By Joseph Peterson (Pictured above in the Rice360 lab)
My name is Joseph Peterson. During my fellowship, I am leading the technology development of an improved blood collection cartridge for the Rice360 BiliDx bilirubinometer, a low-cost way to test babies for jaundice.
BiliDx Blood Collection Strip Redesign
The blood collection strip redesign project is related to the Rice University point-of-care bilirubinometer that has been commercialized as BiliDx. BiliDx is a point-of-care, handheld device used to detect jaundice in newborns from a small amount of blood. It is designed to be suitable for resource-limited settings and has been deployed throughout facilities implementing NEST360.
After deploying BiliDx, there was consensus that the consumable test cartridge that is used with the device could be improved. I am redesigning this consumable design to improve affordability and ease-of-use. During my fellowship, I have been working on this blood collection strip redesign project. This project has pushed me to think creatively and critically as we are trying to significantly reduce the cost of the consumables without compromising usability and accuracy.
Project Milestones: Reducing Blood Required for Test
One important aim of the redesign is to make BiliDx easier to use by reducing the amount of blood required to run the test. The current design of the consumable used with BiliDx requires 75 uL of blood. We have been able to design a new, optimized strip that requires only 35 uL of blood, a reduction of just over 50% of the blood needed. This reduction in the amount of blood is a response to feedback from nurses and clinicians who use BiliDx and suggested drawing a smaller amount of blood would be helpful. Being able to address user suggestions and improve BiliDx in response to the clinicians’ feedback has been rewarding.
Project Milestones: Designing for Manufacturing and Usability
As part of our redesign project, I have had the opportunity to prototype and perform formative usability testing on several different design concepts of disposable cassettes for the paper-based test strip, each of which has the potential to reduce the cost of manufacturing significantly. This work has given me first-hand experience balancing manufacturing constraints with usability. I have learned more of what it takes to make a design viable for commercialization and users.
Project Milestones: Designing for Manufacturing and Usability
I am proud to say that our design process has reached the stage where we are working with 3rd Stone Design to refine our design for manufacturing. This is a significant milestone toward our design and improving BiliDx for use in the field.
Our goal is to complete all the design and testing work to begin manufacturing a new BiliDx blood collection consumable in 2025.
Design Community: Sharing BiliDx Success
As a Rice360 Fellow, I have presented my project to GLHT students and the Rice SEED interns. I have presented a poster at Rice360’s inaugural Innovation for Day One conference. I gave an oral presentation about our redesigned testing consumables at the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) Conference in Baltimore at the end of October. I have gained valuable feedback from each of these opportunities that I had to share my work.
Rice360 Fellowship: How has your Rice360 Global Health Fellowship benefitted you?
I have loved my experience as a Global Health Fellow at Rice360. It has pushed me to grow as an engineer, as a project manager, as a scientist, and as a world citizen. This opportunity has dramatically increased my perspective on the type of rigorous work and collaboration it takes to make a difference in global health. I have had amazing support and great mentors.
My professional skills have grown during my fellowship. I have learned how to design and carry out experiments to get scientific answers to design questions, learned to manage a design project, and how to effectively communicate designs, plans, questions, and results.
This program has helped me to see the world from a new perspective. It has been eye-opening and humbling to work with so many kind and talented people who are trying to make the world better. My desire to use my career to increase access to high-quality healthcare has increased, as has my understanding of the kind of humble, open-minded collaboration that it takes to do so. I am grateful for the lifelong friendships I have been able to make.
Interested in becoming a Rice360 Global Health Fellow? Apply today!