RESPIRATORY RADAR
2015
ANDERS SANDSTRÖM UMEÅ INSTITUTE OF DESIGN MFA ADVANCED PRODUCT DESIGN
THE PARAMEDICS PROJECT
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INDEX ABSTRACT 2
INTRODUCTION 4 1.1 THE PARAMEDICS PROJECT
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METHOD 8
2.1 VISITS TO THE AMBULANCE STATION 10 2.2 GATHERING DATA 12 2.3 VSP (VISUAL SOCIAL PERSONA) 13 2.4 BRAINSTORMING & CONCEPT GENERATION 14 2.5 ROLE PLAY 15 2.6 CONCLUSIONS 16 2.7 GOALS & WISHES 19 2.8 HOW IS RR MEASURED TODAY? 20 2.9 WHY MEASURE RESPIRATORY RATE? 21 2.10 CURRENT PRODUCTS 22 2.11 POSITIONING MY CONCEPT 23 2.12 PROBLEM DEFINITION 24 2.13 GOAL DEFINITION 25 2.14 AVAILABLE TECHNOLOGIES 26 2.15 COMPONENTS 27
RESULTS 28 3.1 INSPIRATION BOARD 30 3.2 SKETCHES 31 3.3 CONCEPT 1 32 3.4 CONCEPT 2 33 3.5 CONCEPT 3 34 3.6 CONCEPT EVALUATION 35 3.7 MOCK-UP SCENARIO 36 3.8 CONCLUSION 38 3.9 NEW CONCEPT DIRECTION 38 3.10 SKETCHES & MOCK-UPS 39 3.11 3D MODELLING 40 3.12 MODEL BUILDING 41
FINAL DESIGN 42 4.1 COMPONENTS 44 4.2 SCENARIO 46 4.3 PRODUCT IN CONTEXT 52 4.4 PRESENTATION, MODEL & POSTER 54
REFLECTIONS & CONCLUSIONS
56 5.1 GOALS & WISHES FULFILLMENT 58 5.2 WORK PROCESS 59 5.3 REFERENCES 60 5.4 APPENDICES 61
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ABSTRACT
How can paramedics measure respiratory rate accurately and continuously? Measuring patients respiratory rates is an important part of the paramedics ability to assess a persons health and the priority of their cases. Despite the fact that medical researchers have realized that respiratory rates are more important than previously believed, there is no pre hospital product solution to help them make an accurate assessment.
The goal of this project was to design a product that can help the paramedics in measuring the respiratory rate of their patients easily, accurately and continuously. The project was conducted in close collaboration with the paramedics of Ume책 Ambulance Station and Laerdal Medical. The result is a product consisting of two parts. One part is a patch with radar technology to scan the patients lungs and heart and its movements to give an accurate reading of respiratory rate and heart rate. This unit can scan through clothing skin and bone and is designed to be as unobtrusive as possible for the patients. The second part is a projector that can be worn on the wrist that gathers the data from the radar patch and projects the readings on the back of the paramedics hand. This to give them an easy way to monitor respiratory rates of their patients continuously while still keeping their hands free to care for the patients.
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INTRODUCTION The 2015 1st term project of Advanced Product Design is being held in close collaboration with Västerbottens Läns Landsting Ambulance Care Unit. As well as Laerdal Medical, one of the world’s leading providers of healthcare training solutions.
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1.1 THE PARAMEDICS PROJECT Collaboration partners & users
The 2015 1st term project of Advanced Product Design is being held in close collaboration with Västerbottens Läns Landsting Ambulance Care Unit. As well as Laerdal Medical, one of the world’s leading providers of healthcare training solutions.
The brief of this term project is quite open; it is simply called “The Paramedics Project”. Our goal was to use information and experiences gained by visiting the paramedics during their everyday shifts, interact with and interview them to discover design opportunities for solving problems as well as offering new experiences in social interaction patterns, dreams and values. Our approach during this project was Human Centered Design (HCD). HCD is a process where we seek to understand what the users want by examining their needs, dreams and behaviors in their everyday lives. By using HCD techniques we hope to create solutions for the paramedics that are not only solving problems functionally but also emotionally.
