Team Members: Sandeep Prabhu, Atri Choksi, Alish Manandhar, Rebecca Farr
Capstone Client: Suellen Miller, PhD, CNM, Principal Investigator of the LifeWrap Project and Director of Safe Motherhood Program at UCSF; Elizabeth Butrick, MSW, MPH, LifeWrap project director at the Safe Motherhood Program at UCSF
Purpose: Postpartum hemorrhage—excessive blood loss from the uterus after childbirth—is the leading cause of maternal mortality, particularly in the developing world. Hemorrhaging is most commonly caused when the uterus fails to contract after childbirth. The LifeWrap is a full-body tourniquet that helps to slow blood loss, contract the uterus, and direct blood towards vital organs to avoid hemorrhagic shock. The LifeWrap is not always effective, primarily due to variability in how much pressure is applied to patients. Our team developed a device that can interface with the LifeWrap to monitor the pressure applied to the patient’s uterus over time. We created a neoprene inflatable bladder with a pressure sensor that can be attached to the LifeWrap and is capable of both measuring the applied pressure and augmenting it via the inflatable bladder.