Design of a comfortable, wearable light/photo therapy product

Design of a comfortable, wearable light/photo therapy product

Pothen, M.C.

Albayrak, A. (mentor)
Van der Helm, A.J.C. (mentor)
Goossen-Nachtigall, P. (mentor)

Industrial Design Engineering

Industrial Design

Master of Science Integrated Product Design

2011-08-29

This master thesis explored the possible applications of light therapy to develop a comfortable, wearable light therapy product for the most promising direction that is wrist pain. The target group is defined to be working professionals who are prone to repetitive strain injury (RSI ) in their upper limbs, specific to the wrists due to excessive computer usage for long continuous periods.The approach used is an iterative design process within a user centric evaluation method. Multiple prototypes were created, parallel to the research being done and evaluated by conducting qualitative user research. The main parameters that contribute to comfort are discovered and changed progressively in each stage of prototype development to find an optimum solution.This resulted in the design of the Illuminaid, a product that offers comfortable wrist support as well as blue light therapy to treat wrist related disorders. The ergonomic shape of the Illuminaid constrains unwanted deviation of the wrist and maintains it in a more neutral position. The overall design of the product creates a highly portable, compact and easy to use solution for frequent photo therapeutic treatment periods as and when the need arises, without obstructing normal activities. A prototype close to the final design is created and evaluated by users, all of whom highly appreciated the product and its comfort parameters.

design
comfort
phototherapy

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:f6849cfb-5124-4e80-bd2c-dd42034687f2

2012-08-29

Campus only

Student theses

master thesis

(c) 2011 Pothen, M.C.