According to my friends who are already parents, one of the most difficult things to get their young kids to do is to drink medicine. Aside from the fact that most of the pills actually taste bad and may be too big for their little throats, it’s also hard to convince them to do something if they don’t really understand why they need to do so. Some actually use rewards just to get the kids to take their meds but there should be better ways to get through this every time they need to do it.
Designer: Fengrui Wang
The Singing Bottle is a concept for a different kind of pill packaging and dispenser for kids ages 6-10 to help them take their meds a bit more easily. It is shaped like those ship in a bottle things that your dad or uncle probably displayed. But instead of a ship, you get personalized pills and a corresponding paper card strip with an NFC tag attached which is the secret to getting the kids to get the pills down. The dispenser also has a built-in speaker in which the cards, which contain music and stories, can be played.
The idea is that parents need to purchase the first pack of 14-21 personalized pills from the pharmacy and the dispenser. Turn the handle to dispense the first pill, separate the card strip and then insert it into the NFC reader. The first card is actually inspiring words to get the kids to take the pill and explain why they need to do so. Every two days, a new strip is unlocked and this can be a story or a piece of music to serve as their “reward” for taking the pill.
This is a pretty interesting way to encourage children to take their much needed medicine. This concept will work with Dozer, a start-up that specializes in 3D medicine printing which is able tp provide personalized medicine which should be less expensive and maybe also makes the taste a bit better, since that’s one of the major reasons why kids don’t want to take their pills.
More than just the population problem, we are also facing a crisis in terms of care for the aging segments of that population. Traditional geriatric care centers are sometimes filled beyond capacity, and caring for elderly people living alone can be expensive and at times even risky. Futurists and visionaries would have us dream of a future where robots, whether humanoid or not, would take the place of household help, and we’re starting to see some of those rolling boxes in homes, often for less critical conveniences like bringing things from one place to another. Human care, however, is a very different matter entirely, so this concept design for a service robot and an advanced wheelchair duo tries to paint a different picture by making the experience look and feel a little bit more human and, therefore, more humane.
Designer: Sungmin Hwang
Geriatric patients living at home need more than just having things brought to them, which is what many home service robots are designed to do. They will also want to move around, on their own or with assistance, and motorized wheelchairs try to make that activity more convenient. These two mobility activities might be related, but they’re provided by two very different kinds of products. But rather than having disparate and disconnected machines, this design concept presents an integrated system that acts like a whole, even if they function separately.
The actual “companion” is a service robot that looks like a tall board with arms and wheels, unlike the common design that’s practically a self-driving cabinet. It has a simplified face, basically just eyes that can express emotions and a dot matrix display that can spell out words, but it’s enough to give it a more personable character. Rather than having shelves to put items on, the robot has harms and hands that can grab and hold objects to hand them over to the patient, making the action feel more personal rather than clinical.
The other half of the duo is a motorized wheelchair that’s designed as much for comfort as it is for mobility. In addition to the cushioned surfaces and curved parts, the chair features plenty of storage space not just for things but also for medicine. The patient can exercise their own agency by driving the wheelchair on their own, but it can also be pushed by the companion robot when it connects to the chair. This recreates the experience of having someone push their wheelchair, hopefully making them feel less lonely and less detached.
The “Companion” robot and wheelchair concept is designed with many of the existing technologies already available today, from self-navigating home robots to intelligent charging docks to precision robot hands for carefully grabbing objects. Of course, such a machine would still need to undergo rigorous testing, not to mention regulatory scrutiny given its medical applications, but it’s definitely an interesting take on what a home service robot can do, especially when it’s designed to take care of elderly people or people with mobility disabilities.
Every expectant mother embarks on a journey filled with joy, anticipation, and, understandably, a dash of apprehension. The responsibility of nurturing a new life brings with it a plethora of considerations, chief among them being maternal health. Recognizing this critical aspect, Perelel, a maternal health startup, has pledged a substantial $10 million towards closing the healthcare research gap, underscoring their commitment to maternal well-being.
