Modernizing Product Development
- Reduce time, costs of new product development up to 40%
- Explore innovative designs efficiently without building physical prototypes
- Create predictive, repeatable, quantitative measures of product performance
- Mitigate risk by assessing human-engaged performance early in process
- Gain return on software investment within a year
New product development in any industry is often a time-consuming, expensive, and risky process. In the orthopaedic and biomechanical industries, where human interaction with the product is critical to success, the time, costs, and risks are even greater.
The traditional reliance on cadaver testing early in the design process creates significant challenges, such as test-to-test variability, or degeneration of the test sample. The process means coordinating the time of designers, technicians, and surgeons, and considerable paperwork is required to meet federal regulations. If cadaver testing in the lab is successful, a physical prototype is created and tested with human subjects, but even then they can provide only subjective feedback on the design's performance. At every step, a process already fraught with pitfalls becomes yet more complex.
Virtual prototyping - the creation of computer models to simulate and study product performance - has revolutionized product development in many industries, but is usually focused on the product itself, isolated from the human component until physical testing is underway. If the design is deemed unacceptable at that point, the process - iterative design, analysis, prototype creation - begins anew.
Traditional Product Development Process
Not only is this 'build and break and build again' approach time-consuming and costly, it doesn't get to the critical question - how will the product function when used by, or within, a human?
LifeMOD biomechanics simulation software changes the paradigm, enabling assessment of the human component at the beginning of the design process. The designer first creates an appropriate human model, optimized to produce accurate and consistent results without being overly complex. The model is validated for accuracy throughout the planned range of events. Next, a small set of key usage simulations that cover the range of product uses is created. From these simulations, concise data measures are developed which characterize performance. This results in a 'signature' which can be compared to other design iterations, as well as to competitive products.
Modern Product Development Process
Incorporating LifeMOD human simulation into the product development process means deeper design insight, fewer prototype iterations, and a better, higher-quality product delivered to market faster. In the case of implanted devices, along with the reduced need for cadaver testing, the risk of late design changes impacting ancillary instrumentation development is also significantly minimized.
Because it provides a validated, unchanging human computer model, LifeMOD can help establish relationships between specific product attributes and their effect on the human. These functional signatures, along with supporting plots and animations, can serve as proofs in the patent submission process.
Highly sophisticated, robust, and user-friendly, LifeMOD sets the standard for biomechanical simulation software. Built on industrial-grade simulation tools, the software is easily integrated into existing product development processes, and is complementary to common CAE tools, such as finite element analysis. Leading orthopaedic companies, sports equipment manufacturers, research institutions, and many others are using LifeMOD to cut development time, cost, and risk while creating higher quality, more innovative products.
Product Development SavingsIn this hypothetical example, costs include employee head count, laboratory, and hardware.