Area of Concentration (Petal): Innovation 

Specialty (if any): Emergency and Critical Care Medicine

Keywords: Biodesign, Ultrasound, Clinical Innovation

Background: The Biodesign process systematically identifies unmet clinical needs and ideates innovative solutions, crucial for advancing medical care. Through a prior Biodesign needs assessment, significant challenges in effective bedside ultrasonography were highlighted as a critical clinical need in acute care settings like EDs and ICUs. Addressing these challenges is essential for enhancing patient outcomes, provider workflows, and health system efficiency.

Objectives: This project aims to apply the Biodesign process to develop solutions specifically targeted at improving bedside ultrasonography. The focus is on iterating designs that address the challenges identified in the needs assessment.

Design: The project's approach included conducting additional interviews with stakeholders to validate and refine the understanding of the initial need. The overall problem was sub-segmented into patient-centric, device-centric, and provider-centric issues. Market landscaping and competitive analyses were performed to guide the innovation process. The design phase involved prototyping potential solutions using low-fidelity materials to quickly test concepts and gather early feedback.

Impact/Effectiveness: The use of the Biodesign process allows for incorporating multiple stakeholder perspectives, which is anticipated to yield solutions that offer substantial value to various parties involved. While the project is still in development, the expected outcome is to significantly improve the experience and effectiveness of bedside ultrasonography.

Lessons Learned: The project underscores the importance of the Biodesign process in medical innovation. It highlighted specific challenges related to the technical feasibility and clinical utility of proposed solutions, reinforcing the need for iterative testing and stakeholder engagement.

Summary: This initiative leverages the Biodesign process to tackle the complexities of bedside ultrasonography in acute care settings. Through stakeholder engagement and iterative design, it aims to develop solutions that enhance clinical outcomes and streamline healthcare delivery.