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Milestone 1

Starting September 23, we were officially introduced to our first design project which will last for four weeks. The first design project is to solve the patients concern/problem regarding their needs of wearing an ostomy bag on daily basis. 

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Figure 1: A two-piece ostomy bag

Team Formation

For this design project, we were assigned into groups of 4. My team is consisted three other awesome members who share the same interest as me. They are Mathieu Chenier, Benjamin Sun, and Sheridan Fong

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Team25_DP1_TeamCharter_Page2.jpg

Team role & responsibilities

Starting the project, each of us will have a role in the team and every week in the design studio we will have a design studio role.

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I was chosen to be the manager for this project which I will be expected to promote an equitable working environment for my group, serve as point-of-contact with course instructors, and identify and manage team conflict professionally.

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By the end of the project, I will need to submit an Executive summary as part of the written proposal which will potentially address he conflicts within the team during discussions or in-class activities.

 

Patient information &

Need statement

Figure 2: Group formation

Figure 3: Project lead

Figure 4: Studio roles

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The special challenge that our team got was a patient named J. Peterman who is currently 47 years old. The patient suffers ileostomy and has to wear an ostomy bag on daily basis. The biggest concern of the patient is excessive gas production causing "ballooning effect" and constant burping is required frequently. The patient's work environment requires long engaging time in meetings, conferences; constantly going to washroom every 1 -2 hours creates inconvenience during work time and the patient does not feel comfortable discussing about his/her condition with the boss. 

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After discussion, we came up with our need statement for the device that we are going to build: 

Design a twp-piece drainable ileostomy bag for J. Peterman for his gas and loose stool to avoid the frequent ballooning effect(volume expansion) of his bag to prevent the disruption of this work schedule.

Gathering Information

Before we settle down on out objectives and constraints on the device, it was an honour to talk with a patient named Roger who has ileostomy and has been wearing an ostomy bag for more than 30 years. We obtained lots of valuable information to help us jot down more ideas on our ideal device before our preliminary research

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Basic information:

the bag can be worn multiple ways, it can be one-piece with an adhesive pad on the skin, or it can be two-piece and the bag is attached by clips. Volume wise, the patient can freely choose the size of the bag regarding their own conditions; the bag is used to hold liquid waste (liquid stool) and gas. The adhesive faceplate attaches to skin and it is usually made of materials that will not cause skin irritation or pain when pealing off. 

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Life with an ostomy bag

For a two-piece ostomy bag, the skin barrier is required to change averagely every 4 days to maximum 7 days. Patient is required to wear the bag all the time, including at night when you are sleeping. Since the waste cannot be excreted from the anal parts, waste will come out from the stoma opening and the user is required to empty the bag 6-8 times per day.

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Stoma fitting

Normally, the stoma receiving opening of the ostomy bag is cut-to-size. However, there is wiggle room due to the changing size of the stoma. Stoma changes due to peristalsis, as well as hernia, pregnancy, weight gain or loss. However, the receiving opening is very important, same for the skin barrier. The size must be accurately and precisely measured because both components ensure that the skin surrounding does not come into contact with the acidic content being excreted into the ostomy bag. 

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Filter: 

When dealing with gas, a filter is used. However, for this patient, he has tried using the charcoal filter but comes in little use. We took away one important point from Roger that the filter has no use when it is wet. Liquid stool is a characteristic for ileostomy patients which can easily deactivate the function of the filter. Thus, Manually emptying the gas is needed. 

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Some extra information

  1.  The stoma is sutured to the outside of the body

  2.  There is no pain perception in the stoma

  3.  The stoma can prolapse

  4.  A patient is typically always aware of their ostomy bag (never fully habituated)

  5.  Larger bags are preferable to wear at night whereas smaller bags are optimal in the daytime due to their mobility

Objectives & Constraints

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After chatting with the special guest - Roger, we were able to come up with some objectives and constraints that we should and have to include in our design. 

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Objectives are what a user would love to have, and they are: 

  • should minimize pain during removal 

  • should reduce the frequency of draining or "burping"

  • should be lightweight 

  • should be odor repelling 

  • should be discreet 

  • should be cost-efficient

  • should be comfortable

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Constraints are the features that a product must have and must be prevented, and they are: 

  • must adhere to medical regulations 

  • must be sterile 

  • must be portable

  • must not deteriorate due to its content matter 

  • must securely adhere to patient

  • must capable of draining 

  • must be a two-piece ileostomy bag

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