Pediatric Relaxation Machine
My team worked with a local hospital to build a machine that will help young patients quickly transition from energetic activities to more focused conversations. During the child's doctor appointment, the doctor will observe the patient move and play in a playroom then move onto speaking with the child and carrying a conversation. Our client, the doctor, saw most of the children had a hard time transitioning from playing to conversing. Our device is to calm the young patient and smoothen the transition between play and talk. It guides the child through a breathing exercise with the option of lights, vibrations, or both.
This was a team client project focused on designing for a client with outside requirements and wants. We worked with a local hospital to build a machine that will help children calm down in a relatively quick manner. The overall design is a box with a hand shape, containing LED lights and vibrating components. As the child puts their hand on the given shape, they will trace their fingers, breathing in and out. There are cues on when to breathe in, given by the lights and vibrations. Since we know not every child age 4-10 is the same, there are ways to customize this to the child: the target rate at which they breathe and the methods used to convey the target breathing rate. Some children may be uncomfortable or scared of the lights and/or vibrations, so there are options to turn off one or the other.
Our client was a pediatric physical therapist at a local hospital. When working with children, she often switches between very active and energetic activities and calmer conversations with the patient. She found it hard for children of a younger age to quickly transition from energetic to calming down and moving onto their next thing. My team was asked to create a product that will help children around the age 4-10 in this transition.
Design Requirements
Dynamic - it will be in a very active room with young children
Easy to use - the patients are young and not able to pick up new skills quickly
Easy to control - the pediatrician shouldn’t have to shift their focus off the child in order to operate the product
Easy to manufacture - we want others able to make this for themselves
Hospital friendly - cleanliness, material choices, etc.
Due to COVID-19...
Due to COVID-19, my team was split up and continued working remotely. After adjusting our goals, we decided it was not feasible to assemble our product in the given time. Instead of creating a physical machine, we decided to, instead, create a manual so others could make this machine. This also gave the opportunity to share the product with a broader audience.
Scale of the vibration motor used in the design
My Contributions
In prototyping this product, I wanted to make sure our team was thinking far outside the box. The team and I reached out to ideas including balloons, pneumatics, and even sensitive pressure sensors. Ultimately, we decided simpler ideas would be more suitable for this project.
In designing, I took the lead in the circuitry, finding the right components. This was new to me and lots of fun. I learned so much about the inner workings of many types of electrical components.
In team management, I practiced technical documentation and timeline setting. With so much of the project changing day to day, we had to constantly be setting new goals.
The final design would cost $81
Our total budget was $375
We wanted the materials and processes to be accessible to anyone interested in making the product for themselves.
Because of remote working due to COVID, my team was never able to fully assemble the device or test our design with users. We were, however, able to fully design the product in CAD and electrical software.
We made the exterior of our product compatible with hospital cleaning standards. It is completely acrylic and easily sanitizable, as opposed to cloth or other materials.
Compatible with the active ways of a young child
The machine itself is battery powered to adapt to the room it would be used in
The controls for the pediatrician are simple and minimal
LED strip surrounds the hand-shaped cutout to guide the child through the pace of their breathing exercise.
Overall, this project was a great mix of practicing old and new skills. My favorite part was working with a client for the first time.
In addition, I think the unpredictable circumstances due to a pandemic led to some lessons to be learned - both general advice and specific to the engineering field.