What is inochi care?

“Inochi” 命 is a Japanese word meaning Life.

inochi care is a medical device startup that is developing technologies for accelerated wound healing. Their flagship product is a multi-therapeutic wound healing device that accelerates the healing of clinically complex wounds.

What was my role?

During my time there, I had put on multiple hats. I was responsible for incorporating their flagship technology in a portable hand held device which would help achieve their goals for increasing economic and physical accessibility of their multi-therapeutic devices.

I was an Electrical Engineer - I designed and tested circuits and PCBs. Worked with electro-mechanical components like pressure pumps and solenoid valves. Worked with battery charging ICs and LiPo batteries.

I was a Hardware Engineer - I programmed development boards (STM32 and Arduino boards) to achieve the functionality we expected from the device. Created light and sound feedback systems for seamless user interaction with the device.

I was a Mechanical Engineer (somewhat) - A big part of my role was integrating components that could deliver the same functionality as their larger flagship product, in a smaller form factor. This involved searching for the right components, creating hybrid ones, designing components & enclosures using CAD & 3D printing them for testing and integration.

Product Development Process

Phase I

• Researching different circuit components from development boards to sensors and pressure pumps. Working with international vendors and optimizing product development timeline to match arrival of parts.

• Building circuits for each subsystem and creating test setups to characterize system performance by altering different parameters like power supply, etc.

Phase II -

• Rigorous testing of system to meet performance requirements, optimizing firmware and hardware to make system more reliable, robust and energy efficient.

• Incorporating Lithium Polymer batteries, Battery ICs, monitoring Battery SOC to optimize device operation at lower battery charge levels.

Phase III -

• Schematic capture and board layout using Eagle to consolidate design to a PCB. Soldering SMD components to PCB and testing and validating PCB design.

• 3D CAD for component placement to reduce device footprint, consolidate number of parts, influence PCB design based on user interaction with device.

• Final system integration, involving: integrating sensors, electro-mechanical components, development board & PCB, batteries and battery ICs, light and sound feedback systems to create a clinically testable prototype.

End Result -

A portable device that delivers the most critical features of Inochi Care’s flagship technology while achieving 3x faster wound healing at 80% less cost. Industry leading healing times at exceptionally low costs helps increase patient throughput and physical and economical accessibility of such technology.