Ashley Smith
Toni Spina
Tara Shotz
Cor-stitches Project Proposal
Background
Stitches have been practiced by the medical community for thousand of years, dating all
the way back to the ancient Egyptians. Stitches are a form of closing a wound, designed to hold
tissue and skin together until it is able to heal. They are used when a wound is deep or gaping,
when scarring might be an issue, it bleeds after 20 minutes of direct pressure, or feels numb and
doesn’t function properly. However, modern stitches can create issues with scarring, and the pain
can be frightful for younger children. It also arises problems with time. Since stitches are
technically a medical procedure, a licensed doctor must administer them. This can create back
ups in medical facilities. Seeing the problems with this form of stitches, we decided we wanted
to renovate the way wounds that would normally require stitches are handled. In our design,
Cor-stitches would hold the wound together without puncturing the skin. It would function
almost like a corset; 2 strips of adhesive would fassen to either side of the wound, and string
would be pulled to get the skin together. This would alleviate some scarring, as well as be
substantially less painful than normal stitches. Having less pain would help it to be a great
alternative, particularly for adolescents. Since Cor-stitches do not puncture the skin, it would
allow for nurses, or adults, to administer then as well.
Objectives
1. Identify what issue our product is solving.
2. Find similar product designs and identify their weaknesses.
3. Estimate product cost
4. Research product materials
5. Design and evaluate project proposals and select the best solution
6. Make a prototype of the design
7. Hold prototype testing session
8. Analyse results and data
9. If statistics show an unfavorable response to the design:
a. Review information and project procedure
b. Make changes to improve the design
10. If statistics show a positive majority response:
a. Communicate results and officialize the final product
Broader Scope (Problems you are trying to solve)
Our final goal for this project is to improve the product design of stitchless stitches so
that they can be just as widely used as surgical stitches. We have specifically focused on how to
close the wound without puncturing the skin. After some research we have decided to take a
different approach and use corset designed stitches as well as add interesting designs to appeal
to children. The final design will be more appealing, efficient, and effective than the already available
designs.
Timeframe
Task Start End
Phase One Project Proposal 11/27/2017 12/09/2017
Phase Two Project Research 12/10/2017 2/10/2018
Phase Three Project Construction 2/11/2018 3/31/2018
Phase Four Project Finalization 3/32/2018 5/19/2018
Project Budget (Estimate)
The main costs for this project will be from materials. We will need to make numerous
products and the materials to make these products will be hefty sum. The bandage will silicon.
The thread will be made out of silk and we will need to buy an strong adhesive that can be put
on skin .We will also need to find a material that resembles skin in elasticity, and we will use the
3d printer to make any parts that we need. Ultimately, the budget should not need to be too large.
Development process (How)
● Research and study the problem: We will examine what materials are safe on skin, as
well as adhesives that would be strong enough to hold the skin together.
● Design: We are going to model our design almost after a corset. Essentially, strips will
adhere to either side of the sound and laces will be pulled, closing the wound together.
As for packaging, we intend to make it bright, as to appeal to families and children.
● Prototyping: Once we gather all the proper materials and assemble them, we will need to
test our product. Obviously, this imposes a small challenge, as it would be too
dangerous to test on a human subject. We’d likely have to find a skin-like alternative,
and test on that.
Current Solutions (Market Research)
Current solutions all have different drawbacks:
ClozeX
Clozex uses butterfly bandages to seal the skin together. Before applying them you have to dry
the wound. Once applied, the top of the Clozex device may have exposed edges that could
irritate overlying tissues. Also it may cause the development of postoperative edema that may
cause skin shearing, skin blistering or loss of adhesion to occur.
Zip Skin Closure
The Zip Skin Closure System is currently on the market, and also serves as an alternative to
stitches. Adhesive is applied to either sides of the wound, and ziptie like devices are used to
hold it together. However, the design can create excess bulk, and rubbing of hard plastic
against the wound could cause pain for the patient.
Steri-Strips
These are used for smaller wounds, and are often used on the face, because they can help
ease scarring. However, they cannot be used on deep wounds and could not stop serious
bleeding.
Key Personnel
Project Manager Ashley Smith
Project Facilitator Tara Shotz
Project Fabricator Everyone
Project Communicator Toni Spina
Supplementary Personnel
Title Profession
Project Mentor 1 Mari Maurer Pharmaceutical Manager
Project Mentor 2 Tyler Rushton Carpenter
Scientific/ Engineering Concepts (Math, Physics, Chemistry, Biotech, Engineering
concepts that you will apply to your project, and utilize perform tests)
We will be using biotechnology.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/14eqeHmHSnrkl0Q1wkvVJpVw7W-1r3J8Rf9Ja9A
cwKb8/edit
Monitoring and Evaluation
Our official evaluators will be Mr. Tronconi of the Senior STEM program, the mentors and
industry professionals, evaluation of the final product will commence in June 2019. Meanwhile,
we have Tyler Rushton, a carpenter/engineer, and Mari Mauer, a Pharmaceutical Manager to
help us design an effective product.
Approval Signatures
Mari Maurer
Tyler Rushton
