Portable medical devices
Level - UndergradRecent technological advances such as computers, MEMS (Microelectromechanical Systems), and LCD technology have made it possible to compact medical devices that used to be bulky and only available in hospital settings. Examples include portable detection tests such as home pregnancy tests, portable monitoring devices such as blood-sugar monitoring devices for diabetic patients, and portable analysis devices such as portable ultrasound machines. Due to the increasing market for portable medical devices (which can be used by more people in the convenience of their homes, in remote areas far away from hospitals, in the battle fields, and the absence of hospital technologists), companies manufacturing medical devices currently used in hospitals are interested in either making these devices portable or developing new ones that can fulfill the same functions and yet portable. Your team has been hired by a medical device company to look at medical devices currently used in hospitals. Your tasks include:
1) Identify one device that is desirable to be portable.
2) Explain the basic biological principles that underlies its application
3) Examine the major technical barriers for making it portable
4) Develop a prototype design for a portable version or create a new portable device that can fulfill the same function
5) Describe the changes of engineering features and the applications of new technologies (if any)
The emphasis should be on the engineering design.