March Healthcare
Home Telehealth Health Monitoring Kit
“Design 1st was in sync with us throughout the whole project and still supporting us even hours before we flew to the event. They were truly an extension of our team showing the same willingness, commitment, passion and pride in the successful delivery of the product. They were without doubt thinking through all of the requirements as well as outside of the box to deliver the best solution possible. As we moved on to development and pre-production of the Health Monitoring Kit, Design 1st found methods, materials and cost effective components to deliver a commercially viable solution to a very technical challenge.”
Timon LeDain, VP Engineering
Project
Develop a fully working prototype of a heath care solution for use by patients living in rural and remote areas. Post hospital stays, these patients, of which a large majority of them are seniors, could receive regular checkups via a remote nurse with the use of their television, an installed camera and an internet connection. One major difference to a face to face visit is the nurse would be visible on the TV and would control the interaction with the patient in their living room through a live internet feed using the television and a camera to enable the nurse to assist the patient, as if they were in the room.
Summary
March Healthcare develops next generation eHealth applications. Leveraging its expertise in networked video, telecommunications and Internet protocol (IP) based monitoring systems, the March Healthcare team wanted to build a home telehealth solution that would allow patients to collect their own health data, under the supervision of a nurse. Reducing the cost of healthcare delivery was the driving force behind the innovative telehealth solution. The system would provide nurses working in remote areas where lengthy road trips to visit patients causes delays and increases costs, a high technology solution to reach more patients in a timely manner. The March Healthcare team approached Design 1st with an aggressive timeline; needing a pilot unit and the support accessories designed for low volume manufacture (50 trial units) as well as a first prototype fabricated, assembled and working within 12 weeks, for an event at which the solution would be launched. The initial reaction to the new transportable and rugged Health Monitoring Kit was so positive that after a set of trials using the first generation units a commercialization program was started to develop a high volume production ready product. This second generation product would include additional functionality. The modular components of the kit include an interactive display and keypad, wireless patient weight monitoring, blood pressure cuff, SPO2 finger monitor, blood glucose measurement and so on.
Solution
The March Healthcare team and Design 1st conceptualized possible designs for the telehealth terminals but required fully working low volume prototypes to pilot the device. After the trade show launch, field trials were needed to allow potential customers to evaluate this innovative new way to interact with patients. To run the field trials the pilot units would require the Health Monitoring Kit, the camera enclosure and a case for the set-top box (PC). The challenge for Design 1st’s team of mechanical engineers and industrial designers was to make a non-intrusive low volume and reasonable cost custom case for the pilot unit Health Monitoring Kit as well as a unique enclosure for the high quality camera and PC that were needed. Furthermore, Design 1st needed to take into consideration that the end user was older, could be intimidated by technology and in most cases suffered from health related issues. A design that was simple to use as well as user friendly was the objective.
Benefits
Design 1st excelled at delivering a fully working Med Kit prototype with the camera and PC custom cases in time for the launch at the conference. The design and prototype of the Med Kit included a moulded insert, display, custom keypad and graphics. To determine display size, layout and key count, Design 1st tapped into its expert network to create the initial user interface concept through computer based simulations for the kit as well as the nurses’ screen that defined the interaction with the patient on the television. The camera was enclosed in a picture frame which could be used during the visits but also disguised when not in use to reduce the anxiety of a camera in the living room. The PC case was a mixture of metal and wood components that were easy to produce and finish quickly at low cost but strong enough to survive unattended use and multiple patient set ups. During the initial tradeshow pilot unit build, Design 1st without the direction from the March Healthcare team, also developed a transportation case for the components. This was delivered on the day the team was travelling to the event. Design 1st had anticipated this requirement and designed a transportation case for the 75lbs prototype system to be safely transported to the event.
Company Profile
March Healthcare, a wholly owned subsidiary of March Networks Corporation, developed next generation eHealth applications. Leveraging its expertise in networked video, telecommunications and Internet protocol (IP) based monitoring systems; the company developed a world-class telehealth offering that was widely regarded to be at the forefront of this emerging industry. In the fall of 2006, March Healthcare was acquired by a global multi-national corporation to accelerate their entry into eHealth sector.
