Press Release
Xuerong Cai Receives the A' Design Award for Meta Mecha Metamaterial Prosthetic Liner in Cybernetics, Prosthesis and Implant Design
Xuerong Cai recognized for cybernetics, prosthesis and implant design by the international grand jury of the 2022 - 2023 A' Design Award & Competition
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COMO, Italy, April 20, 2023 /DesignNewswire/ A' Design Award & Competition has announced that Meta Mecha Metamaterial Prosthetic Liner by Xuerong Cai, designed for Meta Mecha, has been granted the A' Design Award in the Cybernetics, Prosthesis and Implant Design category. The award was conferred within the 2022 - 2023 A' Design Award & Competition and was determined through blind peer review by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members, who scored anonymized entries against predetermined criteria.
The A' Design Award Explained
The Iron A' Design Award is awarded to good designs that meet the rigorous professional and industrial standards set by the A' Design Awards. This recognition is reserved for works that demonstrate a solid understanding of design principles and show creativity within their execution. Recipients of the Iron A' Design Award are acknowledged for their practical innovations and contributions to their respective fields, providing solutions that improve quality of life and foster positive change. These designs are a testament to the skill and dedication of their creators, showcasing their ability to address real-world challenges through thoughtful design.
Regarding Meta Mecha Metamaterial Prosthetic Liner
Meta Mecha is a prosthetic socket liner made from mechanical metamaterials. The liner is generated from a 3D scan of the residual limb and from pressure data collected during walking, so the mechanical surface follows personalized medical requirements. Meta Mecha is 3D printed in elastic TPU on industrial printers. A pressure sensitive material changes color when pressure exceeds the tolerance limit, showing the user that the liner needs replacement. Replacement is simple and economical, and it supports the gradual deformation of the residual limb.
About Xuerong Cai
The project team consisted of four industrial designers from China: Cai Xuerong, Wu Yanyun, Pan Ruikun, Gonglongyu. After studying at Tongji University's College of Design and Innovation, they are committed to rethinking the future of the design industry through new computer technologies and building on this for sustainable and inclusive design. An educational exhibition based on the Meta Mecha project was shown in Shanghai Dyson Ideation Lab since February 2022. The project was awarded Top8 in 2022 James Dyson Award in China Region.
Award Record
With this recognition, Xuerong Cai is a winner of 1 A' Design Award.
About the A' Cybernetics, Prosthesis and Implant Design Award
The A' Cybernetics Design Award is an international competition recognizing good design in cybernetics industry by leading designers and brands worldwide. The competition is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to cybernetics designers, prosthesis designers, implant designers and bio-engineers from all countries. Entries typically include bionic limbs, neural implants, cochlear implants, retinal prosthetics, robotic prosthetics and artificial organs. Awarded cybernetics designs are published at https://designers.org/design-category/cybernetics
About A' Design Award & Competition
A' Design Award & Competition is an international, juried design accolade organized annually since 2008. The competition is open to entries from all countries. The A' Design Award has a philanthropic mission to advance society through good design by recognizing and promoting superior products, projects and services that benefit society, and by creating a global awareness and appreciation for good design practices and principles. Entries are peer reviewed and anonymously evaluated by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members against predetermined criteria such as functionality, ergonomics, engineering, presentation, innovation, usability, sustainability and technology, with score normalization applied to remove biases. Awards are conferred at Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron levels. The A' Design Prize granted to eligible laureates includes the award trophy, the certificate of design excellence, the hardcover yearbook, a lifetime license to use the A' Design Award winner logo, exhibition of awarded works, an invitation to the gala night and award ceremony in Italy, inclusion in the World Design Rankings and Designer Rankings, and public relations and publicity services. Registration, the upload of a work and the preliminary score are free of charge, and Professional and Digital Edition laureates are not contractually obliged to pay further fees to claim the A' Design Prize. Further information is available at https://competition.adesignaward.com
