Meet your Implant
Reducing resistance to implants

Year of project: 2024
Client: Medtronic
Partners: Medtronic - Seido Systems - Groene Hart Ziekenhuis - Patient Association for Neuromodulation (PVVN)

About Meet your Implant

Sacral neuromodulation therapy (SNM) uses an implanted neurostimulator to restore bladder and bowel coordination. While this therapy has significantly improved the lives of many, research indicates that over half of the patients initially resist the idea of living with an implant. Consequently, some individuals postpone or decline treatment, choosing to continue struggling with issues that affect their daily lives. In extreme cases, this resistance limits their freedom to the point where they no longer dare to leave their homes.

Reducing the barrier

We believe that reducing the initial barrier of resistance will enhance the acceptance of receiving an implant, thereby assisting individuals in managing their health issues. In conversations with experts, doctors and nurses it became clear that this applies not only to SNM therapy but also more broadly to individuals who can benefit from implants.

Interactive and tactile art experience

Building on the results of the Intimate Implant project, we've designed an interactive and tactile experience where the implant introduces itself to the patient, addresses concerns, and provides comfort. Doctors and nurses, after experiencing the work themselves, acknowledged that the themes touched upon in the narrative are often neglected in their technically-oriented conversations with patients.

Pilot in hospitals

The Meet Your Implant project is currently being implemented at Groene Hart Hospital in Gouda to assist patients who are anxious about implant treatments. Next, the project is scheduled to expand to other hospitals across Europe, including those in the Netherlands, Great Britain, and Germany.

Photography in hospital: Jasper Zijlstra
Photography close-up: Storm Wilschut