The Faster, Easier Way to Develop New Medical Devices

Indisputably, technology has advanced a gargantuan number of industries – such as transportation and medicine – at a breakneck speed. The field of medical science causes constant amazement with new medical products and treatments. The days are past when vital organ transplants made the news. Gene therapy and prolonging a healthy life are the buzzwords of today.

Most of these developments come out of laboratories and medical breakthroughs from highly skilled medical practitioners. However, in some situations the people affected with conditions have the best insight for finding a better way to do something. Who knows best what it’s like to be visually impaired or to live without a limb than someone who lives that way every day?

Living with a condition often inspires ideas that can improve on devices already available, or that don’t exist at all. The roadblock to creative ideas is often finding out what the next step is in advancing them. Most people don’t have a lab they can turn to, and even if they did the financial requirements would be daunting. Cad Crowd makes technology user-friendly by providing a platform that anyone can utilize to turn an idea into a reality with the worlds leading designers.

Cad Crowd has tapped into professional 3D designers located around the world. Through our services, you can host a engineering design contest that anybody with an idea can participate in while you judge the best design. Some incredible ideas have morphed into amazing realities, so it’s worthwhile to look at some past design contests. In addition, custom visibility options allow you to hide your project from non-members or even make your project only open to specific design experts you invite to participate.

Someone who finds breathing difficult uses a specialized straw to help. Over time there were problems with the straw’s design, so a new design was considered. The original designer sought the expertise of others to provide input on a new product design. This inventor provided a 3D facial scan so that designers could conform and personalize the straw to their anatomic features.

The dimensions were already known from the previous design and the contest holder provided them as a reference point for the designers. Eight designers took up the challenge and developed 24 concepts for the straw design.

Breathing Assistance Straw Remodel – Entry #20 by John Paulo

John Paulo’s design proved to be exactly what was needed and the contest owner now has a tool that makes living with a condition a whole lot easier.

Another competition holder was looking for a cover for a prosthetic leg. Designs ranged from conservative to extreme, totaling 59 entries.

African art prosthetic leg cover- Entry #31 by NabilZer

Designer NabilZer went all out with this one featuring African art.

3D custom lattice design concept – Entry #47 by Justin Logan

Geometric 3D design for prosthetic leg cover – Entry #46 by Justin Logan

While designer Justin Logan made prosthetics a definite art statement with his lattice and geometric designs, these coverings were not just decorative but also easy to attach and resistant to scuff marks and bumps.

Prosthetic leg cover V 3.0 – Entry #38 by KP Harisankar

Other designs, such as this one from KP Harisankar, had a sporty, muscular look that would certainly inspire the wearer to excel in any sport.

Another contest holder wanted a model developed to explain a skin cancer removal procedure to patients. Ten entries tackled the subject ranging from stackable (ODBDesign) to concentric ring designs (Adam).

Mohs model translucent for surgery – Entry #5 by ODBDesign

Mohs 3D surgery model/final concept – Entry #10 by Adam

Devices that summon emergency services have been available for quite some time, often in the form of a necklace, but one contest holder wanted something more discreet, like a watch. This contest brought in 20 design submissions.

Second design for heart monitor – Entry #3 by DesignAssist

DesignAssist’s entry could easily be mistaken for a sports watch and had the required features of an alarm button and a cancel button in a waterproof casing.

Heart safety watch – Entry #5 by by Steven INA

Whereas designer Steven INA’s submission would look classy on anyone’s wrist and also happens to be a safe watch.

Health care workers go through daily wear and tear from repetitive lifting and bending patients’ limbs during rehabilitation sessions. Someone came up with the idea of reducing this toil on rehab workers by having a robot perform the actions, since a robot wouldn’t have to stop for rests in between sessions. The results would be workers with fewer injuries and patients having their strength restored faster.

The Robert medical rehabilitation robot project – Entry #42 by Harris M

This entry by Harris M certainly has a characteristically robotic look and is intended to be simple to manufacture.

The Robert (Weyland-interpretation MK) – Entry #16 by Samadoni

This one by Samadoni looks like a character on a long-running British sci-fi series with the difference that this one actually does something constructive.

Robert 200 – Entry #28 by AdamWhile the submission by Adam looks like it could fit in well to a therapeutic environment, helping to make limbs strong again.

As the world’s population continues to benefit from medical advances, the ability to design specialized equipment accelerates the whole process. Cad Crowd’s design contests make it possible for anyone to solicit design plans for a project. Cad Crowd’s database of skilled computer-assisted design experts removes the daunting hurdle for any inventor in need of such expertise.

Contact Cad Crowd with your medical innovation, or any idea you have, to start the process of turning your product concepts and invention ideas into a reality. The contest owner is always in control of the competition and chooses the winning design. The other designs in the competition remain the property of the contest owner.

Have an idea that you can put in words or draw? Start a design contest on Cad Crowd. Your invention could be a major asset to many people, so let us help you help them.