This report examines the long-term comfort of seating supports in Level 3 and Level 4 automated vehicles, addressing the challenges and opportunities of autonomous mobility. It evaluates how the transition from active driving to passive passenger roles necessitates a redefinition of comfort standards. The study assesses comfort and discomfort across four seating configurations at Levels 3 and 4 automations, combining subjective feedback with objective measures such as IMU sensors, skeleton tracking, thermal imaging, and physiological data. Subjective measurements capture participant feedback on comfort and discomfort during extended use of different seating configurations. Questionnaires and interviews examine factors such as fatigue, local postural discomfort, and thermal comfort. Objective findings identify key factors influencing comfort and discomfort, including passenger movement, seat pan angles, headrest adjustability, and backrest shape. Combining subjective and objective measurements, the report provides actionable recommendations to address the identified issues, emphasising design improvements aimed at enhancing user experience in automated vehicle environments.

This study investigates the ergonomic needs and comfort levels associated with Non-Driving Related Activities (NDRAs) in Level 3 and Level 4 automated vehicles, focusing on the impact of seating posture, seat adjustment, and pressure distribution. Through a combination of seat adjustment data, skeleton tracking, and pressure analysis, the research identifies the most comfortable postures and evaluates the performance of two different car seats. The findings reveal significant differences in pressure distribution and subjective comfort, particularly in the upper back and neck regions. Users exhibited a preference for more reclined and relaxed postures in Level 4 settings, highlighting the need for enhanced seat adjustability to accommodate individual body dimensions and postural preferences. The study emphasizes the importance of personalized seat features and adjustments to optimize user comfort in autonomous vehicles, providing valuable insights for future seat design in this rapidly evolving automotive landscape.

This project addresses the growing environmental concern surrounding wind turbine blade waste by proposing an innovative solution for structural reuse. The primary focus is developing an adaptable assembly and connection system that effectively integrates retrieved segments into new structures. The approach involves segmentation and circular design principles, aiming to preserve the value and functionality of decommissioned wind turbine blades. This report provides a comprehensive overview of the problem context, research findings, and the ongoing development and design of the assembly and connection system. The report concludes with a design proposition for a scalable geodesic dome

This project explores the integration of a microfluidic system within the MedRing device, aimed at enhancing women’s health monitoring by non-invasively tracking fertility-related biomarkers. The primary goal is to leverage MedRing’s capabilities to provide real-time, accurate health insights, thereby contributing to the advancement of personalised healthcare technologies.

The advent of wearable technologies has opened new avenues for personal health monitoring. This project focuses on the MedRing, a device designed for continuous health data collection, specifically targeting women’s reproductive health. By incorporating a microfluidic system, the project aims to extend the device’s functionality to include precise fertility monitoring, addressing the growing demand for non-invasive health management solutions.

The development process involved performing desktop research, interviews with experts, and analysing the current market. Then it moves on to designing and simulating the microfluidic system using computational fluid dynamics. Simulations were conducted to evaluate fluid flow, ensuring the system’s compatibility with the compact form factor of the MedRing.

A microfluidic system that can be assembled into the MedRing was designed. CFD simulations confirmed that the system achieves the objectives set in terms of laminar flow and fluid path, crucial for the system's correct operation. Design adjustments were made to optimise fluid path efficiency and ensure comprehensive sampling within the system’s reading chamber. The simulations demonstrated the system’s potential to accurately monitor, store, transport, and gather molecular samples within the constraints of the MedRing’s design.

While the project successfully demonstrated the theoretical feasibility of integrating a microfluidic system into the MedRing, the transition from simulation to real-world application necessitates further development. Future work should focus on prototyping and extensive testing to validate the system’s functionality in practical settings. Collaboration with biomedical experts will be essential to refine the system’s design, ensuring it meets both technical specifications and user needs. This project lays the groundwork for future innovations in wearable health technologies, emphasising the importance of integrating advanced diagnostic capabilities into everyday devices.

