Stopping Postnatal Haemorrhages: The BAMBI Medical Device from the Politecnico di Milano
A potentially life-saving device has been developed for new mothers in high-risk settings. This low-cost medical device to stop postpartum haemorrhages is the result of the BAMBI (Balloon Against Maternal BleedIng) project conducted by a multidisciplinary research team at the Politecnico di Milano. It is now ready for the final phase of testing, namely clinical trials on patients.
The project’s idea was put forward by Alberto Zanini, a gynaecologist and former head of the Obstetrics and Gynaecology Unit at the ‘Sacra Famiglia’ Hospital in Erba. He contacted the Politecnico di Milano to put his intuition into practice, with the contribution of a multidisciplinary team of professors and researchers from the ‘Giulio Natta’ Department of Chemistry, Materials and Chemical Engineering, the Department of Mechanics, and the Design Department (which was involved in the initial phase only).
With BAMBI, we want to show that it is possible to combine technological innovation with a social impact. Our goal is to offer a concrete, affordable and safe solution to stop postpartum haemorrhaging. We aim to make this device available wherever it is needed, even in the most vulnerable situations by using an essential, accessibility-oriented engineering approach and a “social” patent: in fact, all the researchers involved decided to waive any rights to the patent, in order for it to have the most possible widespread availability.
Maria Laura Costantino, scientific coordinator of the BAMBI project and a Professor in the Department of Chemistry, Materials and Chemical Engineering
The multidisciplinary approach we took when designing the device made it possible to identify and experimentally test all the requirements needed to develop an effective and affordable solution.
Serena Graziosi, a Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering
BAMBI is an effective engineering solution that is simple and quick to apply, but most importantly, it is affordable. The prototype of the BAMBI device consists of a kit with components that are available in low-resource contexts, integrated with an innovative patented connector that guarantees the safety and assembly of the system, making it easy to use and mechanically efficient. The kit includes a rectal probe, probe cover and bag of saline solution fitted with a clamp. In the event of a uterine haemorrhage following delivery, the probe is inserted and positioned in the uterus. The probe cover, which is attached to the probe via the connector, is inflated with saline solution, turning it into a balloon that stops blood loss directly from the inside.
BAMBI is now ready for the shift from the laboratory to production through a call for patent development programmes using funding for proof of concept projects as part of MUSA – Spoke 3 ‘Deep Tech: Entrepreneurship & Technology Transfer’, based on resources from the NRRP.
Il progetto era già stato assegnatario di una borsa “Switch 2 Product” nel 2019 e di un Polisocial Award nel 2020 da parte del Politecnico di Milano. Inoltre, i passaggi della ricerca sono stati suggellati da pubblicazioni su riviste scientifiche, tra cui “Scientific Reports”, rivista del portfolio “Nature”.