The journey of Perelel traces back to 2020 when Victoria Thain Gioia, Alex Taylor, and Dr. Banafsheh Bayati co-founded the company with a mission to provide expectant mothers with superior prenatal vitamin options. The inception of Perelel was deeply personal, as Gioia’s experience with her daughter’s cleft lip shed light on the critical link between folic acid deficiency and prenatal health. Meanwhile, Taylor’s own pregnancy journey underscored the challenges of researching and sourcing quality prenatal vitamins. With Dr. Bayati’s expertise as an obstetrician-gynecologist, Perelel formulated a line of prenatal vitamins tailored to each trimester, using high-quality ingredients to optimize maternal and fetal health.
However, Perelel’s vision extended beyond mere commercial success; it was deeply rooted in philanthropy. Today, the company fulfills its promise by announcing a substantial $10 million donation, a testament to its ethos of giving back. This donation will be directed towards two esteemed organizations: Magee-Womens Research Institute, dedicated to pioneering research in women’s health and reproductive biology, and Good+Foundation, which addresses family poverty and supports new mothers.
The significance of this donation extends beyond monetary value. Perelel’s contribution will be distributed over three years as in-kind product donations and grants, ensuring tangible support for vital research initiatives. This announcement comes on the heels of Perelel’s successful fundraising efforts, including a recent $6 million Series A funding from Unilever Ventures, supplemented by $4.7 million in seed funding last year.
For Perelel, giving back is not an afterthought but a fundamental principle. Victoria Thain Gioia emphasizes, “From day one, giving was a very clear line item for us.” The company meticulously integrates giving into its financial models, allocating a percentage of sales toward philanthropic endeavors. Alex Taylor echoes this sentiment, highlighting Perelel’s commitment to scaling its giving as the company expands its reach. “Vitamins keep the lights on,” Taylor affirms, “but we stand for so much more.”
As Perelel continues to scale its operations and influence, its unwavering commitment to bridging healthcare research gaps remains steadfast. With each sale, the company not only illuminates the path to maternal well-being but also catalyzes transformative change in women’s health research. Through their actions, Perelel epitomizes the profound impact that businesses can wield when driven by a sense of purpose and compassion.
In a landscape where niche yet crucial topics like maternal health often go overlooked or insufficiently addressed, Perelel’s compassionate dedication stands out as a beacon of hope. It’s a refreshing sight to witness empathetic individuals recognizing the importance of this sector, and it’s even more inspiring that it’s predominantly led by women, adding an empowering cherry on top to their noble cause, illuminating a path toward a healthier, more equitable future for all mothers and their precious babies.
When it comes to taking care of our health, proactive action and a mindset of preparedness are always necessary. By taking the right precaution, and being prepared always, we can handle a medical emergency to the best of our ability. And the medical industry has been coming up with ingenious innovations, that are completely transforming the healthcare game. Designers have been coming up with new and improved, life-saving medical designs that not only boost medical care but also relieve some of the pressure from our tireless medical force. From an award-winning inflatable stretcher design to a copper jacket that can protect from diseases – these innovations are upping the medical arena.
1. Inflatable Stretcher
Dubbed the Inflatable Stretcher, and designed by Yu-Hsin Wu, a student of Taiwan’s Shih Chien University, this stretcher is a refreshing new upgraded version of the conventional stretcher. This stretcher carries patients from the site of the accident to the hospital in a safe and protected manner. The innovative stretcher cushions and protects the patient in the same way you would wrap someone or something in bubble wrap!
2. Cadence
Meet the Cadence concept design which is equipped with a pharmacy-grade pill sorting plate that makes it easier to organize pills, and place them where they belong. The tray is specially designed and features an opening for one day only, so you don’t accidentally place pills inside compartments that are already full. You could also simply pour the pills onto the tray, and then utilize the built-in spatula to move the exact number and kind towards the opening.