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THE PARAMEDICS The worlds first ambulance originated as early as the wars in antiquity, where they realized the benefit of moving injured soldiers away from the battlefield to receive some kind of treatment. The technological progress of the early 1900s allowed for the birth of the self propelled ambulance we see today. At first they were only a means of picking up a sick or injured person to get them to a hospital as soon as possible. Today more and more treatments are performed already at the site and in the ambulance before arriving at the hospitals. According to Swedish standards at least one of the paramedics need to be a trained nurse and the other a nurse assistant, with further training in ambulance care. The ambulance station in Umeå received 14300 calls last year. 3% of these are trauma related incidents and a total 35 % are high priority acute calls. The remaining 65 % are non acute low priority calls. The latter has been increasing steadily over the past ten years.
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METHOD “Respiratory rate will soon become an important physiological marker but clinicians must record it accurately” - Geraldine A Lee King’s College London
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2.1 VISITS TO THE AMBULANCE STATION Our opportunity to meet and greet the users
At the very beginning of the project we got to visit the ambulance station in Umeå, Västerbotten county, for two days. During the first day the whole class participated to get an overview of the daily operations. On the second day we visited in smaller groups for a more in depth observation.
DAY ONE We arrived 7 am at the ambulance station to be greeted by station manager Ronny Friberg. We were taken to the conference room for an introduction to the ambulance operations in Västerbotten. We got to know how the paramedics receives their assignments from SOS Alarm, where the different stations in the county are located and what type of education you need to become a paramedic. After a coffee break we got a tour of the station to see the working environment of the paramedics, where they sleep during night shifts, where they can relax, exercise and eat their meals when not on an assignment. We also got to see the ambulance garage where we got a round tour by LarsÅke Lövqvist, paramedic nurse and vehicle technician. He showed us the tools and the equipment they use, the stretchers, splints, medicine bags and interior of the ambulance.
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DAY TWO On the second day we visited the station in a group of four people. This time we would get a more in-depth observation of what the paramedic profession is like. We got to dress up in a paramedic overall for students and join a team of paramedics during their shift. Since there were few emergency calls that day we took the time to also get to know the paramedics themselves a bit more. Which personal traits that are beneficial for a paramedic, how they interact with each other and what kind of interests they have. Basically trying to figure out who the paramedic is as a person and not just as a professional. These two days were incredibly informative. We had collected an awesome amount of information, photos, videos and notes. The challenge a head was to analyze all this information and find design opportunities.
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2.2 GATHERING DATA
Summarizing, structuring and visualizing
After the visits to the ambulance station we were tasked with structuring and visualizing all the data that we had gathered to get a good overview of the research.
We mapped out the flow of an emergency assignment and connected all the different equipment that we came across in different steps. What they use, what they are missing, what they wish they had and what kind of challenges they run into. No two shifts as a paramedic is ever the same, and since we all went in small groups on different days, each group got a little different information. For that reason we all presented our findings to the whole class so that we would all be able to get a bigger picture of all the research and be able to compare and add to our observations.
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2.3 VSP (VISUAL SOCIAL PERSONA) Visualizing the every day life if a paramedic
We moved on with creating a V.S.P (Visual Social Persona) to get an understanding of what a day in the life of a hypothetical paramedic could look like.
Not just regarding their working life but also regarding their relationships to colleagues, patients, family, hobbies and interests. This was very useful to get a better picture of the paramedic as a person. Once again we presented our findings to the class so that we all could benefit from the findings of each group.
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2.4 BRAINSTORMING & CONCEPT GENERATION Finding Design Opportunities And Possible Solutions
The next step was performed both in small groups and with the whole class, as we tried to find different problem areas that would be interesting to work with. We wrote them on big post-its and then voted for the ones we thought were the most interesting. Then we brainstormed solutions for the problems that we had voted on. We did not criticize or discuss them to much, but instead just let the ideas flow freely. We voted yet again to single out the solutions that we found to be the most interesting here as well. We then chose a solution each and produced a quick sketch of what that solution could look like.
