Frugal Medical Thermometer — Jing | Digital Product Designer

Field research in Uganda

Taking medicine mistakenly, when the patient does not have fever may ignite drug-resistant bacteria and parasites, leading to major health problems in the long-term. An objective diagnosis method would help mothers and healthcare workers to make more informed decisions about fever and non-fever. This will prevent unnecessary visits to the doctor and over-use of medication, as well as saving financial resources.

Leiden University Medical Center initiated a project with Delft University of Technology to address this problem, with the goal to develop a frugal product, service or system to objectively measure fever and non-fever.

Concept evaluation

Based on the research results and co-creation sessions with local stakeholders, nine ideas were developed into foam prototypes. The concepts were presented and tested in local healthcare centers, along with medical workers and experts.

Final concept

The final chosen concept is a digital forehead thermometer designed to assist mothers, medical workers and village healthcare teams in their diagnosis and treatment process to prevent mis- and over-use of medicine by accurately measuring temperature.

3D model

To measure the patient’s temperature, the thermometer should be placed on the forehead of the patient. It uses infrared technology to read the temperature within a few seconds. Feedback is given with an audio signal which informs the user it has measured the temperature. The reading is displayed on the interface in a combination of figures, color and smiley face.

Prototyping

A prototype was made with the goal to see if the stamp satisfies its requirements in terms of appearance, size, aesthetics and ergonomics and what improvements need to be made.

Dutch Design Week

The prototype of the frugal thermometer was show cased during the Dutch Design Week in Eindhoven from 17 to 25 October, 2015.

More information about the further development of the project can be found here.