Award Number : 09D01022 Award-winning item : Ultrasound Scanner[Ultrasound Scanner HI VISION Preirus] Company : HITACHI MEDICAL CORPORATION Producer： Hitoshi Matsuo, US system Division, Design Department, Hitachi Medical Corporation Director： Atsushi Ninomiya, Society Solution Design Department, Design Division, Hitachi, Ltd. Designer： Atsushi Ninomiya Society Solution Design Department, Yoshimi Kasai Home Solution Design Department, Design Division Hitachi, Ltd.

This platform has been designed with a focus on responding swiftly to differences in examination types (upright or seated) and patient (children) status, as well as parts of the body being examined, through technician operation. For this purpose, its controls employ technologies such as single-action variable positioning and a rotating structure. This makes it possible to secure broad, open foot spaces and working areas. Controls are positioned so the main keys, centered on a trackball, can fit in the palm of the hand, enabling operation without looking at the controls. It features button lighting to enable long-term operation in a darkened room and out of consideration for colorblind technicians. Furthermore, the design also is intended to ensure forward visibility for operators during transfer inside hospitals and to give consideration to having the device present an attractive, stylish feeling from the patient's point of view.

This design is intended to provide more precise imaging through stabilizing the heartbeat by providing patients from children through adults with a comfortable, gentle impression of examination in a wide range of situations. With a color and form that remain largely unchanged even in a dark examination room, the design is intended to be gentle and unoppressive. In pursuit of variable positioning capable of responding swiftly to differences in examination styles and body types, the design also aims to secure wide-open spaces at the foot and in the operating area. The design also is intended to ensure forward visibility during movement and to give consideration to having the device present an attractive, stylish image.

The cute design of the main unit, with its smiling character, keeps down feelings of oppressiveness and provides a gentle form that helps patients feel peace of mind in a wide variety of examination styles. Its ergonomic design, suited to different technician body types and examination positions, reduces the burden on technicians. The design is suited to comfortable and quick operation, pursues compactness suited to the examination environment, and above all helps both patients and technicians feel comfortable. Its GUI gives consideration to use in dark examination rooms, using colors and shapes that change only slightly under different conditions, and it makes it possible to provide clearer images by stabilizing the patient's heartbeat through eliminating feelings of discomfort. Its design employing hospitality to the maximum extent in details such as a trackball that makes blind operation possible, the layout of its probes, and its friendly body color, mean it can be regarded highly as a product suited to a candidate for this year's Good Design Grand Prize. It has won this year's Kids Design because it also communicates a gentle product message.