9 Developing a Low-Cost, Ultraportable, Modular …
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of the system. Users can therefore continue to utilize their preferred skin disinfectant,
lighting source, instrument trays, gloves on top of the universal-sized thinner gloves
in place, and other things to best preserve workflow.
At this stage, we are working on finalizing strategic partnerships critical to pilot
deployment and eventually distribution success in the future. Supply and demand bottleneck analyses of the expected uptake challenges along the value chain are ongoing,
as highlighted above. In the market segment we are first targeting, procurement is
primarily by each mission-sponsoring entity—most commonly militaries, surgical
relief organizations, hospitals, and device companies—or by individual providers.
Upstream, many of the former have relationships with procurement superstructures
such as the World Health Organization, which in 2015 reported allocating the plurality ($333 million) of its procurement budget to strategic category products, which
cover most key surgical devices, tools, and kits. For the second market segment, we
plan to contact Ministries of Health and Defense in LMICs. Certainly, engaging with
all of these diverse stakeholders is critical to success.
9.5 Conclusion
Taken together, the growing interest in surgery as an inalienable part of global health,
as well as the ethical as well as practical need to provide this surgical care in a
safe manner, provides a rich opportunity for innovative solutions to the complex
challenges entailed.
In this paper, we described one such innovation in the form of a co-designed,
ultraportable sterile field platform. By shifting the site of regulation from the operating theater to the incision itself, we introduced a novel paradigm more amenable
to flexible, cost-effective solutions.
To reduce this paradigm to practice, we closely engaged user–stakeholders by
starting with a systematic needs analysis, then using feedback to drive the evolution and refinement of SurgiBox. We presented the device design and results from
benchtop testing that showed how SurgiBox can rapidly create a particle-free environment. Ultimately, deploying SurgiBox to LMICs and beyond requires continued
close stakeholder engagement in the form of robust relationships along the production
and supply chains.
Acknowledgements We thank D-Lab’s Amy Smith and Victor Grau Serrat (now of Color Inc) for
consistent support over the years. Stephen Odom and Dana Stearns have provided key design input
and implementation insights. We are further grateful to Marissa Cardwell, Jim Doughty, Fabiola
Hernandez, and Kerry McCoy of MIT’s Environmental Health Services for technical assistance and
device design feedback. Kristian Olson offered invaluable advice on implementation and deployment strategy. Jack Whipple has provided machine shop assistance. Christopher Murray, Thomas
Shin, and Robert Smalley have provided design and developmental input. This work was supported
by the Harvard Medical School Scholars in Medicine Office.
107
of the system. Users can therefore continue to utilize their preferred skin disinfectant,
lighting source, instrument trays, gloves on top of the universal-sized thinner gloves
in place, and other things to best preserve workflow.
At this stage, we are working on finalizing strategic partnerships critical to pilot
deployment and eventually distribution success in the future. Supply and demand bottleneck analyses of the expected uptake challenges along the value chain are ongoing,
as highlighted above. In the market segment we are first targeting, procurement is
primarily by each mission-sponsoring entity—most commonly militaries, surgical
relief organizations, hospitals, and device companies—or by individual providers.
Upstream, many of the former have relationships with procurement superstructures
such as the World Health Organization, which in 2015 reported allocating the plurality ($333 million) of its procurement budget to strategic category products, which
cover most key surgical devices, tools, and kits. For the second market segment, we
plan to contact Ministries of Health and Defense in LMICs. Certainly, engaging with
all of these diverse stakeholders is critical to success.
9.5 Conclusion
Taken together, the growing interest in surgery as an inalienable part of global health,
as well as the ethical as well as practical need to provide this surgical care in a
safe manner, provides a rich opportunity for innovative solutions to the complex
challenges entailed.
In this paper, we described one such innovation in the form of a co-designed,
ultraportable sterile field platform. By shifting the site of regulation from the operating theater to the incision itself, we introduced a novel paradigm more amenable
to flexible, cost-effective solutions.
To reduce this paradigm to practice, we closely engaged user–stakeholders by
starting with a systematic needs analysis, then using feedback to drive the evolution and refinement of SurgiBox. We presented the device design and results from
benchtop testing that showed how SurgiBox can rapidly create a particle-free environment. Ultimately, deploying SurgiBox to LMICs and beyond requires continued
close stakeholder engagement in the form of robust relationships along the production
and supply chains.
Acknowledgements We thank D-Lab’s Amy Smith and Victor Grau Serrat (now of Color Inc) for
consistent support over the years. Stephen Odom and Dana Stearns have provided key design input
and implementation insights. We are further grateful to Marissa Cardwell, Jim Doughty, Fabiola
Hernandez, and Kerry McCoy of MIT’s Environmental Health Services for technical assistance and
device design feedback. Kristian Olson offered invaluable advice on implementation and deployment strategy. Jack Whipple has provided machine shop assistance. Christopher Murray, Thomas
Shin, and Robert Smalley have provided design and developmental input. This work was supported
by the Harvard Medical School Scholars in Medicine Office.