Cambridge Consultants announced the launch of the ‘Syreen’ syringe, a new concept that demonstrates the cost benefit and supply chain disruptions made possible by sustainable product design.

Instead of glass, Syreen syringes are made with COP (cyclic olefin polymer) plastic, which has enabled Cambridge Consultants to shed the need for secondary packaging altogether, a first in this medical device arena.
 
The United States alone produces 6,600 tons of medical waste per day, equaling well over two million tons per year—approximately 85 percent of which goes to landfills throughout the country. The Syreen eliminates the need for wasteful fillers such as cardboard and styrofoam, reducing the packaging weight by 30 percent and volume by 50 percent from today’s standard packaging. After delivery, with a simple snap, the user ejects the needle into the sharps bin allowing the user to potentially recycle the plastic capsule.

Though dealing with being stuck inside a burning building is a very uncommon scenario, there is now an invention that could help you survive such an event. The Dang Jingwei Firescuba was conceived just for that very scary scenario.
A fairly basic design using cardboard and carbon filter, it creates a pocket over your nose and mouth to allow easy breathing until emergency services arrive.

Though The Dang Jingwei Firescuba seems like nothing more than a French fry container, it is sure to give you those extra essential minutes of survival until the fire department comes.

Via Trendhunter

StickSafe is an award-winning medical innovation that will significantly reduce the incidence of needlestick injuries, protecting healthcare workers from potentially life-threatening diseases.  As well as reducing the associated costs of treating these injuries, it will simultaneously reduce the cost of sharps waste in hospitals.

Needlestick injuries are accidental skin puncture wounds caused by needles and other medical sharps, after they have already been used to treat patients.  Such injuries are a daily risk to healthcare workers, occuring in the course of performing routine and frequent procedures using needles.  Needlesticks carry the risk of infection of many potentially lethal diseases including HIV and Hepatitis, which can require a lengthy and expensive treatment process, including tracing the source of contact, blood tests, post-exposure drug prophylaxis and, in instances of proven infection, long term drug treatment. In the UK alone, needlesticks are the second biggest cause of injury in the NHS, affecting over 100,000 healthcare workers, and costing the NHS at least £300 million per year in prevention and treatment.

Michael Korn, an industrial design student at London's Royal College of Art, decided to look more closely into the issue as part of a healthcare design project. Through the College's Helen Hamlyn Centre, Korn was paired with medics from St Mary's Hospital, spending weeks observing ward practices.
The result was a complete redesign of the paper-pulp trays used by nursing staff and a completely new way of using them. Korn's invention, called StickSafe, incorporates a special safely feature that allows one-handed safe use of needles.

StickSafe is a simple, environmentally friendly, low cost device that can significantly reduce needlestick injuries from hypodermic needles and vacutainers. Its innovative design intuitively encourages healthcare workers to adopt safer workplace practices. StickSafe is a redesigned medical tray, which incorporates a patented, easy-to-use clutch mechanism, that allows the healthcare worker to safely unsheath the needle from the cap, and once they have completed their procedure, then allows them to safely recap the needle. The risk of carrying an unsheathed needle around a busy ward is eliminated, and as needles can now be disposed of capped instead of uncapped, so too is the risk of needlesticks from incorrect disposal.  StickSafe will also greatly reduce the amount of sharps waste, as the needle can now be disposed of without the syringe attached.  In the UK, this means a potential cost saving for the NHS of £160 million.

'Inventors and Inventions' takes a look into the fascinating history of inventors and inventions. The book follows a diverse list of inventions from their earliest manifestations through to their most current incarnations, whilst also revealing how some of today’s greatest inventions came about by accident or chance.

From the beginnings of the frisbee to the role of Muybridge’s eccentric moving-picture photography in the development of cinema, the book considers how and why these inventions came about, who was responsible for them and what their subsequent impact has been. Often overlooked inventors are also discussed, giving them their rightful place amongst the celebrated minds from the past; while controversies regarding attribution are exposed and explored.

Presenting a broad range of subjects -including Communication, Entertainment, Exploration, Medicine, Warfare and Transport- the book explores the origin and development of inventions as diverse as time and space, the pencil, and the jet engine.

Inventions covered include, amongst others, Money, The Alphabet, the Pop-up Toaster, Tetra-pak, The Zip, Photography, the Hula Hoop, Television, the Yo-Yo, Paper, Radio Broadcasting, the Telephone, Roads and Tarmac, Traffic lights, Rocket Propulsion, the Circular Saw, Band-Aids, Asprin, Cloning, the Swiss Army Knife, Tanks, Night Vision, Maps, the Gyroscope, Food Preservation, the Plough and Animal Husbandry.

Design Addict offers a 40% discount on the book 'Inventors and Inventions'. Just send an email to the editor at jess@blackdogonline.com, quoting ‘Design Addict Offer’ as the subject of your email.

Editor: Paul Sloman, Black Dog Publishing

Jihyun Ryou, Design Academy Eindhoven graduate, did his Master Thesis about food preservation. By accumulating traditional oral knowledge, he looked at a feasible way to bring the knowledge into everyday life.

"Through the research about the current situation of food preservation, I’ve learned that we hand over the responsibility of taking care of food to the technology, refrigerator. We don’t observe the food any more and don’t understand how to treat it.

Therefore my design looks at re-introducing and re-evaluating traditional oral knowledge of food, which is closer to nature. Furthermore, it aims to bring back the connection between different level of living beings, us as human beings and food ingredients as other living beings."

Verticality of Root Vegetables -carrot, raddish, leek...etc.
Keeping roots in a vertical position allows the organism save energy and remain fresh for longer time. This shelf gives a place for them to stand easily, using sand. At the same time, sand helps to keep proper humidity.

Dryness of Spices
Rice absorbs the humidity easily. The spice container with rice inside helps spices stay dry without forming into a mass.

Humidity of Fruit Vegetables -zucchini, aubergine, pepper...etc.
We tend to think zucchini, aubergine, cucumber, etc. as vegetables. But they are biologically fruits. This shelf gives them a space to be outside the fridge. Also through the ritual to water them everyday, they will stay fresh.

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