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INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
BIOMEDICAL DESIGN II
Name Id
We offer our heartfelt gratitude and sincere acknowledgement to God for His endless blessings
and guidance throughout our academic journey. We recognize His grace and wisdom, which have
enabled us to reach this momentous milestone .We also extend our sincere appreciation to Mr.
Yemikru instructor of Biomedical engineering, and staff at the University of Gondar for their
unwavering support, encouragement, and mentorship. Your relentless dedication to education and
commitment to our success have been invaluable, and we are forever grateful for the generosity of
your time and resources.
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ABSTRACT
This project aimed to develop a prototype for a menstrual pain reliever belt using solid work
software and to generate a bill of materials. Menstrual cramps are a common issue amongst
women, which can impact their daily activities. The proposed solution utilizes far IR waves to
penetrate the skin and increase blood flow, ultimately leading to the relaxation of the uterine
contraction and alleviation of menstrual pain. The bill of materials includes carbon fibers, electrical
components, and other materials required for the construction of the belt. The proposed device is
a potentially effective solution for menstrual pain relief, and the prototype can be further developed
and optimized for improved functionality and comfort.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
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4.5 Bill of material ................................................................................................................................... 21
CHAPTER FIVE ............................................................................................................................................. 22
5. PROTOTYPE AND SIMULATION ............................................................................................................... 22
CHAPTER SIX................................................................................................................................................ 24
6. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION ................................................................................................ 24
REFERENCES ................................................................................................................................................ 25
APPENDIX .................................................................................................................................................... 26
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LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 2. 1 Free hand sketch of the menstrual cramp reliever belt ............................................................... 6
Figure 3. 1 Product input and output relation……………………………………………………………..8
Figure 3. 2 Product architecture .................................................................................................................... 9
Figure 3. 3 Vibrating Motor ........................................................................................................................ 10
Figure 3. 4 Light-emitting diode (LED)...................................................................................................... 10
Figure 3. 5 Battery ...................................................................................................................................... 11
Figure 3. 6 Power button ............................................................................................................................. 11
Figure 3. 7 Thermostat ................................................................................................................................ 12
Figure 3. 8 Potentiometer ............................................................................................................................ 12
Figure 3. 9 Carbon fiber .............................................................................................................................. 13
Figure 3. 10 Op amp ................................................................................................................................... 13
Figure 3. 11 Solid work of the strap............................................................................................................ 14
Figure 3. 12 Solid work of front side .......................................................................................................... 15
Figure 3. 13 Solid work of back side .......................................................................................................... 15
Figure 4. 1 Electrical design……………………………………………………………………………….19
Figure 5. 1 Vibration mode……………………..........................................................................................22
Figure 5. 2 Temperature control mode……………………………………………………………………22
Figure 5. 3 proteus simulation when the temperature normal value ........................................................... 23
Figure 5. 4 Proteus simulation when the temperature above normal value ................................................ 23
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LIST OF TABLES
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ACRONYMS
A Ampere
ACN Acrylonitrile
Cm Centimeter
0
C Degree Celsius
DC Direct current
G Gram
GC Gregorian calendar
IR Infrared
J Joule
mA Milliampere
Min Minute
mm Millimeter
W watt
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CHAPTER ONE
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1General introduction
Menstruation, or period, is normal vaginal bleeding that happens as part of a woman's monthly
cycle. Many women have painful periods, also called dysmenorrhea .Menstrual cramps happen
when a chemical called prostaglandin makes the uterus contract (tighten up). The uterus, the
muscular organ where a fetus grows, contracts throughout your menstrual cycle. During
menstruation, the uterus contracts more strongly. If the uterus contracts too strongly, it can press
against nearby blood vessels, cutting off the supply of oxygen to muscle tissue and feel pain when
part of the muscle briefly loses its supply of oxygen. In this period women experience cramping
or pain in the lower abdomen, low back pain, pain spreading down the legs, nausea, vomiting,
diarrhea, fatigue, weakness, fainting, or headaches lot of pains that it will be difficult for them to
do their day to day activities [1].
A menstrual pain reliever belt, provides heat to facilitate flow of blood and give comfort to women
during menstruation. To acquire this it uses the principle Electric current stimulates the carbon
fibers with in the belt to release & radiate far IR waves into our body. This wavelength has the
ability to penetrate skin down to what is called the subcutaneous tissue layer where our blood
vessels are found. The body responds by opening and dilating the blood vessels, increasing blood
flow which helps in relaxation of uterine contraction and healing [2].
