IV stands are technical care aids, which characterize the appearance of hospitals, nursing homes, doctor's offices and the domesticity of those in need of care. They are a daily “companion” for many people who receive infusions and / or must carry urine or drainage bags with them.

Infusion stands in their well-known form allow a certain degree of mobility and freedom of movement, but at the same time have some serious disadvantages in the areas of privacy, user safety and cleaning possibility. They are mostly not modular, can only be used completely and cannot be dismantled, which makes the transport in home care area and storage in general more difficult. Furthermore, the attributes of the IV stand are mostly limited to its actual function and additional functions such as the possibility of transporting other objects or similar are usually not possible. A review of the current product range gives the impression that the design of the IV stand in terms of its basic construction and material composition has hardly changed at all in the last few decades.

After analysing the small amount of recent product development, it has been shown that efforts in product development are primarily based on technical disciplines. Further developments focus on the base (stand of the IV stand), robotics with focus in of supported autonomous driving and further constructions of the handrail. Within the international nursing sciences, the product design of IV stands receives little attention, despite its omnipresence in everyday nursing practice. Earlier nursing science research focus primarily on child-friendly design.

Current attempts to further development can therefore be split up into two areas: Those who make only minor changes to the well-known model type of the IV stand and those who strive for technically highly demanding, therefore very cost-intensive and presumably not easily transferable product ideas into practice.

The goal of CArCaSy is to develop a modern, modular, easy implementable and user-need orientated IV stand.

Scientific management:

Prof. Dr. Franziska Meinecke (Faculty of Mechanical Engineering)

Prof. Dr. Astrid Elsbernd (Faculty of Social Work,  Education and Nursing Sciences)

Research assistants:

Simone Groß, Dipl-Ing. (Faculty of Mechanical Engineering)

Marcel Schmucker, B.A. (Faculty of Social Work,  Education and Nursing Sciences)

Duration: September 2020 – August 2022

Funded by Ministry of Science, Research and Art, Baden-Württemberg - Innovative projects / cooperation projects

Project partners:

VAROMO UG, University Hospital Tübingen

Participation opportunities:

The product development takes place in close cooperation with users from practice - take part!

We would be very happy to receive suggestions for improvement and ideas on the characteristics or design of IV stands.

Alternatively, do you have an idea for other technical care aids? Maybe we can take up your ideas in future developments and further research projects.

Feel free to contact us by email:

Simone Gross, Dipl.-Ing. (FH)       Marcel Schmucker, B.A.