RERC National Student Design Competition  Problem: An increase in healthcare costs require the need for medical tasks to be moved into the home, where they can be used by the patient and data can be available for the physician.  Aim: Design a user-friendly at home vital signs monitoring system that can transmit medical information and is affordable.  Specifications: Collect 4-6 vital signs, store/retrieve data, accessible at home, easy to use, costs to make the device must be less than $2000.  Clients: The competition specifies a wide range of clients, who have various requirements and conditions that must be met by the design. V-BUD: At Home Vital Monitoring System V-BUD: At Home Vital Monitoring System Design By: Kristyn Eilertsen, Adam Goodale, Stephen Kepper, Sunil Narayan, and Stacey Tarver Supervised By: Dr. John Enderle and Dr. Paul King, Department of Biomedical Engineering Vanderbilt University - Nashville, Tennessee Design Components Cost Estimates and Savings Conclusions 1.Hardware:  5 Vernier Vital Sensors which include blood pressure, heart rate, weight, temperature, and breathing rate are connected to the Vernier GoLink (Figure 1)  Vernier GoLink- the GoLink transports data from the sensors to the C++/Matlab Program and is connected to the CPU via USB port.  All sensors must be manually connected to the GoLink and only one sensor may be connected at a time.  CPU Our approach evolved significantly throughout the design process. The advantages and disadvantages of three previous conceptual designs are discussed and pictured below: 3. Features  The Program runs in a stand alone Matlab based program that guides the user through the steps necessary to collect their vital signs. Upon start up, the user can choose to view past results, collect new data, or exit the program as shown in Figure 1. If the user decides to view past results a menu appears with the saved results and their respective data and time of collection. Once the patient double clicks on the result they wish to view they will appear with the option to the results to their doctor or return to the main menu. If the user wants to collect new results, Figure 2 will appear allowing the user to select the vital signs the wish to monitor. The program will then both verbally and visually tell the user how to gather the needed data. In order to collect data for a certain vital sign, the program will open Logger Lite Software and ask the user to connect the respective sensor. After the Logger Lite program displays the results (ie breathing rate) the user will be directed to enter this value into the Matlab program. The program continues to guide the user through the program to collect all vital signs they checked initially in Figure 2. The results will then be displayed in a window, shown in Figure 3. These results can be saved by the user with the option to them to their doctor. RERC sponsors an annual national design competition, which provides students with the opportunity to build a medical device. This year, the device is an at home vital monitoring system, with the following rules:  Premium Package- computer, program, and all five sensors………………………………………………………………………………….$1,051  Sensor Only Package- all five sensors and program…………….……………………….$612  Vital Sign Package- heart rate, breathing rate, and blood pressure sensors, and program…………………………………………………………………………………..$384 Our device decreases the cost of an at home vital monitoring system by compartmentalizing the system to fit the patients specific needs. The following packages are offered for the purchase of V-Bud: Figure 1 Above shows the opening menu of the computer program. This screen gives the option of collecting new data, viewing past results, or exiting the program. Figure 2 This menu appears when the user selects collect new data from the opening screen. The user clicks all the vital signs they would like to measure before proceeding. Figure 3 After all measurements have been taken, the results of the patient appear with the option of saving the results and ing them to his or her physician. Comparison between Costs, Size, and Capabilities DevicesV-BudPhilips SureSignsGE Dinamap Procare Total Cost$1051$ $ Size Relatively Light Relatively Heavy (10 lbs) Relavitely Heavy (8 lbs) User Friendly?Yes No-requires some training Include All Sensors?Yes No- does not include force plate ing Capabilities?YesNo Data Storage/RetrievalYesNo Savings  About one of every seven persons in the U.S. was reported to have had an emergency room visit in  ER visits for patients over the age of 65 jumped 26%.  Average total payment from all sources for an emergency room visit was $560 while the median expenditure was $299. ER visits were reported to be as high as $1200.  One visit per year for two years will equal the cost of the most expensive Premium Package, while one visit in one year will be more than the least expensive Vital Sign Package. V-Bud helps reduce the frequency of emergency room visits, as well as helping to monitor the patient’s health and needs. This device is unique in several aspects such as its low price, design specificity, and ability to store, retrieve, and send results through the use of telemedicine. More so, the design can be packaged to fit the specific needs of the patient, such that they are paying the lowest possible cost. Future considerations include wireless and voice activation capabilities, developing an inclusive program to eliminate the need for Logger Lite, and programming in a language with ing capabilities. Market Analysis Top Competitors:  Philips SureSigns VS1 Vital Sign Monitor ~ Med-Time ( )  GE DINAMAP ProCare 120 Monitor ( ) The market for V-Bud exists and is growing with the increasing elderly population (up to 9.6% in 2003). While the number of emergency rooms has been cut by 14%, the number of ER visits has hit record highs. The result is a growing market with greater demand. Current products are too expensive and are not tailored for use with elderly. Patient Challenges Our device is unique in that it caters to a wider variety of patients, including the elderly. These patients pose the following challenges:  Blind  Deaf  Elderly  Motor Challenged  Bed Ridden  Limited Technological Experience Comparison of Top Competitors The following table shows a comparison between V-Bud and the top two competitors on the Market. Comparisons between costs, relative size, included sensors, and data/storage and retrieval are found in the below table. V-Bud is not only less than half the cost of the other vital monitoring systems on the market, but it also offers automated communication with doctor or health care professional, is designed specifically for the elderly, and is both user friendly and aesthetically pleasing. Device Requirements Based on the challenges faced by our patients, we determined a series of requirements that our device must incorporate to accommodate the various needs of the patients. These requirements included the following:  Cost effective  Compact  Telemedicine  User friendly  Audio usage  Aesthetically Pleasing  Visual Usage  Fast Responses  Large Responsive User Interface Design Process  Evaluate current vital monitoring systems  Consider competition requirements  Consult sensor manufacturer/experienced faculty  Research compatible programming languages  Acquire sensors from Vernier  Create computer program  Validate accuracy of sensors  Test communicate between sensors analysis software and computer program  Create stand alone computer program  Finalize prototype with user feedback 2. Software:  Matlab based GUI  Vernier Logger Lite Data Analysis  Microsoft Visual C++ mechanically simple Results Comparison between V-Bud and Vanderbilt Medical Equipment Vital SignV-BudVanderbiltPercent Error Blood Pressure125/80100/65Systolic-25% Diastolic-23% Heart Rate % Temperature % Weight % Breathing Rate % The sensors are tested and used in the setup shown in the figures above. Figure (a) shows the blood pressure cuff, (b) shows the heart rate monitor, (c) shows the breathing rate sensor and (d) shows the weight scale. (a)(b) (c)(d)