Ayat Pak: point-of-care diagnostics Design process and

Design team: Pablo Quintero(Industrial), Hailey Kolenda(Graphic), Jonathan Aitken (supervisor)

Ayat Pak: point-of-care diagnostics

Design process and development bookletApril 9th- 2013


The design team was given access to extensive research done previously at BCIT regarding the technical requirements of the product; Also,an early foamcore proto-type served as a starting point to understand the volume and weight of some of the components.An intense amount of primary and secondary research started to shape a more holis-tic understanding of all the requirements.Apart from the technical data, the team was interested in finding out what the real scenario of use would look like; This Led us into an exciting path of usability research that revealed the complexity of this project.

The Deep Dive

3

Ayat Pak: point-of-care diagnostics a project in partnership with BCIT Design process and development booklet

Growing bacteria at home and looking for parallels with easy to use products out in the marketUnderstanding the sensibilities of the laboratory test became the key to unlock possible concepts rooted in understanding. Cooking toys served as an inspiration.

Do it yourself


Getting closer to reality

It quickly became critical to get a real notion of how things worked in a rural health clinic.This pictures (taken in Chiapas, Mexico) illustrate the setting and resourcesavailable to people living in rural communities.

The Team partnered with Dr. Eduardo Limon, who treats diarreah in this clinic in a daily basis.His perspective in laboratory testing enriched our process and re-directed us to the next iteration for this project.

5


How different could things be in rural India?This was a recurring question each time we made assumptions.The team did not have direct access to users in India but made careful and informed desitions in order to accomodate Indian health policies and geographic conditions (Temp, humidity, medicine prescription)It was clear that delimiting what the product could and could not do was essential in the next steps.Field testing would be essential to validate the working prototype.

Internet can only do so much


Performing an Antibiogram test from a stool sample proved to be a complex task. Enacting and documenting a step by step simulated scenario became a powerful tool for the team to scrutinize some of the early proposed concepts. It highlighted the usability requirements such as opening and closing the incubator when loading a batch of inoculated petri dishes.

Task Analysis- Learning by doing

7


Early concepts took interesting forms made from foam, paper and scrap materials. Volume and weight started to become a critical factor to consider.

Concept is in the air- get the glue gun!


Visual Language- Material quality and feel

9


Materiality- Getting the facts

Various materials available in the market were researched and considered in order to find the most suitable contenders.The criteria was: low production cost ,performance,availability and sustainability.


After 101 sketches, more sophisticated ideas began to emerge; these are napkin sketches that lead the team to start creating the first prototype.Powerful bits of information indeed. (see sketchbook for more doodles)

The napkin - bursts of creation

11


Design Freeze #1 Concept Drawing


Design Freeze #1 Concept Drawing

13


Handling-Carrying-Opening Backpack transportation offered the most versatility for this project


Hospital or Lab receives notification of potential illness in remote rural area

STEP

1

The materials are sterilized and/or safely disposed.

STEP

7

The materials are repacked and ready to be used again.

STEP

8

The test is delivered to the area in need.

STEP

2

Samples collected from infants for testing.

STEP

3

The test and materials are repacked and transported back to the lab or hospital.

STEP

6

Run 3 cycles of tests to find a suitable treatment.

STEP 4

Treatment results are recorded for each infant.

STEP

5

1 2 3

Product use scenario- Working out the system

15


Shaping of the Smart Lid and other injection molded componets- Form Development

Where is the user going to touch the product?What motion is he doing? how to communicate that action to influence behaviour?In this phase, gripping, twisting, lifting actions informed the form giving magic.


This cylinder system developed in an effort to minimize volume, allow for easy production and dissasembly. This first iteration featured a battery runned heating plate on the bottom and an innovative LED band that changed color to indicate cycle progress and temperature fluctuations.

This design proved having lots of potential which led the team to the next iteration.

Battery based incubator

17


Interaction- Controls and Displays


This early light display enabled us to test people’s reactions to color changes and sound indications. An initial code was developed to control the timer and thermostat functions of the device.The proposed LED language did not seem as intuitive once it was presented to our subjects during user trials.

Nevertheless, this pushed us to consider having a small LCD to avoid confusions and better communicate data.

19


Usability- Learning by doing


Design Freeze #2 Concept Rendering

21


Design Freeze #2 Concept Rendering


The Bag- How to carry these?

The Cilinder units (cooler+incubator+accesories container) are not precisely light weight (around 8kg); this led us to design a customized backpack that could carry the equipment comfortably in a hot environ-ment (20Cto40C) to avoid injury and fatigue.

An internal frame re-directs weight to the hip belt to keep it close to the spine; also a simplified metal support (top right) locks the cilinders in place from the bottom while two flaps (left) secure the cilinders against the back with a buckle.

23


Lets build it - Prototype making



25




Final Design

This design moved away from a lithium bat-tery heater and became a hybrid using phase changing technology (PCM) for cooling and heating materials at precise temperatures. The electronic components run with a regular 9V battery.This allows the device to be used away from electricity and to simplify its operation.

27


The Smart Lid

After testing previous variations the team arrived to the current design for this com-ponent of the product.This design features a mini work station equipped with a potent LED light for culture inspection.

Strong yet comfortable grip when lifting and opening the cooler and incubator units.A push and turn controller with an LCD dis-play; It provides accurate temperature and time readings along with visual and sound indications when needed.


Construction- Proposed Assembly

29


Collaborators- Participants

Documents

Ayat Pak: point-of-care diagnostics Design process and