Laurin Schaffner & Benjamin Josi
3Fold
Laurin Schaffner (1991), Benjamin Josi (1992)
Laurin Schaffner: 80% research associate and lecturer, ZHdK
Benjamin Josi: 80% head of Development and Design, Wiegand AG; 20% artist, Josi Design
Laurin Schaffner:
Bachelor Industrial Design, ZHdK, 2018
Benjamin Josi:
Bachelor Industrial Design, ZHdK, 2020
3Fold
2021–2023
Zurich
Design research (medical design)
Cooperation partner: Hylomorph AG
Funding: Innosuisse – Schweizerische Agentur für Innovationsförderung
Team: Nicole Kind, Aldo Ferrari, Simone Bottan, Francesco Robotti, Lisa Ochsenbein
Visualisation partners: ROLI Deluxe (CGI), Mirjam Skal (audio), Hansruedi Rohrer (photography);
Publication: Schaffner L., Josi B., Robotti F., Bottan S., Ferrari A., Ochsenbein L., Kind N. (2023): Remote Synchronous Usability Testing Yields Reliable Data for User-Centered Design Development of Physical Medical Devices. In: Design in the Era of Industry 4.0, Volume 2. Springer. DOI: 10.1007/978-981-99-0264-4_22
Foldable surgical applicator, Hylomate cellulose pouch, pacemaker, prototypes, video and animations
123.1 × 97.8 × 0.178 mm
4 min 33 sec
Tyvek, cellulose, titanium
A research project at the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK) resulted in 3Fold, a foldable surgical application instrument that enables a contactless and time-efficient application of Hylomate in the operating room. Hylomate is a natural, biosynthetic material in the form of a pouch that prevents complications after the insertion of pacemakers. The main cause of such complications is scar tissue surrounding the implant.
The ETH Zurich spin-off Hylomorph conducted usability tests with Hylomate in preliminary stages and realised that the sticky and slippery material takes too long to apply, the pouch is damaged by ordinary surgical instruments, and too many touches lead to contamination risks.
In cooperation with the industrial design researchers at ZHdK, the entire process was analysed in a user-centred approach, discussed with experts from various fields and iteratively tested with end users. 3Fold was developed to market maturity and is expected to be approved on the market in 2024.
