Innovative IV pole utilizing polycarbonate resin blend from Bayer enhances patient and health care worker safety

While health care and medical technology have made great strides over the years, there is one aspect of patient care that has not changed as rapidly: the IV pole.

Because of its design, the traditional IV pole can cause tripping and other safety hazards for patients and health care workers. Designed by a patient, Safepole is an innovative IV pole that incorporates numerous safety and ergonomic features that help reduce accidents and injuries, make cleaning easier, and improve the quality of life for both patients and hospital staff. Safepole has earned several accolades, including the Gold Winner of the 2012 Medical Design Excellence Award and a finalist in the 2012 Spark Design Awards.Several of Safepole’s distinctive elements are injection molded from Bayblend® FR3010 polycarbonate/acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (PC/ABS) resin blend provided by Bayer MaterialScience LLC. This grade of Bayblend® resin blend provides strength for many of Safepole’s accessories, including an oxygen tank holder, a large utility basket with an easy-to-grip handlebar, a router to organize IV tubes, brackets to mount a hospital-grade power strip, and a dome that covers the wheels to help eliminate tripping and prevent tubes from entangling in the wheels.

“We expect the Safepole to have a long life. To achieve this, we need materials that can withstand the everyday wear and tear of the hospital unit,” said Cari Ugent, founder and president of Safepole LLC. “Additionally, because we can color match Safepole to a hospital’s color scheme, finding a plastic that could be combined with colorant was also important.”

“Bayblend® FR3010 PC/ABS resin blend was the prescription needed to meet Safepole’s stringent requirements,” said Bruce Fine, market segment leader – medical, North America, Bayer MaterialScience LLC. According to Fine, this strong, impact-resistant, chemical-resistant and flame-retardant plastic also offers ease of processing and the ability to be easily color matched to a hospital or other medical setting. Furthermore, Bayer was able to offer technical assistance and information on how best to use brass inserts within the plastic to mount necessary equipment.

“With aggressive cleaners being used in hospitals, Bayer has provided a material that has proven resistance and can stand up to harsh chemicals and scrubbing,” said Karen Heroldt, field market development (Midwest region), Polycarbonates, Bayer MaterialScience LLC. “The material is also easy to process and has an optimal flow rate, enabling the use of the same material for multiple components in the application.”

Attendees at MD&M West Conference and Exposition, Feb. 10-12 in Anaheim, Calif., can visit Bayer’s booth (#2021) for more details about Bayer’s material solutions for medical applications.