Abstract:

A rapidly aging society and a consistent growth in injury occurrence led over the last decade to an increase of neuromotor disabilities and impairments among the global population. Thus, assistive technologies have become a focus point in the product development process for medical device manufacturers. In their race to achieve sustainable competitive advantage manufacturers offer a variety of medical aids purposed to improve the customers’ quality of life. Addressing these issues, the current paper proposes a process for the functional design and development of five posture correction orthosis concepts. Smart assistive devices are constantly developed through an array of methods, that are ultimately targeted at performing specific neuromotor tasks. There is no “universal pill”, no ideal methodology which can be unanimously applied to the design and development of successful products. Selection of such methods is ultimately up to the company’s requirements: experienced professionals, tradition, internal regulations, national or international requirements, specific standards etc. Based on Ulrich and Eppinger’s product design and development process and on Miles’s technical functional analysis tools, the authors propose an integrated method for the functional development of a new medical assistive device for the upper body. To develop a new medical device, especially a new spinal orthosis it is necessary to understand that these types of products refer to physiological needs and they should fit perfect to the needs of the potential customers. In this scope, 25 potential customers were interviewed in order to determine their expectations for a new medical device, which potentially could help them correct their posture. Target specifications and specific functions were developed based on the correlation of identified customer needs and existing product metrics. Five concepts of posture correction orthosis were generated, which meet both, customer needs and economic efficiency criteria. Further research will be undertaken for concept selection, manufacturing and testing of the final selected concept.