sPEEK

sPEEK offers a voice-controlled surgical loupe headset that reduces surgeon eyestrain, improves surgical flow, and ensures data security with local edge processing. The headset’s voice control features are enabled by a battery-powered microcontroller, which runs onboard edge processing on audio captured by embedded microphones. Because of the local edge processing, there is no need for a Wi-Fi connection and thus no transmission of sensitive data over hospital networks or to the cloud. Voice commands are used to activate the headlight, switch between three brightness settings, and increase or decrease the magnification level between 3x, 4x, and 5x. Unlike existing powered surgical loupes, everything is contained on the headset to avoid trailing cables and belt/body mounting issues that can occur when used alongside surgical gowns and other PPE. The system elements have been arranged to achieve balance: the battery pack and headset adjustment control at the rear counter the optic elements at the front. Weight is distributed evenly across the ears and crown, with interchangeable top straps for tied-back hair. sPEEK is a commercially viable concept that has been evaluated through three key lenses: user-centred design, commercial viability, and technical feasibility. The concept has been prototyped to provide assurance in mechanical and voice recognition performance. Red Dot Award: Design Concept | Concept | Life Science