The design of medical technologies for developing countries is a multidisciplinary process. We describe a model process for an appropriate medical device design. D-Lab Health combines real world projects and partners with a diverse student team to provide experiential educational opportunities in a developing country health care setting; in turn, the partners benefit from student medical device designs. In order to effectively communicate practical design strategies toward an appropriate design for medical technology, a series of accelerated technology learning modules was developed using commercially available and customized medical devices. Each module included a formal framework for the students to think about the competing priorities of the user, chooser, payer, and approver of such global health technologies, christened the “global health innovation compass.” These modules provided a hands-on laboratory experience that demystified the design process. This was particularly useful for nonengineering students who were able to add value to the project through their life-sciences background. An essential component of the course was a week-long visit to our field partners in Nicaragua to enable the students to get first hand experience and to identify a health need they could address with a technology solution. Subsequently, the students utilized their hands-on training to develop medical device prototypes within an abbreviated production schedule of 3 weeks. We describe the design process for one such prototype “a low cost glucometer.”
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Design Of Medical Devices Conference Abstracts
Designing Medical Devices for the Developing World: Best Practices and Hands-on Approaches in D-Lab Health
Amit Srivastava,
Amit Srivastava
Children’s Hospital
, Boston
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Priyanka Jain,
Priyanka Jain
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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Shichao Liang,
Shichao Liang
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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Allen Lin,
Allen Lin
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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Deepali Ravel,
Deepali Ravel
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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Jose Gomez-Marquez
Jose Gomez-Marquez
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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Amit Srivastava
Children’s Hospital
, Boston
Priyanka Jain
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Shichao Liang
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Allen Lin
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Deepali Ravel
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Yi Wang
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Jose Gomez-Marquez
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
J. Med. Devices. Jun 2010, 4(2): 027530 (1 pages)
Published Online: August 11, 2010
Article history
Published:
August 11, 2010
Citation
Srivastava, A., Jain, P., Liang, S., Lin, A., Ravel, D., Wang, Y., and Gomez-Marquez, J. (August 11, 2010). "Designing Medical Devices for the Developing World: Best Practices and Hands-on Approaches in D-Lab Health." ASME. J. Med. Devices. June 2010; 4(2): 027530. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.3443732
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