Brief
Forte Medical identified the need for an improved urine collection device that would improve diagnosis rates by drastically reducing the number of contaminated samples. They partnered with Maddison to develop their innovative idea, refine the product design and take it to market.
Process
The first Peezy Midstream was a funnel formed by flat-sheet film, with a unique container-acceptor, incorporating an overflow duct. The killer ingredient to the device however, was a small compressed sponge, specified to expand once 8-10ml of urine had passed through the base of the funnel. The expanded sponge blocked the outlet to direct midstream into the collection tube, with excess diverted through a separate, integral outlet.
Peezy Mark I was evaluated up and down the UK; nurses and patients loved it but even at a selling price of around £1.20, it was too expensive to satisfy the NHS need for cost savings. Peezy Mark II was designed as a single-cavity injection moulded piece, with the same mechanisms and features; this reduced the manufacturing cost by 50%.
More evaluations and a trial at the Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust demonstrated a reduction in mixed growth contamination from a historic 23% to 5%; the results showed a higher rate in men than women which led to further design analysis and modifications to the mould tool, which included improvements to handling and performance gathered from evaluations in myriad hospitals and clinics.
Result
Peezy Mark III was released in 2015 at a selling price of around 90p. It is a highly ergonomic device, which automatically collects the most accurate and hygienic urine specimen available today from men, women, the elderly and the very young. It allows urine to be transferred from patient to laboratory analyser without need for decanting. Indeed, Peezy complies in every way with Public Health England’s UK Standards for Microbiology Investigation of Urine 2016. This stipulates a requirement for routine midstream sampling, collected by way of non-touch, no-spill methods. There is no way to meet these criteria other than by using Peezy Midstream.
“Design is all, not just in the day-to-day, but in the nitty gritty of medical devices and the complex world of right-first-time medicine. In our case, excellent British design and manufacture is transforming healthcare across the world: do not underestimate the power of design….without the experience of Maddison Design, without the ingenuity and enterprise of our British manufacturing partners, this award-winning, game-changing MedTech innovation would never have seen the light of day.” ~ Giovanna Forte
