NG-Sure® WP4 Basic Science
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Testing proof of principle of a VOC technology for measuring Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) in patient samples taken from naso-gastric tubes
IRAS ID
317898
Contact name
Angela Grange
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 6 months, 5 days
Research summary
Naso-gastric (NG) tubes (a tube passed through a patient's nostril into their food pipe and then stomach, secured to the patient's cheek with tape) are widely used in the NHS for adult and child patients to provide enteral feeds or medicines for patients who cannot swallow or tolerate feeds by mouth, or patients requiring intensive care/surgery.
There are patient safety concerns if an NG tube becomes misplaced into the patient's lung during insertion, or moves out of the patient's stomach later. Although rare, feeding through a misplaced NG tube can cause serious harm to patients, even death.
The current procedure for testing the correct placement of an NG tube relies upon obtaining fluid known as gastric aspirate up an NG tube for testing with pH paper, but only 50-85% success rates are reported for getting aspirate. When aspirate cannot be obtained, X-rays are used to verify the NG-tube position. However, X-rays are costly and inconvenient for patients and are also subject to misinterpretation.
This study builds upon our earlier research and is part of a programme of work that aims to develop and test a new portable, hand-held device (known as NG-Sure®) to detect the correct position of a nasogastric tube (NG-tube) in
adult patients. NG-Sure® will identify the location of an NG tube through the measurement of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) determining whether the tube is in the stomach or not (in the case of NG-tube misplacement). As our programme of research has evolved subsequent changes have been made in our developmental journey. Currently, the NG-Sure prototype is at a very early stage in its development, and additional proof-of-principle work is required to understand any benefit that may or may not be provided by NG-Sure® and in what context. This particular
study aims to test the proof of principle of two VOC technologies in the detection of VOCs in patient samples collected from NG tubes as a potential marker for NG-tube position.REC name
East of England - Essex Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
23/EE/0078
Date of REC Opinion
18 Apr 2023
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion