MIT-RISD Team Completes First CPAP Prototype
DtM has completed our first "build to learn" effort around neonatal respiratory therapy. The goal of the project was to explore opportunities for user-focused design and engineering to make CPAPs (continuous positive airway pressure) more affordable and easier to use in the context of global health.
We recruited our pioneers for this project through Profs. Steve Eppinger and Matt Kressy's joint MIT-RISD course "Product Design and Development." The team consisted of MIT students Jeff Heyman and Julie Chun (Leaders for Manufacturing program), Samarth Chugh and Diego Palano (Masters in Manufacturing in Mechanical Engineering), Benjamin Pope (Masters in Mechanical Engineering at MIT), and RISD students Gloria Kim and Winston Mi (Industrial Design).
The team delivered a beautiful prototype and some promising early results. From this point, DtM will work with domain experts in neonatal care and global health, and manufacturers of medical devices targeting emerging markets, to validate our design assumptions and develop the partnerships necessary to continue the project.
In the meantime, take a look at the MIT-RISD team's final presentation. [2MB PDF]
Photo by MIT-RISD CPAP team
Comparison of a conventional CPAP (L) and the MIT-RISD student CPAP design
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