitate visual detection. Alternatively, a portion of the patch is permanently colored to have the same color as the patch at normal skin temperatures; the permanently colored portion therefore provides color contrast when the patch color changes due to infiltration.

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First Claim