Difference between revisions of "Team:Edinburgh/Design"

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                 <h1 class="brand-heading">Design</h1>
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                 <h1 class="brand-heading">Design Evolution</h1>
 
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           <h2>Overview</h2>
 
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Over the course of the summer we talked to potential end users, NGO’s, political representatives and academics about their opinion on our device. We wanWhat they wanted out of it and how they saw our device being implemented in our society. These conversation really helped us evolve our designs and come with the simple but elegant design we have right now.  
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Over the course of the summer we talked to potential end users, NGO’s, political representatives and academics for their opinions on our device. We wanted to know what it would take to make our biosensor useful so it could be properly implemented in society. Through these conversations we learned that for it to be an improvement upon current methods it would need to be easy to use, portable, inexpensive to manufacture. These conversations guided us throughout our design evolution to create the simple but elegant design we have right now.  
 
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Another big part of our design process was trying to computationally model how our biosensor will behave and helping us understand where are design might lack. Our early conversations made us realise for our biosensor to be better than the current methods , it will have to be easy to use, portable cheap to manufacture and having it paper based was the answer to that.
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Another big input for our design process was trying to computationally model how our biosensor will behave with respect to sample application to help us understand how it will actually work.
 
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           <h2>Prototype 1</h2>
 
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Once we decided on to use paper-based biosensor we set out to talk to more people. //link A talk with Susan Deacon made us realise we will need to have multiple tests on one strip, That’s when we found inspiration in the design made by //reference *George Whiteside’s lab for a glucose biosensor*. In this design we would have channels of paper where water will diffuse separated by a hydrophobic material like wax or plastics.
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Once we decided on a paper-based biosensor we wanted to make sure it would have optimal utility. This initial prototype is a simple design with the immobilised enzymes in the centre. By dipping the biosensor in a solution, the diffusion of the solution should re-hydrate the freeze-dried enzymes and produce a colour. This design, ideally the size of a microscope slide, should be easy to use and portable which is exactly what is required.
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But there was one problem with this design, The distribution of the solution was not uniform #which really created some problems.
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         <h2>Prototype 2 </h2>
 
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We brainstormed and tried to make our biosensor a bit more simple so that we could have uniform distribution throughout the strip and we came up with this design. This strip would have been of the size of a microscope slide. The Strips you see in centre of the biosensor would again be kept apart by a hydrophobic material and the biosensor would be places inside them.
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A talk with former MSP Susan Deacon led us to realise we need to have multiple tests on one strip for increased effectiveness compared to current detection methods. After a group brainstorm session on how to multiplex our first prototype we designed our second prototype. This prototype has laser cut rectangles to allow multiple bioactive zones. The whole biosensor will be covered in sticky tape, creating hydrophobic barriers between the different bioactive zones.
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Although this design meant we could easily predict the diffusion of the liquid as it was all uniform, it did not do well in concentrating the colour produced at one place. It was just too spread out.
 
 
//Modelling movie
 
//Modelling movie
 
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           <h2>Prototype 3 </h2>
 
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With the help of our modelling efforts it did not take us long come up with a new solution. Just make some cavities in the design we had that would contain the colour produced.
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Once we put prototype 2 to the test, we realised that the colour diffused too much making it difficult to read the results of the test. With the help of our modelling efforts we were able to come up with a new solution, make cavities in the design in order to contain the colour produced. This prototype would also allow us to control the amount of time the solution stays on the bioactive zone ensuring that it would be there long enough to produce the colour.
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At this time we really did think we had a winner, but //link talking to more experts made us realise  somewhere we could push ourself even more. Reducing the amount of liquid used as the end users might not want to waste a lot of their drug. Although this design only used about 150µl of solution we felt we could do better
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         <h2>Final Biosensor Design</h2>
 
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At this time we looked at some our older designs and that when we came up with our current design. This strip only required a tenth of the solution we were using before Uniform distribution, concentrated colours and minimalistic liquid requirements, it has it all.
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At this time we really did think we had a winner, but //link talking to more experts made us realise we could incorporate what we heard by decreasing the amount of solution required. The previous prototype requires 150 µl of liquid sample which could be deemed too much and a waste, therefore discouraging people to use it. This final design only requires one tenth of the amount of solution thereby decreasing the overall amount of drug used.
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We were not done yet though, //link A talk with Adam Winstoke gave us the idea that we could increase the ease of use and reliability of results by making a smartphone application and we set out a goal to make that happen
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           <h2>Completing the Device</h2>
 
           <h2>Completing the Device</h2>
 
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As soon as we started thinking on this idea we realised there were some hurdles that had to be overcome. For the results to be accurate the picture had to be in a fixed position. Also we needed to control the amount of light that the photo is taken in. The camera had to be positioned at a height more than the minimum focal length as well. At the same time we had to be true to our original intentions of ease of use, cost-effectiveness and portability.  
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We soon realised that were not quite done yet. //link A talk with Adam Winstock gave us the idea that we could increase the ease of use and reliability of results by making a smartphone application as it decreases subjectivity. //link for hardware/software
 
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Revision as of 14:13, 9 September 2015

gh

Design Evolution




Overview

Over the course of the summer we talked to potential end users, NGO’s, political representatives and academics for their opinions on our device. We wanted to know what it would take to make our biosensor useful so it could be properly implemented in society. Through these conversations we learned that for it to be an improvement upon current methods it would need to be easy to use, portable, inexpensive to manufacture. These conversations guided us throughout our design evolution to create the simple but elegant design we have right now.

Another big input for our design process was trying to computationally model how our biosensor will behave with respect to sample application to help us understand how it will actually work.

Prototype 1

Once we decided on a paper-based biosensor we wanted to make sure it would have optimal utility. This initial prototype is a simple design with the immobilised enzymes in the centre. By dipping the biosensor in a solution, the diffusion of the solution should re-hydrate the freeze-dried enzymes and produce a colour. This design, ideally the size of a microscope slide, should be easy to use and portable which is exactly what is required.

Prototype 2

A talk with former MSP Susan Deacon led us to realise we need to have multiple tests on one strip for increased effectiveness compared to current detection methods. After a group brainstorm session on how to multiplex our first prototype we designed our second prototype. This prototype has laser cut rectangles to allow multiple bioactive zones. The whole biosensor will be covered in sticky tape, creating hydrophobic barriers between the different bioactive zones.

//Modelling movie

Prototype 3

Once we put prototype 2 to the test, we realised that the colour diffused too much making it difficult to read the results of the test. With the help of our modelling efforts we were able to come up with a new solution, make cavities in the design in order to contain the colour produced. This prototype would also allow us to control the amount of time the solution stays on the bioactive zone ensuring that it would be there long enough to produce the colour.

Final Biosensor Design

At this time we really did think we had a winner, but //link talking to more experts made us realise we could incorporate what we heard by decreasing the amount of solution required. The previous prototype requires 150 µl of liquid sample which could be deemed too much and a waste, therefore discouraging people to use it. This final design only requires one tenth of the amount of solution thereby decreasing the overall amount of drug used.

Completing the Device

We soon realised that were not quite done yet. //link A talk with Adam Winstock gave us the idea that we could increase the ease of use and reliability of results by making a smartphone application as it decreases subjectivity. //link for hardware/software