- Title Information
- Title
- Innovations for Resource-Constrained Settings: Opioid Crisis and Wound Care
- Type of Resource (primo)
- dissertations
- Name:
Personal
- Name Part
- Choi, Eunsung
- Role
- Role Term:
Text
- creator
- Name:
Personal
- Name Part
- Kofron, Celinda
- Role
- Role Term:
Text
- Advisor
- Name:
Personal
- Name Part
- Gray, Marissa
- Role
- Role Term:
Text
- Reader
- Name:
Personal
- Name Part
- Fraser, Hamish
- Role
- Role Term:
Text
- Reader
- Name:
Corporate
- Name Part
- Brown University. Biology and Medicine: Biomedical Engineering
- Role
- Role Term:
Text
- sponsor
- Origin Information
- Copyright Date
- 2022
- Physical Description
- Extent
- vii, 37 p.
- digitalOrigin
- born digital
- Note:
thesis
- Thesis (Sc. M.)--Brown University, 2022
- Genre (aat)
- theses
- Abstract
- Resource-constrained settings can be defined as areas facing severe inequities, areas with limited access to basic necessities, and low to middle-income countries. Addressing clinical needs in these settings requires overcoming unique challenges and thinking outside of the box, which is all the more reason why innovation in these settings is so important. In this thesis, we examine two pain points, the opioid crisis and wound care, in the hopes of developing solutions with resource- constrained settings and their’ needs in mind. For the first component of our thesis, we worked with Dr. Geoff Capraro and his company NaloxBox. NaloxBox produces opioid overdose emergency kits containing naloxone, a drug that reverses opioid overdoses. These boxes are placed in obscure locations with limited access to medical services in the hopes of improving naloxone access. To supplement NaloxBox, we proposed developing a voice prompt system to encourage proper naloxone administration. Such a system has been shown to improve bystander intervention in other emergency kits. We surveyed the impact of the voice prompt system (n=102) and gained preliminary user feedback to determine that a voice prompt system may be beneficial, but not critical. For the second part of our thesis, we worked to develop a negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) device for Tenwek Mission Hospital in Kenya. NPWT devices promote chronic wound healing by creating a negative pressure environment under a tightly sealed dressing; however, NPWT can be expensive, require a sustained energy source, and are not always portable. Our proposed solution consists of a repurposed aspirator that was tested to function as an NPWT device. This aspirator was modified to include an optional solar-powered battery source and tamper-proof case to improve the device’s portability. We also explored the design and use of an NPWT tip with better flexibility for wounds located on joints. Preliminary wound models demonstrated that the device provided a constant, reliable pressure, suggesting that aspirators could be repurposed for use as an NPWT. Overall, these projects have expanded our perspective and understanding of resource-constrained settings and we are excited to apply the skills we developed to future endeavors.
- Subject (fast)
(authorityURI="http://id.worldcat.org/fast", valueURI="http://id.worldcat.org/fast/01014194")
- Topic
- Medical instruments and apparatus
- Subject
- Topic
- resource-limited settings
- Subject
- Topic
- negative pressure wound therapy
- Language
- Language Term (ISO639-2B)
- English
- Record Information
- Record Content Source (marcorg)
- RPB
- Record Creation Date
(encoding="iso8601")
- 20220706