For the final year of my Bioengineering curriculum, I participated in Senior Design capstone project where I worked alongside a group of 6 other Bioengineers and 1 nursing student to redesign the Purewick Female External Catheter. 

         Female external urinary catheters are not as widely used across hospitals or in-home care as traditional indwelling catheters. Additionally, the devices are often uncomfortable for the patients and can fall off or dislocate at the slightest movements, such as rolling over or sitting up in bed. If the device does become dislodged, it is then prone to fluid leakage, leading to soiling of the patient, a decrease in urine measurement accuracy, and necessary replacement of the disposable component. The unmet clinical need we are addressing is the lack of comfort and mobility offered by existing female external urinary catheters. Improving these facets provides more advantages to the external catheter devices, thus promoting their use in hospitals and other areas of female incontinence care

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This page is dedicated to my personal contributions to the project

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1. Sketches and Drawing

I took on the role of being the primary sketch artist because of my strong artistic aptitude. I was able to take my teammate's ideas and create them in 2D media

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2. Ethnography - Interviews/Surveys

I participated in various interviews with potential mentors and advisors for the initial stages of our design project. I recruited Katherine Plum, RN from St. Joseph Medical Center. She gave us first hand insight on Ostomy care and then later gave advice on testing simulation for our catheter. 

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3. StoryBoard

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4. Prototyping

I helped design low-resolution prototypes in B09 and G27. I worked on modifying the holes in the tubing to increase urine output efficiency.

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5. Testing

I participated in running tests to test the efficiency of our tubing design and also solidify testing protocols. 

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6. 3-minute Video

I helped create the 3 minute video shown at our Design Expo. I worked alongside two of my teammates in creating, editing, and recording the video on iMovie. I also helped create the script for the voice-over aspect of our design

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7. Fusion360 Model

I worked on the prototype in Fusion360  for the extended wing model of our catheter

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8. Leakage Testing - I designed and ran leakage testing for our frozen design in B09 alongside Nathaniel Mitrik

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