The interior design of vehicles is evolving rapidly due to technological advancements, sustainability demands, and shifting user behaviors. Vehicle interiors need to become lighter to reduce energy consumption while maintaining comfort levels. The rise of global trends such as automated driving, new propulsion methods in aviation, and the increasing popularity of long-distance and sleeper trains necessitate innovative interior designs. These designs should enable productivity, relaxation, and sleep while in transit.

This doctoral dissertation provides design guidelines for creating comfortable and practical seating and sleeping environments in various vehicles, including trains, aircraft, automated cars, ships, and submarines. The research emphasizes the importance of considering human activities and the effects of time when studying comfort and discomfort. It highlights that factors like prior activities, movements during tests, postures, and awareness of time can all influence comfort levels. The findings show that discomfort tends to stabilize or decrease over time, while comfort tends to stabilize or increase, particularly as participants become aware of the test duration.

One approach to designing comfortable, lightweight seats is to base them on the human contour. By using 3D scans to map the human body, material can be reduced without significantly affecting comfort. This method has been successfully applied to aircraft seats in various classes, demonstrating that weight and volume can be reduced while maintaining or even improving comfort. Additionally, optimizing pressure distribution, using porous materials, and employing topology-optimized structures can further reduce seat weight and enhance comfort. These advancements are crucial for reducing the environmental impact of future vehicle interior designs.

Sleeping is a critical activity for long-haul passengers, but it is often challenging in transit. The dissertation explores sleep in a full-flat position, noting that while people need space to move during sleep, limited space in vehicles can negatively impact sleep quality and comfort. Although space can be reduced by about 25% without severely compromising sleep quality, designers must carefully balance the sleep space envelope with other factors such as economics, weight, and operational safety.

Another common activity in vehicles is watching in-vehicle entertainment (IVE) or napping in a reclined seat. The research shows that while people prefer a slouched posture for watching IVE, this position often lacks proper head and neck support. Although a headrest can improve comfort, it does not necessarily reduce muscle activity. A head sensitivity model developed in the dissertation suggests that high pressures around the ear, temple, and neck should be avoided, and that most of the head's load should be supported by the back of the head and the jawline.

The dissertation’s main research question explores the physical ergonomic factors that influence seating, relaxing, and sleeping comfort. The findings show that considering human contours, sensitivity, behavior, and time can lead to more comfortable and effective seating and sleeping environments in vehicles. While the dissertation makes significant strides in understanding these factors, further research is needed to develop more detailed guidelines, particularly for designing sleeping environments in transit. The research concludes that seat design should be activity-based, accommodating natural behaviors and posture variations to enhance user comfort and safety.@en

This report details the design of a decentralized water treatment system for use in Nepal, which currently lacks improved sanitation for 10.8 million people and a water contamination rate of 71 percent. This contributes to the approximately 140,000 deaths per year from diarrheal illnesses caused by such bacterial contamination. To combat this, the Phutung Research Institute (PRI) in Nepal has developed a low-cost optical sensor that can detect pathogenic bacteria in water. This sensor is a vast improvement over existing tools used to assess water quality, such as consumable test kits or laboratory analysis. However, detecting contaminated water is only one of two steps necessary to provide safe water to those who need it - the water must be cleaned. Such is the purpose of this project: to integrate this sensor in a design that both detects contaminated water and purifies it for people in Nepal. In addition to providing a practical application for PRI’s technology, this project applies other areas of design to create a holistic product intended to operate through its complete life-cycle within Nepal. User ethnography was researched to identify a ubiquitous water tank system as the implementation point, allowing for a single design to be applicable throughout Nepal’s diverse population. This also yielded additional pain points that are addressed to increase the acceptability of this product design in Nepal. Manufacturing and maintenance research yielded a modular architecture that can be constructed in Nepal as much as possible, thereby shortening supply lines and reducing costs while stimulating the local economy. Such a system also allows for the maintenance of sensitive components in the field without specialist intervention. These elements were combined to create a TRL 6 prototype designed to detect bacteria within a home’s water supply and automatically eliminate it with chlorine treatment. It is intended to both demonstrate PRI’s technology and to facilitate field testing in Nepal. This was done while improvising a design method called ‘Who, Why, How into What’. A new method was necessary to organize a project in which multiple diverged areas of design development had to occur simultaneously over a short period of time, barring the use of more traditional and better-defined design methods.

