Once a month, about 60% of women around the world experience mild to excruciating pain due to menstruation. Symptoms include primary dysmenorrhea, pain in the breast, and cramping pain in the lower abdomen. Thankfully, a team from the University of Toronto designed a discreet, comfortable and wearable silicone heat pack to help relieve this unpleasant monthly menstrual pain.
Up until now, there has been little innovation in this category. Just some recommended treatments consisting of pain relievers, anti-inflammatory medications, hormonal birth control, a cup of hot tea or the classic hot water bottle placed on the abdomen. However, treatments are in need of some modernization because people are more cautious about using single-use products and are searching for more natural treatment options.
To tackle this problem, the team designed an innovative solution for menstrual pain – with the invention of Undu. Undu is a reusable heat pack to relieve the pain of menstrual cramps. It’s soft, slim and wearable, which makes it comfortable and convenient to go about your day while not letting menstruation ruin your plans. The brains behind this invention are Charlie Katrycz, Robin Linton, Katherine Porter, and Graham McLaughlin. This brilliant invention earned them the top place in the 2019 national James Dyson Award in Canada.
About Undu
The patented manufacturing process consists of both digital fabrication and injection air casting to form a silicone mold that divides into unique channels, similar to a tree branch. These channels contain sodium acetate with a small stem that has been inserted inside the liquid. When that stem is agitated, it produces crystallization within the liquid, which naturally projects 55° Celsius (131° Fahrenheit) heat throughout the entire pack.
Katrycz said:
I was always interested in fluids and biomimicry—applying natures designs to products and technology in the real world—because you essentially get shapes for free. Our fabrication process doesn’t exist in the industrial world and we’re excited to apply it to such a common problem.
Open Market
When the team researched the current market, they discovered that there were not many competitors.
McLaughlin said:
When researching what solutions are available for menstrual pain, we found that products like heating pads need to be plugged into a wall and are therefore not portable. Other solutions like hot water bottles are simply bulky and indiscreet.
The existing heated options are inconvenient. Undu, on the other hand, is specifically designed to be slim enough that it can be worn within underwear lining. This way, the user can benefit from pain relief outside the home in the most discreet fashion. As a bonus, the heat pack is reusable and users can reset the heat by placing the silicone in hot water for only two-three minutes. Currently, the first prototype maintains heat for 20 minutes, with 10 minutes of strong heat.
Future Plans
The team plans to use the $3,000 James Dyson Award prize money to produce more prototypes and purchase materials to create a heat pack that will produce heat for up to an hour, for longer-lasting relief.
When the team originally conducted the first survey about how women handle their menstrual pain, they learned that it was a significant problem and that the pain can be overwhelmingly unbearable for some. This motivated them immensely to create a new and innovative way to make these women more comfortable and pain-free.
Porter said:
The inspiration for the project is simple. If women had a seat at the table earlier in history, we believe this problem would have been addressed sooner. Designs like the hot water bottle have been around for years but haven’t evolved, which shows that menstrual pain is an invisible problem and one that affects half the population. There is no better reason to invest our time into a solving a problem like this.
Undu has been under development for a decade already and the team continues to make changes and updates to the design. They are constantly in search of more respondents for their survey and volunteer prototype testers to feedback on their design. Check out their website to find out more.
James Dyson Award Canada Runners Up
interpretAR – McMaster University
Problem: A person who suffers from hearing impairment can have difficulties and conversations become inconvenient. Sometimes getting the point across can be such a challenge that meaning ends up lost and pointless. Closed captioning is available though at times it can be expressionless and a bit robotic.
Solution: interpretAR is a mobile application that has been integrated with augmented reality, which will help with everyday inconveniences for the hearing impaired, and acts as a learning aid for those who want to learn sign language.
Aeroflux contactless brakes – University of Toronto
Problem: Aircraft currently rely on friction to stop their conventional multiple-disc carbon brakes. Although, this technology can waste funds, natural resources, and energy because the brakes wear quickly and constantly need to be replaced.
Solution: By using the Eddy Current Principle, Aeroflux brakes stop an aircraft without friction, therefore without wear. A magnetic field has been applied to both sides of two conductive, non-ferromagnetic discs. When the rotors move across the magnetic field, small circular electric currents are induced in the rotors. This generates a magnetic field in the opposite direction than the stationary magnetic field. The interaction of these fields applies a drag force onto the rotors which results in a braking torque.
The Next Stage
Undu and the two runners up, interpretAR, and Aeroflux Contactless Brakes will move onto the next stage of the James Dyson Award. At the next stage, there will be a panel of Dyson engineers who will select a top 20 international shortlist.
