Medical Equipment

Medical equipment design is a very good example in favour of the design principle. In medical equipment design the function has to be the most important aspect of the design and the form secondary to this. However looking into this is it as simple as that?

Case Study
Handihaler – Boehringer Ingelheim
Design consultants

The handihaler is preventative drug dispenser used by an asthmatic regularly throughout the day. It was designed by the drug company Boehringer Ingelheim who designed their first inhaler in the 1980s. The handihaler had the advantage of not using aerosol propellants and not requiring the patient to press the aerosol as he or she breathed in. It was well engineered and worked efficiently however it was big and ugly and needed a separate carrier bag to keep it clean and dust free.
Due to its appearance the marketing team was not impressed and the product was referred to the design consultancy Kinnier Dufort. They asked them for a new aesthetical design which retained all the delivery performance.

Sean Devane from Kinnier Dufort describes their approach “we were really concerned not to affect the excellent performance, but having to put the product in a bag seemed wasteful and unnecessary. It was fundamental that our design had no loose parts which could be easily lost, and that the mouthpiece and mechanism be protected from dust. We realise that if we could reduce the size of the mechanism we could encase both mechanism and mouthpiece in a plastic shell. This would seal it from dust, remove the need for a bag and make the inhaler more mobile so it could be carried in your pocket.”

The mechanics were stripped down to only the necessary parts and they were positioned to ensure the delivery of the powder when the user took a deliberate breath inwards. This resulted in a much smaller product that was aesthetically pleasing and still functioned efficiently. The function of the product was not only the dispensing of the drug but also the function in use and the ease and enjoyment of use.

“Function is not just a physical attribute, it is a powerful emotional component that might make the difference between consistent use and non – use of a drug treatment.”


Smart Design: Products that change our lives by Clive Grinyer

http://www.spiriva.com/consumer/about-spiriva/benefits-of-spiriva.jsp

This case study agrees with the form follows function principle to a degree. As a piece of medical equipment its main role is to function as a piece of medical equipment in that it needs to distribute the drug. However they found by not considering the form they had designed a product that no one would want to use. The form didn’t just happen because of the purity of the function. Therefore form has to be considered when designing? And as much as function?