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Our client’s group is conducting a research study using recorded relaxation, distraction, and imagery exercises to help patients with cancer manage symptoms including pain, fatigue, and sleep disturbance. Research indicates that these strategies can help patients to achieve a personal sense of control over symptoms and diminish their severity. In today’s busy cancer care settings, there is not sufficient staff or time to provide these symptom managements strategies precisely when and where patients need them. Their team has developed an intervention using recorded strategies, delivered on an MP3 player, so that patients can carry them throughout their day, and use the interventions whenever their symptoms become bothersome. For example, a woman with advanced ovarian cancer may use an imagery exercise to help control pain that occurs after walking, or a relaxation exercise to facilitate return to sleep, if she wakes with worries in the middle of the night. Because cancer is a disease associated with aging, many patients are elderly and are not familiar with common MP3 devices. Moreover, the elderly may have difficulty visualizing the small display screens / text and have fine motor limitations that interfere with operating small controls. In a recent feasibility study done by our client’s group, older cancer patients said that they enjoyed learning to use the MP3 player and listening to the recordings, but struggled with managing controls (on / off / hold), and navigating between recordings and menus. Our goal is to develop an MP3 player that will be more user-friendly for these older patients. Other characteristics might also be built into the system including (1) the ability to monitor treatment ‘dose’ by logging specific recordings played, length of time they were played, and frequency of plays; and (2) the ability to enter and record numeric symptom severity ratings on the device before and after listening to each recording.
Jonathan Mantes, Derek Klavas, Michael Conrardy, Joel Webb, Joey Labuz
Project is completed. Pending certificates in order to download the program onto the iPod Touch.
Three screen shots of the menus, four categories, three song options, and song controls
IPod Touch in case
| Week | Reporting Period Beginning | Activities |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | September 5 | Created groups and chose design project, started researching/brainstorming |
| 2 | September 12 | Met with client, researched different types of MP3 players and software |
| 3 | September 19 | Met with Gregg Vanderheiden from the UW Trace Center, developed new idea using iPod touch, researched new technology |
| 4 | September 26 | Met with Gregg Vanderheiden and client, verified new idea using iPod touch, further design specifications |
| 5 | October 3 | Researched new ideas, investigated software, looked for different controllers and iPod software |
| 6 | October 10 | Researched more about iPod software, started planning overall design, work on mid-semester report |
| 7 | October 17 | Worked on mid-semester report and presentation, investigated iPod software |
| 8 | October 24 | Investigated iPod software and started programming, continued to research materials |
| 9 | October 31 | Continued researching materials, contacted help with programming |
| 10 | November 7 | Continued researching materials, contacted help with programming |
| 11 | November 14 | Continued getting help with programming, ordered materials, ordered iPod Touch |
| 12 | November 21 | Materials arrived, started building case, machined bottom half of case, continued with programming |
| 13 | November 28 | Machined top half of case, put together case and added final modifications, continued with programming |
| 14 | December 5 | Finsihed programming, finished final case, created poster for presentation |
| 15 | December 12 | Wrote final paper, presented project to client and research group, contacting resources to upload program on iPod for client |
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Product Design Specifications (Oct 22 2008, 22 kb) |
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Mid-semester Presentation (Oct 22 2008, 1397 kb) |
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Mid-semester Report (Nov 13 2008, 698 kb) |
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Semester Poster Presentation (Dec 11 2008, 2892 kb) |
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Final Report (Dec 11 2008, 912 kb) |
