
DIGIPATH
DIGITAL BODY FLUID ANALYSER
Role - Senior Industrial Designer
ABOUT
The First step towards Diagnosis
A Digital Pathology Assistant to simplify laboratory diagnostic processes by automating the analysis of body fluids like blood, urine etc. The system aids in remote review and digital archival of body fluid samples, thereby enabling a digital transformation of pathology labs.
RESEARCH
What I saw
The first step into the making was to study, understand and analyse the existing products and procedures. Contextual study was conducted across different locations to know the different users and their usage patterns.
Two main identified user groups were,
Lab Technician – to know the procedural and usage perspective, and
Haematologist – to understand the diagnostic aspects.
RESEARCH METHODS USED
- Contextual Enquiry
- Focus group sessions
- Interviews
- Observation

ANALYSIS
Findings from user research
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30 % of the Diagnostic laboratories have no pathologists leading to delayed diagnosis and sometimes fatal cases.
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The nearby government set ups or medical colleges are the only source of help for the rural hospitals.
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Lack of standardisation of results due to varying skill among the operators or haematologists.
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Diagnosis, traceability and re-diagnosis becomes difficult when reports are generated far away from the hospitals.
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Irregular power outages across the country results in delayed diagnosis and report generation that may take upto 24-48 hours.
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The cell counters available only give the count of the cell, which are judgment based, but many a times the diagnosis is incomplete without cell morphology study.
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Prolonged usage of the microscope at high power stresses the eyes of the operator.
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Height of the chairs and table affects the body posture especially in neck and shoulder areas

PROBLEM BRIEF
Our focus in this project
To design a smart automated medical instrument for the ecosystem of pathology labs, that shall enhance the body fluid analysis by providing the pathologists and lab technicians with standardised, traceable and reliable data using the technology of Artificial Intelligence.

IDEAS
Deep Diving
A quiet design appearance creates cohesive environment by complimenting the context in a subtle manner. A simple, unobtrusive formal treatment that can generate an approachable feel, seamlessly blending polymer film display that forms a surprise element.




INTRODUCING
Digipath - One Solution for all this problem
The digital cell analyser assistant helps to simplify the laboratory processes by automating the complete analysis of the blood count and review the peripheral smear. The Artificial Intelligent based software generates report by studying the cell morphology along with cell count. The machine learning algorithm becomes more and more efficient as it is being used. The system also aids in remote view of the analysis in case of absence of an expert, thus transforming a manual haematology lab to a 24x7 fully automated lab.



FEATURES
Innovation at hand
The slide holder is designed for single hand use unlike the conventional microscope thereby optimising the effort to position the slide firmly. The Spring loaded slide holder moves back and forth to allow the slide to go in, simultaneously creating enough resistance to hold the slide in place.

FEATURES
Built in Processor
The software embedded in the device with a display, keyboard and mouse provides results in just
5-7minutes, thereby inhibiting the usage of a separate CPU. Analysis of the cell morphology along with cell count also occurs within the same duration.
Standardisation of results achieved are much more efficient than the human analysis. Only the slides with negative results need further diagnosis from a doctor.

FEATURES
Perpetual working during Blackouts
Developing economies face frequent power outages paving a need for self-sufficient system to avoid delay in patient diagnosis. With an inbuilt battery that is capable of running the machine for 4-5 hours uninterruptedly, the operator can flawlessly continue the tests and run the basic functions with the help of a keyboard and the emergency display embedded on the device itself. The display is intuitively designed to appear only in the absence of power supply without compromising on the usability.

USAGE
How it works
Digipath helps in doing the diagnostics and publishing the result on the spot. The connected display helps in presenting the test result with the reference images which can be stored or printed for future uses.


