Mobile app to identify indwelling filters and complications

2018

Researchers from Stanford University have created a mobile application to allow rapid identification of all inferior vena cava filter types and related complications. This scrollable app can be used to optimise care of patients with inferior vena cava filters, especially those with indwelling filters, they say. The app can run on Apple (iOS) and Google (Android) platforms and is ready for public launch.

“There are now many different inferior vena cava filter types, each with unique potential complications, that rapid and correct identification is challenging when encountered on routine imaging,” Steven Deso and William Kuo, Vascular and Interventional Radiology, Stanford University Medical Center, Stanford, USA, said.

The researchers set out to develop an interactive mobile application that allows recognition of all inferior vena cava filter types in the USA and their related complications, to optimise care of patients with indwelling filters. They reported their progress in the Emerging Technologies Scientific Session at the SIR’s annual meeting, Atlanta, USA.

The researchers obtained data from 1980 to 2014 from the FDA premarket notification database to identify all filter types in the USA and found 22 filter types for inclusion. Then, from the safety data of the US FDA MAUDE (Manufacturer and User Facility Device Experience) and 72 relevant peer-reviewed studies, they acquired and classified the major complications into seven types: fracture, embolization, perforation, recurrent venous thromboembolism, insertional issues, and inferior vena cava occlusion.

The team then identified all reported complications associated with each filter, and the highest reported complication rates for each filter were highlighted in the application. They also incorporated high-resolution photos of each filter type from a pristine filter collection. Further, they acquired corresponding CT and fluoro images of each filter and each complication type.