This project was very meaningful for me, it was my first experience in technical project leadership, and was the first time I had the opportunity to present my work at international engineering conferences and design competitions.
I had previously worked with the Queen's Biomedical Innovation Team (QBiT) as a mechanical design team member on two projects, despite my background in chemical engineering. I had learned a lot from my previous project managers and fellow team members, and I was eager to put my skills to use on a meaningful project.
When I was hired to the team as the project manager overseeing mechanical design, I was overwhelmed with the amount of work ahead. Myself and three other project managers were given what seemed like an impossible task, to develop a portable heart-lung machine for use in prehospital care and developing countries. Taking complex technology limited to ICUs and operating rooms, and bringing it to the field, with limited scope of practice, training, maintenance, and challenging environmental conditions seemed insurmountable.
The mechanical design team was responsible for developing all physical components of the device, including the TPMS membrane and housing, heat exchangers, and an enclosure and mounting system to contain it all. The team was also responsible for selecting and integrating off-the-shelf components including pumps, flow meters, and sensor probes. The design and component selection process involved detailed analysis of materials and biocompatibility, failure modes of the device, cost and supply considerations, all while under significant cost, regulatory, and user-defined constraints.
The project was a huge success, owing to the combined efforts of the four sub-teams and project managers. We successfully completed a prototype of the device, and established a repeatable testing protocol for various device functions to ensure further design refinement could take place. We successfully reduced unit cost by 98%, and unit weight by 46% compared to the most commonly used portable ECMO device on the market. I had the opportunity to present the device at the RICE360 Global Health Design Competition in Houston, TX, in April 2023.