The evolution of the automated driving industry liberates users from driving tasks, thus creating more time for Non-Driving-Related activities (NDRAs), thereby transforming the car from a mere mode of transport to a mobile activity platform. This shift presents two main challenges: predicting the type of activities passengers will engage in within the automated cars and adapting the car’s interior design to accommodate these activities. This project tackles these challenges with a focus on comfort, ergonomics, and user activity, promising valuable insights for the interior design of future automated vehicles.

A rigorous review of literature spanning 2014 to 2023 was conducted, with a focus on NDRAs in automated vehicles. The review retrieved 2315 papers from various databases, from which 47 articles encapsulating 66 cases and 50 types of activities were selected based on strict eligibility criteria. These activities were then categorized into 13 clusters, with the top five being Entertainment and online activities, Work and productivity, Interpersonal communication and interaction, Sleep and relaxation, and Observation and monitoring.

An exploratory experiment was conducted within a simulated automated vehicle environment to study the ergonomic and spatial needs of five significant NDRAs. These activities were the most representative of each of the five main clusters: talking to passengers, looking out the window, working on a computer, sleeping, and using an iPad for entertainment. This investigation filled a crucial research gap, providing valuable insights for designing more ergonomic and comfortable interiors for future automated vehicles.

The project further leveraged 3D modeling and Augmented Reality (AR) technologies to analysis the spatial requirements of users engaging in the identified NDRAs within a Range Rover Evoque. The research indicates that the current interior design of the Range Rover Evoque can accommodate average-sized (P50) users performing 5 major Non-Driving-Related activities at small or medium comfort joint angles, yet struggles to support larger comfortable joint angles, particularly for activities such as sleeping, entertainment, or work. The results suggest a future design could include slimmer seats and dashboards and potentially transition from a four-seater layout to a two or three-seater layout to provide more space for users for activities.

After evaluation of initial concepts for future automated vehicle interior design, I have combined their strengths and minimized their shortcomings to develop a final iteration. This design focuses on flexible space allocation by incorporating a slim dashboard and thinner seats and can shift between a standard four-seat configuration to a 2 or 3-seater layout, and include independent seats, and an adjustable table to cater to various user needs, setting the stage for the future of comfortable Non-Driving-Related activities within vehicles.

In conclusion, this project integrates theoretical and practical approaches, focusing on user activities and comfort in automated vehicles. The study leaves out considerations of commercial viability, manufacturing, and socio-cultural aspects. Future improvements should include these factors and align design with commercial and manufacturing realities.

