ShakerScope – batteryless laryngoscope

ShakerScope is a novel new medical innovation from a company started by Dr John Dingley and Dr David Williams from Morriston Hospital, Swansea. The product can be used as a battery-less laryngoscope or otoscope. The unique feature with this device is that it has no batteries and can be recharged by shaking by virtue of an internal faraday generator. The ShakerScope also has additional features such as battery health reporting, and battery life indications. It has been developed both for reducing the huge overheads in maintaining healthy battery powered deviced in operating theatres, and for field use such as military operations or working in remote communities.

Shakerscope have won the prestigious IF award for design in Hannover (www.ifdesign.de), and were finalists in the Medical Futures awards for medical innovation in 2005 (medicalfutures.co.uk).

Whilst the original proof–of-principle model allowed the company to demonstrate the technology and commission some early industrial design models, the company’s electronics expertise was not sufficient to produce a controller which supplied the stringent optimal power strategies.

E2L were approached to produce a design along with an initial batch of ten prototypes which conformed to budget unit costs, space considerations (the casing had been designed first), maximise the power available from the faraday generator whilst maximising the light’s brightness, and applying signals (via the light) as to the power supply’s health.

E2L were also commissioned to assess the comparative merits of super capacitor versus rechargeable batteries.

The solution involved using a small PIC controller to handle the switching functions and monitor the supply health, and the development of very efficient battery charging and LED control.

Ten pre-production prototypes were delivered for evaluation and performance tests. The production unit cost for the electronics component was reduced by 63% and delivered in the agreed timescales. Also several variations of the product have since been specified in readiness for licenced manufacture.

More details about ShakerScope can be obtained from their website at www.shakerscope.com