Designing a low-cost monitoring system for lymphedema: Empowering life after cancer

More people are at risk of getting Lymphedema, due to an increase in occurrence of cancer. Lymphedema is an implication of cancer treatment and is the result of damaged lymph nodes due to surgery or radiation. This on its turn, results in swelling which can be experienced as uncomfortable. Treatment is delayed due to late diagnosis and the costs of more intense face to face follow-up are too high. This research developed a patient friendly and low-cost selfmonitoring tool to overcome these issues. This was done by following the Creative Technology Design Process. The prototype resulting from this process, was evaluated through a use evaluation consisting of two phases with 8 healthy participants and one Lymphedema patient. This evaluation was focused on usability, reliability and speed of measurements. The usability was tested through the use of the System Usability Scale. The average score was 78,75, therefore it can be said that the usability of the tool is good. The method to test the reliability turned out to be not suitable and it is advised to test the usability of the developed tool in future research. The speed of measurement had an average of 8 minutes and 16 seconds to measure both arms. Therefore it can be said that the product has potential to be a great low-cost contribution to the monitoring of Lymphedema at home. Future research should focus on testing the reliability and researching the possibilities of different sizes.