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2.5 ROLE PLAY Acting out a scenario
Based on the ideas we had generated and the V.S.P, we chose one of the concepts and acted out a scenario around this solution. By doing this we could examine the potential of the concept in a situation that the Paramedics might find themselves in. By putting our concept in a context like this we could see if there was something that we had overlooked or missed and if it fitted in with an everyday activity of the paramedics.
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2.6 CONCLUSIONS
Problem areas that caught my interest
After the visits, data gathering, problem finding and role plays; these are the problem areas that I found the most interesting. Now comes the trouble of choosing only one.
We found a great deal of problem areas and possible solutions after our initial research. They were all very interesting and would prove to be great design challenges. But of course I can only choose one of them. Here I am listing the ones that I found the most interesting and had to choose only one from.
TH E
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PARA M
JE C O R P EDICS
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• Increase in unnecessary calls • How info follows the patient • Bulky communication unit • Different devices does not communicate
CO MM
ON UNICATI
• Optimizing communication between different parties
• Hard to reach equipment • Non ergonomic work space
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• Noise and vibration
LA AMBU
• Increases bleeding • 60-70% of patients are hypothermic • A lack of equipment • Considering the cold climate
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POTHERMIA
• Optimizing ABCDE/Triage • No device to accurately measure respiration rate • A lot of different devices are used to decide priority • Transferring results to journal
AB CDE/TRIAGE
• Back problems are common • Lifting limit for paramedics of 26 kg • Heavy equipment • Heavy patients
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AVY LIFTING
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A EC AN BE ME
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IN LOOK
GA N T N E W T E CH
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• Vital information that has to be recorded in patients journal • Is today done by eye and wrist watch • There is no product available to the paramedics • Ventilation frequency tell a lot about patients health
ME AS U RE
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VENTILATION FREQ
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2.7 GOALS & WISHES What I intend to accomplish
Upon contemplating all of the design directions and opportunities, I finally decided what to focus on. I wanted to design a device that can accurately measure a patients ventilation rate.
As I heard from the paramedics themselves, the ventilation rate of a patient is a very good indication of the persons health. This is also something that they must always enter into the patients journal, regardless of the priority of the case. Today they have no device or tool that can help them accomplish this accurately. It is only done by looking at the patients chest moving and counting the seconds with their wrist watch. This is done by one of the paramedics while the other takes the other readings necessary to establish a priority. To do this you need to count the breathing cycles during 6090 seconds. Most often though they only have time to count for about 15 seconds and then multiplies that number to get an estimate. However, this becomes more difficult to do in the dark or if the patients situation is critical and time is of the essence. It still has to be entered into the journal at every time though. I wished to design a device that can help the paramedics measure a patients breathing rate quickly and accurately. Something that helps the paramedic perform their job and does not feel obtrusive or uncomfortable to the patient. I also wanted to look into and explore if such a device can be used to take other measurements. What more can a persons breath say about their health? Could it be useful if the patient is diabetic? Depending on the location of the device on the patients body, can it take other necessary measurements as well?
GOALS • Ability to measure ventilation rate accurately. • Easy to use and understand. • Comfortable and unobtrusive to patient. • Not hinder paramedic – patient interaction. • Assist paramedics in making priority assessment quickly and accurately. • Keep results from patient to avoid interfering with them. • Ability to take readings regardless of lighting and weather conditions.
WISHES • Help paramedics focus on patient. • Replace other assessment equipment to reduce the amount of tools needed • Give patient a sense of comfort and safety • Enriching paramedics work by offering a reliable and easy tool to help them.