3. MedEasy
Called MedEasy, this thoughtful medicine box has been designed for the elderly. It functions as a dependable everyday companion for the older generation, as it helps them keep track of, manage, and stock their medicines. Loneliness is quite prevalent among senior citizens living alone, and this useful product aims to focus on their well-being and take better care of them, ensuring they don’t miss their medication or mix them up.
4. Withings Beamo
The Withings Beamo is a USB-shaped 4-in-1 multi-scope that keeps an eye on the vitals of your heart, and lungs, as well as temperature. Withings says that “Once, body temperature was the only health scan routinely taken at home. BeamO will revolutionize the measurement of the core vitals carried out during medical visits from the comfort of one’s own home. This crucial data will provide a vital overview of overall health or warning signs of potential areas of concern.”
5. The Ergostone Pebble
Called the Ergostone Pebble, this versatile and handy pouch is made using fine-grained sand from soapstone. The utilization of the natural mineral adds amazing heating and cooling properties to the pouch, which provides comfort to different parts of your body. The soapstone sand is tactile and placed inside the smooth shell of silicone, which allows the Pebble to gently conform to your body, while still offering heat or cold.
6. Full Metal Jacket
Meet the Full Metal Jacket by Vollebak! This jacket is built from germ-repelling metallic textiles. It utilizes a fabric with woven strands of copper, making it completely breathable, and flexible, and making sure it doesn’t make any sound as you move around. The jacket contains 11 kilometers of copper, and the apparel is strengthened by copper’s innate ability to kill any bacteria or virus that comes in contact with it.
7. Transcutaneous Oxygen Sensor
Designed by Deokhee Jeong, this wearable medical gadget helps patients suffering with any kind of disease related to peripheral capillaries like peripheral arterial disease (PAD). With such diseases, it is extremely important to take proactive action and be on your toes once it has been identified. This device keeps an eye on the earliest signs, by measuring the skin oxygen levels. The patch is wearable and is called the Transcutaneous Oxygen Sensor.
8. Wethm
Called Wethm this little device creates gentle vibrations of a train ride to slow your head down, and this is known as cardiovascular synchronization. This accessory is simple and yet effective as it uses soft and gentle sounds to lull our mind and body to sleep. This process provides us with a more peaceful and calmer state of sleep. Wethm utilizes soft buzzing to slowly wake you up, allowing you to feel fresh and recharged, ready to deal with the day!
9. Resilience Wheelchair
Dubbed the Resilience Wheelchair – this isn’t your ordinary wheelchair in the least. It transforms a conventional rugged motorized wheelchair into a rather elegant and classy chaise lounge. The wheelchair is available in choices of gray and chrome, which impart it with a sophisticated and refined touch. The chair is made from plastic and leather, providing you with utmost comfort, and a pretty pleasant tactile experience.
10. BHeart
Meet BHeart – the world’s first health tracker with an ‘endless battery’. Hearing the word endless with battery is really quite intriguing, and BHeart utilizes your own body movements to charge itself. This cuts down on your electricity bill and carbon emissions too. BHeart uses its patent-pending energy-harvesting technology to recharge itself using motion, body heat, and environmental light.
Of the many disorders that afflict people today, diabetes is perhaps the literally most painful one to monitor and maintain. Even with advancements in medical technology, pricking your finger is still the most accurate way to measure blood sugar levels. At the same time, taking in insulin often involves painful and tedious injections. And it isn’t just humans who are hurting from these, but the environment also suffers from all the waste these life-saving tools produce. It’s probably high time to have a glucose monitor and insulin delivery system that is not only painless and convenient but also sustainable, which is exactly what this minimalist-looking device concept is proposing.
