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CAD/SOFTWARE FEATURE


CAD SYSTEM PLAYS KEY ROLE IN HEALTHCARE PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT


PTC’s Onshape CAD cloud-native product development platform has


saved time and engineering costs for a manufacturer of healthcare devices


(www.withings.com) is using PTC’s Onshape CAD system, a cloud-native product development platform, during the


P


development of U-Scan. U-Scan is lined up to be a game changer in home health


technology. Simultaneously being developed for the consumer


health and professional medical


market, it is a miniaturised health lab that hygienically sits within the toilet bowl in order to unlock the wealth of health information in daily urine. It is designed to be a versatile platform consisting of an advanced pebble-shaped reader and changeable analysis cartridges that assess specific biomarkers without the need for external sample capture or strips. With the medical device made of up a variety


of complex parts, the CAD system was used by the team to help with the design process.


PDM BENEFITS U-Scan leverages the power of the built in Product Data Management (PDM) to automatically track every design change through the lifetime of what is an incredibly complex project. So, every time anyone from Withings’ five-strong team of designers make a design change, everyone else can instantly see it. A comprehensive edit history tracks who made what change and when, enabling the team to instantly revert to any prior design if desired. By using Onshape, the core engineering


team in France can also instantly share the design changes with their colleagues overseas, eliminating the previous communication delays that came with sending massive files back and forth by email or Dropbox. “Our engineering team switched from an old


file-based CAD system to Onshape in 2019 when we needed to replace our inefficient manual approach to version control in the development of our hugely successful hybrid smartwatch,” explained Manon Navellou, head of mechanics. “When we were versioning


MAY 2023 DESIGN SOLUTIONS 33


aris-based healthcare innovator Withings


manually, we sometimes would lose data because of someone saving their design on top of someone else’s version. “This no longer happens with Onshape. To


make our products, like U-Scan, stand out in the market we must iterate every day. We design something, prototype it, test it, make modifications, and then start the loop over again. “PTC’s cloud-native platform means engineers no longer have to waste time worrying about data management and can spend most of their time focusing on design.”


EXPLORING DESIGNS U-Scan is made of up a lot of complex parts, so one of the main positives of Onshape is its ‘Branching and Merging’ and ‘Multi-Part Part Studios’ features. Navellou explained: “Our engineers can


simultaneously branch off the main design and explore alternative designs independently, later coming back to merge the best ideas into a final design that eliminates a lot of engineering reworks. “Onshape’s modelling environment also allows us to design multiple related parts at


the same time in the same space, versus bouncing back and forth between individual part files. A major time saving.” PTC has been working with Withings since 2019 and its design software has been used in the development of several connected devices that make better health part of our daily life. This includes the recent launch of the next generation of body monitoring in Body Scan, which provides daily biomarkers associated with common health conditions, and the firm’s Scan Watch. Although looking similar to a traditional analogue watch, this features health sensors that relay real-time critical health information, such as ECG, heart


rate, SpO2, activity tracking and sleep patterns, to a Health Mate mobile app. U-Scan, which will be available initially at


www.withings.com and then through high street retailers in the UK, debuts with U-Scan Cycle Sync (for women’s monthly cycle tracking and syncing) and U-Scan Nutri Balance, a detailed metabolic guide to hydration and nutrition. Steve Mahoney, senior director Onshape,


PTC EMEA, commented: “Withings is changing the way millions of people across the world are monitoring their health. “Having access to the most effective design


and product data management platform from PTC is playing a key role in this innovation, as well as achieving industry-leading performance and speed to market that is so important when bringing something ‘new’ to the world.”


PTC www.ptc.com


U-Scan is a miniaturised health lab that sits within the toilet bowl in order to unlock the wealth of health information in daily urine


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