Press Resources
- Winner Page: https://designers.org/142371
- A' Design Award Page: https://competition.adesignaward.com/142371
- Media Showcase: https://www.designnewsroom.com/!142371
- Laureate Profile: https://designers.org/d/333650
Media Contact
Giulia Ferrari, Press Office
Designers.Org
Via Leone Leoni 32, 22100 Como, Italy
press@designers.org
+39 031 4491953
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Fact Sheet
The Work
- Project
- Meta Mecha Metamaterial Prosthetic Liner
- Function
- Metamaterial Prosthetic Liner
- Category
- Cybernetics, Prosthesis and Implant Design
- Discipline
- Industrial Design
- Industry
- Health, Accessibility and Innovation
- Colors
- Dark Gray, Silver, Gainsboro, Lavender and Gray
- Images
- 5
- Client
- Meta Mecha
The Recognition
- Laureate
- Xuerong Cai
- Country
- China
- Recognition
- A' Design Award
- Edition
- 2022 - 2023
- Design ID
- #142371
Credits
- Team
- Longyu Gong, Ruikun Pan and Yanyun Wu
- Image Credits
- Images: Xuerong Cai, Ruikun Pan, Yanyun Wu, Longyu Gong
Design Details
- Unique Properties
- With 3D printable mechanical metamaterials as the prosthetic liner, Meta Mecha makes it possible to customize mechanical surfaces for different amputees according to personalized medical requirements. The pressure sensitive color-changing material provides visualization of the unsuitability and draws attention. The prosthetic liner can be replaced to support the deformation process of residual limb. The user can update their mechanical surface inside the prosthetic in a simple and economical way.
- Inspiration
- The future trend of computational design draws our attention to programmable matter and metamaterial. We are surprised to find its potential to empower design with material science and motivated to reconsider objects in microscopic logic. With generative design and simulation tools, we propose application of metamaterial in the prosthetic field, offering both customized and medically compliant service.
- Research
- We had looked through papers on mechanical metamaterials, medical requirements on prosthetic and computational design to understand how to apply metamaterials in the prosthesis field. We then had conversations with a metamaterial specialist to verify our idea. We also printed out ten little blocks with metamaterial structure to experiment on different mechanical properties.
- Challenge
- It is a challenge for us to understand the logic and process of editing mechanical metamaterial. We have referred to many papers and interviewed a metamaterial specialist in our university and finally managed to arrange the structure unit on a prosthetic liner by using Grasshopper and plugins. Another challenge emerges when we try to prototype the product with 3D printing. It took us a while to find an industrial 3D printing laboratory that can use TPU to print the complex structure of metamaterial.
- Realization and Technology
- The mechanical metamaterial prosthetic liner is 3D printed with industrial quality 3D printers and elastic TPU. It is impossible to manufacture the complex 3D shape without additive manufacturing technology. 3D scanning and pressure sensor equipment are used before the design process to acquire the shape and mechanical requirements of amputees. Generative design approach is used to generate design with customized requirements. In our prototype, we use Grasshopper to generate our design.
- Operation and Interaction
- Users first get residual limb 3D scanning and walk in a common socket to collect his pressure distribution data. A 3D model of metamaterial prosthetic liner is generated based on the data collected and medical requirements. After the prosthetic liner is 3D printed, it will be assembled with other parts of the prosthesis and delivered to the user. The prosthetic liner adjusts the best pressure level for the user and warns the user when pressure exceeds tolerance limits by color change. With the visual cue, the user can understand it's time to replace the liner to fit his residual limb deformation.
- Project Duration and Location
- The project started in October 2021 in Shanghai, the first prototype was exhibited in D&I Shanghai in December 2021. An educational exhibition based on the project was shown in Shanghai Dyson Ideation Lab from February.
- Specifications
- Width 136mm*Depth 139mm*Height 175mm (The dimensions of prosthetic liner should differ from user to user, above is an example of our case)
- Keywords
- Prosthetic socket liner, Customized design, 3D print, Computational design