CGMs or Continuous Glucose Monitors are one of the less invasive methods of keeping tabs on your blood sugar levels, though most do require inserting a sensor under the skin that is read by a device that sticks to your body over that site. When it comes to injecting insulin, on the other hand, insulin pumps remove the need to always pierce your skin for every injection, as a needle stays in its position for a day or two before needing to be replaced, unless the pump is one that actually stays on your body and above your skin. If these two devices sound almost related, it’s because they really are, and the Ingo CGM and insulin pump concept actually combines these two functions into a single, reusable, and sustainable device.
This oval-shaped device combines two critical functions in a single compact design that diabetes patients can discreetly wear on their bodies. Ingo can even have different colors to match skin tones so they won’t stand out as much as more obvious medical devices. There’s also the element of convenience as the device can be easily recharged on a wireless base, while the CGM sensor and pump needle are integrated into the sensor patches that stick over your skin.
Ingo also differs from existing CGMs and insulin pumps in the way that it tries to reduce the amount of waste as much as possible. Instead of disposable parts, it uses reusable components and recyclable patches, lessening the burden on the environment that these solutions often place on the planet. The rechargeable device and refillable insulin tank also prolong the life of the product or at least those parts that shouldn’t have to be thrown away frequently. Ingo is definitely an interesting proposal for a more humane and more environment-friendly way to keep diabetes patients living healthy and meaningful lives while also taking care of the planet they’re living on.
If you’ve never seen an inversion table before, you might be shocked when you walk into a room and you see someone lying upside down on this table. It brings some Silence of the Lambs vibes with Hannibal Lecter strapped into a bed, only this table is upside down. But it’s actually a thing that people with back problems do alongside other therapies to treat their back problems without having to resort to surgery. But most of the ones in the market don’t look very comfortable and may even be difficult to operate on your own.
This concept for an electric inversion table for Lime, a company that manufactures healthcare equipment, aims to solve those issues. Aside from looking clunky, most of these tables look like they belong in a hospital or a public gym and not your living room. The designer did use exercise equipment as basis for how such a table can fit in your environment but the renders show a much more homey looking device that can rotate in 180 angles to help your back issues.
They also tried to solve some issues that users had with operating inversion tables on their own. The handle is normally attached to the motor but is a bit hard to reach when you’re lying on the table. But with this concept, they put it in a place where it’s easy to reach and turn the inversion table to whatever angle is comfortable and useful for you. And since you’ll be lying on it for a few minutes, it should be pretty comfortable. The backrest is wide enough to make you feel stable and the soft square plate shape is the core visual as shown in the renders.
Compared to existing inversion tables, this one will look at home in your living room and your bedroom as it can blend with the other pieces of furniture. The pastel colors and the shapes of the various parts in the renders also adds to the comfort level of the user. In theory, it should work so the next challenge will be to see if this design, as well as the principles like ankle fixation and rotation can be applied.
What technology is good if it is of no use to living souls? Meet Mo Ali, a 40-year-old from Brighton, West Sussex, who has just received the world’s first 3D-printed bionic fingers after toiling all his life with low confidence and major handicap in doing most tasks we would take for granted. He loved cycling right from his childhood when he unfortunately met with an accident in the kitchen, chopping off his fingers in a meat grinder. Not surprisingly, he was bullied by other kids due to this unfortunate disability.
He was always two steps behind others when it came to enjoying bicycle rides as he had to make unfruitful quick fixes like wearing a bike glove stuffed with tissues to have a better grip on the handlebar. Even worse, when he finally got a prosthetic hook operated by the force of the shoulder, prescribed by NHS as a glimmer of hope, things didn’t turn out as planned. The thing was heavy and uncomfortable, making it even more difficult to do the simplest of tasks. After only a day of use, he had to stop using it.
It was a compromised life after that as Ali coped with the disability by simply hiding it. Now Bristol-based Open Bionics has employed their advanced 3D printing and scanning technology to develop a prosthetic hand with independently moving fingers, which they call the Hero Gauntlet. According to Ali now he’s able to walk down the road without feeling the need to hide.’ Gaining more confidence in the prosthetic, he now says, “With the Hero Gauntlet, once I have a grip on something I know it’s not going anywhere.”
