When people think of hospitals, they conjure images of medicine, doctors, patients and emergencies. What they forget are the seemingly minor details and hiccups that could mean the difference between life and death. Dr. Vivian Ogueli, a former critical care nurse and current co-founder of DeraNaz Solutions, noticed a continuous issue with entangled IV lines and monitoring cables while on the job. These knotted IV lines and cables could result in accidents, possible medication errors, patient/provider dissatisfaction and overall confusion.
“We took little medicine cups and flipped them upside down and taped them to the hospital bed rail to form a wedge for the tubing and cables,” said Ogueli. “The tubing and cables would escape the wedge during patient care activities. Sometimes these cables would get stuck under the bed rails and some even became dislodged.”
Years later, during medical school at UC Irvine in 2015, Ogueli again noticed the issue and mentioned it to her husband and co-founder Ifeanyi Ogueli, Ph.D., pharmacy manager for CVS Health and adjunct assistant professor of Pharmacy at the Chapman University School of Pharmacy. Together, they developed DeraNaz Solutions, a Wayfinder startup that addresses entangled IV lines through its TubeAid product, which received a utility patent in 2017. TubeAid is a small plastic device with organizational compartments and rotational ability that keeps IV lines and monitoring cables secure and allows patients to move without accidentally dislodging the lines/cables.
The husband-and-wife team, both alumni of the Paul Merage School of Business, joined the Wayfinder program in spring 2017 through a recommendation from classmate and Wayfinder participant, Dr. Rehema Feleke, founder, FunBand.
During their time at the Cove @ UCI Beall Applied Innovation, DeraNaz participated in the I-Corps program to improve customer discovery and has presented at 1 Million Cups. They have also worked with the Small Business Development Center @ UCI Beall Applied Innovation, Innovation Advisors like Ray Shah and Richard S. Creager, and Applied Innovation staff members like Ron King, associate director for faculty innovation and entrepreneurship, who serves as the team’s advisor.
“It’s always good to be part of a program like UCI Beall Applied Innovation where you have lots of resources, office spaces and experts to guide you through the process,” said Ifeanyi Ogueli. “When you’re set and everything is good to go, you can now take off with your team and be successful.”
Ultimately, the Oguelis hope TubeAid will be adopted in all intensive care units and other hospital units throughout the country to improve patient safety and staff efficiency.
“I am passionate about DeraNaz Solutions because we are attempting to provide solutions to some of healthcare’s problems,” said Vivian Ogueli. “Our device … not only provides a much needed and long-awaited solution to organizing tubing and cables at the patient’s bedside, but it is also easy to use, convenient and promotes safety.”
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