The results of the Reddot Design Award 2020 have been announcedin Germany. ZHOU Yin, ZHU Jiafeng, LIU Yuzhi, and ZHANG Yulong, four 2017 Industrial Design students from College of Design and Innovation，Tongji University won the ReddotDesign Award with their design named With U, a medical device for neurogenic bladder rehabilitation. The work was completed under the guidance of LIU Long, a teacher of College of Design and Innovation,SHAN Quan and ZHENG Heci, both experts outside our university. In 2019, the design work won the top 20 of International James Dyson Award and the first prize of the Shanghai Industrial Design Competition. The ReddotDesign Award was established in 2005 to discover and commend new design concepts and innovations.
As a transitional product from an indwelling catheter to an intermittent catheter, With U aims to facilitate the daily life of patients with a neurogenic bladder by preventing disuse atrophy of the bladder after long-term indwelling catheterization and providing the possibility of a subsequent recovery. With U users will go through two stages of recovery. The product system includes an intelligent controller, redesigned drainage bag, drainage tube, strap, and mobile app. The head of the controller is connected to an indwelling catheter, and the bottom is connected to a drainage bag or tube. Users can use the strap to secure all parts to the thigh. Normally, the valve of the controller is closed and urine accumulates in the bladder. The sensor inside the controller monitors the real-time pressure in bladder, calculates the bladder volume, and sends this information to the app. In the first stage of rehabilitation, the drainage bag collectsthe urine. Once a predeterminedlevelis reached in the bladder, the controller valve will open to discharge the urine to ensure thepatient’s bladder muscle is exercised by storing urine and avoiding disuse atrophy. In the second stage, the controller will vibrate when the bladder is full to remind the user to go to the bathroom to urinate. Users can simultaneously press the urination buttons on both sides of the controller to directly discharge urine through the drainage tube. There is a groove on the surface ofcontroller, which is convenient for users to find the urination buttons through their clothing. Users can checkthe current bladder capacity and rehabilitation progress on the app.
The design team students introduced their inspiration for designing this product. At first, they discovered the problem in pregnant women using catheters in documentaries, and learned later through interviews with geriatricians that urine catheterization is a common problem in long-term hospitalization, but few people have paidmuch attention to it and it is difficult for patients to recognize. And thus, they focused their attention on the improvement of urine catheterization equipment and bags. The current catheter being used has solved the needs of catheterization for patients with spinal cord injury and after surgery. But patients will get cystatrophia over time and will still have to rely on the catheter even if cured.
Throughout the project development, the professional course teacher advised students to develop the design further from improving the experience, to helping patients with their rehabilitation. Based on the consideration of patients’future lives, the students considered whether or not the urine catheterization equipment could be optimized to return patients’ bladder to normal and establish reflexes. Existing medical equipment and ergonomic considerations inspired the appearance of the product. The front shape is a rectangle with rounded corners, like hands that are clasping each other. Considering the user's need for privacy and convenience, a V-shape design that fits the thighcomfortably was adopted.
To improve the entire neurogenic bladder treatment system, the product focuses on optimizing the design of With U's device and drainage bag in terms of safety and user-friendly function. The appearance of the device has been upgraded many times; the final transition from a disc shape to a rounded rectangle with break angles, providing for a better fit on the thigh. The students moved the power and drainage buttons from the front surface to the edge and redesigned the trigger mode button to decrease the occurrence of accidental activation. The groove on the surface can help users locate the buttons through their clothing. In addition, the students conducted various dot experiments on the drainage bag to make the drainage bag more evenly filled with urinein order to make the drainage bag more natural and more private in social situations, And finally,they chose the method of placing four evenly distributed dots on the drainage bag.They also optimized the UI interface of the mobile phone supporting app, pipingwith leak-proof joints, and other details to improve the user experience continuously.
Compared with the current catheterization medical devices for treating neurogenic bladder, With U shows more considerations for patients’ future. The students added to the product the method of training the bladder muscles. In daily life, patients can use this product to train the bladder to prevent cystatrophia through day-to-day treatment, increasingthe possibility of recovering from a neurogenic bladder disease during long-term treatment.
This piece of medical equipment comes from the special course in medical and health design that was conducted during the sophomore year at the Tongji University College of Design and Innovation. According to the students, just treating this work as a kind of design is not enough. The design team students said: “We have conducted many tests on the technology and use of this product. Next, we hope to bring the prototype of this product to more patients undergoing long-term treatment. In the future, we intend to design more intelligent and portable products which will allow users to have a better experience when it is secured to the thigh. We look forward to seeing the product go into production and make patients have a better quality of life.”
Source: https://news.tongji.edu.cn/info/1002/74486.htm
