Title
Towards Circular ICUs: Circular Intubations as a Catalyser for Systemic Change
Author
Ville, Alicia (Student TU Delft)
Hunfeld, Nicole (Erasmus MC)
Bakker, C.A. (TU Delft Circular Product Design) 
Sené, Baptiste (Van Berlo)
Diehl, J.C. (TU Delft Design for Sustainability)
Contributor
Melles, M. (editor)
Goossens, R.H. (editor)
Date
2024
Abstract
This project aims to reduce the environmental impact of the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the Erasmus Medical Center (EMC). Systemic design research was executed to map the current waste flow created by the ICU. Literature review, interviews and observations were performed to gather information about the healthcare protocols, hospital procurement process, intubation practices and used devices and consumables. This resulted in a set of challenges which were used to ideate from different perspectives to improve the sustainability of the ICU. A set of opportunities to introduce circularity within the ICU were defined. These opportunities ranged from waste separation to the reduction of the disposal of unused products. The selected circular opportunity was intubation, needed when patients cannot breathe by themselves. For this, a video laryngoscope, which is composed of various plastics, a video camera, and a led light, is used for only a few minutes and disposed of (and incinerated) directly afterwards. The aim of the second part of this research project was: Can we design a circular intubation procedure as a catalyzer for systemic change towards circular ICUs? One of the proposed circular strategies for the video laryngoscope is the reprocessing of intubation devices used at the ICU itself. A transition model toward reprocessing using UV-C radiation technique was further developed. Compared to current reprocessing procedures, UV-C disinfection consumes no water and less electricity and offers the possibility of decentralized reprocessing within the ICU department itself. This project aims to provoke conversations between the hospital, manufacturers and other stakeholders about how the healthcare sector could start reprocessing valuable medical devices towards a circular ICU.
Subject
Circular healthcare
Systemic design
Intensive Care Unit
Intubation
To reference this document use:
http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:ae6347bb-86e3-4b0a-ab89-ecf6b8a71e30
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-32198-6_22
Publisher
Springer, Cham
Embargo date
2024-05-05
ISBN
978-3-031-32197-9
Source
Springer Series in Design and Innovation: Proceedings of the International Conference on Healthcare Systems Ergonomics and Patient Safety, HEPS2022
Event
HEPS2022, 2023-11-02 → 2023-11-04, Delft, Netherlands
Series
Springer Series in Design and Innovation, 2661-8184, 30
Bibliographical note
Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository 'You share, we take care!' - Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.
Part of collection
Institutional Repository
Document type
conference paper
Rights
© 2024 Alicia Ville, Nicole Hunfeld, C.A. Bakker, Baptiste Sené, J.C. Diehl