Improvement of protective film for radiation-induced skin reactions

Typ
Examensarbete för masterexamen
Program
Industrial design engineering (MPDES), MSc
Publicerad
2021
Författare
Karlsson, Alice
Tenuta Martins, Júlia
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Breast cancer is the most commonly occurring cancer among women worldwide and is mainly reated by radiotherapy. The treatment is aggressive and can cause undesired consequences such as radiation-induced skin reactions (RISR), which can inhibit the patient’s ongoing reatment, constrain daily activities, and impair quality of life. Mölnlycke Health Care’s (MHC) product Mepitel Film is a barrier-forming dressing with clinical evidence to be an effective product for preventing RISR in breast cancer treatment. However, the product is not widely used for this application. This study aimed to understand the usage of Mepitel Film during breast cancer radiotherapy, and together with patients and HCPs, redesign the product to mprove the users’ interaction and experience with Mepitel Film. The study consisted of two phases, both with co-creation as a central focus to ensure that deep knowledge about users’ needs was gained. The first phase intended to explore and understand RISR and how these can be prevented. An extensive set of data was collected through literature research, interviews with HCPs and workshops with patients. The data was further analysed, and the user needs were identified and defined. It was clear that the main problems with the current Mepitel Film were its challenging application and the fact that its benefits were not widely spread either among HCPs or patients. Personas were created in order to communicate he most important aspects retrieved from the user research. In addition, product goals divided nto four categories: properties, awareness, economic and future, were formulated to ensure hat the solution fulfilled the users’ needs. The personas and product goals were the result of he first phase and acted as a foundation for the next phase of the study. The second phase aimed to develop solutions that fulfilled the users’ needs. Idea generation, ncluding various creative workshops, was conducted, and the conceived ideas were further explored on various breast simulations. The idea generation resulted in two concept refinements that were prototyped and further tested and evaluated together with HCPs. Phase wo resulted in a final solution consisting of a three-parted system: a product, application nstructions and an awareness plan. The developed product consists of three shapes that facilitate HCPs to apply the dressing on various body curvatures, ensuring the need for fewer modifications. In addition, the developed product features a new application layer, facilitating application procedure and ensuring a more precise application. The application instructions support the HCPs during the application process and guide where the different shapes should be placed on the body. Lastly, the awareness plan aims to ensure that the new product and its enefits will be widely spread among users and stakeholders.
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co-creation, breast cancer, radiation-induced skin reactions, , barrier-forming dressing, Mepitel Film
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