Surgical kit use in hospitals is not monitored. Manufacturers lease their products for a fixed period of time before they are returned for inspection. During this time a kit could be used once or 100 times. The lack of clarity means surgeons will often not trust the equipment leading to longer preparation time and a reduction in surgery success rates. Meanwhile, the manufacturer faces an inefficient and often unnecessary maintenance process.

Trace is a monitor designed register each time the kit used by recognising the heat signature of the sterilisation process. Due the high temperature and pressure conditions of sterilisation, the product houses no electric components, instead using a bimetallic coil gate, ball bearings and two chambers to record usage. 

The monitor is designed to integrate with current surgical kit design. A window on the mechanism provides an intuitive interface to provide information and confidence to hospital staff. When the interface shows a cycle is over and the kit is returned to the manufacturer, they simply need to invert the mechanism to allow it to start a new lease.

Trace was researched and developed as a group project. Some of the sketches and renderings shown were created by the team. The design came out of field research in various hospitals, systems analysis and iterative experimentation.

PROCESS

By creating a robust monitoring system with transparent data visible to all users interacting with the product, Trace builds trust across the ecosystem which trickles down into improving patient outcomes and building a brand of integrity for DePuy. 

Trace was presented to DePuy as a group project with my peers at Design & Innovation (BEng) in 2013, receiving positive feedback from customers and intention from the client to develop the product further.