Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
The simple trick of removing a cork from inside a bottle inspired the inventor, Jorge Odón, the idea of adapting this mechanism to the delivery of babies.
After five years of work on different models, Odón patented a device called after him which aims at facilitating the delivery in case of prolonged second stage of labour reducing risks for mother and baby.
The device has evolved over the last few years. In the beginning, the process of positioning the device was more difficult because the inserter was a rigid.Now we have developed a very easy-to-place inserter that fits more with our vision:
a device that any care provider in the field could use even with limited skills.
The device has been developed in the Center for Medical Education and Research (CEMIC). It is disposable and low cost. The device is a simple folded sleeve of polyethylene material.
Positioning occurs as the inserter gently produces the sliding of the two foils of the folded sleeve along the birth canal and around the baby’s head. The head is delivered taking advantage of the sliding effect of the two foils of the folded sleeve.
The Odon Device is being tested according to a research protocol in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology of CEMIC in Argentina where it has been already used in 12 deliveries.
Potential benefits of the device include the reduction of the duration of prolonged labour and its complications such as perineal damage,
obstetric interventions, use of forceps or caesarean section and the risk of infection. It is expected to be particularly useful in settings with limited surgical capacity and human resource constraints.
In low-resource settings with limited surgical capacity and human resource constraints the devise can reach its maximum potential.
In an emergency situation where labour is not progressing and there are limited or no resources for a caesarean section or to apply a forceps,
the device could help to deliver the women instead of having to delay intervention and transfer her to a referral center.
and transfer her to a referral center.
The Odón device is progressively generating positive interest within the medical community.
In the first Forum for medical innovations in Thailand last year, the device was selected among the 10 best innovations.
The World Health Organization has provided full support from the very beginning. They provided the opportunity to test the device in the simulation laboratory of the University of Des Moines
and also offered the opportunity to attend and present the device in the first Forum for medical innovations in Thailand last year, where the device was selected among the 10 best innovations
In the global call for innovations, “Saving Lives at Birth: a Grand Challenge for Development, issued by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation,
And this is, for its inventor the major accomplishment: the role that the device will play in saving lives.