A foundation of user research to guide the development process
Koru Medical Systems
Infusion Set
Humanfactors had been developing Koru’s Inserter and Flow Controller devices. Since the Infusion Set is fundamental to the Inserter’s performance, our scope of work was expanded to develop these products in tandem. Focusing on their ergonomic and technical development all the way through to manufacture ensured each component would function harmoniously as an integrated family of products.
Concept Development
Like the other products within Koru’s ecosystem, the infusion set helps deliver medication to people who are infirm, often elderly, and who may be suffering from conditions outside their primary illness: low vision, limited dexterity, cognitive issues, so its ergonomics as a standalone device are critical. Equally important is the infusion set’s integration into the Inserter device, so its geometry had to perform both manual and mechanical insertion and removal with ease.
Engineering
At base, the device simply needed to pick up the infusion set, hold it during injection-site identification, and then insert it into the user’s skin. Easier said than does, as the infusion set provided little real estate for a secure grip. The injection force and duration required fine tuning to ensure patients’ fear of needles was not increased.
Prototyping
Multiple iterations of functional prototypes were fabricated in order to make the infusion set pick-up and release mechanism reliable. Testing infusion set models with manual users ensured they could reliably inject and remove the infusion set by hand.
