03 Nov Redesigned medical canister could cut millions of pounds of plastic waste
Design Department, Inc. – spherical medical canister
When Patrick Tetzlaff describes the spherical canister he and his team developed, he starts with a disclaimer. “This is one of those products where on the surface, it doesn’t look very interesting,” he said. “It’s not flashy. It’s not exciting.”
At first glance, it resembles a standard disposable suction canister used to collect fluids during surgeries and other clinical procedures. These canisters are in nearly every operating room, patient room, and care facility in the country. Their scale, however, is far from ordinary.
Tetzlaff and his business partner, Brian Leadingham, run Design Department, Inc., a Franklin-based product development consultancy. The firm has worked on medical product innovations for more than a decade. The canister project began when the team realized that small changes applied at scale could have disproportionate impact.
“We always thought there had to be a better way to do it,” he said.
Traditional suction canisters are cylindrical. Tetzlaff explained that a sphere offers important advantages: it can hold the same amount of fluid using less plastic, and the shape distributes pressure more efficiently.
The team will present the spherical canister during the Elevator Pitch Olympics, part of the Early Stage Symposium presented by the Wisconsin Technology Council. The event takes place November 5 and 6 and brings together startups, investors, and business leaders from across the region.