Human centred design for a new generation of prosthetics for active use – knee joint

世界上大约0.5%的人口需要假肢，超过3.5亿人，主要在发展中国家。每年大约有35万例膝盖以上截肢，其中1800例在英国。我们的愿景是制造一种轻量级，高性能，价格合理的假膝，以满足世界各地活跃的儿童和成人的需求。3B Impact与创新型公司合作，为社会挑战提供解决方案。我们在提供早期资助和私人投资者资助的创新和商业化方面有着良好的记录。我们与一位经验丰富的材料科学家和终身义肢佩戴者以及剑桥大学医院NHS基金会信托的领先康复顾问一起成立了剑桥义肢创新有限公司（CPIL）。他们对越来越昂贵和复杂的设备无法满足用户的需求感到沮丧，并着手创造新一代的假肢，这些假肢更多功能，更可靠，价格合理，并且在英国和全世界都可以买到。在美国国立卫生研究院的资助下，CPIL和3B Impact之前开发了一种概念膝盖，它复制了自然运动，比现有的解决方案更通用，成本更低。我们还与英国和发展中国家的义肢使用者慈善机构以及谢菲尔德大学健康与相关研究学院建立了牢固的关系。这笔资金将带来生物力学和以人为本的设计专业知识，以建立在这个概念上，特别是：通过专家数字建模和仿真显著改进我们的设计；与利益相关者合作，带来以人为本的设计专业知识，加深我们对用户需求和行为的理解，进一步改进我们的设计。制造一个新的原型，准备与一个试点小组进行测试；评估市场，规划我们的商业化路线。我们的解决方案采用了一种完全不同的方法来修复假肢，它本质上是以人为中心的。首先，目前制造商将儿童视为一个小而困难的市场，而我们将他们视为积极生活方式的起点。我们的假肢是专为跑步、跳跃、系鞋带、盘腿坐、淋浴和在海滩和海里玩耍而设计的，而不需要移除或更换腿。没有其他假肢是为这些活动而设计的，无论成本如何。其次，在现有制造商试图增加成本和复杂性以试图复制自然运动的地方，我们的解决方案使用巧妙的设计和现代材料来产生自然运动的力量。更像是运动鞋，而不是笨重的机器人登月靴。

Around 0.5% of the world's population require a prosthetic leg, over 350 million people, mostly in developing countries. Each year there are around 350,000 new above- knee leg amputations, 1,800 in the UK. Our vision is to build a lightweight, high-performing, affordable prosthetic knee to meet the needs of active children and adults worldwide.3B Impact works with innovative companies to scale solutions to social challenges. We have a strong record delivering early-stage grant and private investor-funded innovation and commercialisation.We established Cambridge Prosthetics Innovations Limited (CPIL) with an experienced materials' scientist and lifelong prosthetics wearer, and a leading rehabilitation consultant at Cambridge University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. They were frustrated with the increasingly expensive and complex devices that fail to meet users' needs and set out to create a new generation of prosthetic limbs that are more versatile, reliable, affordable and available in the UK and worldwide.With National Institute of Health Researchfunding, CPIL and 3B Impact have previously developed a concept knee that replicates natural movement and is more versatile and lower cost than existing solutions. We have also established strong relationships with charities that work with prosthetics users in the UK and in developing countries, and with the University of Sheffield's School of Health and Related Research.The funding will bring biomechanical and human-centred design expertise to build on this concept, specifically to:1. significantly improve our design through expert digital modelling and simulations,2. engage with stakeholders and bring human-centred design expertise to deepen our understanding of user needs and behaviours and further improve our design3. manufacture a new prototype ready for testing with a pilot group, and4. assess the market and plan our route to commercialisation.Our solution takes a radically different approach to prosthetics that is inherently human-centred. First, where currently manufacturers see children as a small, difficult market, we see them as a starting point for an active lifestyle. Our prosthetics are designed for running, jumping, tying shoelaces, sitting cross-legged, showering, and playing on the beach and in the sea, without needing to remove or change the leg. No other prosthetic is designed for these activities, regardless of cost. Second, where existing manufacturers look to increase costs and complexity to try to replicate natural movement, our solution uses clever designs and modern materials to generate the forces for natural movement. More like a sports shoe than a heavy, robotic moon boot.