When doctors examine patients' ears, throat or nasal cavity, they use a headlight that is placed with a bracket around the head. With covid-19 came a sharp increase in the need for protective visors and these needed to be combined with the headlights. However, the visor, which was developed quickly, has not worked completely satisfactorily. Students in the Industrial Design Engineering programme at Chalmers were therefore contacted to make improvements, and they succeeded so well that the visor is now tested in healthcare.
There have previously been some attempts to improve the protective visor so that they fit with the headlights, but the results have not been completely satisfactory. meet user requirements. The project was done within the framework of the students' bachelor thesis and a the project is part of the education. The theses are done in the third year and are often related to real problems in society and industry.
"The project has been based on a current need that has become apparent in healthcare during the pandemic. It became very clear that this a way of working where the needs are in focus is important to reach a good solution. We are very satisfied with the way the students have approached the project and look forward to being able to test the concept further, says Åsa Lenberg doctor at NÄL Hospital in Trollhättan."
A different solution lead to an unexpectedly good result
How did you develop this protective visor?
"First, we did a solid user study to get a clear picture of the problem. Then there are several requirements that the client wants to be met. For example, the visor must provide good splash protection, but also have good comfort and be easy to use. Then we had a process where we presented lots of different ideas and developed prototypes based on this", says Alvina Ståhl.
"The basic idea with our solution, unlike the previous solutions, where the visor is either inside or outside the headlight, is that the visor is attached to the headlight. It eliminates scratches on the visor and creates good space for mouth guards and glasses if needed. It also minimizes the occurrence of fog", says Gustav Brogren.
"The headlights themselves are very expensive and the visor must also be able to be changed in a easy way by the doctors themselves. We have developed laser-cut PET visors with holes that can be threaded on the existing headlight. This is then held together with a ring of flexible polymer. We also have hard moldings on both the upper and lower side for stability and fit," says Maja Kristensson.
How did you come up with this solution?
"That the headlight would be outside of the visor was not obvious from the beginning. The idea was one of many and was kept at first just because it was different. And it didn’t even receive particularly high scores based on the evaluation matrices we set up, but that was partly due to incorrect assumptions on our part. When we tried to build a simple prototype by drilling a hole in the visor and putting it on the headlight, it worked great", says Marcus Lidman.
"Yes, we probably all felt almost immediately that we had found a good solution then. We also did user tests that confirmed that we were on the right track. All doctors we have been in contact with thought that our visor has felt better, more stable, and safer than all the solutions tested before", says Jens Junkers.
What was it like working with a real problem?
"Great! We have felt that it has been for real because the doctors have been very committed. It is also very fun to contribute something that helps them in their work. Region Västra Götaland, who engaged us in the project, also seems to have been very satisfied with the results and it has been fun to work with them. We believe that protective visors will continue to be used even after the pandemic. It seems that the view of protective equipment has changed a lot during this time. It feels great to be a part of developing a real product that gets so popular that it is adopted in real life in this way", says Adam Udèn.
Everyone in the group have felt that it has worked well to work together even though they have not been able to meet each other in the same way as before. They all mean this is largely due to a good class community and that they know each other very well.
More about the project
The concept the students at Industrial design engineering at Chalmers have developed is based on a visor with holes being threaded on the existing lamp. The solution consists of four parts. A visor, a flexible ring and two hard curved strips. The solution does not affect existing equipment and the visor can be mounted in less than 30 seconds. The concept can be easily adapted to different types of headlamps by changing the shape of the flexible ring. The curved strips are universal and work in combination with several models of headlamps.
The primary users of the product have been ear-nose-throat doctors, but the product could also be applied in, for example, surgery using similar equipment. The study was conducted at NÄL Hospital in Trollhättan.
Link to the thesis (in Swedish only)
Several awards
The project has also been awarded by the Swedish Ergonomi and Human Factors Society (EHSS), and the Nordic Ergonomics & Human Factors Society.
