Textiles4Life: Design of disaster relief equipment with discarded textiles

The thesis explores the potential of recycling textiles to be used as a solution for disaster relief in winter areas. The followed process is a systematic method where the required areas are researched, to finally achieve three potential solutions. The firs solution is a scarf with a hood sewed into it. It can be wrapped around the neck, and it...

Sustainable material research: CoffeeBased panels in a condiment organizer

Plastics that originate from renewable sources, such as potatoes or fungi, are called biobased plastics. Because of their origin, biobased plastics pose as sustainable alternative to traditional plastics, which are made from oil, a fossil substance. CoffeeBased is a small company that manufactures biobased plastic products, using their own...

Reducing the environmental impact of gloves used in the Intensive Care Unit: Towards greener ICUs

Background<br/>The healthcare sector is one of the most polluting sectors in the Netherlands. To limit the environmental impact of the medical sector, Erasmus MC collaborated with Metabolic to conduct a Material Flow Analysis (MFA) and Impact Assessment for the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). The research revealed the hotspots of the ICU,...

Towards a Circular ICU: How to implement reusable video laryngoscopes at the ICU

The healthcare sector uses a lot of on single use medical products, causing large amounts of CO₂ emissions and excessive amounts of waste. This project contributes to a circular Intensive Care Unit (ICU) by investigating the barriers and possible solutions for a transition from single use video laryngoscopes (VL) to (partly) reusable ones, in...

YpsoMate Refill: Concept design of a reusable self-injection device for the circular economy.

This thesis proposes the YpsoMate Refill concept design: an autoinjector that can be refilled at a Refill Hub to reduce its environmental impact. After five reuses, it has a 60% lower CO2e impact than the single-use YpsoMate. The concept design aims to inspire the non-profit Alliance to Zero in their journey towards a sustainable pharmaceutical...

Stimulating waste separation in the Intensive Care Unit: Exploring opportunities for Circular waste streams

This design thesis explored the possibilities of recycling medical waste from the Intensive Care Unit of the Erasmus MC Hospital in the transition towards Circular ICUs. Through a combination of qualitative research methods, such as observations, interviews and waste audit, the medical context and the waste composition were explored. By...

ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) in Radiology Workflow to drive Strategic Business Value of University Hospitals in the Netherlands

Healthcare is an essential part of our lives, promoting and preserving the health of individuals and society. The industry has been evolving at a high pace over the last few decades, driven by technology and growing care demands. This progress is currently having an opposite effect on the overarching objective of serving healthy living due to...

DrugWise: a sustainable approach towards reducing medicine waste in the operating rooms

-What- <br/><br/>Medicines are used for all types of surgeries in the operating room (OR). They are needed to provide safe and effective care. However, the use of medicines also results in waste. Research conducted by Barbariol et al. (2021) highlighted that a substantial proportion, ranging from 20% to 50%, of medications prepared in the OR...

Sustainable endoscopy: Redesigning the polyp trap

This project aims to reduce the environmental impact of an endoscopic product, the Polyp trap. The polyp trap is a single use device, that is used during endoscopy to catch removed polyps. Endoscopy is a department that has a relatively high reliance on single-use devices. This is one of the reasons why endoscopy has a high carbon footprint....

Hybrid Phaco: Driving circularity in eye surgery with a semi-disposable phacoemulsification redesign

Cataract surgeries using phacoemulsification (phaco) are standard practice, accounting for the large majority of all cataract surgeries. Reliance on sterilization processes has significant environmental implications, giving its energy and resource intensive nature. <br/><br/>This thesis introduces a novel hybrid phaco handpiece design,...