Content warning: My project deals with pediatric sexual abuse. Please take care of yourself and feel free to forgo reading any parts of this blog.
After concluding our problem definition and brainstorming last week, my team dove into design this week! On Monday, we made the (long and incredibly hot) trip to the Bioscience Research Collaborative (BRC) located in the Texas Medical Center. Here we met with Yajur, a graduate student working on LUCIA at Rice 360. LUCIA, a model that allows physicians to practice cervical cancer screenings, has many similar aspects (and a few key differences) to our pediatric pelvic model. Yajur was incredibly helpful, giving us a full overview of how LUCIA works. He also made many useful material recommendations for synthetic skin, and we even visited the lab where they housed some of the skin. Our visit was incredibly beneficial as we moved into brainstorming this week, and we also got to experience the state-of-the-art BRC with its jaw dropping views.
Left: Here is an older LUCIA model. Right: The base of the newest LUCIA model. Users can switch out the cervix using the spring loaded tube. The skin used in the model is also pictured.
The view from the BRC! So excited to take classes here the next 3 years!
Next, it was time to define our design criteria. Since our project is starting from the ground up, we had no preexisting criteria to modify. As a result, our team spent a decent amount of time Monday and Tuesday discussing which criteria we should include. Additionally, since our model’s overall goal was to increase user confidence in conducting pediatric pelvic examinations, we found it hard to quantify some of the design criteria. Because so many criteria were subjective, we came up with innovative ways to evaluate whether criteria were met, using techniques such as picture comparison or user-defined scales.
After laying out our initial thoughts on design criteria, we had a client meeting with Ms. Harris, where she confirmed that our criteria were appropriate and encompassed her wishes for the project. She also added the design constraint (criteria the design MUST meet, or else it fails!) of a sanitizable model, given the increased focus on sanitization due to the pandemic. Now that our design criteria were finalized, we ran a pairwise comparison chart (PCC) to rank our design objectives. By completing the PCC, our team has constraints and ranked objectives that will inform the design of our pediatric pelvic model.
| Design Criteria | Target Value |
| Safety/Non-Toxicity | Score of ≤ 1 on US Hazardous Materials Identification System (HMIS) |
| Sanitizable | Must be able to wipe with Clorox wipe and/or alcohol-based sanitation supplies |
| User Confidence | Pre- vs. post-training comfort increases ≥ 30% (if applicable) after 3 uses based on a scale of 1-10* |
| Anatomical accuracy |
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| Hymenal accuracy |
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| Rotation | Can rotate model from supine to prone in < 1.5 minutes |
| Durability | Labia must maintain elasticity and anatomical accuracy after stretching for at least 2 years |
| Ease of use | Can switch out versions in < 1 minute |
| Portability | Can be transported manually by 1 user |
Our design constraints (top 2) and objectives (remaining criteria). Objectives are ranked according to PCC results.
Next up- brainstorming! On Wednesday, my team decomposed our problem into five main components- base, rotation mechanism, labia, hymen, and attachment. We then underwent individual brainstorming, jotting down our ideas on colored sticky notes. After we were done with this initial brainstorming phase, our team discussed all the ideas, which led to “hitchhiking,” or team members building off one another’s ideas. Soon, our team had 74 component ideas for our model! We then morphed our ideas into complete solution ideas for the pelvic examination model.
Left: Our whiteboard of 74 ideas! Right: Some of the complete solution ideas I came up with- pardon my art skills!
This brings me to Friday- by far the toughest day yet. We learned about Pugh screening and scoring matrices, two ways to objectively evaluate and narrow down solutions in order to decide which to prototype. As my team set out to run these matrices, we soon found we had many different images in our mind of the solutions. This led to lots of discussion, drawings, and explanations as we did our best to get on the same page. As we were discussing, we realized that most of our options for the base and rotation method were equally viable, thus making it difficult for us to evaluate them to find the “best” solution. Our model mostly depends on anatomical accuracy of the labia and hymen, and we plan to use Dragon Skin (a product often used in movie special effects and prosthetics) and a mold to create them. Any of the base ideas we were deciding between could’ve easily incorporated this labia and hymen. In the end, we came up with 5 solutions for the base and rotation. Our plan is to create low fidelity prototypes of the 5 bases and choose the one that seems the simplest or rotates the fastest.
Outside of project time, I enjoyed a number of engaging workshops. Jake Johnston, a member of the Rice 360 technology team, presented on usability and human factors. His presentation piqued my interest in human factors engineering. I have a desire to interact with the patients for whom I design, and the field of human factors is all about improving the user experience. Secondly, Magdah, one of the lovely TAs, facilitated a discussion about being a biosocial designer. As an engineer, this discussion opened my eyes to all of the social aspects and contexts that a biosocial designer must consider when creating solutions.
I also enjoyed spending more time with the other interns this week! We had a picnic on Tuesday with catered Local Foods, and it was great getting to interact with my colleagues outside of work. My team also continued to bond, and we took a Rice Coffeehouse trip one afternoon to get drinks and work. It was my first unmasked Coffeehouse experience, and it was equally exciting and odd to be back in a bustling coffeeshop! Anyways, I am looking forward to continuing work with my team next week as we start prototyping our pediatric pelvic models!
Team Coffeehouse picture!
See y’all soon,
Shannon