This report is showing the process and result from a project collaboration between Norrlands University hospital and  design student Simon Fredriksson.  Respiratory treatment is carried out on patients that for some reason fail to breathe sufficiently to assimilate enough oxygen to survive. The reason for why a person needs respiratory treatment can be many and the length of the treatment varies a lot. It can stretch from a couple of hours during surgery to years in treatment for example Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or Immature lungs.  The project focus have been to look at how to increase the freedom of movement for kids receiving respiratory treatment. Respiratory treatment are complex and involves advanced equipment. It´s demanding both physically and mentally both for patient and involved family and can in some cases carry on for several years.    A young child with impaired breathing should still have the freedom of movement and not have to be restricted to the length of a respirator hose and depend on others to be able to move around. Learning how to crawl walk and freely move around should be every childs right. The quote are from  the National heart, lung and blood institute in America. My aim is to create a concept that will offer that movement and prove them wrong. This project is carried out in collaboration with the Neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at Norrlands University hospital in Umeå.

Today, more than 400 million individuals around the world have diabetes. This number is expected to grow to more than 600 million by 2023. However, diabetes is more than just a statistic. It is an incurable, psychologically nuanced disease, with daily battles and far-reaching complications. The lives of those afflicted undergo permanent physical and psychological changes. Reading the stories of diabetics, or hearing them share their experience may elicit an immediate yet often fleeting sense of realization. How, then, can this brief moment of awareness be prolonged? How can a non-diabetic feel diabetes? More importantly, why should they? This research explores empathy as a tool to achieve that level of understanding. Elements found on the dining table, a place most diabetics are acutely aware of, were redesigned in an attempt to recreate certain aspects of the diabetic experience. These items no longer function in the way they were intended to, but have been transformed into tools that evoke empathy. A non-diabetic will get to experience the struggles associated with four main areas: control, or lack thereof; unpredictable dysfunctionality; a constant state of alertness; and finally, the burden of living with the disease, and the anchoring effect it has on those afflicted.

The purpose of this research was to investigate the application of design processes to the development of novel self-use molecular diagnostic devices for sexually transmitted infections. The argument proposed in this thesis is that the application of design methods at the earliest research stages into miniaturised, low cost, molecular diagnostic technologies will accelerate and improve the process of translating proof of concept diagnostic technologies into usable devices. Concept development requirements and potential issues and barriers to development were identified through interviews with expert stakeholders. These requirements were further refined through a survey of a multidisciplinary diagnostic medical device research group. An action research method was applied to develop a proof of concept prototype to the preclinical trial stage. Through these research studies, a design process model was formulated for use in a research environment. The application of design methods to the proof of concept prototype described in the thesis have resulted in a preclinical trial prototype that exhibits the necessary features for development into a self-use molecular diagnostic device. Issues and barriers were identified and discussed, design guidelines for further development beyond preclinical trial were defined and a generalised design process model for self-use molecular diagnostic devices for sexually transmitted infections was proposed. This research highlights the need for design methods to be applied at the earliest possible stages of the development of novel molecular diagnostic devices.

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Cystic fibrosis is the most common fatal recessive hereditary disease and affects about one out of every 3,000 newborns. There is no cure for this disease. Patients rely on treatment on a daily basis like medical treatment with both tablets and inhaled medication, airway clearance therapy and physical exercise to slow the decline in lung function and prolong their lives.

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The object of this thesis is the design of eye measuring equipment, concretely autorefractometer. The proposed solution is based on innovative reorganization parts of this machine. The thesis is based on complex analysis of ophtalmology history, technical data and design of current autorefractometers. The design report contains the identified problems, variant design concepts and final solution. The design report accompained a product mock-up in 1:1 scale.

Orthopedic surgery is dangerous, especially for the surgeon! Tool failures belong to the ten most frequent causes of operation delays. Nowadays, hospitals are pressured to optimize procedures and lower costs. Especially, orthopedic surgery is physically demanding for the ergonomics of the surgeon and tools wear out more quickly. Could the evolution of a surgical power tool be used in these scenarios to ease and support the surgeons work, increase the efficiency and flexibility of usage and at the same time offer more control and knowledge about the condition of the tools?