This low-cost baby health monitor is designed to make baby’s healthcare easy for new parents!

Posted on 31/08/2020 by Harsh Doshi

Across the globe in 2018, 2.5 million babies died within their first month of life. Collectively, Africa and Southern Asia made up approximately 87.7% of these deaths. – UNICEF

To address this issue, designers Chris Barnes and others at Cambridge Consultants of Cambridge, UK have designed a wearable health monitor for newborns in areas where current solutions are not easily available. Called ‘Little I’, their innovation empowers parents in low resource countries to monitor the health of their newborns by providing a low-cost, durable device that gives them assurance of their newborn’s survival despite lack of medical knowledge. This service is implemented by NGOs first buying and transporting the device to the community and teaching the workers how to use it. And in parallel, the mother/caregiver would hear about the device within the community and then later be provided one by a health care professional after giving birth. After 28 days, the device is returned which is then cleaned and recharged to be used by another newborn.

A big challenge the designers faced was to create a device that could run in conditions without access to electricity for the full neonatal period of 28 days. The components and features were designed keeping these criteria in mind. The device shaped like a strap-on shoe comes with a silicone strap and an ABS case for holding the electronics. It comes with an ON/OFF switch which gets triggered as soon as the shoe is worn. And within the strap and the case is included the temperature sensors and SPO2 sensors that monitor the health of the baby regularly.

The design of the device is made to appear friendly, non-intrusive, and trustworthy while still communicating an appropriate sense of urgency when necessary. All the while, removing any obvious association with any illness, which might be the case with a design that is more medical in appearance. Thereby minimizing the anxieties that a caregiver could have while putting a never before seen device on their newborn’s foot. The device also boasts a simple user interface using a traffic light system, icons, and distinctive audible sounds to make it effective for anyone to learn how to use it quickly and take immediate action in case of emergencies. A device that is user-friendly, durable, reliable, and can be conveniently carried along, this product is a true healthcare innovation!

Designer: Cambridge Consultants

This NFC enabled medicine strip reminds you to take your meds on time

Posted on 14/08/2019 by Radhika Seth

My parents need to take their insulin pills before every meal and the fool-proof system that they have devised is, to keep the tablets on the dining table. The second back-up plan is the house-help, who is supposed to remind them.

Needless to say, both are not idiot-proof solutions and on several occasions, they both forget to pop the pills. Design Thinking being a solution-provider for everything, the team at Cambridge Consultants have come up with an innovative solution.

They have designed an electronic strip called Tapp, that uses NFC technology to transfer the medicine’s data (stored on the blister pack) to a dedicated Tapp App. From the App, the user can select the reminder times and integrate other essential information of the prescription.

Goals can be set, and reminders can be defined – the idea of this combination is to ensure you take your correct dosage on time. And, that your medicine records be updated and handy.

Designer: Cambridge Consultants

“One of the biggest challenges facing society is the prevalence of chronic diseases. Many patients do not adhere to their medication regime correctly, resulting in poor outcomes and unnecessary costs,” Cambridge Consultants told Yanko Design.

“Non-adherence has many contributing factors; forgetfulness, procrastination and anxiety all play their part. Our current approach to non-adherence doesn’t seem to be working. For a solution to this challenge, perhaps we need to look to recent technological ‘intelligent’ advancements to nudge patient’s behaviors in the right direction.”

“Our team worked closely with a leading behavioral scientist to define a feature set that could offer long-term engagement with a patient. The behavioral change features are based on habit formation, goal reinforcement and social motivation. All features went through multiple iterations with user input, allowing us to refine our approach.”

“Tapp merges printed electronics and NFC technology into a simple, flexible sticker that can be applied to a standard blister pack. Our team developed fully functional proof-of-principle prototypes.”

“An innovative flexible aerial was needed to transmit the data from the smart blister to the user’s phone. Several aerial designs were developed and tested to allow the simple tap interaction to record a dose had been removed from the smart blister.”

“The design is a low-cost sticker with integrated flexible electronics and passive NFC used in conjunction with an app, specifically designed to address the key tenants of behavioral change; habit formation, goal reinforcement and social motivation.”