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2.8 HOW IS RR MEASURED TODAY? Understanding the current method
paramedics seldom has time to simply look at a patient for even sixty seconds. So instead they count the chest movements for fifteen seconds done today. and then takes that value multiplied by four to There are a number of gadgets and tools get an estimate of the RR/min. If the patient is available to the paramedics to measure a in a critical state it is difficult to sacrifice even patients vitals; such as blood pressure, glucose as little as 15 seconds for this. level, temperature and so on. However the method used by the paramedics to measure a One more thing to keep in mind is patients respiratory rate is very analogue. that regardless of the sate of the patient, the paramedics are required to always record The only way to do it is to look at a patients chest and count the number of times it patients RR/min in their journal. rises during a period of sixty to ninety seconds. This leads to a value called respiratory rate per minute (RR/min). Unfortunately though the Before I start to find a new method to measure respiratory rate I need to have a look at how it is
15 sec x 4 ≈ RR/min
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2.9 WHY MEASURE RESPIRATORY RATE? I need to know just how important the respiratory rate actually is
THE RESPIRATORY RATE If I was going to design a product that can measure a patients respiratory rate I first needed to know just how important it actually is. If it is not, then perhaps the method that they are using today is enough. On the other hand if it is very important that would certainly justify an attempt to design a product that can help the paramedics to do this.
ASKING THE PARAMEDICS I started by asking my user group, the paramedics. They told me that a persons breathing can tell them a lot about a persons well being, pain level and comfort. With the current process this is very difficult and
“A persons ventilation rate can
tell us a lot about their health and well being. But we have no tool to measure it with” - The paramedics of Umeå Ambulance station
they wish that they could take measurements more continuously to be able to spot trends in patients respiration rate. However there is seldom time to stop treating the patient, take a step back and count the chest movements, even if it is only for 15 seconds.
LOOKING AT MEDICAL RESEARCH Besides asking the paramedics I wanted to take a look at if there is any new research on the topic of respiration rates. To my delight I found a great deal of information.
I found one research article by Geraldine A Lee at King’s College London. She expressed that when measuring respiration rates, continuity is key. Far to few clinicians measure respiratory rates as often as they should and if they do it is not continuously measured. She argued that the reason for this is the analogue process with which it is done, few take the time, or simply does not have time, to go to every patient to measure their breathing.
“There is substantial evidence that an abnormal respiratory rate is a predictor of potentially serious clinical events.” - The Medical Journal Of Australia
In an article in The Medical Journal of Australia it was reported that respiratory rates are far more important than previously believed. According to resent studies a persons respiratory rate could determine if a patient would reach a critical event, such as a heart attack, up to twenty four hours before it actually happened. These two articles, along with many others, spoke of how respiratory rates will becomes more and more important as a physiological marker in the future. With this information in hand it seamed to me that better products for this is not only a good idea but a much needed one
“Respiratory rate will soon become an important physiological marker but clinicians must record it accurately” - Geraldine A Lee King’s College London
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2.10 CURRENT PRODUCTS
Having a look at similar products, both existing and conceptual
My next step was to have a look at what kind of products that are out there and also what types of other conceptual products that has already been designed.
hinder the paramedics from communicating with their patients during treatment, which is something that they need to be able to do.
EXISTING PRODUCTS
Existing concepts that I have found are either made to be smart jewelry for personal use, not as professional products. Those that are intended for professional medical use were either to intrusive for the patients or simply not very practical for the paramedics.
I managed to find some existing products that are already on the market, but it was very clear that they are made for hospital care and not pre-hospital care. They are either connected to quite large machines and displays (Masimo Acoustic Sensor™) or cover the patients face while taking the readings (Resir8™). In the first case it would be very difficult for the paramedics to carry around a big device, since they need portable solutions. The last thing they need is yet another big device to carry around. In the latter example it would
EXISTING PRODUCTS
Respir8™
Masimo Acoustic Sensor™
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EXISTING CONCEPTS
EXISTING CONCEPTS
2.11 POSITIONING MY CONCEPT
Where I want to position my concept in relation to existing products
Portable
The intended outcome of the project
Obtrusive
Unobtrusive
Non portable
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2.12 PROBLEM DEFINITION Defining my problem areas more closely
With the previous research in mind I defined my problem areas to get a clear idea of what the problems with the current method of measuring respiratory rates
RELIABILITY Today’s method is highly unreliable in a situation where reliability is very important.
