Project description
Surgical Tool Development: Awareness of Modern Sterilisation Procedures and the Resulting Effects on Surgical Instrument Design. Aims · Identify the obvious challenges to today’s medical product developers · Identify and contrast to the obvious the not so obvious concerns confronting surgical tool development · Identify issues within hospital administrations with respect to cost containment and new technology · Introduce the subject of ‘burden of responsible knowledge’ confronting the engineering design professional · Introduce the concept of ‘ethical compounding’ with reference to the designer/inventor as the first professional whom must consider all future professional input to the problem. Essentially, as the first professional, you are thus responsible for the compounded concerns of the entire process from initial conceptualisation through use and re-use of a surgical apparatus on actual patients. · Outline the organisation of the thesis, state the argument to consider, and provide challenges/goals the design community must become aware of. Projects (multiple can be considered) Any surgical apparatus intended for multiple service events must be ‘cleaned’ is a reality with which all devices designed for the surgical theatre must conform to. Consequently, the subject of sterilisation and decontamination of multi-use surgical tools should dominate early conceptual discussions within the design process. While judging a design competition for the MDEA (Medical Device Excellence Awards) sponsored by Medical Device and Diagnostic Magazine, Michael E. Wiklund, Vice President of Human Factors Research and Design for the American Institutes for Research noted, ‘Products that are hard to use are the source of user complaints. They run up the cost of training and induce errors that can place patients at risk and cause equipment damage and material waste.'[1] Familiarity of the multiple procedures in sterilisation along with the verification protocols following the decontamination process must be incorporated into any preliminary product discussions. The design professional must become fully aware of the body of knowledge encompassing tool sterilisation and the procedures to achieve such a result, in order to successfully offer solutions for any medical or surgical apparatus. As budgets are tight within many hospital organisations, the need to control costs throughout the life cycle of surgical tools must be brought front and centre. New technology is rapidly changing the field of surgical procedures and the devices envisaged for this have become complex mechanical and robotic structures that require a new standard in decontamination and sterilisation as well as tool tracking.I will introduce my own discussion and dialog to support my argument with respect to the ethical considerations a design professional must adhere to within the field a tool development. The concepts of ‘burden of responsible knowledge’ and ‘ethical compounding’ will elevate the role a design professional must acknowledge they find themselves in whilst conceptualising any new medical technology. [1] Wiklund, M. E. (2005). Addressing the Problem of Medical Device Misuse. Medical Device and Diagnostic Industry. 27: 114-123.
Assumed knowledge
Would like to have but not necessary: Awareness of current methods of medical device sterilisation procedures.
Supervisors research focus
Infection Control, Mechanical Engineering Design, Industrial Medical Product Design, Single Use DEVICE (SUD) versus Multi Use DEVICE (MUD) within equipment inventory at commercial hospitals.
Note: You need to register interest in projects from different supervisors (not a number of projects with the one supervisor).
You must also contact each supervisor directly to discuss both the project details and your suitability to undertake the project.