BME100 s2017:Group7 W1030AM L1

BME 100 Spring 2017	Home People Lab Write-Up 1 | Lab Write-Up 2 | Lab Write-Up 3 Lab Write-Up 4 | Lab Write-Up 5 | Lab Write-Up 6 Course Logistics For Instructors Photos Wiki Editing Help
OUR TEAM Brianna Lopez Angelica Garrido Avery Cartwright Justin Faris Jason Reyes Sandy LAB 1 WRITE-UP Health Care Issue Vitamin deficiency in infants (Vitamin D, Calcium, and Iron), this would prevent future health issues. It is often difficult to ensure that infants under one year of age receive these crucial nutrients. The device would be a teething ring that would release vitamins while the infant is using the device. Customer Validation 1) Baby physicians 2) Hospitals centralized around baby care 3) Parents of babies who have trouble eating 4) Daycare centers 5) Child Life 6) The Honest Company 7) Walmart 8) Target 9) ABH Pharma Inc 10) Walgreens 11) Fisher-Price 12)Toy Directory 13) Amazon 14) Kosen USA 15) Wholesale HUB 16) GuangDong Hayidai Toys Co. 17) People Toy Company 18) Kole Imports 19) Rhode Island Novelty 20) DHGate Competitors Some other solutions include: 1. Liquid drops for babies 2. Mother takes vitamins and infant gets them through breast milk 3. Vitamin shots from doctor Advantages 1. -Easy to swallow    -Goes to the bloodstream the fastest    -No taste 2. -Easy to swallow    -Efficient 3. -Effective Disadvantages 1. -Can cause the parent to accidentally overdose the child with the vitamins and causing sickness.     -Child would not want to take them/fussy over them 2.  -The mother could forget to take supplements     -May not get the right amount of vitamins through the milk (not enough) 3. -Traveling to the doctor -Costs money for gas and appointment -Painful for the child IP Position A patent for a "teething and thumb sucking device" (# US20120259362 A1) was filed on April 11, 2011 under the assignees Kenneth and Anne Weiland. This device was designed to be worn on the thumb to lessen the likelihood of a baby dropping the device while teething and thus ensuring the device avoids any contamination that may occur from hitting other surfaces. In addition, it was to be made of a material that was soothing on babies' gums and prevented the saliva from getting on caretakers' clothes. A patent for a "teething device" (# EP2503981 A1) was filed on November 24, 2010 under the assignee Mam Babyartikel Gesellschaft m.b.H. This device was designed as an "elastically deformable" teething device with a "hollow body" that can be filled with liquid that can be frozen to provide additional soothing to babies teething. In this sense, this patent was for a teething device that is functionally similar to that of existing teething devices; this one was simply a new design. A patent for a "teething device" (# CN102665647 A) was filed on November 24, 2010 under the assignee Mam婴儿用品有限责任公司. This device was designed with an additional function to that of normal teething devices in that it also functions as a means of maintaining dental hygiene. It additionally promotes blood flow in the gums and acceleration of teeth growth. A patent for a "gel filled teething device" (# US5782868 A) was filed on April 2, 1997 under the assignees Kristi and Cratus Moore. This device was designed in order to remain functional at a variety of temperatures ranging from -20 to 215 degrees Fahrenheit because of a body of "self-sustaining, non-flowable, pliable gel" within the device. A patent for a "teething device" (# WO2014106287 A1) was filed on January 31, 2014 under the assignee Theo Gotjamanos. This device focused not only on teething but on creating a "tooth cleaning portion" that would function simultaneously with traditional teething function. This tooth cleaning portion is in the form of rubber bristles instead of the traditional bristles found on toothbrushes, which infants often find uncomfortable and thus makes maintaining dental hygiene in infants a constant battle. Overall, the patents already existing in this field focus on the areas of (1) making it easier for the baby to keep hold of the teething device/less likely for the baby to drop it, (2) simultaneously cleaning the baby’s teeth as the device is in use, and (3) improving the functionality of the teething aspect of the device. None of these patents focused explicitly on allowing for ingestion of important nutrients as a baby teethes. Fundability Worksheet Scores Competitors Score: 1.5 Very large market for vitamin drops and teething toys, but not for the combination of both so it could be a mature market or very crowded. Customer Validation Score: 2.5 Many have expressed the need of the product and a genuine interest to buy, but is unclear of the willingness to invest for fear of harm to the child. IP Position Score: 1 There are no previous patents on teething devices with vitamin supplements, but patents for better teething devices are available.