The Hummingbird system addresses speed, accuracy and RSI (Repetitive Strain Injury), with an ultra-intuitive form factor driven by sound human factors engineering.
Delivering a long stent into the vasculature requires a huge amount of individual actuations with the thumb, with a real risk to clinicians of developing RSI. The associated force (from the thumb) required to deliver a stent into complex through tortuous vessels can be extremely high. The hand muscles controlling the thumb, while excellent for precise control, are not optimised for delivery of high levels of force. This is compounded by multiple actuations required during the procedure.
When designing Hummingbird, the Synecco team suggested that instead of single thumb actuation for the whole stent deployment, a thumbwheel would be ideal for initial deployment, then users can lock the thumbwheel and engage the trigger handle for rapid macro-deployment. Thus reducing the risk of RSI, while maintaining the necessary level of precision.
This program was a good example of the collaboration of Synecco’s industrial designers, usability engineers, and mechanical engineers, working together to deliver reliable, user centered solutions.
The use of FEA (Finite Element Analysis) was key to the refinement of mechanisms and in material selection.