This thesis describes the design and development of an accurate and low cost 4D foot scanner in the context of podiatry. The intention is to make a first step towards the development of an affordable 4D foot scanner with commercial grade performance at a low cost, using commodity hardware. By doing so, 4D scanning can hopefully become more accessible to the general public, and accelerate the development and adoption of ultra personalized footwear and digital manufacturing in healthcare. Podiatrists focus on the treatment of physical conditions in the lower regions of the human body, which are often related to foot conditions. Personalized footwear solutions (e.g. orthotics) are widely used to relieve a patient of such conditions, which are primarily designed based on static 3D scanning data of the foot. With additional input of motion analyses and professional experience, a podiatrist can adjust the design of an orthotic to fit the patient. However, the change in foot measurements during different phases of the gait cycle are not accounted for in the design of these personalized solutions, which could vary up to 8 mm. With 4D foot scanning (dynamic 3D scanning), podiatrists will be able to observe and acquire data of the dynamic morphology of a foot during the gait cycle. This should allow the design and development of truly personalized orthotics that are able to support a patient during the entire gait cycle. To support this vision, a proof of concept of a 4D foot scanner has been developed. The presented proof of concept iterates over a previously built 4D foot scanner (Vidmar, 2020). The proof of concept includes: an optimized embodiment for improved scanning quality and scanning consistency, a trigger system to improve the human-computer interaction of the scanner, and a scalable camera configuration for up to 9 cameras. The hardware performance of the scanner in combination with the newly designed data acquisition pipeline has been evaluated in terms of acquisition consistency, speed, and memory usage. The outcome is that the scanner is able to manage dynamic data acquisition with a camera configuration of 9. Also, for a camera configuration of 7, the scanner shows a linear trend in memory consumption, acquired frames, and acquisition speeds, which suggests that performance of the scanner is predictable and constant for this configuration. More elaborate analyses should give better insights into the long time performance of the scanner for different camera configurations. The evaluation of the quality of both static and dynamic scanning data has been done with the implementation of nonrigid ICP. The accuracy of the scanner showed a minimal accuracy error of 2.274 mm. Compared with international 3D scanning standards (minimum accuracy error of 2 mm), the performance of the scanner is considered as a desirable outcome for this graduation project.

The 3D Head-scanner is designed with the intent to scan a customer’s head such that the client can design personalized glasses using the generated mesh. The uniqueness of this process is due to the fact that the customers are uniquely disabled and therefore unable to clearly announce their comfort levels. The goal of this project is to design a new Head-scanner for Maat! since the process that they currently use involves interacting a lot of times with customers who move around a lot making scans invalid and operators having to put in extra effort. The client therefore wants a new and improved approach to scanning, one that is faster, accurate, portable and comfortable for their customers. The initial brief was to replace their existing workflow through this new design, however, after some research and discussion, the approach was changed to suit Maat’s future strategy of setting up stationary scanners all around the Netherlands in locations such as Down polis or Community centers where people could come for checkups and have themselves scanned as well resulting in a significant cut-down on the clients’ travelling time. The project starts with some contextual study where the clients are interviewed on their process, their observations and their expectations from the product. Further, clients are shadowed on a number of their customer visits for observation and gaining a first-hand understanding of a typical scanning process, customer behavior and interaction, involvement of parents, environment and noting down certain areas of interest that could motivate insights. The observations lead to a deeper understanding of a child-customer’s behaviour including points of distraction,
various approach strategies employed by operators and how these aspects
could be leveraged outside of a product’s workflow. Certain important points to note are that children have to be distracted at a common point for some amount of time since the scanning process takes some time. This could either be a parent
standing in front of them or their favourite show on a phone. Due to the motion of the scanner, kids often get distracted towards the operator leading to parents often having to hold their head straight. Technological research is the next step
and this involves looking at market competitors, their price ranges, techniques
employed and feasibility with regards to the current context. Similarly, a number of scanning techniques are also considered before photogrammetry is eventually
selected due to its speed, accuracy, ease of availability and pricing. Further tests are also carried out that involve comparing photogrammetry with structured light, scanning dummy heads for accuracy and working with the coding aspect and relevant software. These steps directly inform certain design decisions which serve as constraints based on which concept ideas for the embodiment and possible look and feel are ideated upon. Factors such as area of capture, landmarks and available space influence the design of the product as it
undergoes a number of iterations before settling on the current version. The current Head-scanner makes use of 3 cameras to capture the subject’s face
along with the requisite landmarks in less than a second, with only the click of
a button. As it is connected to a laptop, all the post-processing happens on the
system where the different camera views are aligned creating a complete head. This head is then showed to the operator on a Viewer for them to check.
The final Prototype is repeatedly tested in a series of pilots and constantly
optimized. Feedback is then collected and implemented as best as possible
before finally being validated with 3 families having children of various ages
and a variety of responses. The product performed quite well in terms of capture
speed though the mesh representation left something to be desired.

