By Breanna Kilgore (pictured above in Rice360 lab)
My name is Breanna Kilgore, and I am a Rice360 Fellow working on the next version of the Colostomates project, a low-cost ostomy bag.
Colostomates Project 2018 – 2024
The Colostomates project aims to provide low-cost and long-lasting ostomy products to remove barriers to getting needed supplies. The project began from a realization that people with stomas who do not have affordable, accessible supplies often fashion “homemade” solutions that can lead to higher risks of infection and are deficient in controlling odor – which can be stigmatizing.
Work began on development of a low-cost, accessible ostomy support solution in the form of a reusable ostomy system in 2018. In 2023, after several iterative design improvements, Rice360’s ostomy bag system reached a milestone of being tested by a community of ostomates. The feedback was eye-opening.
From our team’s findings, we discovered an unmet need for low-cost ostomy products in the Houston area and around the US. To answer this need and gain a local group to develop our product with, we changed the scope of our project to meet the needs of ostomates in Houston. Once a design is perfected for the group in the US, our team plans to work on scaling the solution globally.
Rice360 Fellowship Project: Continuing Colostomates Development
By creating low-cost and reusable ostomy bags for patients in the Houston area, I am focused on developing the best quality bag for everyone, including low-income, under-insured, and un-insured patients. The ostomy patient community has told us they welcome a quality, affordable alternative to expensive ostomy bags, which cost anywhere from $1500 to $9000 yearly. They have also expressed interest in a re-usable option for many reasons including sustainability.
I am inspired by the opportunity to positively impact our local community through engineering and close the health inequity gap in ostomy supply costs.
Project Milestones: Improved Prototype
The big breakthrough for the previous fellow working on Colostomates was having a mature enough design to test with ostomy patients. The feedback from this group of enthusiastic and knowledgeable testers has informed the design changes I have been able to make during my time as the Colostomates fellow.
This last year, my teammates and I improved the prototype based on the ostomy patients’ feedback and continued to conduct human-subject wear testing to learn what works and improve the prototype.
I was also able to spearhead improving our lab testing by using the non-ostomate wear test data to develop a more robust and accurate abdomen model and testing protocol for the model. Improving the lab model and testing spurred prototype design. These developments helped us achieve a higher fidelity prototype and a big step forward towards product manufacturing.
Project Milestones: Research Grant Received
Earlier this summer, based on the improved prototype and continued progress of Colostomates, we received a research grant from the Cullen Foundation to support the team as we work to improve access to ostomy supplies for Houston. I am honored to have my work supported by the Cullen Foundation for the next two years. Beginning with Houston ostomy patients, this project can potentially improve people’s lives worldwide.
With the funding, our team will focus on finalizing the design, conducting lab and human subject testing, and establishing relationships with manufacturers to commercialize the product. It is my goal to have finalized prototypes that have successfully been clinically tested and are ready to be passed onto a manufacturer for commercialization before the end of my fellowship.
Design Community: Sharing Colostomates Success within the Design Community
Colostomates has provided me an opportunity to share the story of design and building on ideas with younger student innovators. During my fellowship, I was honored to present on Colostomates to Rice University students in the Global Health Technology minor and to Rice360’s international summer interns, who we host at the OEDK. It is rewarding to introduce this project and how it has improved over time as each project team has provided new insights. I hope this inspires the younger innovators in the minor and the internships as they work on iterative projects in those programs.
I have also been able to share my work with other researchers through conferences. In October 2024, I will travel to the National Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) conference to present a poster with our most recent updates to the project in Baltimore, MD. BMES is a premier conference for biomedical engineers where they can share ideas. I look forward to connecting with the BMES to introduce our successes with Colostomates thus far.
Rice360 Fellowship: How has your Rice360 Global Health Fellowship benefitted you?
As a Rice360 fellow, I have observed and worked on Colostomates through multiple stages of the design process from clinical needs finding to analyzing clinical study data. It has been very rewarding to gain this breadth of experience in product development on a project that can have so much benefit for people. I have gained experience communicating with clinicians in the field and better understand the current gaps in ostomy products that we can translate into a technology designed with the end user in mind. Driving the project as the project manager has been an excellent opportunity to learn about the design process. I have strengthened my innovative mindset by participating in the fellowship and learning to think outside the box to solve engineering problems.
The fellowship also gave me real-world practice in successfully analyzing and presenting data collected from a project. In my work, I am responsible for designing and conducting different testing protocols and adapting the project based on those findings. I have developed skills in successfully managing a clinical study to test device prototypes with an emphasis on human factors engineering. The program strengthened my project management skills and taught me the importance of preparing quality documentation.
The Rice360 fellowship program strengthened my skills as an engineer through the real-world application of my knowledge and practice in developing a project. I have more confidence in my engineering abilities. Watching this project progress exponentially from when I first started has been rewarding. It has encouraged and equipped me to seek career opportunities in biomedical engineering and global health.
Interested in becoming a Rice360 Global Health Fellow? Apply today!