Design for People Affected by Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. Proposal of a New Type of Ankle Foot Orthosis [AFO] Based on
Duchenne is a rare form of muscular dystrophy affecting 1 on 3.500 male children that, at about 8–12 years old progressively become wheelchair bounded, with an expectation of life on the late 20 or 30 years old. Due to muscles’ weakening, Achilles tendon
- PDF / 88,310 Bytes
- 6 Pages / 439.37 x 666.142 pts Page_size
- 77 Downloads / 183 Views
Abstract Duchenne is a rare form of muscular dystrophy affecting 1 on 3.500 male children that, at about 8–12 years old progressively become wheelchair bounded, with an expectation of life on the late 20 or 30 years old. Due to muscles’ weakening, Achilles tendon takes over on muscle tissue and starts to thicken and shrink in length, causing plantar flexion and retractions, while the function of AFOs is for applying a stretching force that can delay equine deformation of the feet. It is scientifically demonstrated that a constant use of night Ankle Foot Orthosis, together with physiotherapy, can extend the independent ambulation by up to two years and delay the occurrence of other complications. Moreover even once the child is wheelchair bounded, a further delay in retraction prevents contractures, complications and pains. Night Ankle Foot Orthoses are not a cure for DMD patients and Achille tendons’ retractions at the end will in any case take over muscular strength. The research started from these premises to understand margin of improvements of current products and design an innovative type of static AFO. The obtained results at this stage prove that an innovative process is possible, it demonstrates with the case studies its great potential of application an improvement compared to current products, but it has to be further tested and developed in order to become a usable orthoses. Keywords Duchenne design 3D printing
Ankle foot orthosis Laser scanner survey Parametric
A. Tursi (&) Dipartimento di Architettura, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy e-mail: [email protected] G. Mincolelli University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016 G. Di Bucchianico and P. Kercher (eds.), Advances in Design for Inclusion, Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing 500, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-41962-6_7
81
82
A. Tursi and G. Mincolelli
1 Introduction This study was developed during the PhD of the author, from 2012 to 2014. It was born thanks to a partnership between the Department of Architecture of Ferrara and the Italian Onlus Parent Project for Duchenne and Becker. It investigates night Ankle Foot Orthoses [AFO], commonly prescribed to Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy [DMD] patients, to understand if there are margins to increase their comfort, aesthetic customization and psychological acceptance, but also to improve their manufacturing process and to reduce costs. Firstly, a market analysis on the lower limb orthoses available on Italian, European and North American market conducted to an interactive database that scheduled more than 700 different types of AFOs. This phase was essential to understand the state of art, the Italian picture and the most advanced innovations. Then the research focused on methodological approaches in the design of the AFO. After an overview on theories as User Centered Design, Universal Design and Design for disabilities, a Quality Function Deployment process translated theories into design directives, relating user needs, technica
Data Loading...
