ECE 477Digital Systems Senior Design ProjectSpring 2005
Group 14Benny Wong
ECE 477
Digital Systems Senior Design Project
Group 14
Harold And Kumars
Homework 11: Ethical and Environmental Impact Analysis
Prepared by: Benny Wong
Contents
- Introduction 3
- Ethical Impact Analysis 4
- Reliability 4
- Proper Instruction 5
- Durability 6
- Environmental Impact Analysis 7
- Fabrication 7
- Natural Usage 8
- Disposal/Recycling 8
- References 9
1. Introduction
The Wireless Patient Monitoring system is a design that measures the heart rate (ECG) and body temperature of a patient and sends the data to a database that is easily accessible by doctors through RF communication. On top of that, it has an emergency detection system that sounds a buzzer in case of emergency faced by the patient. The measured values and the ECG are plotted out on an LCD display that is connected to the monitoring unit.
The design is enclosed in black plastic encasing with an LCD display mounted on the surface of the encasing along with two wires sticking out for the body temperature and heart rate measurements. It will be worn around the arm of the patient for easy viewing of the LCD display.
Along with the environmental concerns of the design, there are several ethical challenges to overcome. This includes testing the design under different conditions, placement of warning labels, and ensuring the functionality of the design.
There are several environmental issues related to our design but are fairly minimal. For instance, the components and wires contain lead, which poses environmental concerns. In addition, problems will arise upon the completion of the product’s life-cycle. When the unit is discarded, the internal components together with the plastic encasing are not biodegradable. Thus, careful handling is required to avoid environmental issues. The remaining of the document will consider the concerns mentioned above and present our resolution towards the concerns.
2. Ethical Impact Analysis
There are several important ethical challenges to overcome before introducing our product into the market. These challenges are mainly related to reliability,proper instructions, and the durability of the product. It is very crucial that our product is reliable apart from being safe and durable. This is because the users for our product are mainly hospital patients, and the data being sent to the doctors are crucial to monitor the patient’s health performance. Also, these data are very personal to the patient and, thus, proper handling is required to protect the privacy of the patients. Thus, improper analysis of these challenges will not only lead to malfunctions and unpredictable behavior, but also injury or death. The following will analyze some potential ethical concerns and resolution with our design.
2.1. Reliability
The primary ethical concern for our product is the reliability of the product. Because the heart rate and body temperature measurements of the patient have to be accurate, these data have to be reported accurately and reliably to the doctor at various intervals of time. Other than that, safety mechanisms have to be added to the product in the case of emergency.Apart from what was mentioned above, there is a very important ethical challenge for our product. Since our product measures the patient’s personal health performance, it is crucial that these data are only accessible by the authorized [11]. Patient’s privacy should be respected and it is a crime to invade a person’s privacy.
To address the issues mentioned above, the system that receives the data from the product was programmed to check for the availability of the data every few seconds. In a case where data is not received, it will sound an alarm to alert the doctors and nurses in the hospital complex. On top of that, if the heart rate or the temperature of the patient is not within the predefined threshold, it will sound an alarm on the product and send an emergency signal to the main system repeatedly. The alarm for emergency would be turned on longer than if the data is not received do make a distinction between the two problems. This would eliminate the risk of doctors not knowing when a patient is at danger. As for the privacy of the patient’s health information, our database is password protected. Due to time constraints, we are unable to use any data encryption methods to protect the data being sent through RF. However, future improvements of the product would include this feature to ensure the data sent are under reliable protection.
2.2. Proper Instructions
It is important to warn users of the possible danger that might occur while using the product. Users should be warned not to touch the product in the case where the product is broken to avoid injury. Also, it should be clear to the users that the warranty is void if the encasing is opened.This is to prevent users from dismantling or modifying the product. In addition, the presence of hazardous materials contained in the product (lead and fiberglass) should be informed to the users.
To ensure that the users are aware of the problems stated above, warning labels should be placed on the product case itself to remind the users every time it is being used. In addition to placing warning labels on the product, these issues should be well addressed in the user manual. This is to provide the user with more in-depth information about the warnings mentioned above.
