Geoff Hollington 09.11.09 Materials and Design in Healthcare Furniture

Geoff Hollington 09.11.09

Materials and Design in Healthcare Furniture

> Consulting

> Product innovation and design

> Materials and process innovation with BGH

> Materials KTN — open innovation

> Space IGT

> Design2.0 <www.designtwopointzero.com>

> Design Bugs Out

Porter's ChairMinimaVernacare

Bedside CabinetKinneir DufortBristol Maid

CommodePearsonLloydKirton Healthcare

Bedside System HollingtonHerman Miller

Patient ChairPearsonLloydKirton Healthcare

> Design Bugs Out winning designs

TUB

TOP TRAYS

CART

PERSONAL POD

MEDS POD

ABS

MOULDED MELAMINE

POWDER COAT

PP COPOLYMER

GLASS-FILLED PP

> Materials and Design

Materials and Design

Tools:

> Materials and processes

> Surface finishes

> Shape

> Communication

Goals:

> Functional surface properties

> Effective cleaning

> Wear resistance

> Reassuring appearance

> Surface properties

Surface properties

> Surface properties

Hydrophobic = good? Surfaces that shed water easily will not allow bacteria to stick?

a | The Gram-positive cell wall is composed of a thick, multilayered peptidoglycan sheath outside of the cytoplasmic membrane. Teichoic acids are linked to and embedded in the peptidoglycan, and lipoteichoic acids extend into the cytoplasmic membrane.

b | The Gram-negative cell wall is composed of an outer membrane linked by lipoproteins to thin, mainly single-layered peptidoglycan. The peptidoglycan is located within the periplasmic space that is created between the outer and inner membranes. The outer membrane includes porins, which allow the passage of small hydrophilic molecules across the membrane, and lipopolysaccharide molecules that extend into extracellular space.

Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria [Gram stain test — HC Gram 1882]

Bacteria adhere to hydrophobic surfaces

Bacteria slide off hydrophobic surfaces

The bacterial cell wall

> Surface properties

> Surface properties

Antimicrobial agents?Kill bacteria automatically when they attach to a surface

bacteria attached directly to surfacessoil [aka crud] bacteria inhabiting soil material

Anti-microbial agents embedded in substrates or in coatings can only attack bacteria they can touch

> Surface properties

bacteria inhabiting soil material

Anti-microbial agents embedded in substrates or in coatings can only attack bacteria they can touch

> Surface properties

> Cleaning

Cleaning — Technology and Psychology

> Cleaning

Microfibre systems Can be more effective that tradititional wet systems

> Cleaning

< 1.5—2.0 microns >

polyamide [nylon] — lyophilic and hydrophilic [affinity to water]

polyester — lyophilic [affinity to oil]

Microfibre filament

> Cleaning

Surface texture Even very fine textures interfere with cleaning effectiveness

> Cleaning

Surface textures are common in many product categories, employed for durability, manufacturing consistency and aesthetics

Smooth surfaces are problematic in manufacturing and robustness in use, but are essential in many healthcare applications

Surface textures

> Cleaning

Surface roughness average [Ra} must be 0.1microns or less, ie a smooth, glossy appearnce

Surface textures

> <

Ra [

Roughness

avera

ge]

> Cleaning

Cleaning behaviour Can a design encourage effective cleaning behaviour?

> Cleaning

The grime boundary becomes the target edge for the next cleaning cycle — possibly

Geoff Hollington 09.11.09

Materials and Design in Healthcare Furniture

> Wear

Wear resistance

> Wear

Scratches Scratching significantly diminishes the cleanability of a surface

< 0.5 — 1.0 microns >

> Wear

Both coccus (spherical) and bacillus (rod-shaped) bacteria can be trapped in microscopic surface scratches in materials such as stainless steel and plastics.

When a surface is cleaned, trapped bacteria will be left behind, possibly along with the nutrients that support them.

> Wear

> Wear

> User behaviour

User behaviour

Users will tend to look after their own interests

> User behaviour

Geoff Hollington 09.11.09

thank you