Home-Based Placement of Feeding Tubes with a Mobile Assistant for Underserved Population

Abstract Replacement of a Nasogastric (NG) tube for feeding an infant in the home can be a stressful event for families. This stress is exacerbated when the child is located in a rural community far from medical care, or for families without English literacy who may have difficulty following written instructions. Often times, children in urban areas will be taken to a clinic or emergency room to assist with NG tube replacement when it falls out, or needs to be changed. However, in a rural location the child's family may not have easy access to assistance. The proposed project develops technology in a parent friendly, non-written interface to assist the placement and verification of the NG tube in a rural location while a professional is monitoring and guiding them remotely. There is currently no system to assist underserved families in the home-based placement of NG feeding tubes. Studies have shown that parents who have infants needing home NG tube feeding can struggle with misplacement and other problems. This innovative project will create a system with the use of a smartphone to provide real time support for the parent during the home-based placement of NG feeding tubes. The project is the integration of a reusable, low-cost NG tube placement guidance tool along with immediate feedback provided by the combination of a smartphone application in coordination with a remote caregiver via voice or video call. In phase I, a prototype system will be developed. The acceptability and usability of the prototype will be evaluated in semi-structured interviews