Blood'up Device Versus Manual Palpation for Arterial Puncture in Healthy Volunteers: A Pilot Randomized Study Under Normal and Simulated Hypotension

Summary

Arterial puncture is a common procedure in the management of hospitalized patients. It is most often performed at the level of the radial artery and allows arterial blood gas analysis.

The success rate of arterial puncture varies widely in the literature. This procedure is moderately painful and may cause significant discomfort, particularly in cases of repeated attempts. First-attempt success is therefore important to reduce both pain and the risk of local complications associated with multiple punctures.

In routine practice, arterial puncture is performed using manual palpation of the radial artery, typically by a trained nurse. In case of failure, a physician may attempt the procedure, often using ultrasound guidance. However, ultrasound is not routinely used and requires specific training and organizational protocols for nurse use.

In hypotensive conditions, such as shock, the radial pulse may become difficult to palpate, making arterial puncture more challenging when using conventional techniques.

The Blood'up device (Arterya, Hérouville, France) is a non-invasive device currently under development that assists in arterial localization. It is applied to the wrist and projects a light signal indicating the position of the artery. This localization is based on ultrasound technology using piezoelectric sensors integrated into the device.

The aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of the Blood'up device for radial artery localization in healthy volunteers, both under physiological conditions (normal blood pressure) and under simulated hypotensive conditions.

Conditions

• Arterial Puncture
• Radial Artery Injury
• Hypotension
• Healthy

Interventions

OTHER

Arterial blood gas

Each healthy volunteer will undergo arterial blood gas sampling on both wrists using each randomized technique (manual palpation versus the Blood'Up device).

OTHER

Simulated hypotension

Only for the second cohort with simulated hypotension, which will include 16 healthy volunteers: Hypotension will be simulated by extrinsic compression using a blood pressure cuff adapted to the volunteer's arm circumference. The (manual) blood pressure cuff will be inflated and maintained to achieve a mean arterial pressure of 60 mmHg (with hypotension defined as a mean arterial pressure below 65 mmHg). Blood pressure will be measured using a non-invasive hemodynamic monitoring device (ClearSight®, Edwards Lifesciences, Mississauga, Canada).

DEVICE

Arterial Puncture using Blood'Up device

Blood'Up will be used to detect the radial artery beneath the skin.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Centre Hospitalier Régional d'Orléans

  lead OTHER

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2026-09-30

Primary Completion

2027-09-30

Completion

2027-09-30

Countries

• France

Study Locations