Purpose
As a result of the worldwide aging population, Vertebral Compression Fractures (VCF) are commonly detected in osteoporotic patients; these can originate from traumatic events or occur spontaneously. The existing VCF devices and their corresponding surgical instruments have their limitations in terms of short- and long-term performance, efficiency, safety, and complications. Amber Implants has developed an innovative new Titanium Implantable Vertebral Augmentation Device (TIVAD) that overcomes the shortcomings of the available state-of-the-art VCF devices. However, the specific surgical instruments required for the insertion and deployment of the TIVAD are yet to be developed.

Methods
A knowledge-driven iterative design process that includes extensive theoretical and empirical research together with spine surgeons, concept development, and experimental verification phases has been executed.

Results
The outcomes of the experiments have shown that the final TIVAD inserter and expander met the predefined requirements regarding efficiency, mechanical properties, and usability. These results lead to a significant contribution to the overall TIVAD procedure.

Conclusions
To summarize, it can be stated that the essential surgical instruments, the TIVAD inserter, and expander, enable the surgeon to insert and deploy the TIVAD to relieve the patient from its pain sensation and to restore the adequate spine curve while reducing the number of surgical steps, the overall surgery time, and thus costs. Additionally, the risk of infection and pulmonary embolisms is decreased significantly due to the TIVAD’s non-PMMA minimally invasive surgical procedure.


Short-haul flights are currently one of the most carbon-intensive modes of travel. Weight and fuel economy are closely linked. Therefore, weight reduction in the aviation industry is one of the critical factors in making commercial aviation more sustainable.
 This project focuses on aircraft efficiency by developing a lightweight aircraft seat for the economy segment during short-haul flights. 

The result of this project is a concept proposal for a 3-seater bench with a per-seat weight of approximately 6.5 kg. 
The low weight is achieved, on one side, by addressing the structure of the seat, where the core element of the concept is a single-piece compression-moulded shell made of CFRTP that consolidates conventional multi-component assemblies. On the other hand, comfort is provided by replacing traditional and heavy PU foams with a lightweight fabric suspension system.

The research described in this thesis explores the field of 3D printing technologies in the fabrication of printed, flexible tactile sensors and explores new possibilities and opportunities in the fabrication. The research is aiming at new ways of applying 3D printing fabrication techniques to develop easily applicable sensing structures to flexible, wearable applications.

Exploration into sensing principles and sensor designs for the printed fabrication of these tactile sensors results in the main design drivers of piezoresistive sensing and capacitive sensing to act as sensing mechanism for the developed sensors.

Fabrication principles are selected according to design thinking methods, and select and evaluate the trace design, substrate selection and 3D printing technique used in defining a concept proposal.

The performed exploration and design selection result in the concept proposal of a 3D printed tactile sensor using a TPU-coated nylon fabric substrate and ink-dispensed sensing structure using a Voltera V-One 3D printer. The sensing element is embedded into the fabric using heat sealing. A scalable, adaptable sensing array is proposed to allow for embedded tactile imaging capabilities.
The developed tactile sensor is validated by analysing a characterisation of the sensor readouts. A validation setup using a loadcell and vertical load is used to allow for the plotting of the sensors’ characteristics and linearity.

Validation shows evidence of significant measurement repeatability, while showing less proof for precise accuracy and resolution. Additional work needs to improve physical durability of the traces and connections.

The research concludes in a foundation towards the use of the 3D printing technologies of ink jetting/-dispensing to develop embedded sensor to be used in a large variety of tactile sensing/imaging applications.

