This design study aims to reduce the discomfort and facial trauma seen with the use of the MBU-20/P oxygen mask for fighter pilots of the Royal Netherlands Air Force. To achieve this, the following research questions are answered:
•Are the reported issues with F-16 pilot oxygen mask usage still present with current F-35 fighter pilots?
•Are there differences in facial features between Dutch and American fighter pilots and does this influence the fit?
•Is it possible to design a better fitting mask with digital fabrication tools?
The current shape of the oxygen mask is based on anthropometric research on American male fighter pilots from 1967. Since the introduction of the current oxygen mask used by the Royal Netherlands Air Force in the 1990’s, the design has not changed. No anthropometric research has been conducted on how this mask shape fits European or Dutch male and female pilots. To answer the research questions, various methods were used. Semi-structured interviews and questionnaires were conducted with F-35 pilots to identify their issues. Anthropometric research was conducted to analyze facial differences in Dutch and American fighter pilots. A virtual fit analysis algorithm was created to better understand the relationship between mask shape, facial features and discomfort. Based on these analyses a new oxygen mask design was proposed using digital fabrication techniques and the design was evaluated in flight like conditions. The results of the study showed that current F-35 pilots still experience discomfort and, in some cases, facial trauma from using the oxygen mask. The greatest discomfort was experienced on the nasal root, which is in line with literature. High G-forces and prolonged time of wearing the mask increased this discomfort, leading to adverse behavior and possible unsafe situations. Significant differences in facial features were found between Dutch fighter pilots and the American fighter pilots, on which the design is based. The current sizing system of the oxygen mask does not cover the Dutch fighter pilot population properly. The differences facial features and improper sizing system were considered to be a main contributor of the discomfort experienced by Dutch fighter pilots. The virtual fit analysis showed how the current design’s shape does not fit the facial features of Dutch fighter pilots well. By considering the pressure discomfort threshold and soft tissue thickness, better insights were generated on the fit and associated discomfort of oxygen masks. The virtual fit analysis was used together with a parametric model to quickly and iteratively redesign the oxygen mask, based on anthropometric data. These models enabled the creation of redesigns which are better suited for the facial features of Dutch fighter pilots. The redesign was evaluated through physical evaluation, production cost estimation and a reflection on requirements and wishes. The physical evaluation showed a significant decrease in pressure at the nasal root, an overall reduced pressure on the face, an improved pressure distribution and increased comfort of the redesign...

This project focuses on the exploration and development of an assistive device that allows the use of 3D scanning in the creation of personalized orthoses for spasticity patients.

Spasticity is the symptom of various neurological diseases and is characterized by a prolonged contraction of the muscles. For upper limb spasticity, this leads to patients’ hands being in a cramped position and are unable to move it into a desired position without external force. To prevent the spasticity to worsen over time, orthoses are used to stabilize the hand and stretch the muscles. Currently, the hand orthoses for spasticity are still being formed the traditional way: a long process of gypsum molding, casting and the forming of thermoplastic material.

Artus3D is a company that provides automated software to design and manufacture personalized hand orthoses from a single digital 3D scan of a hand. Due to the nature of spasticity, the hands need to be stretched into an open position before the 3D scanning is applicable. Together with Centrum Orthopedie, Artus3D is looking for a solution to stretch the hand and encorporate their 3D scanning & software technology into the design of spasticity orthoses. The problem consists of two parts: the orthosis design and the 3D scanning support. This project focuses on the 3D scanning support and the enabling of scanning spastic hands.

The 3D scanning support keeps the spastic hand in a stable position and is designed for patient visits in the orthopaedic context. It uses a ball joint and a sliding joint in order to constrain the hand in the desired position. It is usable up to MAS 3 spasticity and has been designed to fit the 5th to 95th percentile of the population. The design follows the shape of the hand, keeps clear of important areas near the thumb, base of the hand and limits the amount of material at the lower arm. This is done with the intent of capturing as much information in the 3D scan as possible, while keeping high usability for the orthopaedic technologist and comfort for the patient.

