The SPENDER project, organised as a UJI.>LAB Challenge, emerged from the need of people who have Parkinson’s disease with dysphagia (difficulties in swallowing food or drinks) to use dispensers of thickeners when they are eating or drinking. Dispensers should be discreet and easy to use for people with reduced mobility.
Currently, when users who have dysphagia associated with Parkinson’s disease are not at home, they have to take with them food or drink that has been previously prepared with thickener or they use child devices for storing and measuring out the thickener in situ. Examples are powdered milk dispensers for babies, which tend to have some kind of screw-top closing mechanism that makes them hard to handle. This situation limits the inclusion of these people and affects their life outside the home.
SPENDER will design and 3D print, with the help of the FabLab at Espaitec, various models of dispensers with a simple mechanism to obtain the dose of thickener required by people with Parkinson’s disease and dysphagia. In this way, users can add the thickener in situ in a way that is easy, discreet and adapted to people with reduced mobility, so that they can maintain their anonymity.
The UJI.>LAB Challenge SPENDER, coordinated by technical staff from Espaitec (the Science and Technology Park of the Universitat Jaume I), has benefited from the support of the Castelló Parkinson’s Disease Association, an organisation that understands the problem and the setting in which the dispensers will be validated.
The project is funded by the Valencian Innovation Agency (AVI).
The UJI.>LAB Challenge is a way to generate open innovation that is led by the UJI’s Science and Technology Park, Espaitec, as part of the UJI.>LAB programme funded by the Valencian Innovation Agency (AVI).
The main aim of the UJI.>LAB Challenge is to promote and strengthen the development of co‑creative, innovative projects through the development of idea competitions. In these competitions, students can present solutions to the challenges that are set, based essentially on a combination of methodologies known as Design Thinking, Human Centred and Design Sprint called “Innovation Camp”, through which they explore, experiment, develop prototypes and, above all, learn.
The competition is open to students of the subject Conceptual Design (DI2014) in the second year of the UJI Bachelor’s Degree in Industrial Design and Product Development Engineering who are enrolled for the academic year 2022-2023. The minimum requirement is that at least one member of the team has the knowledge needed to obtain a file in “.stl” format. The solvers will work collaboratively in teams of 3 or 4 people.
The application period is from 21 December 2022 to 20 January 2023. Applications received after the above deadline or application forms that are not completed correctly will not be eligible.
DOCUMENTS TO BE ATTACHED TO THE REGISTRATION
Proof of enrolment
Link: https://forms.gle/CuCVmKwAtdNWov5M7
The UJI.>LAB Challenge SPENDER will take place from February to May 2022 in blended mode (face-to-face meetings and independent work). The face-to-face meetings will be held in the multipurpose room of Espaitec 2 and students should take their laptops with them.
STAGE 1. EXPLORE THE POTENTIAL SOLUTION: SEPTEMBER TO DECEMBER
Presentation and start of the conceptual stage.
Development (see start of Article 3).
STUDENT REGISTRATION: from 21 December to 20 January (both inclusive)
Those who are interested should submit an application in accordance with Article 4 of this call within the period indicated.
NOTIFICATION OF PARTICIPATION TO THE SOLVERS: from 23 to 27 January
The solvers will be sent an email informing them that the list of accepted/rejected applications has been posted on the webpage of UJI.>LAB. SPENDER. They will be asked to confirm their acceptance of the place.
PRELIMINARY TRAINING SESSION: 3 de February (afternoon)
Place: Espaitec multipurpose room.
A preliminary information session will be held to explain the development of the Challenge and the methodology.
Preliminary activities to prepare and train the solver teams.
Explanatory talk “Tips and limitations of 3D printing applied to UJI.>LAB Challenge SPENDER”.
STAGE 2. EXPERIMENT AND DEVELOP PROTOTYPES
6 to 24 February: conceptual stage and execution of the idea
Independent work. This stage is not face-to-face.
The aim of this period is to complete the conception, sketching and optimisation of the potential design to be executed. In addition, the .stl file must be created that is required to print the SPENDER in 3D.
27 February to 29 March: Production of the spender
FabLab facilities.
Production of the Spenders by the solvers using the 3D printers in the FabLab. Due to space and availability reasons, each team of solvers will be assigned a day and a time to be able to print the design of their Spender.
31 March (afternoon): Presentation of the final prototype
Espaitec multipurpose room.
Presentation of the final prototype by the solvers using elevator pitches, and delivery of the Spenders to the Castelló Parkinson’s Disease Association for testing and final validation.
Talk on entrepreneurship.
3 April to 9 May: Validation by users from the Parkinson’s association
The solvers are not involved in this stage.
Trial and testing of the Spenders by users from the Parkinson’s association for a period of time in their everyday life.
STAGE 3. DISCOVER AND LEARN
12 May (afternoon): Formulation of conclusions
Evaluation of the Spenders.
Formulation of conclusions by the teams of solvers.
Presentation of the participation benefits.
MINIMUM DESIGN REQUIREMENTS OF THE SPENDER:
Maximum dimensions: 250×250×270 mm. These dimensions are fixed by the operating dimensions of the 3D printer. To create the design, it must be considered that the dispenser should be easy to transport and go unnoticed by the rest of the population.
Joints and design1: the joints of the SPENDER and the design in itself cannot have any sharp corners or any other type of flaw that could hurt the user.
Closing mechanism: a screw-top closing mechanism is not permitted due to the difficulty it represents for people with this kind of disorder. In addition, if the solvers opt for a push-button dispensing mechanism, this must not need too much force to open and it should not be too sensitive as, in some cases, this solution will not be suitable due to very nature of the disease (lack of strength and tremors).
Additional material: preferably, it should be possible to 3D print the entire design. However, if the closing mechanism requires additional elements (springs, nuts and bolts or other elements), it should be taken into account that they will not be provided by Espaitec. In addition, if this kind of additional element is used, it must be ensured that it does not have any negative implications for the use of the SPENDER in the food sector.
SPENDER capacity: no specific capacity is established. However, the SPENDER’s capacity should be determined considering that approximately:
1 SPENDERs whose designs could have a negative effect on the administration of the thickener or the wellbeing of the user will not be selected and produced.
2 This calculation has been made by taking as a reference value the average of three commercial brands of thickener.
RELEVANT INFORMATION FOR PRODUCING THE SPENDER
Parkinson’s disease is a neurodegenerative disorder that affects the nervous system and causes motor and non-motor symptoms that appear slowly and progressively. The motor symptoms are characterised by a slowing down of body movements, postural instability, tremors and rigidity.
Dysphagia is one of the non-motor symptoms of Parkinson’s disease and is defined as the difficulty or inability to swallow food (solids and/or liquids) effectively (in one action) and safely (without choking).
