Treatment of Abdominal Hypertension: Development of an Original Non-invasive Device ABDOPRE

Abstract

ABDOPRE is a device that reduces the abdominal pressure of intensive care patients with intraabdominal hypertension. The controlled reduction following a time protocol is consequence of the application of an external negative pressure inside a vacuum bell affixed to the patient’s abdomen. Originally developed in 2007, ABDOPRE was tested in four intensive care patients with intrabdominal pressures (12 to 15 mmHg). In three of these patients a reduction of 5 mmHg, 3 mmHg and 2 mmHg was accomplished. Afterwards, a new, cheaper, smaller and lighter version of ABDOPRE was developed using an ARDUINO UNO board for the control system and an ARUINO UNO SHIELD for the electrical interface. This version has an optimized Software and includes two bell sizes of 14 and 24 L respectively.