This graduation project concerns the prevention of bicycling head-injuries in the Netherlands, by overcoming the socio-cultural unwillingness and undesirability of non-sports oriented bicyclists to wear a helmet. Getting cyclists to wear bicycle helmets is a task that requires behavioral change as well as a shift in perception from society. The goal of this project is to develop a strategic bicycle helmet concept that changes people's and manufacturers' perceptions of what a bicycle helmet is and hopefully have an impact on helmet usage in the Netherlands. This concept is the result of research in the current and future bicycle helmet/ cycling context by doing market research, reviewing literature, interviewing stakeholders, analyzing trends and creating a future context map. In addition, quantitative user research was done in the form of an online survey, and qualitative user research was done through an emotion capturing exercise
Contextual research has pointed out that the current bicycle helmet market is oversaturated and has very little differentiation between products. Up to now, marketers and designers have been trying to sell bicycle helmets by emphasizing their functional product attributes which are primarily safety-related. However, research showed that safety is not an effective attribute to communicate to Dutch consumers. Instead, marketers and designers should focus on communicating the symbolical attributes of bicycle helmets and express/cater to the user's lifestyles. Using these guidelines, the Fabriqué helmet concept was designed for a target group called Bikes&Blazers. This target group consists of Dutch formally dressed urban cyclists that often ride E-bikes. The Fabrique helmet is influenced by several of the target group's fashion values and combines these into its visual design. This results in a helmet that fits the target groups' formal outfits and caters to their lifestyles. Lastly, several recommendations are given for how to market the Fabriqué helmet.

Current earphone designs follow a universal approach, which might fit average body shapes comfortably but lead to discomfort for others. Leveraging technologies like AI, simulations, and digital models enables efficient creation of personalized products at scale (Sony, 2018). With the development of new AM techniques, printing options are becoming faster and the materials more versatile. Techniques for printing flexible materials, such as silicones and printing multiple materials within the same print (Rossing et al., 2020), allow a larger scale of design properties, increasing the possibilities for which products will be fit for mass customisation.
When people customise or personalise a product, they intensify their emotional connections to the product (Mugge et al., 2009). Involving customers in the creation of their earphones leads them to be more emotionally invested in the product.
To create a personalised product, it is essential to obtain data of the individual body part as everyone is unique. For this project, the customer should be able to scan their ears by themselves at home. To evaluate which scanning methods best represent the shape of the ear while being easy to use, the 3D scanning methods and the physical representations of those scans are validated. Through tests it is determined that the Truedepth scanner provides the best results for the envisioned use case of scanning at home.
Customers perform multiple activities per day with which they would prefer to use their earphone. By designing for extreme use cases (dancing with lots of head movements and long consecutive use of the earphones), the design is expected to perform well in other use cases as well.
Since earphone tips provide the main point of retention in the ear, they typically are the cause of irritation among users. To increase the level of comfort, the pressure should be equally distributed to parts of the concha.
The concept Seal is based on the Truedepth scan data of the concha. Seal distributes the retention force across the concha, rather than providing retention in the auditory canal. The part that fits in the cymba concha is made of flexible material, providing a softer touch and therefore more comfort. The seal creates a sealing effect at the entrance of the auditor canal using a flexible collar. Therefore, it does not need to enter the auditory canal which means that its audio canal can remain short. The advantage of this is that the seal fabricates as little extra geometry as possible.
The prototypes show that it is possible to design earphones based on scanned data that are gathered by a smartphone or tablet. This provides the customer with new listening experiences. However, the success of the concept partly depends on the availability and the quality of scanners in smartphones in the future.

This thesis project was carried out as a part of Ultrapersonalised Products & Services (nextUPPS.nl) as a collaboration between TU Delft and Bata Industrials B.V. To integrate new technologies of Industry 4.0 to enhance product and user experience, Bata Industrials, with a facility in Best, Netherlands, partnered with nextUPPS. An opportunity was identified to implement mass personalization of inlay soles by leveraging emerging technologies such as 3D scanning and 3D printing.

During this project, extensive literature research was conducted into the biomechanics of feet, the factors influencing the design of inlay soles and shoes, and advancements in 3D printing. State-of-the-art technologies and methodologies for personalized footwear, with a focus on orthotics, were also explored. Insights were gathered from experts in orthotics and inlay sole manufacturing. Additionally, data regarding dynamic plantar pressure during various activities and 3D scanning under different loads and postures were collected for subsequent analysis. Observations were made on this data to understand foot behavior, which helped filter relevant parameters for inlay sole development. Based on the research findings, a comprehensive list of requirements was formulated, encompassing all the gathered data that the inlay sole needed to adhere to.

Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) 3D printing of Thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) was identified as a viable and cost-effective approach for manufacturing inlay soles. To investigate this, experiments were conducted involving the mechanical testing of samples with different lattice sizes and various TPU variants, aiming to optimize 3D printing materials and parameters. The potential for multi-material printing was also explored during these experiments.