CONTINUITY With today’s method it is also very difficult to take readings continuously. This is a big problem when continuity is key.
ADAPTABILITY It would prove to be very challenging to adapt today’s method to poor lighting conditions or other situations where its difficult to see the watch and the persons chest.
TIME CONSTRAINT In severe cases the paramedics simply does not have enough time to sit back and just observe the patients. They must work fast and today’s method gets in the way of that.
MISSING VITAL INFORMATION
RE LIA BI LI
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All of these problems leads to the fact that the paramedics are missing a lot of vital information that can help them in treating their patient
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2.13 GOAL DEFINITION Defining my project goals more precisely
I chose to further define my goals with the project UNOBTRUSIVE besides the previous goals & wishes list with four I wish to find a solution that is as unobtrusive key points. as possible for the patient. Party for the feeling
ACCURATE I want to achieve accuracy so that the paramedics can trust the readings they get.
EASY
CONTINUOUS By offering a solution where it is possible to take readings continuously with as little effort as possible from the paramedics.
CONTINUOUS
ACCURATE
of safety and comfort for the patient but also to not hinder paramedic/patient communication in any way. The solution must be easy for the paramedics to handle. I do not want to create a solution that takes a lot of effort and attention from the paramedics to make it work. They need to focus on helping people, not running the equipment.
UNOBTRUSIVE
EASY
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2.14 AVAILABLE TECHNOLOGIES
A look at available technologies that could benefit the project
#1 XETHRU The Norwegian company Novelda developed a radar technology that can detect different people in a room, and even every persons respiration rate. It is the size of a fire alarm and is positioned on the wall of a room. If this technology was smaller and only measure one persons respiration rate this would be exactly what I need. This was the technology I chose, but I will tell you a bit more of the other tech that I found.
#2 MICRO LED-PROJECTOR This is an incredibly small projector, about the size of a finger nail. It can project an image on a surface even if the direction of the projector is almost parallel to the surface. This
could prove useful to display results to the paramedics.
#3 GOOGLES PROJECT SOLI Also a radar that can detect minute movements of your finger tips and in this way control devices by moving your finger in the air. This gave an idea that radar technology can be smaller, but perhaps did not fit perfectly with the project.
#4 GRAPHENE OXIDE A thin strip that can detect changes in air moisture and through that determine respiration. However it would need to be directly in front of the mouth, so that made it less useful for my project.
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What if instead of a room, the radar can scan a torso and detect the lungs and the heart along with their individual movements. It could be smaller and could see through clothing, skin and bone.
2.15 COMPONENTS
A decision on which components the solution would need to consist of
To achieve my design goals I decided that the solution would need to consist of two parts. One that is placed on the patient to take the readings. It would not show any results to the patient because the knowledge of your respiration being monitored is enough to change the results by altering the breathing rate.
ONE COMPONENT FOR PARAMEDIC
The second part would be used by the paramedic to display the information gathered by the radar. The radar will continuously monitor respiration and the paramedic can monitor the results easily whenever he or she sees fit.
ONE COMPONENT FOR PATIENT
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RESULTS Through evaluating my concepts I realized that none of them fulfills my requirements as well as I had hoped. For this reason I decided to take what I did like from the third concept and deliver it in a new format.
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3.1 INSPIRATION BOARD
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3.2 SKETCHES
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3.3 CONCEPT 1 Graphene oxide patch
In my first concept I attempted to find a way to use the graphene oxide to measure the respiration rate.
This would be done by placing a small strip of graphene oxide on the nose, like a patch. The patch would be hooked up to a device that would be placed around the patients ear. This wold work as a small computer that would collect the data and translate it to the paramedics by sending an understandable reading of the persons respiration rate to their on board computer, or tablet, that is already existing in the ambulances.
