Design that Matters
Model & Strategy
Design that Matters (DtM) is solving global health problems for and with developing countries by advancing technology in rapid prototyping and low-volume manufacturing. Through strategic collaborations, DtM brings high-quality design to underserved areas often overlooked by commercial markets. As of May 2024, DtM’s Firefly device, which treats babies with jaundice, has helped over 840,000 newborns and has reached 39 countries. Products designed and launched in partnership with DtM have collectively treated 3 million patients globally.
The Problem
Medical devices designed and manufactured in high-income countries are often ill-suited for low-resource settings in low-income countries. International medical device regulatory standards typically assume ideal clinical conditions and access to resources that are not available in these environments. For instance, a primary hospital in northern Nigeria, a Rohingya refugee health clinic in Bangladesh, or a temporary maternal health center serving displaced persons in Ukraine likely lack essential infrastructure such as reliable power and clean water, resources like appropriate furniture and climate control, as well as complementary technologies and sufficient funding. Additionally, these settings often face challenges with staff capabilities, including limited training and inadequate nurse-patient ratios.
This disparity leads to significant waste, with medical device donations going unused or breaking quickly. Consequently, untreated health conditions like newborn jaundice and hypothermia can result in lifelong disability or death for millions of newborns each year.
The Solution
Design that Matters is a global leader in human-centered design, rapid prototyping, and cost-effective, low-volume manufacturing for medical products. DtM delivers breakthrough global health technologies to niche markets in developing countries at a fraction of the traditional R&D investment. Their success is evident through collaborations with renowned organizations like Médecins Sans Frontières to address critical global health needs, and partnerships with industry to manufacture and distribute products affordably.
DtM believes that great design must be adopted at scale to truly make an impact. While their products, such as the Firefly phototherapy device, which allows rural hospitals with limited staff and resources to treat otherwise healthy babies for jaundice successfully, have saved countless lives, their broader vision is to set new standards of care in low-resource settings.
DtM’s successful products provide a compelling incentive for multinational medical device manufacturers to adopt their solutions. Once their product concepts become industry standards, DtM plans to focus their resources toward addressing the next significant global health challenges that remain underserved by the market.
Design that Matters combines CEO Timothy Prestero’s experiences in West Africa as a Peace Corps volunteer and at MIT as an engineering graduate student. Timothy is co-inventor on three pending patents for cholera treatment devices. He is a Martin Fellow at the MIT Laboratory for Energy and the Environment, and he was named an Ashoka Affiliate in 2004. His awards include the 2007 Social Venture Network Innovation Award, and the 2009 World Technology Award. Design that Matters’ work received an honorable mention in the ID Magazine’s 2010 Annual Design Review, and the company was a finalist in Corporate Achievement for the 2010 National Design Award.
IMPACT
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, DtM launched their first-ever domestic project: a reusable face shield PPE for front-line healthcare workers. Their design was the first NIH-approved 3D-printed medical device in history.
DtM partners delivered more than 450,000 face shields to emergency rooms and ICUs around the U.S.