Using the insights gleaned from these efforts, a 3D-printable inlay sole was meticulously designed. Its internal structure featured a field-driven variable gyroid lattice pattern, informed by peak pressure pedobarographic data collected during walking. The shape of the inlay sole was derived from 3D scans of the user’s feet. Multiple iterations were undertaken, incorporating user feedback, prototyping, and expert interviews to refine its design.

A prototype shell shoe was created specifically to evaluate the performance of the newly developed inlay sole with users. Pressure measurements and interviews were conducted comparing the new design to the conventional one. The test results confirm the design’s effectiveness and underscore the importance of personalization in the inlay sole.

The conclusive insole design, along with the corresponding workflow, as well as recommendations for forthcoming actions, equips Bata to potentially launch and market the production of personalized inlay soles for their safety shoes in the future.

What
In this project, a workflow method integrating generative AI has been developed. This versatile approach can be applied to a variety of body shape-related design tasks. For instance, designers can leverage this method effectively to generate design inspirations, enabling them to establish detailed design themes and goals more efficiently. Building upon this workflow, a new tool named DINED AI has been specifically designed to offer a more user-friendly and guided approach to accomplish these tasks. Although DINED AI is currently in the form of functional prototypes, both the user interface and back-end technology have been individually crafted to provide a realistic demonstration of its capabilities.

Why
With the rapid advancements in large language models, integrating AI technologies has emerged as the prevailing trend in product development. The aim of this project is to explore the potential of creating an AI-powered platform for DINED. DINED is renowned for its specialized expertise in anthropometry, which allows for the generation of realistic data models to aid in the design of ergonomic products. Leveraging this distinctive capability of DINED, and under the guidance of the mentors, this project focuses on the design of clothing, a widely recognized product that is intimately connected to the human body shape's form. Additionally, a streamlined workflow method will be developed to facilitate the design process.

How
The project is centered around leveraging technological advancements by implementing Stable Diffusion, LoRA, and ControlNet as crucial components. Stable Diffusion is a well-established text-to-image algorithm, while the LoRA model effectively refines Stable Diffusion using a limited number of images in the training dataset. On the other hand, ControlNet possesses the unique capability to extract specific control elements from the 3D mannequin generated by DINED, thereby enabling enhanced control over the resulting images.
In order to ensure a seamless user experience, the project integrates these aforementioned technologies into a cohesive and streamlined workflow. Each step of the process is accompanied by comprehensive guidance, empowering users to effortlessly navigate the system and fostering a coherent user experience. Furthermore, the project underwent evaluation through expert interviews, further validating its effectiveness and potential impact.

Ankle osteoarthritis (AOA) or degenerative joint disease (DJD ) of the ankle, is a progressive condition characteristic by the thinning of cartilage between the tibia and talus bone. Eventually, this leads to complete ankle joint loss. When looking at surgical treatments, joint sacrificing treatments are the golden standard. Young active people with end-stage AOA find these treatments scary and often want to preserve their joint and ankle motion as long as possible. Therefore, they are postponing these surgical treatments and retain the painful symptoms that accompany AOA.

It is believed that ankle distraction arthroplasty is an alternative, joint sparing treatment. This technique uses an external frame to mechanically unload the ankle joint to support the regenerative capacity of the body to restore cartilage. This frame is fixed to pins in the tibia and talus. The current devices limit joint movements and restrict the surgeon in their pin placement, which results in a painful stiff joint during the treatment period. Furthermore, these devices do not always fit the patient properly. Therefore, the goal is to develop a personalized hinged ankle distractor that allows for ankle movement. This will be a new alternative treatment for young active people with end-stage AOA.

The developed ankle distractor is an external fixator that will be adjusted to the placement of the pins, allowing the orthopaedic surgeon for better pin placement. The pins are placed using a drilling and alignment guide. After this surgery, a CT-scan is made to determine the pin placement and the rotation axis of the patient which are both incorporated within the device. A combination of the distraction device and tibia and talus clamps will be placed at each side of the lower leg to allow for symmetrical distraction. This design results in semi-personalized distraction device that allows for walking with optimized patient comfort while maintaining a partially reusable system.
 

