Aseptium & 4c Engineering joined forces meet the urgent need for PPE producing face shields for ICU team at Raigmore, kicking off Project Corran.
Corran is Gaelic for "crescent" - the shape the face shield adopts once it's being worn. Being based in the Scottish Highlands this seemed like an appropriate choice.
WHO ARE WE?
4c Engineering
At 4c Engineering our main focus is on technology development. We use our engineering skills to deliver solutions to new and challenging problems.
Based in Inverness, Scotland and partnered with the award-winning 4c Design, our staff and associates bring together significant experience in mechanical engineering, mechatronics, marine energy technology, prototyping and industrial design.
To find out more about 4C Engineering visit 4cengineering.co.uk
Aseptium
Aseptium provides innovative decontamination solutions that reduce infections carried by dirty surgical instruments.
We research, develop and manufacture products for assessment, monitoring and optimisation of cleaning processes, specifically those of complex surgical instruments. Created in 2014, led by Pawel de Sternberg Stojalowski and now based in the Scottish Highlands, Aseptium encompasses a decade of experience with top-end medical decontamination equipment.
Clean and safe medical equipment is an essential part of every patient’s recovery success; our technologies make it happen. Our mission is to improve the safety of patients and medical teams alike; we fulfil it by using science and clever engineering.
Discover more at aseptium.com
Lifescan
With a vision to create a world without limits for people with diabetes, LifeScan is a world leader in blood glucose monitoring – globally more than 20 million people depend on the company’s OneTouch® brand products to help them manage their diabetes. The LifeScan portfolio includes personal blood glucose meters, testing strips, lancets, point of care testing systems and integrated digital solutions.
For over 35 years, LifeScan has had an unwavering commitment to improving the quality of life for people with diabetes. Through robust history of research, technological advancements and successful product launches, LifeScan has developed products defined by simplicity, accuracy and trust.
Recent innovations such as the new OneTouch Verio Reflect® system and the OneTouch Verio Flex® meter both feature ColorSure® technology that instantly shows when patients’ blood glucose results are in or out of range, and built-in Bluetooth® Smart Technology that enables the meters to connect wirelessly and sync seamlessly with the OneTouch Reveal® mobile app, which continues to be one of the top 10 most downloaded diabetes management apps globally.
We accomplish our vision by living Our Shared Values of Care, Create, Connect and Compete. These values guide our actions and are the cornerstone of all that we do.
Learn more at lifescan.com
WHY ARE WE WORKING TOGETHER?
Both 4c Engineering and Aseptium are based in Highland and Islands Enterprise's (HIE's) Nexus collaborative workspace on Inverness Campus. LifeScan have a large facility forming part of the wider Life Science campus on the other side of the A9, adjacent to Raigmore Hospital.
In Nexus, we work alongside a number of other young companies in the life science and technology sectors. The open layout of the offices encourages discussion between companies which fosters a positive and collaborative atmosphere. We often turn to each other for advice, even on the simplest of things like identifying a reliable component supplier or recommending a source of information.
As the COVID-19 outbreak grew and spread out from China we started to become aware of potential shortages or areas where assistance was being sought from private companies. Firstly, there was the much publicised call for ventilators which then widened to ask for help with more general PPE.
We formed a small working group alongside some local engineers to see if there was anything we could do to help.
With the culture of innovation and rapid prototyping we're so used to working in it would have felt strange not to do this! We soon identified a need for additional face shields to protect workers from liquids or droplets which were sprayed, coughed or sneezed towards them.
At this point the group widened, getting input from HIE and building on some links we have within NHS Scotland (Raigmore hospital is just across the A9 from the campus). We got in touch with people here, to make sure that we weren't wasting our efforts and that what we were working on was something they actually needed (great learning note for any design project - get as much input from the end users as possible!).
By working together we've managed to access supply chain knowledge, fabrication tools and equipment, design skills and user feedback far beyond what a single company could achieve alone. Working together doesn't stop here which is why we've chosen to make this design open source and expand the team to include you and anyone else who wants to help.
For more information about Inverness Campus, see invernesscampus.co.uk
DOCUMENTS & RESOURCES
Design