If you've ever been hooked up to an intravenous drip, then you'll know what a hassle it can be, wheeling that pole around with you everywhere you go. Dutch designer Alissa Rees decided to do something about it, and created the wearable IV-Walk.
The device takes the form of a soft vest that contains a bag full of sodium chloride, antibiotics, or whatever medication is needed. There's also an integrated rechargeable pump, which draws the liquid into an IV line that runs down to a canula inserted in a vein in the wearer's arm.
Rees was inspired to invent the IV-Walk after spending two years in the hospital – she was diagnosed with leukaemia when she was 19.
"I was attached to an IV-pole for weeks, without any moment of separation," she says. "As a patient I realized how the current IV-pole was not stimulating me to move around in the hospital. The current pole makes it hard to escape the hospital room, visit the bathroom or even enter elevators. Stimulating mobility by using the IV-Walk speeds up recovery."
Alissa has since founded her own company, to develop products such as the IV-Walk. She is currently looking for development partners for the device, which she will be showcasing next month at CES in Las Vegas.
Source: Alissa Rees