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1.2 Problem statement
The issue of menstrual pain has been with us since the start of the human race and for a lot of years
it has not gotten any attention in the medical sector and was considered as a portion of life for
women all over the world. A research done on the number of women affect showed that menstrual
pain was reported by 84.1% of women, with 43.1% reporting that pain occurred during every
period, and 41% reporting that pain occurred during some periods [3]. Menstrual pain is usually
felt as painful muscle cramps in the tummy, which can spread to the back and thighs. The pain
sometimes comes in intense spasms. It may also vary with each period. Some of the solutions put
in place are less effective and could be an agent for other side effects that can arise from repeated
administration like drugs and traditional treatment which is performed on instinct.
Menstrual pain is a very common problem, but the need for medication and the inability to function
normally occurs less frequently. Nevertheless, at least one in four women experiences distressing
menstrual pain characterized by a need for medication and absenteeism from study or social
activities.
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1.3 Mission statement
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1.4 Time plan
Introduction
Product architecture
Product configuration
Assembly constraint
Electrical analysis
Bill of material
Prototype and
Simulation
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CHAPTER TWO
As we want to design a menstrual cramp reliever belt that can help women when they are in their
menstruation that they will experience menstrual pain that will last 3 to 4 days. we want to
interview women that are found on our campus and also women staff members in a hospital to
know what problems they are facing and we gather information from biomedical professionals
by using questioners while we were interviewing them we got an insight to the current pain relief
methods that they use and how much effective the current pain reliever methods are. From the
data collected the techniques may vary but most are not as effective as needed and the ones that
are come with their own side effects.
After identifying the customer need we are able to identify the relative importance of the needs
and then we went to competitive bench marking for different companies on the market which is
comparing the product of different companies based on customer satisfaction and metrics. We
set the ideal value which is the values we really want to achieve and the marginal value which is
the value which is acceptable internationally in the market for our design.
Then we generate different concepts that can solve the problems of our target groups (women)
needs. While generating the concepts we first understand the problem deeply and we decompose
the problems with diagram to get a clarification for the problems then we explore different
solutions for the sub problems and we combined the solution for sub problems and we generate
six concepts.
Based on different selection criteria we are able to select four concepts from six concepts which
fulfill the criteria. When we select them the concepts which fulfill the criteria gets “+” which do
not fulfill gets “-” so the concepts which get more “+” were selected with the reference of “0”.
And combine the two concepts to get better solution then we score the concepts based on
criteria’s further screening and choose the concept which get the higher rank on scoring process.
One concept was selected.
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Finally, the selected concept was rechargeable battery that is used as power supply and different
potentiometer which have different purpose like adjustable knob and it has different out puts like
vibration, heat in infrared form and LED. The selected concept for the mechanical part is selected
and configured into the menstrual cramp relief to adjust its size.
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2.2 Product specification
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CHAPTER THREE
3. EMBODIMENT DESIGN
The device has an input electrical energy which converts in to an output mechanical energy and
heat energy like vibration and infrared ray in a form of heat. The input materials for the device
were adjustable knob and it gives green LED notification which is the device at works as an
output material and it also has a potentiometer as a controller that give an output signal for the
device.
Input output
Rpm
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3.2 Product architecture
The power supply and all the other elements have energy flow from the power supply to other
elements. The potentiometer sends the signal to the vibrator motor and carbon fiber send signals
to the output elements (heater, buzzer, vibrator, LED) to do a specific task.
Power supply
User interface
Input element
Potentiometer Vibrator
Potentiometer
Heater
Buzzer
Key
Energy flow
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3.3 Product configuration
The design has an electrical and mechanical component which helps the device to work properly
A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor device that emits light when current flows
through it. Electrons in the semiconductor recombine with electron holes, releasing energy in the
form of photons. The color of the light (corresponding to the energy of the photons) is determined
by the energy required for electrons to cross the band gap of the semiconductor. White light is
obtained by using multiple semiconductors or a layer of light-emitting phosphor on the
semiconductor device [5].
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Battery
An electric battery is a source of electric power consisting of one or more electrochemical cells
with external connections for powering electrical devices.it works by the principle of changing
chemical energy to electrical energy. Its actual voltage is ranges from 11.5 to 12 volts depending
upon technology [6].
Figure 3. 5 Battery
Power button
The power button is a round or square button that powers an electronic device on and off. The
menstrual cramp reliever belt powers on when a user presses the button and powers off when
they press it again [7].
