CASE STUDY: CEREVAST
Ergonomics is critical
We love working with clients designing healthcare products for medical and adjacent industries. Whether a product ends up in the lab or the hospital room, we know it’s helping someone.
Cerevast is a medical device company that develops treatment methods and devices for acute ischemic stroke and other vascular issues. In time-sensitive health situations, products must be clear and intuitive to use. That’s where Ampersand’s vast experience came in handy for Cerevast.
We worked with Cerevast to design a product that frames the patient’s head. The device uses ultrasonic energy to disrupt cerebral blood clots. The primary ergonomic challenge was creating a system that allows multiple transducer arrays to pass through very small openings in the cranial architecture.
The product needed to hit certain vascular targets while also accommodating a wide range of head sizes. We came up with an innovative floating array system that keyed off various external points on the human skull; points that were relatively consistent from person to person.
The ergonomics of this device was critical for both the patient and the caregiver. Keying the placement of the device relative to the ears and the bridge of the nose allowed for intuitive placement on the patient’s head, and a simplified tensioning method for a quick, firm attachment without the need to fumble with complex mechanisms.
Good Design Counts
There are different challenges with time-sensitive healthcare products than with regular consumer products. Our team has worked on a number of medical devices over the years. Not every product ends up in the ER. We have also worked on products that make patients’ lives and healthcare providers’ jobs easier.