ABC Syringe

Innovation awards include: Winner of International Council of Societies of Industrial Design’s Biennial World Design Impact Prize 2014; ICON Awards 2014 Nominee: Social Responsible Design of the Year; Winner, Society of Dyers and Colourists, International Innovation Award 2014; Design Museum’s Designs of the Year Award Nominee- Product Design category; INDEX: Design to Improve Life Award Finalist 2013: Body category (1of 8 finalists); INDEX: Design to Improve Life Award 2013: Peoples’ Award Finalist (1 of 12 finalists); INDEX: Design to Improve Life Investment Candidate (1 of 10 from 1000+ entries). The ABC syringe now forms part of collections belonging to the London Science Museum, London Design Museum and the MUDAC, Lausanne. Advocate statements: Dominic Jermey (2014), Chief Executive of UK Trade & Investment: ‘The UK produces modern, innovative and creative companies and the ABC Syringe is a fantastic example of what Britain has to offer the world.’ Jeremy Myerson (2014), Director of the Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design, RCA: ‘The project…is a classic demonstration on how design thinking can be brought to bear on an intractable problem. David Swann is a serial innovator in medical design.’ David Rowan (2014), Editor of Wired UK: ‘ABC syringe is in our top 5 list of most innovative British companies that exemplify the best of new British technology.’ Denis Maire (2014) ,World Health Organization's Health Systems and Innovation Taskforce: ‘The great advantage of this concept is that not only health care workers but also patients can have a visual appreciation on the safety status of the device. In my view this could be a good deterrent for practitioners to reuse.’ Ravi Naidoo (2013), Managing Director of Design Indaba, South Africa: ‘This innovation speaks to the endless possibilities of design, creativity and innovation in addressing real-world issues," he said. "In addition to being cost-effective, which will ensure the accessibility of the solution, it also allows patients to take charge of a critical issue — great example of empowerment through smart design.’ United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2013): ‘This concept merits more attention and consideration. Consider that in high income countries and for applications where traditional AD will not get traction, a visual cue to distinguish used from unused is needed. It is possible we could actually generate interest and develop market initially in high income countries for example, narcotics diversion via syringe swap as I described to you is an increasingly recognized risk and could give us a starting place.’ Peter Evans (2013), former Head of WHO Procurement Worldwide and coordinator of WHO/ UNICEF projects: auto-disable syringes and vaccine vial monitors: ‘Teaching about the perils of reuse of syringes is a fundamental part of medical training and yet, throughout the developing world, reuse continues to be a generally accepted practice. Part of this is because the patients, and the medical professional, are used to the reuse of syringes and there is no immediate feedback that something is wrong. The product you have described, an indicator showing prior exposure to air and therefore non-sterile, is to my knowledge unique.’