RhinoPinch ®: Disposable nose bleed stauncher

• www.shil.co.uk

The Challenge

Sometimes a seemingly simple problem requires significant development to reach a satisfactory solution. Nose bleeds in a hospital environment require monitoring. Typically a patient will not tend to the nose bleed satisfactorily on their own and a nurse will have to watch over until the nose stops bleeding and in some situations hold the patients nose.

This is particularly common in elderly patients who are also susceptible to skin necrosis. Scottish Health Innovations approached ELEMENT ZERO_SIX to develop Dr Agbenyega’s nose clip concept into a simple and cost effective design which could be licensed.

Approach

A more detailed level of investigation was required to build a strong research base. We spoke with a number of clinicians throughout the process to validate every stage of development. The key success of this project was incremental developments and attention to detail. Using rapid prototyping techniques allowed highly informed decisions to be made at every stage.

These prototypes could be tested both aesthetically and mechanically and allowed nurses to interact with the product. This ensured that the product offering was not only pleasing and safe to use but also commercially viable.

Result

Through incremental development we were able to add high value to every aspect of the product. The final clip design comprises a strong ratchet system locking mechanism, simple release interaction points and can be used with a variety of patient ages.

All of these features are provided by one part. This part is extremely cheap to produce but offers high value to the customer and unique design features that provide a strong patent. SHIL have successfully licensed the product to Medical Devices Technology International Ltd (MDTi) www.mdti.co.uk and the product was launched in the UK on 21st April 2008