Team:Aalto-Helsinki/Applied Design
Early research
LWhen we started to research and design the laboratory part around antimicrobial dermcidin we didn’t have any clear idea of possible application and design. But we had a large number of ideas. The first approach was to use dermcidin in hospital environment, because we knew it would be active against some most common hospital bacteria. During the ideation we decided to include a cellulose binding domain together with dermcidin in order to create a strong binding with cellulose based materials that are widely used in hospitals. We were also thinking could dermcidin be used as a sterilization spray or coating on different surfaces or door handles or could it be used in diapers, cellulose based catheters and implants.
During our process we arranged several meetings (link to the dialog) with professionals from many fields. We went to those meetings with an open mind to be able to reflect our ideas with professionals and get tips and guidance to be able to develop the design process further. On May in the beginning of our project we had a meeting with Tarja Jalava, a researcher from Bayer. Because of the confidentiality agreement we cannot elaborate more. First we focused on wound care because the first idea was to create a antimicrobial wound care product like bandage, dressing or antimicrobial gel by using dermcidin instead of for example silver. We met Dermatologist Kirsi Isoherranen and wound care specialized nurse Ulla Väänänen from Skin and Allergy hospital of HUS. They introduced us with versatile world of wound care products and we were able to follow wound care reception and saw how different products are used in action.
“There is about 700 different would care related products used in HUS hospitals are currently using”. Dermatologist Kirsi Isoherranen
Ulla Väänänen showing antimicrobial gel used in wound care.
We also visited another hospital Jorvi and met burn wound specialist Andrew Landlord there. We got really encouraging feedback from both of the visits. We learned about the different techniques and products used when treating burns but since the usage of antimicrobial agents was minimal, especially in the early stages of a healing burn, we decided not to focus too much on this subject.
Changing the topic from wound care to acne
Even the field of hospital product field was really promising for new solutions based on dermcidin we were slightly unsure if the track is correct for us. We wanted to execute a project that would increase the knowledge of synthetic biology and possibilities of it. We felt that specialized hospital product were too narrow approach and impossible way to communicate with people outside the scientific fields. After long discussion between our team members we decided to focus on another idea we had in early beginning in our heads – skin care and especially acne.
What is acne
Acne is a result of four abnormal processes. The male hormones induce the excessive production of sebum in the hair follicles. This excess sebum causes dead skin cells to stick together resulting in a blocked hair follicle. This is called a microcomedone. Inside the clogged pore the biofilm formation by certain strains of the skin commensal Propionibacterium acnes causes inflammation by activating the innate immune system. Several pro-inflammatory chemical signals that are known to contribute in the comedo formation are being released due to the inflammation caused by P.acnes. These chemical signals attract white cells to the hair follicle resulting in a pimple.
Antibiotics are widely used in acne treatments but many countries have reported that around 50% of P.acnes strains are resistant to them. Antimicrobial peptides, or AMPs, have been suggested as an alternative for antibiotics, which was good news for us. What encouraged us more was a study stating that acne patients had reduced expression of dermcidin on their skin, which when fixed, we hoped to result in reduced pimples. Acne is so common problem around the world that it was easy to find common information about it and stories about people struggling with acne. We anyway wanted to dick deeper and arranged meetings with professionals specialized acne and curing it.
We met Antti Lauerma from Skin and Allergy hospital of HUS in order to learn more about acne and especially how acne patients are diagnosed in hospitals and what kind of medication they are using. We learned that it’s not only bacteria infection making acne skin produce pimples and pustules but it can also be because washing the skin too much which is why skin gets really dry easily and the dry skin and dead skin causes more infection by blocking pores.
“It is surprising how little acne is studied in a past 30 years even though 85% of world population is suffering of it at some point in their lives” Dermatologist Antti Lauerma
To get bigger picture we also talked with Ida-Maria Rantala who is a cosmetologist focused in acne patients. She told us about treatments they are using in beauty clinics and what are the biggest trends in a beauty and skin care markets at the moment.
We got a feeling that people suffering with acne are desperately ready to do really heavy and painful treatments to cure acne or make it at least a bit better. We learned about dramatic side effects caused by some medication and really expensive prices of treatments and products that are commonly used against acne.
Meeting and talking with professionals was really important and we gained a lot of new knowledge. But most inspiring and touching was our talks with normal people who shared their stories with acne really openly. We interviewed (link to dialog here) 4 people about their acne and also we had a survey (link to the survey) where we collected information about people’s acne, causes, levels, backgrounds and most important about products they are using. We wanted to know what kind of products people are willing to use and what kind skin care routines acne patients have. We learned that people suffering acne were more willing to spend money and time to skin care in order to get their acne better. They also were more open for new products and willing to try different treatments and methods.
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Contrary to popular belief, Lorem Ipsum is not simply random text. It has roots in a piece of classical Latin literature from 45 BC, making it over 2000 years old. Richard McClintock, a Latin professor at Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia, looked up one of the more obscure Latin words, consectetur, from a Lorem Ipsum passage, and going through the cites of the word in classical literature, discovered the undoubtable source. Lorem Ipsum comes from sections 1.10.32 and 1.10.33 of "de Finibus Bonorum et Malorum" (The Extremes of Good and Evil) by Cicero, written in 45 BC. This book is a treatise on the theory of ethics, very popular during the Renaissance. The first line of Lorem Ipsum, "Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet..", comes from a line in section 1.10.32.
Contrary to popular belief, Lorem Ipsum is not simply random text. It has roots in a piece of classical Latin literature from 45 BC, making it over 2000 years old. Richard McClintock, a Latin professor at Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia, looked up one of the more obscure Latin words, consectetur, from a Lorem Ipsum passage, and going through the cites of the word in classical literature, discovered the undoubtable source. Lorem Ipsum comes from sections 1.10.32 and 1.10.33 of "de Finibus Bonorum et Malorum" (The Extremes of Good and Evil) by Cicero, written in 45 BC. This book is a treatise on the theory of ethics, very popular during the Renaissance. The first line of Lorem Ipsum, "Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet..", comes from a line in section 1.10.32.
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References
[1] Writers, YEAR. Name of article / book. Publication. Accessible at: [url here].
[2] Writers, YEAR. Name of article / book. Publication. Accessible at: [url here].
[3] Writers, YEAR. Name of article / book. Publication. Accessible at: [url here].
[4] Writers, YEAR. Name of article / book. Publication. Accessible at: [url here].
[5] Writers, YEAR. Name of article / book. Publication. Accessible at: [url here].
