Insulive
The Brief
May 2018
Develop a design solution that utilises ‘advanced textiles’ (fabric that has been enhanced by new technologies) to improve well-being or the quality of people’s lives.
Identifying the Problem
Almost 400,000 people in the UK must inject or pump insulin into their body to remove glucose from the blood. Insufficient control can result in ketoacidosis, heart or kidney disease and blindness, among others. The ease with which an individual is able to maintain a stable blood sugar level varies and many use an insulin pump for the greater control they provide.
However, needing to wear an electronic pump 24/7 can cause anxiety, or be a nuisance. Furthermore, existing insulin pumps generate a large amount of waste from all the consumable components they need (vials, syringes, reservoirs, tubing, infusion sets and applicators).
I feel like a robot! It's a nightmare on holidays.
Lucy - Type 1 Diabetic
How Insulive Helps
Insulive is a flexible and wearable insulin pump. It makes it much easier and more comfortable to pump insulin. It is reuseable, and it's efficient and lightweight packaging reduces waste to landfill. Furthermore, the use of micro-needles and pre-filled insulin cartridges eliminated sharps waste.
The pump is controlled entirelly from a software interface on a connected device so that the wearer doesn't feel like they are connected to a machine.
How Insulive Works
Insulive utilises textiles woven with carbon nano tubes to peristaltically pump insulin from an insulin reservoir, through a micro-needle patch, into the user.
Insulive makes use of flexible circuitry and wireless charging so that it is moudable and waterproof. This allows inuslive to move with you, wherever you go.
2018
RSA Student Design Award
Insulive won the Eddie Squires award for the Wearing Intelligence 2.0 brief in the 2018 RSA Student Design Awards.