The Problem
To understand the history behind Ventify, one must understand that a stomaist gets as much gas in the stomach as a person without a stoma. In addition, certain types of cytotoxic drugs cause very anxious and gas-filled belly. Patients who have had a stoma due to inflamed bowel (Ulcerative colitis (UC), Crohn’s disease (CD)) often have major gas problems.
When the ostomy bag is filled with gas, the risk of it coming loose increases. The bag’s existing (and already insufficient from the beginning) ventilation is easily blocked by faeces. Ostomy nurses estimate that 1-10% of their patients have major problems with gas filling of the bag, so-called ballooning.
The Genious
The history begins after an operation for cancer of the liver and colon, where the inventor Karl-Erik woke up with a stoma. Afterwards, the chemotherapy treatment made his stomach very anxious, which meant that the bag often inflated. It happened that the bag came loose several times on very inappropriate occasions, including at the cinema and bus travel. It was both hard and embarrassing experiences. Karl-Erik felt that it was difficult to live a normal life, and already after a couple of days he began to look for solutions to ventilate the pouch. He discussed the problem with his son-in-law, who after a while decided to actively engage in the project and began designing 3D models of the valve. Karl-Erik also turned to LiU Innovation where Per Ola Post got involved in the project.
The Solution
The solution is a valve for retrofitting to the ostomy bag. When Ventify is mounted, the user can control the ventilation, which significantly reduces the problems with ballooning. It is quick and easy to mount Ventify on all types of ostomy bags, and it is easy to open when the bag needs to be ventilated.
