Portable Medication Storage
The Brief
“As a team design a product that allows a consumer to easily carry medication in a portable manner, while not drawing attention to the fact that medication is being stored.
​
The device should allow different sized medication to be stored while also containing a method of notifying the consumer when their medication needs taking.”
NB. The project has since been revisited since graduating solely by myself. A newly created final design and CAD work has been done as well as re-drawing the concept and development sketches.
Research
Research for the project involved:
​
-
Researching into existing medication storage devices
-
Wearable,​
-
Pill boxes;​​
-
-
Understanding the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease;
-
Looking into the sizes of different types of medication.
Concept Design
By using the research, creating an initial design specification and utilising concept generation techniques (mind-mapping and morphological charts), a series of initial concept designs could be created. These concepts focused on being a wearable device that wouldn't make it obvious that medication was being stored. A brief overview of the concepts follows (Please note, concepts 2 and 4 are my work with the other concepts being those of other team members within the project. Each concept however has been re-sketched and labelled by myself post university):
​
-
A watch concept, styling itself on a classic watch face. The outer body unscrews to reveal an internal storage section where pills can be kept.
-
A digital watch concept where a lid lifts off from the main body, using plastic fittings, to reveal a large storage area inside.
-
A bracelet style device that uses a hinged clasp to provide areas of storage. These continue around the bracelet band to allow multiple pills to be stored.
-
A bracelet style wearable that uses multiple pod ‘links’ to provide medication storage. Each pod can hold one piece of medication and can utilise different patterns on the exterior to differentiate between medication types.
-
A digital watch concept which uses colour coded trays stored within the watch to store medication.
-
A watch concept with its style based around a pocket watch/ locket with a slim profile. A simple clasp just under the face allows it to be hinged open to leave a storage space for the user’s medication.
​
These concepts were then evaluated using Pugh's datum matrix, allowing a selection of the designs to be taken forward into a development phase.
Development
Using the results from the concept evaluation, development of the team's ideas could be completed. The development phase not only included sketching the ideas but also doing some initial CAD, in Solidworks, to explore forms and early prototyping, in the form of 3D printing to test ideas.
​
Development 1 (My work): Basing its main design on concept 4, the development of the idea looks to utilise a larger ‘wrap around’ screen as seen in concept 3. Each pod is the same size and features a silicone seal in order to ensure moisture is kept out. Colour coded pods allow easy differentiation between medication, with the correct colour being displayed on the screen. Adjustability is done through simply adding or removing a pod from the current link.
Development 2: Based on concept 5 due to its combination of aesthetic and functional performance, the development focuses on developing the shape and usability further. The shape has developed to create a more interesting profile while the pull out trays now feature noticeable handles. These handles are colour coded and can link to an alert on the screen to remind the user where the pull is stored. The watch is reminiscent of a fitbit/ intelligent watch so isn’t significantly obvious and can be adapted to a user through an easy to change watch strap fixture.
​
A second datum matrix was used to evaluated both solutions, allowing a final design to be produced.
Final Design
The final design is based around development 2 and for the most part maintains the form that has developed since the concept stage. There are three main changes detailed below:
-
The main body is now in two parts to create a large storage area in the middle of the watch. This idea has been reintegrated from concept 2. It is secured in place using plastic snap hooks. A seal has been designed into the bottom half to ensure moisture is resisted.
-
The trays have had the handles removed to give a more aesthetic form. The tray face now wraps around the body and has a gripped surface to ensure it remains easy to open. The trays are now secured in place using the form of the tray and the elastic properties of the material to clip into place when in the body.
-
The control has shifted from a number of controls to one main, rotary dial. This eliminates any confusion about which dial does what job leaving it straight forward to navigate and program the watch.
​
The final design has been hand sketched, before being scanned and taken into Autodesk Sketchbook.
Material Selection
CES material selection software was used to choose the most appropriate material for the final design.
Creating graphs for comparison, adding restrictions and inputting the chosen process allows the material that meets all the desired points to be easily seen. The main goals that the material used needed to meet included being strong, cheap and medically safe while being able to be injection moulded.
​
By following the process previously mentioned Polypropylene was chosen as the main material to be used for the body of the watch.
​
Polypropylene is:
-
Cheap
-
Lightweight,
-
Strong,
-
Widely used in the medical industry.
CAD
To further visualise the product in a 3D form an assembly model was created using Creo Parametric.
​
This model was then rendered in Keyshot in order to further show the aesthetic properties of the final design, highlighting finishes and material choices.
User Interface
Taking inspiration from existing digital watch and health tracking interfaces, initial thought has been put to creating a UI for the medication device, using Photoshop.
​
The key factor while conceptualising this UI was to keep in mind the end user and therefore keep it as simple and easy as possible. Simple, recognisable graphics make navigation through the device straightforward, ensuring the user knows where key information and settings can be found. Following the trends seen with smart watches, the main home screen can be customisable to the user, allowing them to connect further with the product. Another key feature that could also be designed in is that when an alarm is in progress, the background of the screen is coloured in response to where the medication is stored (yellow or red tray).
Skills Used and Gained
Background research;
Concept generation;
Hand sketching and rendering;
Autodesk Sketchbook;
Creo Parametric;
Keyshot;
CES material selection software;
Adobe Photoshop