Hologic | Fluent - Fluid Management for Hysteroscopy

New technology and user research presents the opportunity for better user experiences via user-centered design. When Hologic partnered with Manta Product Development, the Hologic engineering team had a new mechanical concept for a more efficient pump to improve their fluid management system and patient surgical outcomes.

The insights gained from conducting user research to better understand the context of use in the OR and the challenges faced by multiple users guided an in-depth look at the steps for use and provided a strong anchor point for design development. Working as an embedded member of the industrial design team and and with the mechanical and software engineers, the journey to develop this next generation product evolved.

Rather than simply integrating that pump into an updated appearance of an established architecture, we asked, “What if…?” This question was the first step in the process to significantly improve the user experience from multiple perspectives for frequent and infrequent users. Working together, we were able to:

• Establish faster set up times

• Increase usability to make the set-up process more ordered and intuitive

• Provide better human factors access to features and components via a vertical architecture

• Make the device “smart” by defining a user interface that guided set up and monitored fluid management during surgical procedures

The inflow and outflow cartridges are sterile packed and presented by the circulating nurse to the scrub nurse for insertion. Each cartridge integrates all the necessary color coded tubing and connections to make installation easy and intuitive.

The waste bag is designed to replace 4 rigid canisters, to be more compact to take up less hospital storage space and to reduce waste at the end of a procedure. Markings on the bag are large and high contrast to be easily visible during a procedure. The bag hangers are part of a weight system to cue the circulating nurse when a new bag might be needed.

Interface elements seen during the procedure are large format and high contrast for visibility across the room. Simple geometric shapes and integrated buttons minimize distractions and make patient monitoring simpler to achieve.

The vertical stature of the Fluent system allows better access for nursing staff to hang and spike bags during set-up and as needed during the surgical procedure.

Color coded cartridges only fit one way and have ergonomic grips and graphics to guide placement.

The Fluent system is “smart”. The user interface guides a new or infrequent user with an illustrated checklist. Frequent users are reminded by color coding if they have missed a step. Once all the checklist items are complete, the system allows the user to advance to the next set-up step.