Preliminary
Report for Project Proposal
1.
Project summary:
a. What is
the primary problem that you intend to address?
b. What
specific aspect of this problem will you address?
c. How will
you address this problem?
d. What
will be the benefits of your design?
2.
Specific Aims:
a) What
general clinical problem are you addressing?
b) What are
the financial and sociological consequences of this disease?
c) How many
people suffer from this disease? (Be
specific as to whether you are talking about 2% of people in
d) What
aspect of the disease has not been addressed clinically (should directly relate
to f) below)?
e) What new
technology, news event, sociological change, or other phenomenon makes it
feasible or desirable to address this aspect now?
f) What do
you specifically propose to do to help treat, diagnose, cure or reduce the
consequences of the disease?
3.
Background and Significance:
a.
Background: Describe the problem you intend to
address in terms that any of your colleagues (seniors in BIEN 400) can
understand. Your description will
include such things as:
a. What system of
systems in the body are affected?
b. What subgroup(s) of people are
subject to this disease?
c. What is known about the underlying
cause of the disease?
b.
What new technologies have arisen in the
past 5 years that could be applied to the problem of interest? Do not just list
new technologies. You must have some
idea in mind as to how those technologies could be applied to the problem.
c.
Analysis of Need: What are the needs of individuals
with this specific problem? These needs may include ways to make the patient
more comfortable, ways to cure the pathology, ways to keep the pathology from
getting worse, ways to help the person lead a “normal” life, etc. How are these needs currently being met? For
each of these “solutions,” state why it is not complete. How could it be improved. Of
these, select one that you feel has not been addressed adequately.
d.
Current Solutions: Provide 5 commercially available devices
that address the aspect identified above (i.e., the one aspect of the problem
that is not being met and that you think you can improve on). What approaches and technologies have not yet
been applied to the specific problem?
e.
Problem to be Solved: State in
a couple of sentences the specific aspect of the problem you will address and
the main approach you will take.
f.
Design Criteria:
i.
Provide
at least 5 criteria that you consider to constitute a solution to the problem.
ii.
For
each criteria, what measurement can you make to verify
that your device satisfies the criterion?
iii.
What
range of values for each measurement would be acceptable enough for your
device?
iv.
Rank
each criterion according to its importance.
g.
Analysis of alternative solutions: Give
three different designs that could satisfy the design criteria specified above. State which one you consider to be the best
and why.Do not just list new technologies. You must have some idea in mind as to how
those technologies could be applied to the problem.
8. Preliminary Results: Provide a description of a simple experiement that is related to the design you wish to make. This can be a simple experiment that makes
use of common household items.
9. Research Plan:
a.
Detailed design:
i.
Draw a sketch of what you expect your
device to look like. Carefully label all
parts.
ii.
Outline a quantitative analysis that can
describe the interaction of this device with the human body.
b.
Cost Analysis: Give an estimate of the cost of building
a prototype.
c.
Method of evaluation: How will you evaluate each of the
design criteria that you outlined in 7e above?
I.e. sketch a device that you can use to make the measurement, or
provide a block diagram for the measurement.
d.
Ghantt Chart: Give a time table of specific landmarks
in your design. Do not make this general
(e.g. project definition, evaluation of solution, etc.), but be specific about
your project.
10. Conclusion:
What do you expect to conclude from your analysis?
11. Acknowledgements:
Name 5 people outside of this class that you have consulted with or will
consult with in your design process.
State how each one will help you.
12. References: Provide 20 refereed articles that you have
used in the examination of this project.