Hipsterhesje in plaats van infuuspaal

Young designer Alissa Rees was hospitalized as a 19 year old, with acute leucemia. She designed a little vest to replace the heavy and cumbersome IV-pole. The IV-Walk, as it is called, is a wearable drip in a piece of fashion.

Traditional IVs are attached to a heavy pole, with wires dangling from it. They limit the patient in his freedom of movement. For her graduation project, Rees therefor turned the traditional IV-pole into something soft and comfortable, and a lot less heavy. On the spot she demonstrates the IV-Walk, the wearable IV: in the front a vest, in the back a flap that can easily be hung over a wheelchair.

The IV’s pump sits underneath the fabric on the stomach, the IV-bag hangs hidden on the back. The inside is made of teddy fabric, the outside of smooth petrol fabric. Around the waste is a leather belt with press buttons. It was intentionally made to look hip, says Alissa: “When you’re sick, you just want to feel like a human being again. The wire is visible though, because the illness is as well. There’s no need to hide that.”

The OLVG will run a trial with the design on the oncology department. Alissa hopes that it will help patients to go outside more easily.

Brain Awards
Alissa recently won two Brain Awards, an innovation award for students, with her design.

Read the original article by Lisette Wegener on het Parool.