Sponsored by the Asper Foundation and Reichman University
Twelve years ago, Moran Barashi was a dog handler for the Israeli Air Force—training dogs to help on patrols—when she had a car accident at the Paramasim base, which caused the jeep to overturn. Balahi woke up in the hospital without any memory of the accident, but the consequences were serious. The nerves in her neck were injured, causing convulsions and pain all over the body.
Twitches are frequent and interfere with daily life. Barashi began to receive Botox injections to paralyze her muscles, so that the visibility of twitches would be reduced. Although injections are helpful, they also cause other problems. Even many years later, this injury still poses a challenge to the industrial design students and veterinarians of Hadassah College.
"It's hard for me to hide my head," Barashi told NoCamels. "I have a lot of muscles paralyzed in all shots. It makes my daily life difficult and affects my entire body."
Although she should wear a brace around her neck all day, the existing solutions made her itchy, sweaty, uncomfortable, and cut off her air. She said that the plastic will give off an odor after wearing it for a long time. For people who claim to be fashionistas, the neck brace is too ugly, too hard and too ordinary. "I want everyone to look at me because of my clothes, not my neck," she explained.
"The sponge braces currently on the market are very hot and heavy, and no one wants to wear them," she said.
Enter Stratasys, Israel's leading 3D printing manufacturer, and a team of volunteers decided to help Barashi find a better solution. Since 1998, Stratasys has been leading the global transition to additive manufacturing, providing solutions for the aerospace, automotive, consumer products, art, fashion, design, and healthcare industries.
The Stratasys team found Barashi through Restart’s Makers for Heroes, an Israeli project where “manufacturers” (engineers, programmers, designers, doctors, technical experts, etc.) united to create innovative technical solutions to help wounded soldiers Overcome disability. The program was established in 2016 when the pioneers of Restart saw concessions from wounded soldiers, aiming to "realize their dreams" by creating products that help them overcome disabilities and daily challenges and build a higher quality of life. In 2018 and 2019, the company partnered with TOM: Tikkun Olam Makers, a global community network dedicated to improving lives by making open source technologies affordable for all. Partners and sponsors of the Restart project include companies such as Wix, Checkpoint Software Technologies, and Cyberpro Israel.
Stratasys has been involved in the project for the past four years, mainly working with Paralympic athletes, including a member of the Israeli Paralympic rowing team and a tennis player, Ohad, the head of innovation and corporate social responsibility operations and the company team leader. Meyuhas said the project.
This is the first time Meyuhas and the team have focused on providing 3D solutions for people with specific disabilities rather than athletes. "I've wanted to do something like this for a long time," Meyouhas explained. "At the time, I said that the challenge would be to design for extremes — to design for non-extremes."
In other words, “products designed for people with disabilities should be very unique, not only to help people with disabilities, but non-disabled people also want the final product. This is ideal for me,” Mejuhas reiterated, “This is what What it looks like."
Restart brought 12 challengers to the 2021 project, and Staratsys finally chose Barashi from four people they thought could be helped with 3D printing technology. The team scanned her with a 3D scanner and concluded that using hard materials on her collar would cause problems because she would regularly inject Botox to the injured area.
"Due to the injury, she twitched, so her head is always moving. She needs to wear a neck brace all day," Mejuhas explained. "We want to produce a head that can support her. A collar that allows her to agree to wear a collar that looks very special. It must also be something she can wear for a few hours without feeling her disability aggravated."
"We worked with her to understand which material is best for her skin and does not cause a rash," he added.
The Stratasys team decided to create a simple, breathable, and lightweight 3D printed scarf. As Meyuhas explained, the challenge is to create something to replace the neck brace, which is attractive enough to be worn at will in daily life. The team used fabrics from a high-fashion company they had worked with in the past — “think Chanel or Dior,” Mejuhas said — although he declined to reveal the brand name.
"If you have met Moran, you will find that she is a fashionista. She is unique. Whenever she comes to our space, people can ignore her. She has to be in the center. Who would want to use a neck brace? Do this?" Mejuhas said.
"The appearance of the collar is important to me, because I also do general design — and because I combine everything with the clothes I wear — such as cleats, and fashion accessories such as shoes — with my The clothes match," Barashi added, "If I have a disability, make it fashionable.
Stratasys uses 3D printing PolyJet technology for collars as a support system for fashionable fabrics, allowing you to move freely and adapt to changes.
"We printed our designs on beautiful fabrics that Moran likes very much. We use the elasticity and texture of the fabric and print Stratasys' unique touch-resistant material in geometric shapes. We make sure that the collar can stabilize the neck and look It's fashionable. The transparent materials we use for printing provide extra depth to the fabrics that major fashion companies around the world are crazy about and want to use," Meyuhas explained.
Printing on different fabrics and textures provides Barashi with a variety of options and different collars for various activities. The different geometric shapes allow some collars to "breathe" more—a key feature in summer—while other collars are more suitable for winter or particularly intense neck pain periods.
According to Meyuhas, the new product is relatively light, so she doesn't have to wear a heavy, stiff device around her neck. Barashi said that Stratasys has created hard, medium and soft options in different designs that look good and can meet her physical needs, which is "very important to me personally", he said.
Barashi is very involved in this process and often comes to the company's Rehovot office. "Whenever a new concept or design is formed, I personally come to the company to see how to move forward, take measurements, etc.," she told NoCamels.
“Everything is under close supervision and meets industry standards to ensure that the solution is safe for Moran,” he said. “We also work with physical therapists and the accompanying team who guide us and help us. We tested everything A complicated solution. In the end, we came up with a relatively simple solution that still has the function of "inclusive design"-in fact, Moran tried on the collar, and the others in the room said, "Wow , That may be amazing for an event, it is like a unique necklace, I also want to have one. This means we succeeded"
"I haven't met someone injured like me. I still hope that it will help others. This is part of the goal. In addition to making me more beautiful and more accessible-and making the world more accessible and beautiful, It's not just sickness or disability, it's a product that comes from the current market," Barashi said.
"Look at someone who is optimistic like Moran. She talks about [her disability] which is good, but at the same time, you want to help her in some way. The whole team is involved," Meyuhas said, "We are beautiful The fabric is printed with glossy transparent material, giving the feeling of super expensive and beautiful jewelry. She deserves it.