SENSOR PATCH
DATA HANDLING & SENDING
VENTILATION MASK NECK BRACE
ECG PADS
PROBLEMATIC AREAS FOR PLACEMENT
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3.4 CONCEPT 2 Digital patch box
The second concept was that of a box with radar sensors that are disposable.
They could be attached to the patients chest and when it was no longer needed it could just be discarded. The patches would be stored in a package that is attached to a screen, or small electronic device, that would show the readings from the patches. The intention was to take a very familiar and analogue process and combine it with a digital one.
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3.5 CONCEPT 3
A unit with a detachable sensor
My third concept was a unit that has a radar sensor that can be detached from the main unit, then attached to a disposable patch and later applied to the patient. It would then monitor the respiratory and heart rate of the patient and display it on the main unit. When the paramedics would be handing over the patient to the hospital the sensor would
MAIN UNIT
SCREEN
SENSOR DOCK
PATCH
DOCKING PORT MEMORY DRIVE
SENSOR UNIT
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SENSOR ATTACHED TO PATCH
be removed and reattached to the main unit, while the patch would remain with the patient. The patch would have a small memory chip that could store the previous collected data to be used by the clinicians at the hospital.
3.6 CONCEPT EVALUATION An evaluation with Laerdal and the Paramedics
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STRENGTHS
WEAKNESSES
– Could function well even if patient is wearing breathing mask
– To intrusive for the patient. I believe it would feel odd to wear it. – The parts are quite small and could easily be lost. – Does not offer a complete solution since it is dependent on other equipment to function.
STRENGTHS
WEAKNESSES
– Combination of a familiar tactile analogue process with a digital one.
– I believe using disposable radar tech would be to waste full.
STRENGTHS
WEAKNESSES
– Could create a good way for information to follow the patient. – Making sure the radar is not disposable is less waste full. – Procedure would be unintrusive to patient
– Screen can easily be scratched or cracked. – Appears to much like a phone. – I am not certain if yet another device of this size would be the optimal solution for the paramedics.
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3.7 MOCK-UP SCENARIO Creating a scenario to find out more
In order to get a deeper understanding of my favorite concept out of the three I made a mockup and arranged a role-play situation to try it out.
Through this I learned that the idea would have worked as well as I thought, but it also gave me a few key insights. The most important one was the realization that this would despite all things become just another piece of equipment that they would have to
carry around much in the same way they do with all their other diagnostic equipment. For that reason I realized that I needed to find a way to design a product that would perform the same task as the one in concept three but would be more integrated in to the paramedics work environment and keep their hands free to care for their patients.
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3.8 CONCLUSION
I realized that a fourth concept is needed Through evaluating my concepts I realized that none of them fulfills my requirements as well as I had hoped. For this reason I decided to take what I did like from the third concept and deliver it in a new format.
Keep this
I had decided to move on with concept number three, but thanks to the mock-up and role-play situation I realized that the delivery of the solution would have to be quite different. That is when I decided to keep the radar patch but to change the main unit to better suit the paramedics and the work they do.
Change this
3.9 NEW CONCEPT DIRECTION Taking the project in to a slightly different direction. I looked back to previously in my research when I noticed how the paramedics would use their gloves to write down the patients condition. What if this familiar practice could be taken a few steps further?
In my new concept I removed the smart phone -like main unit and replaced it with a smaller unit that could be worn around the wrist as a smart watch. This unit would work as a small projector that would project the respiratory rate and heart rate of the patient on to the paramedics hand (As technology #2 seen on page 26). The radar is still a patch that can be applied to the patients torso that is remotely connected to the projector unit. The new main unit would make this a much easier device for the paramedics to carry around and use throughout their shifts. They could easily check the readings when treating a patient and keep an eye on heart and respiration rate continuously, easily and accurately. The radar patch would also allow for an unobtrusive monitoring of the patients respiration rate throughout the treatment. 38
3.10 SKETCHES & MOCK-UPS
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3.11 3D MODELING Form exploration in CAID
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3.12 MODEL BUILDING
Building of the full scale model of the product
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FINAL DESIGN Since the projector unit can be removed from the wrist band and be placed on a number of other surfaces, the paramedics have more room to decide individually how they wish to use the unit.
