Timeline
2014 | UTK Solutions - The K-I-S-S packaging, sterilization and transport system
Protection against biological contamination
PROJECT TASK
January 2014 | The company UTK Solution GmbH from Lüdenscheid, which originally specialized in plastics technology, has continuously developed over the past 25 years and has also gained a reputation as a competent problem solver in the medical technology sector in recent years.
UTK Solution has developed the KISS container system with the ambitious goal of comprehensively optimizing the handling of medical implant screws in orthopaedics. The company turned to Wilddesign for the ergonomic design.
(More information about the KISS system on the UTK website)
The daily procedure for working with implant screws had to be improved in several areas. On the one hand, the previous storage of the screws in the surgical tray posed a risk of mechanical damage due to their anchoring in the holder; on the other hand, new biotechnological studies have shown that sterilization by autoclaving the implants is not completely sufficient to completely rule out damage caused by biological contamination.
The task for the product designers was to design the safe plastic packaging concept developed by UTK in such a way that it avoids the identified risks and thus enables safer working.
DESIGN PROCESS
Thedesign team focused on the most important requirements for an optimal system. The implant needs a secure housing to protect it from any contact, which wraps it tightly without touching it and which can be used for optimal cleaning. At the same time, it must be as easy as possible for the operating team to remove the screws and their screw set from this packaging without coming into contact with the contents.
To improve cost-effectiveness, the customer also wanted to adapt the system so that it could be used flexibly for all screw sizes.
The solution was a technical design concept made of plastic into which the screw can be hooked without touching the thread so that there is no abrasion at any point. The idea of hooking in also allowed the design to be used for different screw sizes.
The design team placed the screw set in the lid so that both screw parts are fixed in a coherent system and can be removed in just two steps by the operating staff using a suitable insertion instrument.
The fact that the implant no longer has to be touched directly by hand in this process provides an enormous advantage in terms of avoiding contamination. The system has also been developed so that cleaning can be carried out using plasma sterilization, which combats the risk of infection even more effectively. In the final design step, the K-I-S-S system was completely defined by WILDDESIGN in 3D CAD.
PROJECT RESULTS
TheK-I-S-S ("Keep it simple + safe") packaging, sterilization and transport system strengthened UTK Solution GmbH's image as an innovation driver in the industry and not only impressed the market, but also the jury of the "Sauerland Innovation Award", which awarded the project first prize in 2014.
WHAT WAS THE WILDDESIGN PART?
- Analysis phase
- Design concept
- Design development
Frequently asked questions
