The Client: MediBeacon is a medical technology company focused on advancing fluorescent tracer agents and transdermal detection technology to provide vital and actionable measurements of organ function. “Life, illuminated. Advancing fluorescent technology to help improve patient care.” -MediBeacon The Product: MediBeacon Transdermal GFR Monitor The Challenge: MediBeacon charged Speck with engineering a transdermal GFR monitor: a noninvasive monitoring technology that allows for earlier detection of renal issues enabling clinicians to provide earlier, more effective interventions. The technology needed to be low-cost and straightforward to integrate into existing ICU rooms and workflows. It became clear our team would need first to understand how intensive care nurses would place the sensor on patients, administer the reagent, and interact with critical care patients. The Process: Our team set up stakeholder workshops, mapped the workflow journey, and applied ethnographic insights to gain perspective on patient care and intensive care procedure. These activities helped us dive into the behaviors and inner workings of the ICU. Speck’s end-to-end engagement with the client and patients immensely helped our team to understand the human elements involved in the ICU experience on both sides. This included critical details of sensors, consoles, and reagents, the challenges of renal monitoring, the information requirements of ICU healthcare providers, and, equally as important, the profound needs of a patient during a time of crisis. The Outcome: Due to our team’s focus on the device’s optical sensor, we were able to understand the importance of the skin adhesive and how it related to patient comfort, sensor placement, and sensor reliability. This allowed us to make a skin adhesive recommendation that would address patient comfort while also increasing the precision of the sensor’s readings. The sensor tethers to a pole cart-mounted console with a narrow footprint. A large graphic display promotes clear and direct communication of real-time information. By extracting data from various channels and “touching” multiple product elements, we helped MediBeacon develop an aesthetically pleasing, visually integrated, and straightforward device experience to support doctors and nurses working with matters of life and death while minimizing patient discomfort. https://www.speckdesign.com/projects/medibeacon

1. MEDIBEACON TRANSDERMAL GFR MONITOR
U S E R R E S E A R C H / I N D U S T R I A L D E S I G N / M E C H A N I C A L E N G I N E E R I N G / D I G I T A L D E S I G N

2. THE CLIENT: MediBeacon is a medical technology company focused on
advancing fluorescent tracer agents and transdermal
detection technology to provide vital and actionable
measurements of organ function.
THE PRODUCT:
Life, illuminated. Advancing fluorescent technology to help
improve patient care. ~MediBeacon
The MediBeaconTransdermal GFR Measurement System
(TGFR) is designed to be a direct measure of the Glomerular
Filtration Rate (GFR) at the point of care.
MEDIBEACON TRANSDERMAL GFR MONITOR
U S E R R E S E A R C H / I N D U S T R I A L D E S I G N / M E C H A N I C A L E N G I N E E R I N G / D I G I T A L D E S I G N

3. THE CHALLENGE:
MediBeacon charged Speck with engineering a transdermal
GFR monitor: a noninvasive monitoring technology that
allows for earlier detection of renal issues enabling clinicians
to provide earlier, more effective interventions. The
technology needed to be low-cost and straightforward to
integrate into existing ICU rooms and workflows. It became
clear that our team would need first to understand how
intensive care nurses would place the sensor on patients,
administer the reagent, and interact with critical care patients.
MEDIBEACON TRANSDERMAL GFR MONITOR
U S E R R E S E A R C H / I N D U S T R I A L D E S I G N / M E C H A N I C A L E N G I N E E R I N G / D I G I T A L D E S I G N

4. THE PROCESS
Our team set up stakeholder workshops, mapped the
workflow journey, and applied ethnographic insights to gain
perspective on patient care and intensive care procedure.
These activities helped us dive into the behaviors and inner
workings of the ICU. Speck’s end-to-end engagement with
the client and patients immensely helped our team to
understand the human elements involved in the ICU
experience on both sides. This included critical details of
sensors, consoles, and reagents, the challenges of renal
monitoring, the information requirements of ICU healthcare
providers, and, equally as important, the profound needs of a
patient during a time of crisis.
MEDIBEACON TRANSDERMAL GFR MONITOR
U S E R R E S E A R C H / I N D U S T R I A L D E S I G N / M E C H A N I C A L E N G I N E E R I N G / D I G I T A L D E S I G N

5. THE OUTCOME:
Due to our team’s focus on the device’s optical sensor, we
were able to understand the importance of the skin adhesive
and how it related to patient comfort, sensor placement, and
sensor reliability. This allowed us to make a skin adhesive
recommendation that would address patient comfort while
also increasing the precision of the sensor’s readings. The
sensor tethers to a pole cart-mounted console with a narrow
footprint. A large graphic display promotes clear and direct
communication of real-time information. By extracting data
from various channels and “touching” multiple product
elements, we helped MediBeacon develop an aesthetically
pleasing, visually integrated, and straightforward device
experience to support doctors and nurses working with
matters of life and death while minimizing patient discomfort.
MEDIBEACON TRANSDERMAL GFR MONITOR
U S E R R E S E A R C H / I N D U S T R I A L D E S I G N / M E C H A N I C A L E N G I N E E R I N G / D I G I T A L D E S I G N