Benedetta Beltrami

Product Designer - Talent in Residence

She was born in Carpi, in Emilia-Romagna, where she grew up among the family glassware workshop and exaggerated portions of cappelletti. Six years ago she moved to Milan where she began her career as a product designer at Politecnico di Milano. Her curiosity for the medical field led her to develop, as a bachelor thesis project, a cradle aimed at monitoring and comforting the premature infant which later developed and patented with the company Fluid-o-Tech in Milan. In conjunction with the beginning of the two-year Master’s Degree in Integrated Product Design, she joined Alta Scuola Politecnica and continues to develop products for healthcare by participating in the FabCare call with the Palpatine project and developing in team a home assistant for the daily intake of medicines. The latter was selected for the ADI Index 2019 Targa Giovani. Currently, she is finishing her career by working as an academic tutor and carrying out the thesis project in partnership with the PCB Institute of the CNR of Lecco and the NeMO clinical center. The aim of the thesis is to bring innovation in the state of the art of cervical orthoses with a product co-developed together with doctors and patients. She believes that designers today have the right and duty to make tangible changes, thinking of products and services that have value for society.

Abstract:

The neck is the first portion of the human torso that connects the head to the chest, thanks to the work of the joints and flexor muscles, it guarantees a correct anti-gravity posture and allows to perform the main flexion movements. What happens when these muscles are no longer able to perform motor functions? Their gradual atrophy leads the neck to no longer be able to support the weight of the head. This physical condition is not only associated with pain and fatigue but also causes speech, swallowing and interpersonal communication disorders, and is common among patients suffering from neuromuscular diseases (ALS, Multiple Sclerosis, Muscular Dystrophies and many more). To solve this problem, orthoses are created to support the cervical spine, called “collars”, which can be used in any phase of the disease for the whole life duration. Despite the large market size, orthoses on the market today cannot adequately satisfy the needs of patients and their doctors. Thanks to the collaboration with the Institute for Polymers, Composites, and Biomaterials (IPCB) of the National Research Council (CNR), it was possible to get in touch with the NeMO clinical center (NEuroMuscular Omnicentre) and start with them a product development path together with doctors specialized in the field of physiatrics and neurology. The goal is to develop an orthosis to support the cervical spine that can be worn continuously, which is customizable and adjustable by the patient or his caregiver, which guarantees a good level of comfort, and which improves the perception of himself of the patient.