New design article on marble

newdesign

supplement from issue127/2017

Medical design 2017

medical

On a roll Cambridge-based Marble Product Design offers extensive expertise in the design development and manufacture of medical devices

M

arble Product Design is a small product development company specializing in medical devices. The business was established in 2011 by its three directors, each of whom had significant professional experience in design and engineering consultancy for medical and consumer products.

“Marble takes on the technical challenges other struggle to solve,” says one of the company’s directors and co-founders Rosie Burnell. “We thrive on creating innovative product solutions, we design things properly, we have a proven track record and we really enjoy what we do.”

Within the medical sector (which accounts for the majority of Marble’s work), the company is involved in the design and engineering of entirely new medical devices; the refinement of existing devices addressing improvements to functionality, cost reduction, or higher volume manufacture; as well as supporting clients through the testing and verification process.

Marble works with a wide range of clients from local start-up businesses to global pharmaceutical companies. On any given project the consultancy will look to tailor an approach to suit the commercial and developmental requirements of the particular client.

At the heart of any project is an understanding of the value of intellectual property. “We generate novel IP in the course of our work, navigating our solutions through an often crowded IP landscape,”

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continues Burnell. “Our clients always own the IP generated through our design process and we also act as expert witness on occasion, in the fields of drug delivery and surgical devices.”

Marble, based near Cambridge – a region that is a UK hub for specialist product design and engineering – has the in-house skills to deliver a project from concept through to manufacture.

In addition to expertise across industrial design, usability engineering, mechanical engineering, prototyping, and design for manufacture, Marble can offer the development of test rigs and inprocess checking systems.

“It’s really important that usability engineering is not seen as a tick box exercise at the end of the development process, as the cost to change at a late stage is high in monetary and time terms and the end result is often a compromise,” adds Burnell. “We are one of the first consultancies to achieve the new ISO 13485:2016 quality standard and are proud of our tailored, rigorous, risk based development processes.”

Having built its reputation in the medical space, Marble has recently undertaken non-medical product development projects as eclectic as giant kinetic sculptures and an intelligent pendulum

medical

Opposite | Marble Product Design team (Rosie Burnell, right) Below | Examples of medical device development Bottom | Chronophage sculpture for Dr John C Taylor

that helps an antique clock to keep perfect time.

Burnell explains that, setting aside the knowledge of the specialist materials and manufacturing processes required for medical devices, the design process follows a similar path in both medical and non-medical projects.

Indeed, Burnell recognizes that commonality between consumer product and medical device design is growing more significant. “With a growing number of medical devices moving from the hospital and doctor’s surgery into the home, there are numerous design and engineering challenges to ensure that the home retains its primary function as a place of relaxation and sanctuary for a patient,” she says. “Often there is little consideration for the design, complexity, use and life cycle of the product to ensure it fits in with home life. In many situations homes are consumed with bulky, complex, noisy medical devices and consumables that need to be stored and disposed of.”

Material and technology innovations in the medical space have, in some instances, crossfertilised into the product sector. For example, Marble used direct 3D titanium printing in the development of a component for a drug delivery automation solution. Although in this instance there were no cosmetic requirements for the

component, the design team were intrigued by the unique appearance of the polished part.

When Marble was subsequently approached by a client looking to design a kinetic sculpture of a dragon to sit on top of a decorative clock, the team were able to recommend the same

direct titanium printing process to achieve a finish that was spectacular in its iridescent colour and extremely durable.

Burnell suggests that connectivity and sustainability are two issues that product developers in the medical sector need to take seriously. The incorporation of digital in medical devices, allowing such products to communicate with the Internet of Things introduces the challenge of storing, managing, and protecting huge volumes of sensitive data. Meanwhile, the prevalence of disposable or single-use medical products, whilst useful in avoiding crosscontamination, does lead to significant waste. “In the future we may need to start addressing the environmental issues with material selection and usage and look to design to enable partial reuse where possible without a detrimental effect to usability or cleanliness,” adds Burnell.

Furthermore, changing demographics, in particular ageing populations in the UK and the rest of the western world will give rise to commercial opportunities in designing products that promote quality of life in older age. “Many of the solutions currently on the market to support the ageing population are poorly designed and disappoint,” comments Burnell. “Urinary incontinence is one area where we have recently invested some time to develop creative, more environmentally and user friendly solutions. This is a huge problem in later life and can lead to ill heath via dehydration and social isolation.” | www.marbleproductdesign.co.uk newdesign issue127 7