2.3. Durability
The product is rather fragile at its current state. Its external wires are connected to the sensors and the PCB with solder and the PCB is secured to the encasing with four screws. As it will be worn on the patient while they are mobile (exercising or walking), there is a high possibility that the wires and the PCB will be detached. There is also a high possibility that the patients might fall on the product and break it as patients are potentially in a weakened condition. The product must also operate in different conditions. For instance, patients might be sweaty or they might walk to places that have direct sunlightcontact.Therefore, the product has to operate in dry, wet, warm and cold conditions. In short, the product is not ready to be released to the market as the sensor’s information being sent to the database is of great importance.
To address these set of challenges, we made sure the wires are wrapped tightly together to avoid entangling and the connections are secured with masking tape in addition to the already available solder. We have also added more screws to secure the PCB so it would not come off so easily. To avoid the sensors from deteriorating due to natural causes, e.g. water and heat, we have a wrapper for the sensors and we specifically chose sensors that could withstand extreme temperatures. We tested our product indoors and outdoors extensively and did not have any problems with the product functioning with an average load. Last but not least, our software will detect when sensors are detached from the PCB and send an error message to the LCD and the computer to make sure random readings will not be sent to the main system. This will avoid any false alarm.
3. Environmental Impact Analysis
As consumers are becoming more environmentally conscious, the environmental impact of our design must be carefully studied throughout the fabrication, natural usage, and disposal/recycling phases of its life cycle.
3.1 Fabrication
During the fabrication of our design, specifically the printed circuit boards (PCB), many hazardous wastes are generated. The primary concern is the highly corrosive Ferric Chloride solution used to etch the PCBs. This solution is highly toxic and should be disposed by dilution with large amounts of water before sending it to the water treatment center [1]. Another concern is the lead in the solder used to attach electrical components to the PCB. Lead possesses very dangerous characteristics that cause irreversible damage to the human body [2]. Examples are anemia, high blood pressure and kidney disorders
A more environmentally friendly solution to fabricate PCBs is to use a PCB milling process instead, in which copper traces are cut mechanically rather than using chemical solutions [3]. Other than that, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) suggests alternatives such as dry plasma metal deposition during the fabrication process [4]. Also, lead-free solder could be used to avoid the dangerous effects of lead [5].
3.2. Natural Usage
During the natural use of our product, there is minimal impact on the environment. However, when the nickel-cadmium batteries are weak, it has to be replaced. The disposal of the batteries has to be guided in the instruction manual as the batteries release toxic substances into the environment [6].
3.3. Disposal/Recycling
When the product has outlived its life cycle, the disposal of the product will pose threats to the environment due to the non-biodegradable substances used to build the product. As mentioned above, the PCB contains hazardous materials (e.g. lead) that would contaminate the environment if not properly disposed. Other than that, the LCD display and the batteries contain dangerous chemicals which are harmful to the environment as well.
To resolve these problems, proper disposal or recycling methods have to be instructed to the users through warning labels and the instruction manual. The PCBs can be recycled to recover valuable metals [7]; the LCD display [8] and the nickel-cadmium batteries [9] can be recycled to recover nickel, iron, and cadmium. Recycling these components not only prevents further contamination of the environment, it reduces production costs and waste by reusing these used components.
4. References
[1] “Ferric Chloride”. Materials Safety Data Sheets.
[2] “Lead: An Ever-Present Danger”. University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.
s/publications/umdnj_magazine/hstate/sprsm98/lead.html
[3] “Printed Circuit Board”. Wikipedia.
[4] Environmental Protection Agency.
[5] “The Lead-Free Solder Project”. Center for Clean Products and Clean Technologies.
[6] “Nickel-Cadmium Battery”. Wikipedia.
[7] “Printed Circuit Board Recycling”. May 2003.
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[8] Prösler, Martin. “Problems with disposal of LCD”. Oct. 27, 1999.
[9] “Battery Recycling”. Rathbone Energy. Feb. 24, 2005.
[10] Splitt, Frank G. “Environmentally Smart Engineering Education: A Brief on a Paradigm in Progress”. Jan. 2003. Northwestern University.
[11] IEEE Code of Ethics.
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