Ossio
The 3D Model of our final prototype without the Ossio material.
Final prototype with Ossio material.
Other initial concept of having an injectable putty system with a syringe.
The 3D Model of our final prototype without the Ossio material.
Ossio Design Project
This project was a collaborative with an industry sponsor, Ossio Integrative Orthopedics, that is focused primarily on the development of bio-absorbable orthopedic implants. Ossio is a relatively new company based in Israel that innovated the “Ossio material”, which allows for the construction of limitless orthopedic implants with bone-like mechanical properties.
Research was conducted under the oversight and guidance of Rinat Friedman, the Product Specialist at Ossio, who tasked us with finding a way to integrate the new material they have developed into the current procedure for spinal fusion surgery. This specific task is a brand new project that was aspired from the current metal spinal cage implant. Ideally, we were to redesign the next generation metal spinal cage using this biomaterial. Ossio’s absorbable biopolymer hardens into bone within 1-2 years, which eliminates the need for follow up removal surgeries and lowers the risk of complications that arise from the current spinal fusion procedure.
Major issues with the current metal spinal cage implant involve the increased number of return surgeries due to high stress applied by the stiff metal spinal cage, in addition to long recovery/surgery times and high risks of complications for patients. By combining a deep understanding of these disadvantages as well as obstacles that doctors and surgeons face in the spinal surgery market, the initial proposed mission statement was to suggest a new concept for the next-generation spinal cage implant made of Ossio material.
Throughout the design process, the mission statement evolved to now focusing on improving a specific aspect of the spinal fusion surgery procedure to include the new material rather than designing an entirely new product for the market. This focus proves to be more plausible while still resolving the initial problem statement.
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The overall design process revolved around three major phases: patient and doctor interviews, followed by research and concept generation, and finally concept selection and prototyping. Within this process, a variety of human-centered design thinking methods were used to achieve our goal. Specific design methods used include one-on-one interviews, affinity diagramming, competitive analysis, reframing, concept mapping and clustering, generating a business model canvas and prototyping. The patient and doctor interviews were debatably the major contributors to our overall design process and user need outlining. Doctors and surgeons were our primary market and users, so the initial patient interviews conducted were used to tailor specific interview questions for later use in doctor interviews. Material gathered from the interviewing subprocess in addition to the methods listed above allowed us to transition to concept generation, selection and prototyping.
2017
Design Process Photos and Diagrams:
Final Poster:
The Design Team:
