Circular design of a heart rate monitoring cable set

Master thesis (2024)

Authors

J.P. Schuddeboom Industrial Design Engineering

Contributors

Conny Bakker Design for Sustainability - IDE (graduation committee member)
Tamara Hoveling Design for Sustainability - IDE (mentor)
Faculty
Industrial Design Engineering
More Info
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Published Date

17-07-2024

Language

English

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Faculty

Industrial Design Engineering

Abstract

It is widely known that the healthcare industry is under pressure. On one side the costs keep increasing while on the other side the push to decrease environmental impact grows (Capolongo et al., 2015). Within this graduation project circular methodologies will be used to make a step in decreasing the environmental impact of the healthcare sector. Findings from report 2.1 from a consortium called DiCE are used intensively. One of the aims for this project is to contribute to this consortium as well. As a case study, the focus product is the electrocardiogram (ECG) lead set. A set of cables that are used to measure heart frequencies. Within the impact of the ECG lead set, the increase in the use of single patient use (SPU) lead sets is a problem. This results in the lead set system having more impact. The solution for this is the multi patient use (MPU) lead sets. But with MPU lead sets other problems pop up. To get more hospitals to switch (back) from SPU Lead sets to MPU lead sets multiple aspects are important. First is cleaning. Interviews, observations and research show that MPU lead sets are harder to clean (Albert et al., 2010). The next aspect is the quality of the MPU lead set. Prolonged use increases the risk of a lower quality lead set. Which could result in needless extra alarms and so in dangerous alarm fatigue for the nurses (Albert et al., 2014). To ensure quality a quality control system on lead sets will need to be implemented. Further important aspects for designing for a MPU lead set in a circular proposition would be the durability of the lead set and the ease of use within a hospital system. The proposed concept tackles these problems in the following way. The lead sets are monthly deep cleaned and checked on quality by a centralized cleaning department. The MPU lead set itself is redesigned to be easier to clean and a special cleaning tool is developed to help with cleaning. Combined this will create a system in which the MPU lead set will be a viable solution for hospitals again.