Redesign of a Flagship Surgical Navigation System

Overview

MPE is passionate about designing products that save people’s lives. We designed a surgical navigation system to aid surgeons in accurately navigating through specific target areas of the patient. It allows surgeons to perform procedures much more precisely – improving surgical workflow and patient outcomes. It can be used during many types of surgeries, such as back surgery, but is primarily used during brain surgery.

During brain surgery for example, the precise navigation system guarantees only bad areas, such as a tumor, are removed from the brain. The navigation system will ensure that the tumor is removed without affecting any good areas of the brain surrounding the tumor.

Challenge

A redesign of this successful flagship system was presented to satisfy physicians’ increasing demands for technological enhancements, including improvements to the airflow design, custom docking solutions and decreased overall footprint.

It was vital to improve the cart’s docking system for the system to dock properly and not have issues moving up and down elevated surfaces in a hospital. This improvement was necessary to be compliant with ADA (American with Disabilities Act) facility requirements and ensuring the system remains docked when moving up and down ramps.

Weight vs. footprint was another challenge presented during preparation and development of the redesign. The navigation system’s weight and size was disadvantageous and was a test to resolve exactly how to decrease the weight while decreasing the size. MPE was already aware of this issue prior to initial product development which in turn, made it easier to solve.

Process

The MPE Industrial Design and Engineering teams collaborated through on-site ideation and solution engagement exploratory meetings to strategize and plan for the redesign of the system. The multi-disciplinary team was engaged early on in the design process.

Empathetic to sensitive needs and critical nature of its use – taking users’ needs into consideration and have them in the front of the product development process, MPE’s strategy focused on identifying and mitigating risks within the wide array of design for manufacture, integration, commercialization, and the complex end-user constraints.

Different prototypes and models were built to improve the design, including a wood based mockup to improve design concepts and ideas. The Industrial Design and Engineering teams focused heavily on center of gravity calculations and threshold testing to find a solution for the cart to not overbalance and remain stable when moving up and down hospital ramps.

Solution

With the combined expertise of the team, MPE developed a user-focused, two-piece surgical navigation system. This redesign included a unique docking system that simplified the transportation of the system as a whole, while requiring minimal footprint within operating rooms (OR)s. Technology and computer systems in the cart were improved to the most up-to-date technology. The look, and overall brand, was modernized along with an advanced hygienic design necessary for the hospital environment.

Results

As a returning client, the outcome of the three platforms to come prior to this design had been awarded to MPE. Driven by user demands, MPE delivered the redesign to market on time and under budget; satisfying our long term customer’s needs. Enhancements to the end-user’s workflow, a reduced footprint and custom solutions increased market share for the flagship product and overall brand recognition.