Mo has experimented with countless options in the last 15 years but with no success or even the slightest hope for his situation. Now with the innovative partial hand prosthetic custom-made for him, life is far better. The team at Open Bionics made use of 3D scanning, printing and modeling technology to craft this partial artificial hand with fingers. According to the developers, the prosthetic will be available for people with limb differences soon. The firm even claims that this gauntlet can help revive the hand functionality of ones born without fingers.
According to co-founder, Samantha Payne, “It’s pure joy to see this piece of engineering have a positive physical and emotional impact on Mo’s life.” For us, it’s heartening to see a life-changing transition that technology has made possible. The world needs more of this!
Designed to look like a tiny helmet for your kneecap, the Kneeflow uses a unique combination of heat, light, and massage to relieve knee pain. Heat helps boost blood flow, light stimulates the cells to repair themselves, and massaging helps ease pain. The Kneeflow works faster than pills, better than those burning sprays, and promotes healing without any chemicals or even so much as a doctor’s prescription.
Whether you’re hurting from a tough workout or injury, dealing with chronic joint pain caused by age, or just looking to keep your knee in peak shape and performance, the Kneeflow is designed to rejuvenate the joint and relieve pain by treating the issue on both a surface as well as a deep level. The combination of heat treatment and massaging airbags both work on the surface to increase blood flow and provide physiotherapy to your joint. Nineteen individual infrared lights, on the other hand, work on a much deeper level, targeting the root cause of the pain by helping damaged cells regenerate themselves. The Kneeflow’s control panel lets you choose between multiple modes depending on whether you’re looking to recover from stiffness or pain, repair any injuries or stress caused to the joint, or just relax your knees after a long day and keep your joints at the top of their game.
Designer: Kneeflow
Click Here to Buy Now: $144$249 (42% off exclusively for YD readers). Hurry, only 10 left! Raised over $176,000.
The Kneeflow’s design is highly intuitive, and all you really need to do is strap it over your knee like you would a knee guard. An LCD touchscreen lets you then calibrate the Kneeflow’s settings, choosing from modes as well as manually adjusting temperature or airbag pressure. The heat setting goes all the way from 113°F (45°C) for relieving soreness and stiffness, up to 131°F (55°C) for treating sharper stinging pain. Once you’ve selected your mode, the Kneeflow goes to work. The airbags pulsate, simulating the feeling of getting a soothing massage that relieves pain and relaxes you. Simultaneously, the Kneeflow also uses heat and light therapy over a period of a 15-minute cycle, after which the Kneeflow automatically shuts off. The Kneeflow’s 15-minute cycle is hyper-customizable, allowing you to increase or dial-down certain elements of the procedure depending on exactly what you need.
What sets the Kneeflow apart is the fact that it treats injuries and pains without really any invasive form of medication like pills, surgery, or even those topical sprays. It works effectively to address the root cause of the pain, and promote the body to heal itself, covering a variety of ailments from your regular joint inflammation/pain or tired & stiff knees to more serious issues like meniscus or ACL tears. The device was tested at last year’s Berlin Marathon, has the backing of medical experts and sports therapists who tout the benefits heat and light therapy, and even managed to get a testimonial from ex-NFL player Noah Dawkins who uses it after workouts or training for his current role in the Michigan panthers at the upcoming UFL. UFC fighter Herbert Burns also used the Kneeflow to nurse his ACL after an injury in 2022.
The Kneeflow starts at $249, although YD readers can snag it at a 42% discount for just $144. It’s designed to be wireless and portable, so you can carry it around the house or even with you to work or in your gym bag. A 15-minute cycle is recommended to provide daily relief and therapy, and you can charge your Kneeflow using a USB cable that comes bundled in the box. The Kneeflow ships globally with a 1 year replacement warranty.
Click Here to Buy Now: $144$249 (42% off exclusively for YD readers). Hurry, only 10 left! Raised over $176,000.