In daily life, we are constantly using our hands to do everything that is important to us. The thumbs play a critical role in this and losing stability of your thumb leads to a reduced Quality of Life. There are numerous conditions that can lead to joint problems in the thumb that negatively affect its stability, like rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, hypermobility, and dislocation injuries.
In this graduation project, a personalized thumb splint is developed which improves the stability of the metacarpophalangeal (MCP1) joint of thumb. Creating personalized products is not easily viable, so the design workflow for Ultra Personalized Products and Service Systems is used. In this project, that means making use of patient specific 3D scans to create a modifiable design template of a thumb splint. The template needs to be parametrically adjustable to facilitate the production through digital fabrication methods, like 3D printing.
The thumb splint is intended for patients who have mild joint laxity symptoms, meaning that the splint must prevent hyperextension of the MCP1 joint, but allow as many other movements of the hand as possible. This optimizes the patient’s hand function. An elaborate exploration of the current thumb splinting market reveals deficiencies in existing solutions such as the splint slipping off too easily, causing painful pressure, being too bulky or too limiting. In this project, steps are taken to standardize a thumb splint design and create a data-driven workflow, allowing the evaluation and improvement the product performance.
Different scanning positions and additive manufacturing methods were used to produce over 100 thumb splinting prototypes. Each one provides new insights to improve the fit, comfort, effectiveness, security, and appearance of the splint. This led to a final splint design where all the research and prototyping insights are combined.
The result is a splint made of Multi Jet Fusion printed PA12 (nylon). It is modelled on a scan in a new position: a thumb in opposition. It features a hinge which allows more flexion of the thumb, extension to a specified maximum and makes sure the splint stays snugly in place on the skin. It is well secured to the hand, does not cause painful pressure points, and facilitates almost all thumb movements except for (hyper-)extension of the MCP1 joint beyond 180°. Parametric design rules were formulated to adjust the fit to any user, based on their 3D scan, wherein the thumb is in an opposed position.
Potential users were involved in the design process at four different moments to gain insights about criteria priorities and finally evaluate the ergonomics and performance of the splint. The final evaluation revealed that the splint functions as intended and has promising value. The viability of the new design was also evaluated with different orthopedic and fabrication experts. While there is room for further detailing and optimization before implementation, the proposed thumb splinting architecture shows a promising step in the standardization of a solution for people who suffer joint laxity in the MCP1 joint.

Unilateral Condylar Hyperplasia (UCH) is a rare and complex asymmetric growth disorder affecting the mandible. The disease is characterized by growth resembling hyperactivity in one of the condyles. Treatment of UCH requires a personalised approach that aims to stop the progression and/or correct the deformity caused by the disease. The choice and timing of UCH treatment are determined by the expression, severity, and progression of the disease. One of the most recognized classifications, introduced by Obwegeser and Makek, delineates three primary UCH categories: hemimandibular elongation (HE), hemimandibular hyperplasia (HH), and a hybrid form combining the first two categories (HY). Despite efforts to effectively differentiate between UCH expressions, these classification systems heavily rely on qualitative assessments. Hence, there is a need for a tool to objectively determine the expression, severity, and progression of UCH. This study introduces a novel tool, MASQ, to quantify asymmetrical mandibular growth and aims to objectively distinguish between the three UCH categories described by Obwegeser and Makek.

In Chapter 3, asymmetry of the mandible was quantified in an unaffected population using the MASQ tool. These results were used to establish the amount of asymmetry present in an unaffected population. This enables the comparison of new mandibular samples to an unaffected population, which could facilitate the identification of asymmetrical growth caused by UCH in Chapter 5.

In Chapter 4, a machine learning model was developed for the MASQ tool to predict the expected mandibular shape of new samples. The model predicted unaffected mandibular shapes using the patients’ age and gender. Comparisons were made between the predicted model and the unaffected dataset (DFE-score), which could enable the identification and localisation of pathological growth caused by UCH.

In Chapter 5, the asymmetry and predicted model of the UCH samples were computed using the MASQ tool including the methodologies described in Chapter 2, 3, and 4. These UCH results were compared to the unaffected samples to help determine whether the growth deviations caused by UCH were significantly different. The UCH samples were classified in the three classifications described by Obwegeser and Makek. The results were used to identify characteristic growth patterns caused by the different expressions, which were used to confirm or refute the classification system.

The results revealed significant differences in asymmetry and DFE scores between UCH and unaffected samples. Additionally, the tool was able to objectively differentiate between the HE and HH class but could not fully confirm the classification of Obwegeser and Makek. This prompts the reconsideration of the existing classification system. Local results confirmed and revealed new characteristic deviations caused by the UCH expressions. These may be used in the future to establish a new UCH classification system using the MASQ tool. The current results not only deepen our understanding of mandibular variation but might also empower clinicians to make more informed decisions which could eventually result in a more effective, reliable, and patient-focused treatment.