13 April 2025

Picture includes 4 3D printed objects. From left to right, there is a yellow open cylinder with a slit, a yellow cylinder with circular holes, a yellow elliptical cylinder, and a smaller black elliptical cylinder.
Eye Drop Helper (Positioning and Squeezing Parts (Both Sizes)) +  Casting Cylinder Helper

From left to right, the different CAD-ed components of our device can be described as follows:
1) At the furthest left is the positioning component, which we increased the wall height of, and which we also filleted to produce a more comfortable fit to the eye.

2) The cylinder with holes (the insert) is part of the casting process and is an attempt to create circular hard points in the mold, which the user would apply pressure on in order to aid in the release of the eyedrop solution with ease.

3) The yellow elliptical cylinder is the new iteration of the squeezing component that includes ridge textures for improved hand grip. However, the length of the component was too long (which needed fixing), as it was leading to improper fitting.

4) Finally, the black elliptical cylinder is the new iteration of the yellow squeezing component. Essentially, it is conceptually the same design as the yellow cylinder, but made shorter to allow for a better fit in the hand—given that the longer iteration ended up being too bulky for the average hand size. This black cylinder turned out to be very close in shape and dimensions to the final model we moved forward with in future iterations of the molding process.

Due to the increased length of the positioning component, the eyedrop bottle was no longer positioned as close to the user’s eye, resulting in a more comfortable and reassuring experience. This adjustment also helped suppress the user’s blink reflex, reducing the risk of wasting the eyedrop solution. Additionally, the insertion area for the bottle was filleted along its edges, eliminating sharp corners that could otherwise pose a safety risk to the user.

Although this iteration introduced a longer structure and chamfered sides, it still exhibited the same issue we had sought to eliminate in the third iteration: cracking along the bottom surface. Through this, we realized that the presence of 90-degree angles anywhere on the piece—especially at the junction between the rim and the bottom surface—created points of mechanical weakness. In future iterations, we planned to address this by eliminating all sharp interior corners, likely through filleting, to enhance durability and structural integrity.

This was also the iteration where we began exploring the concept of using an insert with indentations to create hardpoints within the mold. This first attempt of ours revealed that the indentations were too small and too shallow, resulting in no significant improvement in the ease of squeezing solution from the eyedrop bottle. Identifying this shortcoming gave us a clear target for improvement in the next iteration: designing deeper and more prominent indentations to better direct force onto the bottle.