SuperPowerMe

Useful information

Team members: Patrizia Marti Flavio Lampus Annamaria Recupero Cecilia Goracci Lorenzo Franchi Alessandro Vichi
Country: Italy
Keywords: Customised medical device Participatory design Aesthetics Ergonomics Digital fabrication 3D printing Bio-compatible materials Sensors Therapy gamification

Short Description

Customized 3D printed sensorised facemask for the correction of maxillofacial disorders in children

Detailed Description

The protraction facemasks to treat Class III malocclusion in children are unaesthetic and uncomfortable, cause skin irritations and prevent compliance with the therapy.
SuperPowerMe develops a customised facemask considering different aspects of children's experience: ergonomics, aesthetics, social acceptance and motivating factors.
The project employs 3D modelling techniques to model the facemask on child’s anatomy, 3D printing with biocompatible materials, and customized design to reach a proper balance between ergonomics, functionality and aesthetics.
Thanks to embedded sensors and a mobile app, the therapy is monitored based on wear time and it is connected with gamification strategy to promote children’s compliance.
SuperPowerMe is a co-design project involving different stakeholders (children, parents, orthodontists, designers, engineers, psychologists) to iteratively design the customisation process, experiment with different materials and ideate the gamification strategy.

Project Details

Does your design take social and cultural challenges and human wellbeing into consideration?: The project addresses the challenges of orthodontic treatment for Class III malocclusion, considering several dimensions related to the therapy experience and children's bio-psyco-social wellbeing.
The project experiments an innovative process (3D modeling and printing) to develop a customised facemask that integrates medical requirements, ergonomics, aesthetics, motivation and social acceptance.
The project goes beyond the traditional approach to medical device design, so as to mitigate the stigma associated with such devices and promote a cultural shift by transforming the protraction facemask into a beautiful, playful and gender-appropriate accessory.
Through a series of co-design activities, the project involves key stakeholders (children, parents, orthodontists) in the exploration of the problem space, in the ideation phase as well as in the experimentation of both the production process and the customized facemask.

Does your design support sustainable production, embodying circular or regenerative design practices?: The project experiments with different bio-compatible and recyclable materials to produce the customized facemask.

Does your design use principles of distribution and open source?: The project develops a customized medical device that is currently (and will be in the future) fully documented in scientific papers reviewed by experts in the field.
Moreover, the project experiments with a customization and production process that can be easily reproduced elsewhere, by Fab Labs, healthcare institutions and SMEs.