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4.1 COMPONENTS
The parts that make up the whole
THE MAIN UNIT
MODULAR ATTACHMENT POINT
The main unit is a small device that collects, interprets and displays the results from the radar patch. It houses a micro LED-projector that can project these readings on virtually any surface. This means that no screens that can be broken or scratched are needed. It also does not matter if the surface is perfectly clean, since the image is always projected on top of what ever is underneath it. The main unit can be worn around the wrist to project an image on the back of the paramedics hand. This makes it possible for them to keep an eye on the respiration rate while their hands are free to assist the patient.
After visiting the paramedics and having spoken to them as much as I did, I realized that they find ways to adapt their equipment to perform their job they way that suits them best individually. For that reason I also included a modular attachment for the main unit that they can attach on anything they like. Perhaps a notebook or the wall of the ambulance. So incase they do not want to wear the main unit around their wrist, then there is room for them to make their own adjustments.
RADAR PATCH The radar patch houses the technology that scans the torso of the patient and is programmed to focus in on the movements of the lungs and the heart to be able to transmit both the patients respiratory rate and heart rate. The technical parts are surrounded in a soft and supple material to allow it to bend slightly when attached to follow the shape of the patients body. It has a homogenous surface with no split lines where dirt and grime can get stuck and allow bacteria to grow. It can be easily cleaned with antibacterial agents to make sure that it is disinfected after each use.
WRISTBAND The wristband has an attachment point for the main unit in case the paramedics wish to keep it on their wrist which allows the readings to be displayed on their hands while they care for the patients.
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MODULAR ATTACHMENT POINT
ON/OFF PROJECTOR
WRISTBAND MAIN UNIT RADAR PATCH
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4.2 SCENARIO
How the final design would work during an assessment
The paramedic arrives at the scene and applies the radar patch on the patients chest. 46
He then starts the projector on his wrist by pushing the orange button. 47
4.2 SCENARIO
How the final design would work during an assessment
At this point the main unit start to project the readings on to the paramedics hand. This leaves his hands free to care for the patient. 48
Should the patient require CPR the unit will alert the paramedic and display a CPR aid on his hand. It will display the pressure and rhythm required to stabilize the patient. 49
4.2 SCENARIO
How the final design would work during an assessment
Since the projector unit can be removed from the wrist band and be placed on a number of other surfaces, the paramedics have more room to decide individually how they wish to use the unit. 50
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4.3 PRODUCT IN CONTEXT
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4.4 PRESENTATION, MODEL & POSTER The presentation was held at Ume책 Institute of Design with representatives from Laerdal Medical, ambulance personnel and local newspapers present. After a full presentation there was a feedback session in relation to the models and posters on display.
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REFLECTIONS & CONCLUSIONS When Looking back I do feel that my project solved most of the problems that I set out to solve, although some of them did change slightly as the project progressed.
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5.1 GOALS & WISHES FULFILMENT Did I manage to solve what I set out to solve?
At this stage I looked back to see if the original goals & wishes I had were solved in the end.
When Looking back I do feel that my project solved most of the problems that I set out to solve, although some of them did change slightly as the project progressed. For one thing I decided to focus mainly on respiratory rate after my concept phase, so it never became a product to solve the whole Triage process or to replace other equipment. I am grateful that I made that decision since I believe that the concept would have been more blurry if I had not.
GOALS
WISHES
• Ability to measure ventilation rate accurately.
• Help paramedics focus on patient.
• Easy to use and understand. • Comfortable and unobtrusive to patient.
• Replace other assessment equipment to reduce the amount of tools needed
• Not hinder paramedic – patient interaction.
• Give patient a sense of comfort and safety
• Assist paramedics in making priority assessment quickly and accurately.
