20 May 2011

Technology to save lives and look pretty

A jewellery student from Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design has devised a way to help people with hidden medical conditions stay both safe and fashionable.

Emergency Medical Aid jewellery is intended to help paramedics dealing with stricken patients to identify the problem and deliver the appropriate treatment. It is usually worn round the neck or on the wrist, but is often unattractive and chunky, and marks the wearer out as being afflicted by a medical condition of some kind.

Dougie Kinnear (50) found that this meant many sufferers of asthma, allergies, diabetes, epilepsy and other conditions who should wear the jewellery are reluctant to do so, potentially putting their lives in danger.

He became interested in EMA jewellery during his studies on the Jewellery & Metal Design programme at DJCAD, part of the University of Dundee, and has created a new concept for jewellery that tells medical staff more about the wearer’s condition whilst remaining indistinguishable from other pieces of contemporary jewellery.

Using Radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology, Dougie developed the idea of incorporating chips into jewellery which can be instantly read by scanners that then display a comprehensive medical history of the patient, allowing paramedics to administer potentially life-saving treatment. RFID uses radio waves to exchange data between a reader and an electronic tag attached to an object, for the purpose of identification and tracking.

During the course of his dissertation research, Dougie, who lives in Glenrothes, discovered that EMA jewellery did not work as well as intended due to the stigma some saw as being attached to it and the fact is was aesthetically displeasing. He has sought to encourage more people to look after their health by overcoming these objections. Dougie’s project is one of the near-300 exhibits at the 2011 Dundee Degree Show.

'People wear jewellery because they have formed an attachment to it, either because it is a family heirloom or because of how it looks,' he said.

'Before wearing EMA jewellery becomes something that’s accepted without a second thought, it not only needs to be aesthetically pleasing but more importantly something the wearer can form an attachment to. The challenge I went about addressing, therefore, is how to redesign and keep it functional. It has to look like normal jewellery, but be able to transmit the necessary information to medical personnel.

'My solution is to use new technology and implant RFID chips within the jewellery. These chips can be as small as the size of a pinhead and can easily be incorporated into either existing jewellery or new rings, bracelets or other items that reflect the tastes of the wearer. The unique identifier on the chip will relate to information about the wearer’s medical condition which will be held on an NHS database. The idea is that paramedics will scan the patient’s body and pick up the chip, if present.

'There are obstacles we have to overcome if we are to encourage everyone who really should wear EMA jewellery to do so. At the moment these items are designed purely from a functional point of view, so that paramedics can easily and quickly locate jewellery giving information about a medical condition, but that’s pointless if the people who need to don’t wear it in the first place.

'When I was researching my dissertation, I spoke to a lot of people, including health professionals and people who regarded themselves as being among those who should wear jewellery to advise others of their health problems. What I found is that a lot of people didn’t wear the jewellery, and those that did don’t like it.

'What they were saying was that they didn’t like having a huge medical symbol face people who instantly think ‘I wonder what’s wrong with them?’ It’s a particularly acute problem with teenagers, who may be ashamed of their condition, and women, who tend to choose their jewellery to match the outfit they are planning to wear.

'EMA jewellery as it exists at the moment, is very chunky - it’s jeans and trainers stuff so women may even wear it on a day-to-day basis but think they’ll take the chance when going out for the evening. That can be most dangerous, however, as they are in an environment they don’t control and might be in a restaurant and people wouldn’t know they'd had a reaction to something.'

Dougie, who worked as a submariner and railway track labourer for many years before enrolling at college in 2004, hopes to develop the project after graduating and turn it into a working product that will appeal to sufferer’s of hidden health conditions and encourage more of them to wear the jewellery that could help save their life.

A number of companies and individuals helped Dougie by donating equipment, including Tim Thompson of Toyota Tsusho ID Systems GMBH, and Richard Fry of Micro-ID Ltd.

Notes to editors:

Dundee Degree Show
21st - 29th May 2011 (Preview May 20th)

Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design
University of Dundee
13 Perth Road
Dundee DD1 4HT
T 01382 385330
E exhibitions@dundee.ac.uk
www.dundee.ac.uk/djcad/degreeshow

Exhibition open:
Saturday, May 21st (10am-4pm)
Sunday, May 22nd (10am-4pm)
Monday, May 23rd (10am-8pm)
Tuesday, May 24th (10am-8pm)
Wednesday, May 25th (10am-8pm)
Thursday, May 26th (10am-8pm)
Friday, May 27th (10am-8pm)
Saturday, May 28th (10am-4pm)
Sunday, May 29th (10am-4pm)

Graduate work on display:
Animation
Art, Philosophy, Contemporary Practices
Digital Interaction Design
Fine Art
Graphic Design
Illustration
Interior Environmental Design
Jewellery & Metal Design
Product Design
Textile Design
Time Based Art & Digital Film

For media enquiries contact:
Grant Hill
Press Officer
University of Dundee
Nethergate, Dundee, DD1 4HN
TEL: 01382 384768
E-MAIL: g.hill@dundee.ac.uk
MOBILE: 07854 953277