Mielo is the traditional bandage reinvented for the world we live in today.
Through the cutting-edge use of hydrogel infused with herbs and honey, Mielo empowers the user to heal their wounds without harming the environment.
“Healing without hurt”, as we say.
Gap Identified : Traditional bandages not only contain unsustainable materials, but are also single use and disposable. Almost every component of a traditional bandage is made of plastic. This means non-biodegradable waste and potentially toxic chemicals that ends up in landfills.
Our team sought to reinvent the traditional bandage made using locally sourced materials, that was non-toxic and biodegradable.
What Mielo is made out of
Unlike traditional bandages, Mielo uses a hydrogel layer that acts both the absorbent and healing layer, and the mode of 'ouch-less' adhesion to the skin. This allows us to narrow down the traditional 5 layer bandage to just 3 plastic-free layers!
Hemp was the fabric chosen to lie on top of the adhesive, as it is not only biodegradable but growing hemp gives back to the environment by returning nutrients to the soil and promoting carbon sequestration. Mielo's packaging was made of unbleached paper and beeswax.
Through multiple trials and errors, we created the Mielo prototype, that was tested and distributed to a small peer group and our professor, who used them!
Material Research, Material innovation, Human-centered User experience research, Design strategy, Empathetic research,
Rapid prototyping
My role : Research Lead
Team : Aditi Sharma, Dagny Bloom, Olivia Loeffler, Shreyas Bhavanishankar
Duration : 10 weeks
November 2021