Roadmap for Design of Surgical Equipment for Safe Surgery Worldwide

Safe and affordable surgery is not accessible for five billion people when they need it. Multiple surgical capacity studies have shown that hospitals in low-and-middle income countries do not have complete coverage of basic surgical equipment such as, theatre lights, anesthesia machines and electro surgical units. Currently, almost all equipment is designed and manufactured with a main focus on the context in high income countries. The context in low-and-middle income countries in which surgical equipment is used, differs from high income countries, especially in terms of financial resources and access to maintenance, spare parts and consumables. The aim of this study is to present a roadmap for design of surgical equipment for worldwide use. The roadmap consists of four phases: before the start of a design project a clear need for certain surgical equipment should be identified (Phase 0). During Phase 1 the context should be researched thoroughly by determining the barriers encountered by patients to surgical care, the structure of the health care system and if the aspects required for safe surgery are in place. In Phase 2 the implementation strategy and design requirements should be determined and in phase 3 prototyping starts in close interaction with local end-users. We believe that designers should strive for design that is of the same quality and complies with the same safety regulations as equipment designed for HICs. In this way user and patient safety can be assured in any setting worldwide. And we advocate for surgical equipment that fits the context optimally and that will be applicable in comparable settings globally.