UWTSD Master’s student and research centre collaborate to improve children’s medical procedure experiences
ÃÜÌÒ´«Ã½ (UWTSD) student Adam Higgins has collaborated with the University’s (ATiC), to develop his range of Pre-Medical-Preparation – or PreMedPrep – product prototypes to improve children’s medical procedure experiences.
The five-month project was supported by Life Sciences Hub Wales through , a £24million co-funded programme by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the Welsh Government.
MSc Industrial Design student Adam, aged 23, from Rhiwbina in Cardiff, worked with ATiC as he developed his bright and colourful animal-themed products, which are each specific to a certain medical procedure or examination.
The products aim to teach, engage, and prepare children for their procedure, such as blood tests, heart and temperature examinations, and nebulisers for medication intake, offering the child a sense of control and autonomy back over their healthcare.
Healthcare procedures can often cause children to experience anxiety, fear, and stress because of a ‘fear of the unknown’.
Adam’s products provide users with the knowledge of how a procedure works through a realistic demonstration. The visual-based learning is an engaging and comforting way of supporting them emotionally and cognitively, and improving their overall medical experience.
Adam, who is a Product Design graduate of UWTSD’s Swansea College of Art, said: “A child’s lack of understanding of what is happening to them can lead to a negative experience of medical procedures; it can cause fear and anxiety and affect their future medical visits. This can have lasting implications and children will often refuse future treatments, which can lead to longer procedure times and makes the work of healthcare professionals more challenging.
“Working with ATiC, the aim was to use a mixed-method approach to evaluate and optimise the PreMedPrep product prototypes. By utilising the facilities, expertise and industry contacts within ATiC, I was able to explore the commercial potential and understand if the product was a viable solution to de-stress the patient experience for children undergoing diagnostic blood screenings.
“Through the collaboration, I was able to gain feedback from paediatric medical practitioners, which was vital in further product development. Additionally, the technical support ATiC offered allowed me to refine the product to manufacturing standards, ensuring each component is compatible with industry manufacturing methods.
“Connecting with medical practitioners through ATiC has resulted in conducting in-field product testing. At Ty Hafan’s Children’s Hospice, the product was tested in a realistic medical environment and with patients undergoing a blood screening.
“The next steps now in the development of my products are to continue conducting in-field testing to collect extra data on the product to make a more comprehensive analysis. In addition, work with a third-party testing body to get the product approved under the relevant safety standards.â€
Ian Williams, Senior Innovation Fellow at ATiC, said: “It’s great to see Adam take his ideas and concepts developed on the Product Design Course at UWTSD into a start-up enterprise. We were delighted to support him by accessing the expertise and cutting-edge facilities available at ATiC.
“The collaboration, which spanned five months, involved undertaking product usability evaluations with clinicians and children, using our behavioural observation and analysis systems.
“These interaction and insights enabled Adam to understand the challenges and refine his design from the feedback and, with ATiC’s assistance, 3D printed new working prototypes, which were tested again to improve the product further to take a step closer to being market ready.â€
Adam also received advice and support from both Kath Penaluna, UWTSD’s Enterprise Manager and a member of the UK Intellectual Property’s education advisory group IPUC, and Patent Attorney Tom Baker of Murgitroyd, who regularly supports UWTSD students with guidance in protecting their innovations.
Adam has successfully applied to register the design of Eilo the Elephant, which is a key part of the future roadmap of the product and which will give him confidence when publicly displaying the product at leading design showcase in London in July.
Further Information
Bethan Evans
ATiC Project Officer, Marketing and Communications
Assistive Technologies Innovation Centre (ATiC),
ÃÜÌÒ´«Ã½ (UWSTD),
Technium 1,
Kings Road,
Swansea, SA1 8PH.
Email: bethan.evans@uwtsd.ac.uk