Conference article

A conservative culture and a robust material with a genuine past is probably the best way of describing the medical healthcare environments around the country. Stainless steel has dominated for decades; and it is not only because of its technical properties. The feeling of a clean surrounding and sterile equipment are high rated within this culture; you have to trust the material and its surface. However; what will happen when stainless steel is replaced with another material; still meeting the same (or higher) technical requirements? Is it possible to challenge the steel and its robust and hygienic experience? Will the users of the equipment have fate in the new material and its surface? The purpose of this paper is to link the technical- and customer requirements of current materials to surface textures in medical environments. By focusing on parts of the theory of Kansei Engineering; improvements of products are possible. In collaboration with the topical company for this project; three new materials that fulfil the technical requirements –easy to clean and anti-bacterial came to be in focus for further investigation in regard to a new design of the steriliser for medical equipment using the Kansei based Clean ability approach CAA. Focusing on the correlation between the cleaning; the surface design parameters and the experience of the new materials/surfaces; discussions regarding the optimal material/surface design of the product and the challenging of the stainless steel are initiated. The results of this study show that materials with similar or better cleanability properties very well can exchange the traditional brushed stainless steel materials. Also; the optimal wipe material and cleaning agents system can be developed using the modified Kansei Engineering method. The continuation of this study will be to further include surface properties to influence on bacterial growth to complete the CAA.

Cleanability; material design; functional surfaces; Kansei Design; stainless steel.