Boston Scientific 2018-2019

Designing Next-Generation Disposable Endoscopes

Endoscopy is a medical procedure in which surgical tools are threaded into a patient’s gastrointestinal tract using an endoscope to reach the site of interest, allowing for diagnostic and therapeutic minimally invasive surgeries. ERCP (Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangio-Pancreatography) is a specialized form of endoscopy dealing with procedures in the pancreatic and biliary ducts, and it uses a specialized endoscope known as a duodenoscope. Boston Scientific is a leader in the medical device industry, and currently makes the disposable tools that are inserted down the working channels of endoscopes to perform procedures. Recently, Boston Scientific has made strides towards addressing potential issues of cross contamination by designing a disposable duodenoscope. While this is an important first step, Boston Scientific asked the SCOPE team to help them design the future generation of disposable duodenoscopes. Through a process involving research and a user-centered design approach, the team explored current ERCP practices to identify areas of opportunity and developed a proposal and early prototype for a next-generation single-use duodenoscope. 

Faculty Advisor

Alisha Sarang-Sieminski

Team Members

Andrew Holmes

Liv Kelley

Talia Tandler

Regina Walker

Jingyi Xu

 Boston Scientific Poster