Have you ever sat in a cramped airplane? Sitting shoulder-to-shoulder with limited legroom might not be a comfortable experience while flying in an airplane. Therefore, human anthropometrics or body dimensions are important to consider when designing for interiors used by a large population. To accommodate people of all sizes, a certain minimum pitch (distance of rows of seats) and seat-width are needed in an aircraft. However, increasing pitch and width is probably not the best for airline revenues, as an increasing pitch will reduce the number of passengers and thereby the income. Therefore, other solutions are needed as well. This Ph.D. research can be helpful for airlines to find the optimum as background information is gathered about the level of comfort experienced by passengers in different seat sizes. This research aims to understand how to predict comfort by looking at the physical entities, their interaction with the human, the human body effects, and perceived effects. The application area of the model is the aircraft interior. Experiments with a variety of participants, products, and tasks were conducted and measurements of the interaction, human body effects, and perceived effects were recorded. These studies prove that indeed comfort and discomfort are a result of the interaction, human body effects, and perceived effects, and these aspects could be used as a predictor of comfort. And comfort can be predicted, for instance, based on pitch and width related to anthropometry, but also based on heart rate variability (HRV) parameters. This research proves that physical entities can predict comfort, and observing the interaction and recording human body effects like HRV can predict comfort as well. Additionally, there are good questionnaires available for many situations predicting and recording comfort. Designers can use these methods to create a better functional aircraft interior which then increases passenger comfort.@en

A problem at the VUmc hospital in Amsterdam is that some patients become unrecognizable after the surgery. It is hard for surgeons to explain during the consultation how and how much the patients will change due to the surgery. Partly, because the surgeons cannot predict if the patient will become unrecognizable. Therefore, they tell them that there is a possibility they change drastically, and with this information, the patients do not know what they can expect. Even if the outcome of the surgery is optimal according to aesthetic and functional guidelines, the mismatching expectations with the outcomes can dissatisfy the patient. Some patients cannot get used to their new changes and do not recover emotionally, resulting in mental problems. Therefore, there is a need for a tool in the consultation room to predict changes in facial recognition per patient and which helps the surgeon to communicate this to the patient.

The changes in facial recognition were noticed at the VUmc, but there was no proof that the orthognathic surgeries actually influenced facial recognition, because no research in the topic was done before this project. This project proves that orthognathic surgeries can influence facial recognition which creates a new field of research. The research in this project shows that not all patients become unrecognizable, it depends on the specific face of the patient and the type of surgery the patient undergoes.

Facial recognition is complex since it depends on who is trying to recognize the patient, how familiar the patient is to this person, and a persons ability to recognize someone can differ per day and is therefore variable. Therefore, a test has been done to analyse the influence of orthognathic surgeries on facial recognition within a familiar group.

Testing a larger dataset would be too time-consuming to test among humans and, therefore, a landmark-based computer recognition method has been used to analyse a dataset of 75 pre- and post-surgical patient pictures. Both tests show that some regions of the face influence facial recognition more than others, as well as specific landmark movements which simulate orthognathic surgeries. Also, facial recognition depends on the face of the patient. Therefore, a concept of a tailored tool was created, called Fraos, showing the predictable changes in facial recognition per patient and helping the surgeon to communicate this to the patient. It also supports the patient in emotionally recovering from the facial changes.

