OUR STORY
At Prekitsia, our team of healthcare professionals provide patients with the best quality services for all their medical needs. We believe in understanding the root of each patient’s health concerns through a carefully systematic and personalized approach. We aim to minimize confusion by providing straightforward information regarding diagnosis and treatment.
DESIGN PROCESS
Our focus was to improve the day to day life of women during their pregnancy by supplying them a peace of mind regarding potential health risks that are common during pregnancy. Our first step was to identify an unmet health need. After identifying numerous diseases that can be tested using a non-invasive device, our team narrowed the ideas down to test for preeclampsia at home. Preeclampsia provides a substantial risk for pregnant women as it is often not detected until its later stages. The primary reason for this is although women get screened for numerous diseases and complications during their routine doctor visits. These visits may not come often enough for early detection of preeclampsia, or there may not be enough resources to provide the proper tests. With our device a woman may cost effectively monitor the indicators of preeclampsia and decide, if it is detected, to get further testing to confirm a positive diagnosis.
The final design is an at-home kit for preeclampsia monitoring during pregnancy. This contains an adequate supply of urine test strips to allow for testing during the second and third trimester, in which preeclampsia signs start to show. More strips can be bought depending on how frequently the user completes a urine test. We prioritized user convenience for the urine monitoring component - we designed a urine collection cup with a wider opening and longer handle for an increased ease of use. This urine cup is included in the kit in order to account for user preferences on urine collection. Image processing of the colorimetric assay will be performed on the patient’s mobile app. This minimizes error from users self-reading their urine strips. The mobile app will also sync the urine test data to the blood pressure data from the wearable wrist monitor. This device was chosen over the upper arm monitor because of user comfort. The mobile app will have multiple options including generating a data summary document or sharing data with doctor’s log-in portal. This also ensures confidentiality of the patients’ private health data.
TEAM REFLECTION
During the course of this project, our team met virtually every two to three weeks to work on the assignments and discuss our design concept. We scheduled meetings across three time zones and used When2Meet in order to accommodate our time preferences. We held each other accountable by drafting action items at the end of each of our virtual meetings. This project allowed us to work on our non technical skills of collaboration and compromise when we disagreed on various components of our design, such as the urine cup. We also developed organizational skills and time management in staying on track and noting our progress virtually through Google documents.
FUTURE GOALS
Our team hopes to extend our concept to encompass a more versatile kit. Several styles will be designed to include a varying amount of components in the kit. This will allow expectant mothers to choose the kit that works best for them - whether it be a more economic version or one that includes more supplies for mothers who are at the early stages of preeclampsia monitoring.
Depending on the stage of preeclampsia or on how much a mother wants to monitor it, other kits may also include components such as test strips and urine collection bowls that can be bought separately so that the mothers have options and can easily refill if necessary.