Initial Demand and Wish List

Identifying the Need:

• ​What do they want?

- A way for kids to not dislike vaccines, less painful/scary

- An easily distributable way to get vaccines

• ​Where do they want it?

- Administered to hospitals

• ​When do they want it?

- There is no specific time that this product needs to be made

• ​What price are they willing to pay?

- pharmaceutical companies: goal is to get the most money out of everyone

- Would probably pay a lot, but less ethically correct
- Other route: make it as cheap as possible for the benefit of others
- Probably the better thing to do
- Wouldn't make as much money
- Could probably get sponsors such as unicef

Then you investigate key issues such as

• ​How large is the market?​ This is usually determined by conducting a​ “consumer analysis”
through surveys​.

- Very large but shrinking

- To be further evaluated after survey
• ​Is anyone else supplying this market? ​This is usually determined by conducting
“competitor analysis”​ through market studies. If so, can you determine if there are any needs
not met? CAN YOU DO BETTER?

- A vaccine patch for measles is in the works, but it is not yet approved or given out
- Ours will be better because it will be used for many different vaccines and it will be
useful to the less fortunate

• ​Is the market realistic?​ “I want to go to Mars next week” is not realistic

- Yes

• ​What are the financial and legal risks? ​Research ​existing patents​ to see if you risk any
violations.

- The product needs to be FDA approved

- No side effects allowed

• Finally, ​can you make a profit​ by designing and producing a product for this market?

- Yes, biomedical engineering is a very needed profession right now, as the industry is
constantly changing, growing and improving.

Defining the Problem

● Kids are scared of vaccines
● Needles and traditional vaccines are wasteful
● Other countries don't have access to facilities to give vaccines

Problem Definition: Create a less painful and accessible version of vaccines.

Design Specifications: D vs.W

Performance
● W - comfortable
● W - not super noticeable
● D - easy to use
● D- not painful

Materials
● D - not wasteful
● W - Cheap
● W - Reliable
● W - Comfortable
● D - sticky

Time
● D - Must be completed by the project presentation day

Cost
● D- Cheaper to make than to buy

Standards
● D - must be FDA approved

Safety
● D - must not have bad side effects
● D- must not cause allergic reaction

Transport
● D - must be easy to administer in multiple places

Environment
● W - biodegradable
● D - won’t dissolve or fall off in water/sweat