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Thermistor
The main use of a thermistor is to measure the temperature of a device. In a temperature controlled
system, the thermistor is a small but important piece of a larger system. A temperature controller
monitors the temperature of the thermistor [8].
Figure 3. 7 Thermistor
Potentiometer
A potentiometer is a manually adjustable variable resistor with 3 terminals. Two of the terminals
are connected to the opposite ends of a resistive element, and the third terminal connects to a
sliding contact, called a wiper, moving over the resistive element [9].
Figure 3. 8 Potentiometer
Carbon fiber
Carbon fiber is a fiber made of carbon atoms, which takes up 90% or more of the elements in
carbon fiber. Carbon fiber is produced from organic fibers such as polyacrylonitrile (PAN) or
synthetic resin fibers, with the carbonization process at high temperature under an inert gas
condition to separate elements other than carbon. A carbon fiber infrared heater works by emitting
infrared radiation, and it heats up in the same way as a normal electric heater. When subjected to
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electrical current it release heat in form of infrared. Using captured carbon dioxide, the process
acrylonitrile (ACN), which is a building block for carbon fiber this gives the carbon fiber a unique
feature that can absorb IR and also emit it in a focused area due to the greenhouse effect of carbon
the energy from the input is converted in to photon and this photo stores heat mainly in the form
of IR and after which the absorbed energy is released in the form of vibration and mostly infrared
heat [10].
An LM324 circuit is an operational amplifier that you can use on various types of circuits. It
features a broad range of power supply, uptake of small static power, and compatibility to a single
power supply [11].
Figure 3. 10 Op amp
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3.3.2 Mechanical components
The strap
The back side of the belt is made of Lycra fabric which is very stretchy synthetic fabric. That
means all of these can expand 5 to 8 times more than their normal size. Lycra is a polymer
made of long monomer chains, and these chains are linked using a special acid typ e Lycra
is also smooth, resistant to wrinkles, lightweight, and moisture absorbent. Because of its
flexibility, it is durable and easy to maintain.
The front side of the belt is made of Polybenzimidazole fiber that is a synthetic fiber with a
very high decomposition temperature. It does not exhibit a melting point, it has exceptional
thermal and chemical stability, and it does not readily ignite. It was first discovered by American
polymer chemist Carl Shipp Marvel in the pursuit of new materials with superior stability,
retention of stiffness, toughness at elevated temperature. Its stabile, polybenzimidazole is used to
fabricate high-performance protective apparel have high heat resistance and didn’t transfer heat.
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Figure 3. 12 Solid work of front side
The back side is made of Lycra fabric which is soft and comfortable to wear. Like other
polyurethane materials, Lycra fabric is a polymer, which means that it is composed of long chains
of monomers that are connected with a special type of acid. Unlike many other types of synthetic
fabrics, Lycra is highly resistant to heat.it is Lightweight and breathable that allows air to flow
and the best chance to cool off and for the fabric to dry faster, which helps eliminate sweat stains.
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3.4 Material selection
The materials for different component of the design are different and also have different
selection criteria as follow:
The front side should be attractable, light weight and heat resistance that can resist the heat
generating from heater and block any heat so it won’t pass through it. So we use polybenzimidazole
that is used to fabricate high-performance protective apparel have high heat resistance and didn’t
transfer heat.
The back side should be very soft so that it will be comfortable when the women uses it .and
also it has to be water resistance ,washable and easy to dry, heat resistant(200C), breathable
because there could be sweat and stain because of that . So Lycra fabric is used.
The strap
Strap has to be stretchable that means all of these can expand 5 to 8 times more than their
normal size. Lycra is a polymer made of long monomer chains, and these chains are linked
using a special acid type Lycra is also smooth, resistant to wrinkles, lightweight, and
moisture absorbent. Because of its flexibility, it is durable and easy to maintain.
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Table 3. 1 Material selection and Selection criteria
No Component Material selection Selection criteria
N0
Assembly Component 1 Component 2 Component 3 Component 4
constraint
1 Mate Front part with Strap with the Back side with Lycra fabric with
hinges hinge hinges back side
2 angle The same as the Ranges from 90 No angle between No angle between
back side to 180 degrees the front but varies the back
in regard with the
strap
3 Tangent The curve of the To the front at At 90 degrees with
belt different angels the straps
4 Insert Led display Drilled screw holes
opening, two and external cover
adjustable knobs
,turn on button
and the charger
port
5 Symmetry Varies at various To the other side Similar dimensions With the back side
points of the strap only with the front but of
differing in different content
texture and type
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of material but
is of the same
dimension and
thickness
6 Contained Push button, Has screws Only the fabric
LED, charger covering the drilled
port and holes
adjustable knob
CHAPTER FOUR
The mechanical design of the menstrual cramp reliever belt is as shown below. When the woman
wants to use the belt she can simply place it on the abdominal part of her body. She can start it
by pressing the on button and adjust the temperature and vibration of the system by the
potentiometer. The length of the strap is very stretchable that can fit in any size. The length of
the belt is 20 cm the average of most girl’s waist size portion that can be used to treat the pain.