The goal of the project is formulated. The process to tackle the project is visualised. The goal of this project is: Building a cost-effective, compact and simple 3D printer that can print electronics for technical integration of prototypes. This thesis is the basement of this project goal, therefore the focus was on developing the extruder that prints conductive material and how this goes together with filament. In the research phase, first research questions are formed to structure the research. The main research question is: What is needed to make a cost-effective extruder printing integrated electronics? Based on this question and on the goal of the project sub questions are made. These sub questions are answered per chapter. From the research it can be concluded that solder paste will be used as conductive material, for having a good conductivity and low price. For the extruding method, it has been chosen to continue with the Archimedes screw and plunger method. These are low cost, simple and compact solutions. There are several thermoplastic filaments possible that might be able to withstand the heat of curing. The shape of the trace has to be found out as this has influence on curing the solder paste. The way of curing solder paste has to be found. The solder paste is cured in the oven. In conceptualization phase the two main things are explored, how to cure the solder paste and how to extrude solder paste. Three big experiments are done to find the right combination of solder paste with the thermoplastic filament and the reflow settings. Next to this, an extrusion method has been chosen. The solder paste has the composition of: Sn42Bi57,6Ag0,4. The melting temperature is 138 [oC]. The chosen thermoplastic material is PLA X3, this filament can withstand the curing temperature. Curing has been done in the oven, heating the oven to 142 [oC] with the sample in the oven. Then leaving the sample at this temperature for ten minutes, when the sample has cooled down by opening the door the electric circuit is ready to be used. The prototype of the extruder head, that has been developed, has two extruders: the thermoplastic extruder and the solder paste extruder. The bracket is designed as such so the thermoplastic extruder can be lifted manually. The printing process is as follows: 1. Design the 3D CAD model 2. How to slice and adjust the g-code 3. Preparing the printer 4. Printing the solder paste in the 3D print 5. Pick and place components 6. Curing the 3D print Making sure to design the prototype according to a set of design guidelines. The most important guidelines are to design the electric circuit in 2D and to 3D print the circuit in the XY plane. To proof the designed concept and settings are working a demonstrator is developed. It is wanted to create a simple prototype that easily proofs the printers capacities. There is chosen to make a flashlight. After some iterations the final design is simple: containing a battery, an LED, a resistor and a switch. The future of the designed proof of concept is shown. The 3D printer can print prototypes with an integrated electric circuit at a low cost. After the developed proof of concept, the project is evaluated on the basis of the design rules and design drivers. The project goal is satisfied. A cost-effective, compact and simple proof of concept for a 3D printer that can print electronics for technical integration of prototypes is designed. A solid base has been created that can easily be broadened and used to develop a product out of it. The most important recommendation is to further research the possibilities to 3D print the solder paste.

In 2010, an estimated 15 million infants were born prematurely, which makes up 10% of all childbirths that year. Just in the Netherlands there were 11,530 preterm births in 2018. Since these children should be spending additional months inside of the uterus, they are delicate and need to grow until near regular gestational age inside of an incubator in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), which provides these children with clean, humid, and warm air. One important part of the care of these infants is keeping track of their development, in order to adjust nourishment, as well as spot possible complications early. A regular part of these measurements is the head circumference (HC) measurement. This measurement is performed by two nurses, one holding the infant still while another winds a tape measure around the delicate head, in order to take the measurement. Unfortunately, this process causes the infant to stress, which is correlated to an increased chance in reduced neurological development of the infant. Therefore, Vectory3, a company specialized in 3D scanning for healthcare, commissioned a project to create an alternative way to take this measurement, which would cause the infant less stress than the current method. During this project, this alternative has been conceived and developed into a functional prototype: MONITOR3D. MONITOR3D makes use of 3 hybrid photogrammetry cameras in order to take a contactless 3D capture of the infant’s head, allowing NICU staff to measure the 3D model after acquisition, instead of measuring the child directly. MONITOR3D’s cameras are housed in an unobtrusive shell which is placed on top of the incubator hood, staying outside of the hygienic zone of the child during use. Though the hardware for MONITOR3D is already in a functional state, providing higher accuracy than the current tape measure-based measurements, the software still consists of unmodified open-source software, for which a simple but relatively time consuming (compared to tape measuring) workflow has been developed. The current prototype of MONITOR3D is thus not ready to be used by regular in a NICU setting. However, it can possibly be used for research purposes in its current state. Future developments should focus mainly on the software part of the product, automating as many of the mesh processing steps as possible, in order to make the device usable in a live NICU environment as alternative to the current tape measure.

Dental implants are used to replace missing teeth. Replacing teeth is required, since neighboring teeth can move and reposition in undesired positions if there is an empty space. A dental implant consists of three parts, a dental prosthetic (crown), an abutment and the implant which is fixated in the bone.

