Ambria
Master Thesis
Ambria is the culmination of my master's thesis project at the University of Pennsylvania. Doctors from Penn Medicine Hospital mentioned the problem of Urine Measurement and Disposal for critically ill patients and I was not aware of the intensity and severity of the problem till my team visited the hospital.
We saw a big gap and realized the importance of UO measurement which could impact clinical decision making and improve patient outcomes.
Problem:
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The current urine measurement process is tedious and uncomfortable
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It is manual and inaccurate
Team: Ranjan Nayyar and Katherine L. Hayna
A device capable of automatically monitoring Urine Output could save precious time of the healthcare staff and improve patient outcomes through more precise and continuous monitoring of this parameter.
Any deviation in UO should generate alarms that warn of deviations from therapeutic goals.
Product Research
Since 50% of all ICU patients are catheterized, nurses have to manually measure the UO of each patient and record it into the EHR. They hate this part of the job as the current process of urine measurement is completely manual and tedious.
The current products in the market do not solve the core problem and have complicated systems.
User Analysis
After conducting user interviews and design thinking sessions with the nurses, we identified some of the main insights.
Nurses: Current Urine Disposal and Measurement Methods are tedious, time-consuming, and messy
Physicians: Missing and inaccurate data preclude timely, well-informed clinical decisions
Healthcare System (Hospital): Fragmented data leads to delays in shock diagnosis and interventions, thus increasing patient mortality.
Ideation
We spent a considerable amount of time to brainstorm on a range of creative ideas that address the project goals.
We sketched, storyboarded, and mapped out the user journey to understand each step in detail. This helped us to develop a clear narrative and gave structure to our design process.
Design & Prototyping
We as product designers conducted many design thinking sessions and found out the measurement process is completely broken.
We took a holistic approach to tackle the urine collection, measurement and disposal process.
Product Features:
1. AUTOMATED URINE MEASUREMENT
2. SPILL FREE DISPOSAL
3. EASY BAG REMOVAL
4. EMR CONNECTIVITY
5. CUSTOM ALARM SETTINGS
Testing and Launch
After developing the MVP we transferred all rights to Penn Medicine Innovation Center and they are refining Ambria's design to get ready for FDA approval.
I believe that ICU’s are ready for Ambria as:
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Universal efforts to reduce patient mortality
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Hospitals realizing the benefits of patient mobility
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Need for better monitoring solutions
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Focus on nursing staff health