Abstract
Dysphagia is a medical condition that affects the swallowing of food and liquids in an individual. If left untreated, it increases the risk of malnutrition and pneumonia in the patient which negatively impacts patient outcomes and healthcare resources. One of the methods to treat this issue is to modify the consistency of the food and fluids that the patient consumes. However, attaining the correct fluid consistency is difficult even for experienced caretakers as the consistency is affected by factors such as temperature, type of fluid used, type of thickener used, etc. By testing the fluids, caretakers can determine the consistency of the fluids, but these testing methods face two issues which are their ease of use and cost. This paper uses a novel design methodology that combines intuitive design and frugal design methodology to create a solution that addresses these issues and the needs of users. The methodology has 5 stages which are needs identification, design specification, initial concept designs, iterative product development, and the final prototype. The final prototype was tested for accuracy in determining the consistency of thickened fluid, consistency of measurement between different devices, and time to results. For the accuracy of the device, it obtained identical readings across different types of fluid, time, temperatures, and target consistencies when compared to the IDDSI flow test which is the current gold standard. The only exception was when using resource 2.0 as a fluid medium. In the consistency testing, the two different sets of devices were found to be consistent with each other across different fluids, target consistencies, and time in predicting the consistency of the thickened fluid. In the time-to-result testing, the device was found to be twice as fast as the IDDSI flow test. By using this device, caretakers and nurses can determine the consistency of thickened fluid accurately, quickly, cheaply, and intuitively. The novel design methodology can also be used to design new products where ease of use and cost are a concern to designers. Keywords: Dysphagia management, Intuitive design, Frugal design, IDDSI flow test, design methodology, thickened fluids, fluid consistency.