18 July 2019
Planet Innovation took home the Good Design Awards’ top gong for medical design for our work on Clever Culture Systems’ APAS Independence instrument, along with a digital design award for Uniting NSW’s Mosaic app.
Clever Culture Systems’ APAS Independence won Best in Class in the Medical and Scientific Product Design category at the 2019 Good Design Awards. Best in Class is the highest accolade possible in a Good Design Awards category.
The APAS Independence was recognized for its innovative design that uses patented visual-imaging technology based on machine learning to automate the reading of Petri dishes used to culture patient samples for the detection of disease.
Where a microbiologist would normally need to sort through all Petri dishes, the APAS Independence automatically triages the dishes into those with a negative result and those requiring further analysis by a microbiologist. The instrument reads 200 plates per hour, three times more than a human, achieving major time savings for busy labs and facilitating faster patient results.
Peter Bradley, General Manager at Clever Culture Systems, commended all parties involved in the development of the innovative APAS Independence.
“We [Clever Culture Systems] identified a deficiency in the way microbiologists spent their time and decided to invent an instrument to streamline this part of the microbiology culture plate workflow,” Peter said.
“After nine years, we created the APAS Independence, with artificial intelligence and digital imaging at its core, housed in a casing designed to suit most labs with its small footprint and interactive screens. It is highly rewarding to all partners involved in the design and creation of this instrument to receive this award.”
Planet Innovation worked collaboratively with Clever Culture Systems to embed their APAS technology in a stand-alone instrument, integrating the technology with robotic plate handling system and designing a stylish and ergonomic enclosure.
Ian Macfarlane, GM of PI Design, said the APAS Independence was a worthy winner.
“The APAS technology is truly ground-breaking in its use of imaging and AI to screen culture plates,” Ian said.
“The PI development and manufacturing team has worked closely with Clever Culture Systems and all parties involved in the development to deliver this breakthrough product into labs around the world.”
This is the second prestigious design award won by the APAS Independence; last year the instrument collected a Medical Design Excellence Award, one of the highest global medical design honors, in the Testing and Diagnostic Products and Systems Category.
Mosaic wins Good Design Award for Apps and Software
Uniting NSW’s Mosaic app, which PI helped design along with DreamWalk, was also acknowledged as a Good Design Award Winner in the Apps and Software category.
Mosaic empowers lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people to better manage their aged care, to support them to be active participants in decisions around the services they receive, and to improve overall health outcomes.
Containing resources for LGBTI people, their partners, families of choice, aged care workers, and aged care service providers, the app is designed so that everyone can make informed choices and receive better quality, safe and inclusive care.
About the Awards
The Good Design Awards, held this year in Sydney on Thursday 11 July, celebrate the best new products and services on the Australian market and reward emerging areas of design including business model innovation, social impact and sustainability.
The 2019 Awards attracted a record number of submissions with nearly 700 projects evaluated, spanning 10 design disciplines including architecture, communication, digital, fashion, product, service, strategy, engineering and social impact.
Dr Brandon Gien, CEO of Good Design Australia commented: “The Good Design Award winners this year are an inspiring representation of the future. At the heart of all the winning projects is a problem (big or small) that was solved through clever, considered and meaningful design that will have a positive impact on our lives and our planet.”