The height is 9cm which is relative to the comfortableness when placed on the body .the width
size 5cm which is comfortable and also hold the electronic components.
Figure 4. 1 The solid work design of menstrual cramp relief when all part are combined
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Figure 4. 2 Electrical design
1 rev =50c
H = 580c
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4.3.2 Vibration system
The maximum heating capacity that will be achieved by the device is 35 Hz and it will be
adjusted by using a potentiometer
1 rev =7 Hz
V = 35 Hz
V= 5 rev
To calculate the power consumption of the device we need to know the current rating of all the
devices. The current rating of each electrical component is listed below.
Table 4. 1 Over all power consumption of the device
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Battery discharge time
discharge capacity of Lithium Ion 12V Battery is 10Ah and the overall applied current is 347mA
so the used hour is :
h=10Ah/0.347A
Therefore the battery will work 1 day and 2hr after charging.
Profit 2600-1582=1018
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CHAPTER FIVE
In the proteus simulation when the push button is on the system will start working based on the
mode selected using the potentiometer adjustment. It has two potentiometer the first one is used to
adjust the vibrator motor and the second potentiometer is used to adjust temperature level (both
modes are shown in the figure below).
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so it is normal level satisfy the condition which indicates green LED light. And the vibration
motor starts working.
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CHAPTER SIX
In conclusion, menstrual cramps can significantly affect a woman's day-to-day activities due to the
pain and discomfort they cause. However, a menstrual pain reliever belt may provide relief by
using electric current to stimulate carbon fibers and facilitate the flow of blood. By increasing
blood flow and relaxing uterine contractions, women can experience less pain and discomfort
during menstruation. It is important for women to have options like this available to help manage
their menstrual pain and allow them to carry out their daily activities as comfortable as possible.
The mechanical component is comfortable.
We recommended that the system can upgraded by adding the features like LCD display that
can display the values of the temperature and the vibration.
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REFERENCES
[1] Christine Aurich,Marc Yeste, "The normal menstrual cycle in women," Animal Reproduction
Science, vol. 124, no. 3-4, pp. 229-236, 2011.
[2] Shannon M. Hawkins, Martin M. Matzuk, "The Menstrual Cycle and Adolescent Health," Annals of
the New York Academy of Sciences, vol. 1135, no. 1, pp. 713-798, 2008.
[3] "WHO statement on menstrual health and rights," World health organization, 08 10 2022. [Online].
Available: https://www.who.int/news/item/22-06-2022-who-statement-on-menstrual-health-and-
rights. [Accessed 1 04 2023].
[4] Jung-kyu Choi; Hak-in Lee; Seong-yeol Yoo; Myounggyu D. Noh, "Analysis and Modeling of a
Voice-Coil Linear Vibration Motor Using the Method of Images," IEEE explore, vol. 18, no. 11, pp.
4164 - 4167, 2012.
[5] "Innovative advances in LED technology," Microelectronics Journal, vol. 36, no. 2, pp. 129-137,
February 2005.
[6] R. V. Noorden, "The rechargeable revolution: A better battery," Nature, vol. 1, no. 1, p. 26–28 ,
2014.
[7] Jason M. Spruell, Walter F. Paxton, John-Carl Olsen, "A Push-Button Molecular Switch," ACS
publication, vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 131-132, 2009.
[8] Klaus Mosbach, Bengt Danielsson, "An enzyme thermistor," Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) -
Enzymology, vol. 364, no. 11, pp. 140-145, September 1974.
[9] Jeffrey S. Meisner, Masha Kamenetska, "A Single-Molecule Potentiometer," ACS Publication, vol.
11, no. 4, pp. 1575-1579, 2011.
[10] Jean-Baptiste Donnet, Roop Chand Bansal, "Carbon Fibers," Tylor and Francies group, vol. 12, no.
1, p. 584, 2014.
[11] J. Solomon, "The monolithic op amp: a tutorial study," IEEE Journal of Solid-State, vol. 9, no. 6,
pp. 314 - 332, 1974.
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APPENDIX
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