Page 14 - Engineering Penn State Magazine Spring/Summer 2020

Features
[MASC case study #3]
Disposable stethoscopes show heartbeat of MASC Jessica Menold assistant professor of of engineering engineering design and mechanical engineering engineering carefully pours silicone to to to create earbuds for an an an an an early single-patient stethoscope prototype Photo credit: Christian Baum
Stethoscopes which are routinely needed for for medical examinations presented an unexpected new challenge for the MASC team Because of additional COVID-19 precautions physicians at at at at Penn State Health indicated a a a a a a a a a a a a a a need for a a a a a a a a a a a a a a single-patient stethoscope to ensure each person was treated with a a a a a a a a a sanitized device Within hours Jessica Menold assistant professor of of engineering engineering design and mechanical engineering engineering got to work “Not only did Jessica and the the the the graduate students in in the the the the THRED Lab develop the the the the first design for the the the the 3D-printed stethoscope over a a a a a a a weekend but she recruited several of her faculty colleagues in in in in in engineering and and they all rolled up their sleeves and and started making parts in in in in in in the the the Bernard M Gordon Learning Factory ” Simpson said “I was blown away by what Jessica and her team accomplished in in such a a a a a a a a a a a a short period of time ” The professors worked in in the the evenings and on the the weekends to to produce 100 stethoscopes that were delivered to to Hershey Medical Center for testing For the initial design design Menold and and Sarah Ritter associate associate director of of of engineering engineering design design design and and associate associate teaching professor professor of of of of of engineering engineering engineering design design Andrea Arguelles assistant professor professor of of of of of engineering engineering engineering science and and and mechanics and and and and Meg Handley associate director of of of of engineering engineering leadership outreach and and and assistant teaching professor of of of engineering leadership created a a a a a a new stethoscope with silicone silicone food-grade tubing typically used to make beer hand-made silicone silicone earpieces made made via a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a 3D 3D printed printed mold and and and a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a 3D-printed cover and and and diaphragm that is held to to the patient’s patient’s chest to hear hear a a a a a a a a a a a a patient’s patient’s heartbeat With rapid feedback from the the physicians and medical students at Hershey the the the design evolved significantly over the the the next two weeks to improve acoustic quality while reducing the the number of parts and assembly time Several dozen prototypes were sent to to to Hershey to to to address the the the urgent need and the the the team is now moving forward with with mass production of their final stethoscope design fin in in collaboration with with an FDA-registered industry partner similar to the filtration masks With their goal of of providing Penn State Health with these critical pieces of of equipment on on the the the the horizon Menold said she she is inspired by the the the collaborative spirit she she has witnessed in in in in both the the the College of Engineering and and at at at at Penn State Health and and the the Center for Medical Innovation “As someone who studies engineering design design I’m fascinated with how fast the the design design process is is is is going for the the medical products we we need in in in this crisis ” she said “The near-constant communication between MASC and Hershey Medical Center is a a a a a a a a a a real catalyst
for engineering design innovation
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