• Enriching paramedics work by offering a reliable and easy tool to help them.
• Keep results from patient to avoid interfering with them. • Ability to take readings regardless of lighting and weather conditions.
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One of my wishes was to give the patient a sense of comfort and safety. My concept probably does not have a direct effect in making that happen. Instead I think that the concept hardly would be noticed by the patient. However, by making the job easier for the paramedic and allowing him/her more time to focus on the patient, I believe that the concept would have an indirect effect on the patients sense of safety and comfort.
5.2 WORK PROCESS My thoughts regarding the project
When looking back at this project I can say that it was an intense 10 weeks, with quite a few ups and downs.
change my mind sooner. If I had I would probably have had more time to refine my final concept even further. The opportunity of being able to work with the As a result of this I have learned that I paramedics was really amazing. They were an need to be more mindful of my intuition as a endless source of inspiration and were always designer. If it feels like the wrong path to take, willing to discuss our ideas and concepts. The then it probably is. There is nothing to stop me fact that we were welcome to come by the form pursuing another avenue. ambulance station at any time to speak to them Even though I am happy with the end was incredibly hospitable of them. result I believe there are a few things that My biggest hurdle during the project was can be tweaked, refined and improved in the that I got stuck with concept number three future. And that is what I intend to do. I am and it took me a while to let it go and pursue looking forward to my next project. another direction. I suppose that the easy way out would have been to stick with that concept and just continue, but I am very happy that I did not. I do however regret that I did not
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5.3 REFERENCES PARAMEDICS
RONNY FRIBERG STATION MANAGER LARS-ÅKE LÖVQVIST PARAMEDIC NURSE PÄR LINDGREN PARAMEDIC NURSE ERIK PALMCRANTZ PARAMEDIC NURSE LARS-ÅKE LÖVQVIST PARAMEDIC NURSE KRISTOFFER ÖSTENSSON PARAMEDIC NURSE CHRISTER BERGENHOLTZ PARAMEDIC NURSE ANDREAS OLOFSSON PARAMEDIC NURSE HANS GRUBB PARAMEDIC ASSIST. NURSE
PICTOGRAMS ICON 54 ARUDMANN AHA-SOFT ICONSMIND.COM HUNOTIKA MARIE RINEGARD DMITRY BARANOVSKIY LUIS PRADO HENRY ROJAS ARTWORKBEAN MICHAEL ZENATY FACTOR[E] DESIGN INITATIVE
NOUNPROJECT.COM NOUNPROJECT.COM NOUNPROJECT.COM NOUNPROJECT.COM NOUNPROJECT.COM NOUNPROJECT.COM NOUNPROJECT.COM NOUNPROJECT.COM NOUNPROJECT.COM NOUNPROJECT.COM NOUNPROJECT.COM NOUNPROJECT.COM
INTERNET XETHRU BY NOVELDA XETHRU.COM MEDICAL JOURNAL OF AUSTRALIA HTTPS://WWW.MJA.COM.AU/JOURNAL/2008/188/11/RESPIRATORY-RATE-NEGLECTED-VITAL-SIGN RESEARCH GATE HTTPS://WWW.RESEARCHGATE.NET/POST/SHOULD_CLINICIANS_CONSIDER_RESPIRATORY_RATE_AS_AN_ IMPORTANT_VARIABLE_OF_CLINICAL_STATUS FRAUNHOFER HTTPS://WWW.FRAUNHOFER.DE/EN/PRESS/RESEARCH-NEWS/2012/MAY/MINI-PROJECTOR-FOR-SMARTPHONES.HTML
PHOTOGRAPHS
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STUDENTS IN APD 1
5.4 APPENDICES
TIME SCHEDULE
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ADVANCED PRODUCT DESIGN 2015 Ume책 Institute of Design
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ANDERS SANDSTRÖM UMEÅ INSTITUTE OF DESIGN MFA ADVANCED PRODUCT DESIGN anders.elis@icloud.com
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