project life raft - stanford universityweb.stanford.edu/~cbauburn/basecamp/dschool/nepal... ·...
TRANSCRIPT
PROJECT LIFE RAFT
DESIGNING A LOWER COST INFANT INCUBATOR
Project Goal:
The goal of this project is to develop a
functioning prototype of a low-cost
incubator and isolation unit for infant care
in developing countries, in collaboration
with our project client Medicine Mondiale
and the Kanti Children‟s Hospital in Nepal.
The goal of this trip was to further the research done in
January. Student teams had the opportunity to go
deeper, in context.
We‟re nearing the end of our observation phase…
This trip‟s research will frame our next steps, guiding our
brainstorms, prototyping, and finally our decisions for product
features and functions.
Goal of this visit
Who We Met:
We spoke with many stakeholders to understand needs and be inspired. We interviewed in context, for extended amounts of time. We visited 6 hospitals, meeting with directors, doctors, nurses, parents, and technicians.
Insights + Opportunities
What we learned
Insight: Confusing incubators cost hospitals
Insight: Confusing incubators cost hospitals
A district hospital has 5 incubators, but does not use any of them because
the staff is afraid and confused by technology.
Dhulikel Hospital nurse could not use built-in alarms because she can not
read the German instructions.
Scheer Hospital nurse did not use the humidity function controls because it
was confusing to her.
Maternity hospital experience with extensive maintenance needs of certain
incubators cost the hospital money instead of enabling care.
Insight: Difficult to maintain incubators
disables the NICU
Insight: Difficult to maintain incubators
disables the NICU
Repair times are often excessive. At Teaching Hospital an incubator was
broken for one year until the biomedical engineer could travel to Delhi
for a 50 rupee part.
Several hospitals have no set budget for maintenance, and accessing
any funds is time consuming.
Complicated designs hinder maintenance for less experienced
biomedical engineers and may require unavailable tools.
Insight: Shortcomings offer opportunity
for improvement in functionality
Insight: Shortcomings offer opportunity
for improvement in functionality
Lack of appropriate sensors
Teaching Hospital NICU‟s do not have the ability to monitor apnea
(leading cause of incubator death)
Need for multi-dimensional portability
Premature baby in Dhulikel was carried outside from delivery room to NICU in
winter
Babies can die in transit to Kanti for a referral, wrapped in blankets--they could
be saved with access to a transportable incubator.
Lack of accommodation for basic procedures
Most hospitals could not weigh babies inside the incubator; at Scheer this meant
premature babies were removed from incubators, and at Dhulikel babies went
un-weighed for days at a time.
Insight: Donated incubators often present difficulties
Insight: Donated incubators often present difficulties
Antiquated temperature probe frequently detaches from skin in Kanti
NICU, which can lead to overheating babies.
Frequent maintenance problems and general unreliability with „Indian
Incubator‟ has caused Maternity Hospital to blacklist similar products.
Donated incubators often arrive at Teaching Hospital without manuals
or parts.
Insight: Rural clinics present unique
needs and constraints
Insight: Rural clinics present unique
needs and constraints
Dr. Sikarmi referred a premature baby for incubator treatment.
Without a local incubator the child died 14 days later.
“We need to manage locally”; with no local biomedical engineers,
Dr. Sikarmi is responsible for all repairs. He has little access to
parts, tools and information.
80% of births in Chautara vicinity take place at home. Premature
babies sometimes die before reaching the clinic.
From these observations we began to
understand the most critical user needs,
and develop an understanding of ideal
traits that we call design principles…
Looks Sexy: Communicates Quality / Status
Keeps Baby in Incubator as much as possible
Has Flexible Levels of Access
Portable
Easy to learn / Hard to screw up
Facilitates Easy Maintenance
Accommodates erratic/varied power sources
Provides Reliable Climate Regulation
Design Principles
Affordable
The Journey of Care
Birth Weigh/Clean Diagnosis
Feeding
Check Vital SignsAdminister Medication
Change Diaper
Phototherapy
Take X-RayClean Incubator
Weigh
Surgery
INCUBATOR
Discharge
Going home!
The Journey of Care
Birth Weigh/Clean Diagnosis
Feeding
Administer Medication
Change Diaper
Take X-RayClean Incubator
Weigh
Surgery
INCUBATOR CORE
FUNCTIONS:
Maintain Heat, Isolation,
Hydration, etc.
Check Vital Signs
Discharge
Phototherapy
The field team will share what they have learned with
our home teams. Additional synthesis, brainstorming,
and prototyping sessions will take place over then next
10 weeks.
Next Steps:
Also, we have identified many technical questions to be
answered through medical literature.
Just to name a few…
How accurate does it need to be for temperature measurement?
What‟s the complete range for temperature that you‟d want?
What‟s the best location for the temperature probe?
What‟s the best level of humidity? How does that change as the baby
develops?
Research apnea monitors.
Next Steps:
Thank you