Day 1
C.X.C. Today, I met my personal health project partner who has developed a caffeine dependency over the course of her three years at UVa’s engineering school. She noted that her caffeine intake has interfered with her eating patterns, her energy levels, restfulness, focus levels and sleep patterns suggesting that the dependency has both a physical and psychological basis. Subsequently, for our personal health project, I suggested using partially decaffeinated coffee to wean her off of caffeinated coffee and using tea as a milder replacement for pure coffee. I decided to use this method because the key to defeating any dependency is by weaning of the addictive substance and also because tea has milder levels of caffeine, leads to less pronounced teeth staining and would allow her body to regulate energy levels in general. I believe that this endeavor will help restore a sense of normalcy to her sleep & eating patterns as well. Today, I also met my patient who has a rare form of type 1 diabetes. Although my teammates and I only learned about the details and habits of her day to day life, I have already started brainstorming ideas for a potential product that ranges from a mechanical system that makes wearing an insulin pump much more manageable to upgrading the security software for an insulin pump. Although technology has come a long way in terms of the medical devices available to diabetic patients, diabetic patients still have to put up with a substantial amount of hassle compared to the general population when it comes to maintaining their blood sugar levels and maintaining the equipment they use to keep themselves alive. I definitely see an opportunity to use human centered design here to redesign or reinvent devices already used by diabetic patients to create a so called “closed loop system” that helps diabetics live as much of a hassle free life as possible.
BME Design 