Medical Product Design
BIOENG 1024
This course enabled me to learn and experience a variety of fabrication techniques that can facilitate medical product prototyping and design. I used the following techniques to develop a high resolution prototype of a blood pressure monitor and cuff.
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Technical sketching
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3D modeling
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Laser cutting
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Sewing
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FDM 3D Printing
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Manual machining
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Molding & casting
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Vacuum forming
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Deconstructing the Example Blood Pressure Monitor and Cuff
I began the process of of understanding the product's design by disassembling it and creating a Bill of Materials and knolled view of the components involved. This required careful detachment of all the fixtures and taking precise measurements of all components to create a dimensioned sketch that would serve as a basis for my fabrication process.
Recreating the Parts to Construct a Model
The main components of the product are the monitor housing and the inflatable arm cuff. I used a range of fabrication techniques to create a high resolution model of these components. I manually machined "placeholder" models of the LCD screen and the internal motor from Delrin plastic using a lathe and mill, respectively.
Model of the motor, turned on a lathe
Model of the LCD screen, milled
Soft Goods Fabrication
The inflatable arm cuff model is a rip-stop nylon that was laser cut to the precise specifications of the pattern and then sewn together with the air bladder and structural pieces embedded.
Finishing the Model
To give a polished finish to the monitor housing, I sanded, filled and painted the base and placed vinyl cut letters on an acrylic front panel screen. Finally, I made a vacuum formed package to store the final, finished monitor.
