Mesh Nebulizer

About the project

Working for a startup building medical devices. As a designer I was assigned a brief to design a hand held mesh nebulizer

Role

Industrial Design

About the client/course

Lifebound technologies Pvt Ltd is a startup based from Mumbai founded in 2021,It invents products that help create a harmonious duality between consumer and clinical products.

Client/Course

Lifebound Technologies Pvt.ltd.

Location

Mumbai,India

Duration

1 year

Brief

To design a user friendly, hand-held portable nebulizer with detachable mesh technology keeping in mind the use case ergonomics and patient acceptance.

mESH tECHNOLOGY

A significant innovation made in the nebulizer market is vibrating mesh technology. Basically, a vibrating mesh nebulizer is composed of a liquid reservoir with a piezo mesh disk mounted on one side of it, and a piezo mesh driver circuit board with batteries. The piezo mesh disk consists of a stainless steel plate that has been perforated with thousands of precision-formed, laser-drilled holes, and surrounded by a piezoelectric material. The piezoelectric material will vibrate at a very high rate of speed when it is driven by an analog signal of specific voltage, frequency, and waveform that is generated by the driver board. As a result of rapid vibration, solution is drawn through the holes to form droplets of consistent size that are delivered at a low velocity to be be inhaled directly into the lungs.

a-A-concept-of-vibrating-mesh-nebulizer-technology-b-schematic-drawing-of-mesh

Problems and Direction

Self Use of Device during emergency with timely alerts

Clogged mesh. Modular mesh technology can be used

Medicine in cartridge form to make it accessible for disabilities

Medication Dosage controller

No noise feature in nebulizer

Easy assembly of parts and features. Gamification of steps for proper oriantation

Sterilization and cleaning of mask and medicine container not done by user

Dosage more than 5ml is harmful. Patient unaware

Mask should be tightly worn during medication

Deep breaths need to be taken in between for proper inhalation.

Taking pauses while taking medication and when to stop.

Tracking of dosage required. Patient over use the medication

Market research was conducted to check what all innovations have already been done in the nebulizer market. The products were analysed on varied factors like form, ergonomics and price point. This helped in deciding the new features

User Persona

Ramprakash Sharma

Age: 72 years old

Occupation: Lawyer

Status: Married

Location: Mumbai, Maharashtra

“I have had asthma since last 10 years. I have used inhalers and nebulizers for my treatment. I want to manage my asthma well”

Frustrations

Do not remember to take the timely dosages
Forget where they have kept the nebulizer set up during emergency
Might sometimes require a caregiver’s help for instruction and use case
Might not remember the amount of medication required in that particular day
Might forget if the nebulizer medicine is over
Forget to refill and clean the parts
Forget which medication has been suggested
Old patients tend to overuse the nebulizer

Goals

I should be able to take timely medication through my nebulizer.
I should be able to track my medication on timely basis with my application.
It will be better if I am reminded when to take the medication and can set alarms.
I also forget to clean my nebulizer on timely basis which causes accumulation of germs on my device.
It will be great if I can get a guide how to assemble my nebulizer
I should also get outputs and analysis charts of medication.
Gesture and tap features for easy use.

“I have a child who is 7 years old having asthma. I have to regularly track and manage her Asthma”

Michelle Stone

Age: 35 years old

Childs age: 10 years old

Occupation: Architect

Status: Married

Location: London, UK

Frustrations

I do not have time to track the medication of their child.
To check on if proper medication is taken.
Children sometimes find it difficult to assemble the device
Mothers have to spend longer times with the child.
Mothers and Teachers have to collaborate to manage the child’s asthma
Additional care and tracking needs to be taken as children tend to communicate.

Goals

I should be able to track my child's medication effectively.
The analyzed data should be effectively communicated with the doctor
I should be given timely updates of my child's wellbeing when in school
Timely alerts for medication and overuse.
Connect with other mothers to educate and learn effective ways to manage my child's asthma.
My child should learn how to manage her asthma as she grows.