In a new and essential medical advancement, a team of researchers at the Southern University of Science and Technology in China has devised a wearable watch that can non-invasively monitor a wearer’s blood pressure, heart rate, and blood oxygen saturation by clicking photos of the blood vessels in the skin. For this, the high-tech watch uses photoacoustic imaging and checks the user’s heart health in real time without much hassle.
Photoacoustic imaging machines generally use light and sound waves to see and hear inside the body and capture high-resolution imagery of blood vessels to estimate oxygen saturation, skin conditions, and even cancer. Presently, these machines are bulky and require the user to visit the hospital. With the help of the Photoacoustic Imaging Watch, Chinese researchers have been able to miniaturize the tech to monitor how the wearer’s heart is working in real time, anywhere.
The watch, developed by SUST captures images of the blood vessels using tiny laser beams in the skin in high resolution. The watch is the imaging device and it is attached to a backpack that houses the entire hardware. With the watch on the wrist and backpack on the shoulder, the user should be able to check blood pressure, heart rate, and blood oxygen levels even while moving around freely.
The backpack containing the hardware – laser and power supply – weighs about seven kilograms. The lightweight backpack can be carried around with ease while it allows the laser to focus and capture images of the tiniest of blood vessels in the skin around a 3 mm field of view. The new imaging system is currently in testing under various conditions, and it has been seen as a successful, convenient, and mobile alternative.
This “miniaturized wearable imaging system” can be used in “community health centers for preliminary disease diagnosis” or for “long-term monitoring of parameters related to blood circulation.” Also, the system can be handy in “early detection of skin diseases.” The researchers are trying to make an even smaller laser beam to make the wearable photoacoustic imaging system more portable, maybe even small enough to eliminate the backpack from the design.
Sooner or later, we will all need to take some pills regularly, whether it’s for medication or even just daily supplements. But unless you live a very disciplined life or have a sharp mind all the time, there will be times that you miss taking the proper dosage at the right time. Pillboxes try to save us time by splitting pills and tablets into their appropriate days, while smartphone apps give us the timely nudges to take them. The distance between these two objects, however, can lead some people to actually forget to drink those pills, especially if they’re stored in a less accessible place to avoid exposure to sunlight. Smart pill dispensers are becoming more common these days, but this twist on that concept proposes a design that is simpler, more aesthetic, and possibly more accessible since it lets you conveniently place the clock exactly where you need to take those pills.
Designer: Chanho Ju
Yes, the design looks like a huge clock, albeit an extremely minimalist one that doesn’t show the conventional numbers around its face. That face is actually an LCD screen that only displays the clock hands as glowing lines, along with the actual number they’re pointing at for a bit of readability. The display does change its contents when it’s time to take those pills, showing the current alarm time and other necessary information.
While it might sound a little underwhelming when it comes to constantly telling the time, its real worth shines when it comes to dispensing medicine. Simply twist the front to detach the clock, revealing 28 compartments for 28 days’ worth of medication. There are four buttons that let you set how many tablets you take per day, anywhere from one to four pieces. There’s also a special compartment for silica gel to make sure the interior of the clock remains dry and prevent pills from spoiling in humidity.
Combining a clock and a pill dispenser isn’t just some random design decision. Unlike a typical pill box, you can place this +CLOCK concept design anywhere it makes sense, whether it’s near the table, a kitchen counter, or a shelf. Its minimalist aesthetic makes it double as a decorative piece so it won’t exactly stick out like a sore thumb, especially since it also minimally tells the time anyway.
More importantly, however, when it does call your attention, you will be in the right place and at the right time to actually receive the pills that drop from the dispenser. There’s no physical gap between the two actions, so you’re less likely to forget to actually take the pills after you’ve automatically turned off the alarm by habit. It’s a simple yet elegant design that addresses the core problem of forgetting to take medication without having to use sophisticated and ultimately more expensive solutions.