“The tapp sticker is added to a patient’s drug blister pack and the app is downloaded. The app allows patient to create and visualise goals. Then, provides digital nudges to take medication removing the cognitive burden of their therapy. When a patient takes their medication, a track is broken on the printed circuit. Using a simple tap interaction, patients can record that they have taken their medication and work towards their goals.”

Swap daily insulin injections with Kite, get rid of 40 weekly injections

Posted on 09/08/2019 by Radhika Seth

Both my parents are diabetic, and given their age and how forgetful they are, they sometimes miss taking their insulin pills before meals. They end up overcompensating, by taking the meds later – but this is not the solution. In medical conditions like type 1 diabetes, which requires daily monitoring and proper dosage of insulin, hoping to bridge this gap is the Kite smart insulin port. An innovative insulin injecting system, Kite hopes to make life easier for diabetic people.

Imagine a smart insulin port attached to your skin, delivering the right dose, and at the right time. At the same moment, getting all information regarding your sugar levels, meds timings and health data, managed and analyzed with the accompanying app.

Kite replaces the need to pump yourself with over 30 injections a week, thanks to the soft cannula insertion. It turns any device into a ‘smart’ device, and automatically dispenses the accurate insulin dose. Designed to be affordable, a device like this can be very helpful in the lifestyle management of diabetics.

The functions of the port include: dispensing the dose, capturing data and sending to the diabetes management app. The app integrates blood sugar levels, carb intake and activity. Kate also has wireless connectivity.

Designers: Mitul Lad & Cambridge Consultants

A Perfect Example of User-centered Design

Posted on 01/04/2019 by James Hoare

Naturally, medical devices have a direct impact on the patient and because of this they must provide an intuitive user experience that is both considering and understanding of the user. However, this isn’t always the case and the empathetic element of the design is either lost or dismissed when it comes to the development of a new product. Aalto explores how a more harmonious patient experience can be achieved through the use of color, form and branding.

Aalto is a self-injection device designed for use by patients suffering with a chronic disease that impacts their dexterity. The family of products that make-up Aalto each share the same geometric yet friendly forms that evoke a sense of trust. More significantly, they remove the stigma of medical devices and create a far more approachable product.

This element of trust has been introduced to each aspect of the product, from the packaging through to the interface. By having these attributes projected onto each element, a far more considered and harmonized experience has been achieved. This is just a beautiful example of user-centered design.

Designer: Cambridge Consultants

The Aalto autoinjector family uses robust, geometric forms to evoke a sense of TRUST.

Bold use of midnight blue with a contrasting yellow accent colour and the use of a tactile outer skin portray the ACTIVE brand attribute.

A sense of CALM is depicted in product detailing by using subtle ‘wave’ patterns on areas of the injectors. This indicates where (and how) patients should interact with the devices (twist, push and pull). Superfluous visual stimuli should be avoided, as it may detract from the device’s usability cues.

The Aalto injector packaging is designed to provide an enhanced unboxing experience. When the pack is opened, the injector and instructions for use are presented to the patient simultaneously, reducing confusion and anxiety, and further enforcing the brand attributes of TRUST and CALM.

Interactive and aesthetic harmony are considered with gesture control across hardware and software.

The electromechanical autoinjector embodies this consideration. As a patient pushes the autoinjector against their skin, the digital interface and software responds to this physical interaction, guiding the user to push with and maintain the correct force.

Cambridge Consultants Tê, the tea-machine of the future taste test (video)

Posted on 12/01/2013 by Daniel Cooper

After water, tea is the world's favorite beverage, yet to the gadget-producing fraternity, it's cruelly ignored in favor of coffee machines. Thankfully, the folks at Cambridge Consultants are trying to remedy this with the Tê, a machine that promises to whip up a perfect brew in two minutes. Naturally, as your humble narrator is a milquetoast European correspondent, we were compelled to see if it could live up to its impressive claims. Grab a Chocolate HobNob and join us after the break.

Gallery: Tˆ Machine