The AdrenaKey aims to solve a few key issues with traditional Adrenaline auto-injectors (EpiPens). These issues were found to relate mostly to portability and usability:
- Less than half of people prescribed an EpiPen carried it with them at all times.
- Only 33% of people correctly used an EpiPen in an emergency situation without any prior training.
My research was focused on understanding why this occurs and how to solve it. Traditional EpiPens are; rarely used, bulky, obtrusive and inconvenient. They also need a special case to keep them safe which makes them even bulkier. There is also a stigma around carrying an EpiPen that most users would prefer to avoid. To solve this issue, I needed to design something that is unobtrusive/slim and small, easy to remember and less ‘medical’ looking to reduce stigma.
- Less than half of people prescribed an EpiPen carried it with them at all times.
- Only 33% of people correctly used an EpiPen in an emergency situation without any prior training.
My research was focused on understanding why this occurs and how to solve it. Traditional EpiPens are; rarely used, bulky, obtrusive and inconvenient. They also need a special case to keep them safe which makes them even bulkier. There is also a stigma around carrying an EpiPen that most users would prefer to avoid. To solve this issue, I needed to design something that is unobtrusive/slim and small, easy to remember and less ‘medical’ looking to reduce stigma.
AdrenaKey
Low “carry-compliance” relating to EpiPens is a serious issue. AdrenaKey makes compliance easier to bring peace of mind to allergy sufferers and carers. The solution to solve this compliance is in the form factor of the AdrenaKey. A small key-shaped device that can be easily slipped into a pocket or attached to a keychain. The design of the AdrenaKey is sleek and aesthetic to blend into keys and not stand out as a medical device. This reduces the stigma around carrying an EpiPen. The AdrenaKey is also specially designed to be intuitive to use.
Portability
Many EpiPen users find themselves in need of an injection very rarely, for some only 1-2 times in their life. This infrequency and uncertainty of usage combined with the traditional bulky design and need for a special carrying case lead many to forget their EpiPen and in some cases, purposefully avoid carrying them altogether. I found more than half of people prescribed an EpiPen will not have it on them when going out. The aim of the AdrenaKey is to solve this issue by having a simple device that can be attached to your keyring and then forgotten about until it is needed. No extra thought is needed to remember to bring your AdrenaKey as people always have their keys.
Intuitive usage
The AdrenaKey has an easy 3 step method to administer the medication. AdrenaKey is more simple and intuitive than other alternatives such as the EpiPen. The design feels natural: The cap is removed from the needle end revealing an obvious needle exit. It is designed in a way that there is no possible way to confuse where the exit of the needle is. Step 1 of administration is to remove the small flap on the side. This is so that it has one extra step to reduce any accidental activation in pockets or by children. Once the flap is removed the cap comes off easily and the needle end is injected into the thigh and held for ~5s.
Wet/Dry activation
Temperature fluctuation is a big problem for normal EpiPen's. The medication inside is sensitive to temperature changes. The normal way to combat this is to have a big bulky bag that protects the EpiPen from extreme temperatures. My solution is to separate the medication into “Wet and Dry” and then mix them together before the final injection. This solves temperature stability and means the “shelf life” of the product is greatly increased. Ultimately this will benefit the consumer as they will not have to replace the device as often given this resistance to temperature fluctuation.
Longer needle to increase IM injection likelihood
Intramuscular injection is recommended to achieve the fastest adrenaline response compared to subcutaneous injection. Studies have found that traditional EpiPens have needles that are too short for some women and children. The EpiPen® needle is only 15.2mm long whereas AdrenaKey’s needle is 23mm long. This results in an IM injection more often. As shown by the graph above the horizontal line is the length of an EpiPen needle, which misses the IM threshold for the majority of women.
www.emerade.com/hcp/adrenaline-auto-injector
www.emerade.com/hcp/adrenaline-auto-injector
Video
Tim Bilston, AdrenaKey
Tim Bilston, Portability
Tim Bilston, Intuitive usage
Tim Bilston, Wet/Dry activation
Tim Bilston, Longer needle to increase IM injection likelihood
Tim Bilston, Video
