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Wounder Women

Portable Vacuum Pump for Wound Healing

Member profile details

Membership level

2018-2019 Team

Project Thumbnail Image

Team Name

Wounder Women

Project Title

Portable Vacuum Pump for Wound Healing

Design Challenge

Team Wounder Women aims to design a quiet, portable, and low cost negative pressure wound therapy device. This device should be accessible for patients in low resource settings, including those served by our sponsor’s hospital, Barretos Cancer Hospital in Brazil. Our prototype will be completed by May 2019.

Design Summary

Over the course of the year, our team aims to develop an accessible, portable negative pressure wound therapy device. High cost, limited portability, reliance on an external power source, and loud operating noise often make current devices on the market inaccessible or impractical for patients in low-resource settings, including those served by our sponsor’s hospital, Barretos Cancer Hospital (Barretos, Brazil). Dr. Vinicius Vazquez, a surgeon at Barretos, proposed this project to Rice’s senior capstone class in an effort to meet the need for an improved portable wound vacuum device for his patients and others around the world. Our current design, "The Wounder Vac" involves a universal reservoir cap that attaches to almost any soda bottle, allowing patients to use disposable, found objects instead of purchasing expensive, specialized reservoirs. It also utilizes a retrofitted lunch bag as a chassis, minimizing cost and troubleshooting risks. This solution idea incorporates all the main functionalities of a standard wound vacuum while mitigating the cost, environmental impact, and accessibility barriers for this therapy.

Date Updated

Monday, February 25, 2019