What it does
The Podiatry EduKit is a lifelike, reusable training tool that lets students practise podiatry procedures like callus removal and nail care safely and affordably, before working with real patients. Designed with input from students and professionals.
Your inspiration
Dr Malia Ho, a Senior Lecturer from the Masters of Podiatric Nursing course at Monash University approached Naruncheng and the rest of the Monash Automation student engineering team with a problem. Her podiatry students lacked opportunities to practise debriding and nail care before clinical placements. With no existing tools and few volunteers, students felt underprepared and lacked confidence. With few human volunteers and no suitable existing tools, a new solution was needed.
How it works
The Podiatry EduKit is a hands-on training tool that helps students practise podiatry procedures like callus removal and nail care. It features a 3D-printed foot made from flexible foaming TPU, which feels soft and skin-like. The foot includes five slots for wax callus inserts, allowing students to practise debridement with real scalpels without damaging the foot. Each toe has a slot for plastic nail inserts to practise nail care. A strong clamp attaches the foot to hospital beds or tables, mimicking real patient positions. The clamp can be adjusted to move or lock the foot at different angles, replicating various clinical scenarios. Parts are produced using large-scale 3D printing, keeping costs low while ensuring consistent quality. This combination of materials, modular design, and adjustable mounting provides a realistic, reusable, and affordable way for students to gain essential practical experience before working with real patients.
Design process
The design process began with getting a deeper understanding of the problem. Insights were gathered directly from the students who had experienced the issue first hand. Considerations such as functionality, cost and realism were mapped out to determine a balance that would best meet the needs of the teaching environment. Similar existing solutions were researched and their pros & cons were analysed. Then, a solution in the form of a education kit with an imitation foot which could interface with mock calluses was decided on. A number of early prototypes were then made tested by Dr Ho's students. Their feedback shaped each stage of the design, ensuring that user centred design principles were followed closely. Many improvements to ergonomics and function would likely have been missed without these testing sessions, which proved crucial in refining the product. During this phase in the design process, many different features were tested, including more realistic feet with bones, and mounts which would replicate the range of motion of a real human leg. However it was recognised that cost and practicality were more important to both students and institutions. A balance was reached, where the final kit remained realistic and functional while staying affordable and accessible.
How it is different
The Podiatry EduKit stands apart as an entirely novel solution to an underserved need in podiatry education. While other medical trainers rely on expensive injection molding, we utilise a scalable FDM 3D-printed design that maintains realism while being far more affordable given the relatively low demand quantity for medical trainers. Each part of the kit, from the foot to the clamp, is designed for printing at Monash Automation's Matrix Print Farm. Beyond functionality, we broke from medical aesthetics norms by using soft pastel colors and multiple skin tones, creating a more welcoming training experience for nervous students. The modular design with interchangeable pathology components offers targeted practice opportunities unavailable in static models. This fusion of innovative manufacturing, user-centred design, simple clever design creates a product that's not only unique in functionality but also at a level of accessibility that's unheard of in its field.
Future plans
Currently, the Podiatry EduKit is for sale online, available to students and institutions alike. The kit has already been delivered to Monash University's Masters of Podiatric Nursing course in Australia and the Masters of Wound Care course in Malaysia, with many more Universities around the country showing interest. Going into the future, there will undoubtedly be a ongoing relationship between the Monash Automation engineering team and Monash University where feedback is taken and improvements made on an ongoing basis. The team is also intending to apply the learnings from the project onto an adjacent project for paediatric nursing.
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