Dental implants are placed during a surgical procedure performed by an oral surgeon. For this project five surgeries are observed to gain more insights in this procedure. The total treatment takes long, because in between different steps of the procedure bone healing is required. The main concerns of patients are the long treatment time, anxiety and stress. Next to that, there is a failure rate of 3-5% which is mainly caused by loosening of the implant due to a lack of osseointegration and infection, also called peri-implantitis.

Developments to promote osseointegration and to prevent infection are taking place. Additive manufacturing techniques are used to promote osseointegration. Research into antimicrobial surfaces is aimed to lower the risk of infection.

Based on the analysis of the problem and the developments that are taking place a new type of dental implant is designed. The new implants are patient-specific and have a porous structure to promote osseointegration. The implants are made to be placed immediately after extraction.

The implant is designed based on the following design features: Shape, structure, abutment, stability and antimicrobial surface.

Shape
The patient-specific shape is retrieved from a CBCT scan of the jaw of a patient. The required data of the tooth that needs to be replaced is collected. Using image segmentation software, the particular root of the to be replaced tooth is isolated.

Structure
A porous structure is created to allow bone-ingrowth. A computational method can be used to create the desired porosity inside the implant.

Abutment and antimicrobial surface
The abutment, the connector between the implant and the crown, is in the new design connected to the implant itself. An antimicrobial surface is needed to prevent infection. The surface of the implants is biofunctionalized by plasma electrolytic oxidation with silver nanoparticles.

Treatment
With this new type of implant the surgical procedure will be shortened to 6 months, instead of 9/12months. The main advantage is that bone healing after extraction is not required, which saves 3-6 months.

The design and manufacturing process are changed as well. Current implants are mass produced, while the new implants will be designed for one specific case and will be produced one-by-one. This affects the planning of the total treatment, a good collaboration between all stakeholders is needed.

The design is validated with four oral surgeons. All of them see added values in the patient-specific design. Different opinions have been formed about the porous structure and the antimicrobial layer.

In conclusion, the design shows large potential to positively impact the dental implant surgical procedure. More research and testing is needed to further develop these new type of implants.

The goal of Integrum is to improve the life of amputees. They do so by providing the OPRA (Osseointegrated prosthesis for the Rehabilitation of Amputees), bone-anchored implant systems for prosthetic attachment: a prosthesis can be mounted on a percutaneous abutment (‘pin’) coming from the residual limb. One of the latest developments of Integrum is the e-OPRA system, the enhanced-OPRA. The e-OPRA has implanted electrodes embedded in the bone anchored implant for the neural control of a myoelectric prosthesis. With the addition of the electronics, the requirements for the attachment of the prosthesis have changed: Along with the prosthesis being attached to the abutment, the electronics in the implant must be connected to the controller in the prosthesis. The connector in the abutment and the connector on the prosthesis side fit in only one way and must be aligned before they are connected. Misalignment can cause damage to the connectors and failure in the control of the prosthesis. The conventional OPRA attachment device is not sufficient for these changes. That is why the e-AD, the enhanced attachment device, is introduced.

The e-AD consist of an adapter mounted on the abutment, and a base and shaft mounted on the prosthesis. To attach the prosthesis, the abutment with adapter is inserted into the shaft. The alignment is ensured between the abutment and the base and the connection is ensured between the adapter and the shaft. The connection is made by a Bal Seal Canted Coil spring ®, according to the Lock and Quick Release (LQR®) principle: The adapter has two grooves on its outer surface and the shaft houses a Bal Seal Canted Coil spring ®. When the abutment with adapter is inserted into the shaft, the spring will lock in the first groove of the adapter and the abutment cannot be pulled out or pushed further. In this position, the prosthesis can be used in daily life. When wanting to detach the prosthesis, the user can rotate the shaft, unlocking it, and then pull it up. The spring will then snap into the second groove of the adapter, the spring is re-oriented and ‘relaxes’. The abutment can be lifted out of the prosthesis.