24 Aug Are You Really Listening to Your Medical Device Users?
When MediPurpose first introduced our babyLance infant heel incision device in 2010, we all had high hopes for the product. Unfortunately, the babyLance’s innovative design did not fully meet the preferences and expectations of all our infant heelstick device customers in the U.S. market. Although we had obtained the input of several users during the design process, the results showed that we had not consulted with enough heelstick end-users and/or perhaps we were not really listening to what they were telling us.
I was therefore determined to fully understand the end-users’ requirements and preferences so that we could redesign the babyLance to better meet their expectations. To achieve this, we adopted the following approaches:
- Both marketing and design staff went out to talk to end-users and distributors
- We selected end-users from different hospitals and backgrounds all over the United States, as well as in Europe and Singapore
- We made models and prototypes to show end-users our design ideas so that they could give feedback to guide the design process
- We conducted a quantitative survey at the 2011 NANN Conference to validate user preferences, which you can read about in our white paper, Reinventing a Better babyLance Infant Heel Incision Device: Listening to End Users — Heelstick Trigger Activation Survey at the NANN 2011 Conference.
To say that no stone was left unturned during the process is an understatement. Virtually every component and feature —
the trigger’s design and activation force, the stability of the device, cut profiles, housing design and colors, etc. — was evaluated and verified with the end users.
To help others understand the medical device development process, we have documented our end-user research in our white paper, Reinventing a Better babyLance Infant Heel Incision Device: Understanding the Needs of End Users, which you can download for free.
Earlier this month, we announced the availability of our new, redesigned babyLance heelstick, as well as naming babyLance’s exclusive regional distribution partners, Kentec Medical (West Coast) and KOL Bio-Medical (East Coast).
In the meantime, we continue to welcome your feedback about babyLance. If you have not yet evaluated it, request no-cost product samples today so you can experience babyLance for yourself. If your hospital or clinic would like to participate in a clinical evaluation or to arrange for in-servicing, please let us know. We built babyLance with you in mind, and we want to continue to keep your needs and preferences squarely in mind!