Nova Health Works

The nation is currently facing a heroin epidemic of massive proportions, and Nova Health Works seeks to make an impact by reducing the loss of life as a result of overdose. The Nova Patch was designed to be low cost, highly effective, and most of all easy to use.

the problem

The problem is staggering. Not only has the 4x increase in pain medication caused a 286% increase in opioid overdoses, but the life-saving medication naloxone (Narcan) has seen a ten fold increase in cost. 

Even further, the primary approach to delivery is highlighted in this graphic that on paper is confusing enough, removed from a life threatening situation.

User research found a number of key insights: people drop and break the glass medication vials, use either too much or too little pressure, and the shock of the situation often causes hand tremors so severe users can't even administer the medication.

Ideation

The one thing I knew for sure going into this is I wanted to make an intramuscular device, as it boasts a 94% efficacy at reversing an overdose compared with the 75% efficacy of intranasal. As such the design inputs became: intramuscular, needlestick safe, capacious enough to deliver a volume up to 2mL, and simple operation.

I looked at the prior art and found that delivery systems have a tendency to increase in technical complexity, and thereby increasing their cost. Knowing the naloxone market is highly cost sensitive, I sought to eliminate all I could to keep the unit price as low as possible.

I considered a credit card sized option using wedges to drive the needle and plunger, a two nostril intranasal option, and a number of variations on a patch design. User feedback, size and volume constraints, and intramuscular preference kept the patch as the preference.

From this, I was able to design a 1 inch thick patch that included a safety device, medication reservoir, needle, and retraction spring. To administer, all the user need do is remove from the packaging, place in the palm, and apply pressure to the victim's upper arm. The patch does the rest. Shaking hands, glass vials, and prior first aid knowledge became irrelevant

EMBODIMENT

A product render throughout its use case: a small bulb that contains all the necessary hardware, sized perfectly to fit into a user's hand, ergonomically designed to improve the ease of administration, and a needle sufficiently long to reach the correct tissue plane within a factor of safety.