What are the technologies needed?
a). plastic milling machine
b). Metal mill for external housing, welding may be needed depending on how we decide to attach the bottom plane to the arc shaped upper housing.
c). plastic injection molding for pieces related to the button and trigger system
d). stainless steel, aluminum welding machine for canister containing the medicine
What are the challenges?
a). We are concerned that a flat, ellipse shaped canister will expand around the areas with smaller slope. Cylindrical canisters don’t have this issue since the pressure is equalized in 360*, reducing the chance of unwanted expansion of the walls.
b). Metered dosing issues. We are unsure about how to incorporate a metered dosing function into a flat ellipse shaped canister
What could go wrong?
a). We may be unable to create the canister in the desired shape. We want a canister that can fit inside a sleek, arced housing attached to the back of the phone case. Typical inhaler designs involve cylindrical shaped canisters, so we will need to spend time in R&D testing innovative canister designs
b). If the metered dosing feature fails, people will be unable to administer medicine to themselves. This is obviously an extreme concern since this sort of failure could lead to cardiac arrest or death.
Clinical Feasibility
Given the technical feasibility, would it work in the clinic?
a). Based on the technical feasibility, the product should work in a clinical setting because the manufacturing plan is logical.
What are clinical risks?
a). The metered dose could fail
b). The trigger button could get jammed
c). Explosion due to build up of pressure in canister
Have similar products been in a clinical trial?
a). No current model to compare to
Market Analysis
Value Creation
a). Our product delivers peace of mind as well as functionality for asthma affected individuals. Many children carry a smart phone all day, yet don’t have access to their inhaler when they need it. If customers had a backup, emergency inhaler attached to their phones they would rarely be caught without their medicine.
BME 100 Fall 2017
