Design of smart electronic adult diaper

Abstract

Nowadays, technology is now in almost every aspect of our lives and people can quickly adapt to new technologies. Technology, which develops day by day as a result of the work of academics, scholars, researchers and engineers, creates new areas for itself every day. In this thesis, which we set out with the philosophy that every technological development arises from needs and every new need are occured by technological developments, we designed the Smart Electronic Adult Diaper. In this thesis, all the processes of a Smart Electronic Adult Diaper design have been explained in detail, respectively. In addition to a scientific study, a product design process has also been presented in the thesis. Every stage of the thesis work, from the idea phase to the prototype phase, from artificial tests to real tests, has been handled and analysed in detail. During the thesis study, electronics, communication, computer, medicine, biology, chemistry and psychology sciences have been taken as references and the design has been carried out in the light of these sciences. The first part of the thesis is the introduction part. In the introduction, some preliminary information has been shared to make the thesis work more understandable. Information about the purpose of realization of the thesis and how this purpose emerged has been given. The terms and definitions mentioned in the next steps of the thesis have also been clarified in the introduction. In addition, the roadmap of the thesis study has been explained in detail in this section. The next part of the thesis is a literature search. In the literature research, every factor, criterion, parameter and problem that is within the scope of the thesis study has been investigated and conveyed in detail. In the design of the Smart Electronic Adult Diaper, every criterion, parameter and feature has been presented by researching it from various aspects with multiple sciences. Multiple fields of electronics, communications, computers, medicine, biology, chemistry and psychology have been used, sometimes for reference and sometimes as inspiration. The process from the development of technology to wearable technologies is mentioned. Afterwards, information about adult diapers, their types, and usage areas have been given. In addition, the factors and problems that cause adult diaper use and the problems experienced by users during adult diaper use have also been examined in detail. In the last part of this section, the advantages and disadvantages of the studies carried out so far and shared in the literature for the detection of urinary and fecal incontinence have been mentioned. Sensors/systems that detect urinary/fecal incontinence have been examined in detail in terms of use and application. In the next section, pre-tests performed to compare the sensors/systems mentioned in the studies in the literature have been presented. Since almost all of the studies in the literature have been carried out for the detection of urinary incontinence, urinary incontinence has been simulated in pre-tests. The advantages and disadvantages of each sensor/system have been determined in this section, where similar sensors/systems in the studies mentioned in the literature are tested. Studies separated as sensor material and sensor layer have been tested with various liquids (water, salt solution (artificial urine) and real urine) in various volumes (50 ml, 100 ml and 250 ml). The data obtained as a result of the tests have been analyzed and the advantages and disadvantages of each sensor/system have been compared. In the next section, which is entered into the design part of the thesis, each parameter affecting the design has been examined in detail. The objectives of each design and the reasons for each selected component have been explained in detail. In the design, the user and caregiver experience has been taken into account, as well as the applicability and usability of the designs and components. Components and communication features have been explained in detail. In the hardware/software design part of the thesis, hardware design and software design have been explained step by step. It is clearly seen in this section which steps the design process goes through in order.