os*tomy

James Dyson Award 2023

Austrian National Winner &
International Top 20

A research project for Convatec
with FH Joanneum Industrial Design

Social Design

Design for Open Source

Medical Design

Working Prototype

In many parts of the world, commercial stoma care products are still unaffordable or inaccessible due to high costs and a great lack of knowledge.

Hence, patients are using diapers of even plastics bags, glued to their body, to gather output. This leads to discomfort, medical issues and lots of waste at places where recycling systems are nowhere near.

os*tomy consists of a naturally compostable, algae-based bag and a textile hip belt to hold it in place and prevent hernias or prolapses.

In the course of this project, open source methods to produce agar polymer bags have been developed, while the use of cloth pays respect to textiles as centuries-old cultural assets – both allowing local stoma patient organizations to act more independently and sustainably without the need for heavy machinery.

What is a stoma?

A stoma is an artificial outlet for bodily waste, given to patients with bowel cancer or crown's disease, either temporarily or permanently. The stool or output that leaves the body is usually collected by a single-use plastic bag which sticks onto your belly.

Medical care under marginal conditions

Working at a Tanzanian hospital in August 2022 brought hands-on insights into medical care and the handling of medical equipment in a low-income country.

Connecting with StomaCareSupport Zambia gave an impression of the topic of stoma care.

Waste management

Besides the difficulties in medical care, the problem of missing waste treatment infrastructure becomes more and more apparent and is especially relevant for single use plastic products.

Open source approach

Accessibility, sustainability, affordability and independence of local stoma organizations through the means of open source manufacturing technology.

From algae to agar based polymer

In many iterative cycles, agar agar based foils were produced in an experimental manufacturing setup, including casting and hot stamp welding processes to ensure the possibility of accessible open source manufacturing.

Multi use belt – single use bag

the belt includes a stabilizing ring around
the stoma opening to hold the bag in place, and an auto-locking buckle mechanism