3D Printing / Solidworks

HapiGuard aims to eliminate facial hospital acquired pressure injuries (HAPIs) associated with invasive mechanical ventilation by supporting the endotracheal tube (ETT) without creating pressure points on the skin. Pressure injuries increase the risk of infection, patient discomfort, cost of care, and length of hospital stays, making these injuries a crucial problem to address. Current methods to support endotracheal tubes still involve multiple skin contact points, while HapiGuard eliminates the risk for skin damage entirely with a completely oral design. HapiGuard is designed to be simple to implement and have a universal fit for both the patient and the ETT size to alleviate the burden of pressure injury prevention from overworked nurses in crowded ICUs.

For this project, my team and I sought-out and surveyed seven stakeholders to define and hone in on an unmet clinical need and establish design constraints. Throughout the 6 month project, we worked through 4 device iterations prototyping with Solidworks CAD and Polyjet and SLA 3D printers. I assisted with the CAD design and developed protocols to confirm the safety and efficacy of the device. I set-up a force sensor to mesure the average applied force on the device using an Arduino microcontroller and simulated the resulting material fatigue overtime with regular use using FEA analysis. At the end of the year, we were awarded Outstanding Senior Design Project for developing a functional prototype that uniquely solves a demonstrated need.