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NINA - A DIGNIFIED MAMMOGRAPHY EXPERIENCE : Rethinking breast cancer diagnostics

What are things occurring in peoples mind when thinking about ‘mammography’? Some might not be entirely sure about what mammography is, some might get a feeling of discomfort and some may be very familiar with this method of finding breast cancer tumors. But why is it that many women get ner-vous when thinking about mammography and common words used when describing it are: discomfort, loneliness, pain and “ouch”?  This thesis project started by exploring methods for diagnosing and treating breast cancer. What are current technologies and procedures - And can we improve these methods and the experience of using them? The result, Nina, is an approach to improve the most common method used in breast cancer diagnostics: Mammography. Through study visits at hospitals, dia-logues with doctors, nurses and former breast cancer patients this project tried to identify areas for improving the mammog-raphy experience. Together with physical prototyping, participatory workshops and user feedback the result reflects three core values driving the design and final concept of the project: Appearance, comfort and patient-nurse relationship. The Appearance is made smaller through nano X-ray technology creating a lighter and friendlier look compared to contempo-rary machines. Comfort is improved by softer and more inviting shapes and with smarter breast compression.   Having patient and nurse close (Pa-tient-nurse relationship) forms a bond and shared experience helping patients feel more calm and relaxed.  The concept is supported by the website “Squeeze please” - A platform to facilitate mammography appointments as well as to provide information about breast cancer and the mammography experience. Nina is simply an approach to turn mam-mography into a more pleasant and positive experience and to further improve breast cancer diagnostics.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:umu-183258
Date January 2017
CreatorsSaarman, Karl-Otto
PublisherUmeå universitet, Designhögskolan vid Umeå universitet
Source SetsDiVA Archive at Upsalla University
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeStudent thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text
Formatapplication/pdf
Rightsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess

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