Master Graduation Project Sensing senses for decubitus prevention Faculty Industrial Design Technical University Eindhoven 2008 Student : Marcel Verbunt Coach :

Preface Healthcare is an interesting and grateful design area with many challenging problems to solve. As designer I like to work connected with people and I try to use my skills to contribute with the improvement of the quality of life. Although the medical world is already full of technical innovations there are many challenges left. With a change in healthcare patients become more autonomous and new products are needed. With this report I describe the design process and development of a product which aims to decrease the risk on decubitus for people with a spinal cord injury (SCI). During the design process I experienced the complexity of the subject and the enthusiasm of a small group of people that is studying the subject. All these people have the same goal; decreasing the number of decubitus and improve the quality of life. I decided to dive into the deep and with the help of many experts I managed to breath. With the support from different fields I developed a new method for decubitus prevention based on the needs of the future. At the end I am proud to present my work which hopefully contributes to the prevention of decubitus and inspire others. Involved in the project is Bos Medical, a company in which I found a client. I want to thank Wim Jalink and Danny Goossen who supported me and injected the project with their knowledge, energy, and motivation. Thanks for the trust and cooperation. I also want to thank my coach Christoph Bartneck for coaching and all mental support during the past years. I want to thank you for the opportunity to be surprised, learn, be surprised again, laugh, and graduate coached by you. I will not forget to thank the students and members of the staff that helped me during the moments that my own skills didn't match the tasks for the project.