Cardiff, United Kingdom
Designed by PDR, the Female Brace of R&D Surgical, is a medical frame specially designed for teenage girls to fit neatly and discreetly, highly respecting female anatomy.
This new brace can be worn beneath clothes using contemporary materials and mechanisms to create a more comfortable, clinically effective, and discrete solution.
The project has been awarded a 2021 Good Design Award by The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.
The new design is specifically designed to accommodate growing female anatomy, is more comfortable, more reliable, and can be worn under clothes for less stigmatization.
Structural design alongside careful ergonomic study run parallels with requirements around patient comfort and well-being to ensure effective treatment.
Chromed metal bars and clamps are replaced with a slim-line metal and Delrin subframe that provides the underlying structure through which compression forces are applied.
This subframe is enclosed with padded and breathable fabric outer that provides a comfortable and approachable form that can fit underneath clothes and allow for discreet, comfortable use with an aesthetic more acceptable and less stigmatizing to teenage users.
The product can easily be set up and adjusted by a clinician and compression forces are applied with the slim-line ratchets of each side of the product. As a subject grows so the product can be easily adjusted without tools.
Trials indicate the more distributed force and greater comfort of the device ensure longer use and better outcomes in a shorter time.
The comfort and ability to wear beneath clothes allow users to carry on with their daily lives with minimal disruption.
Clinical study to date has proved the device to be both effective and strongly liked by teenage girls who suffer from the condition.
Treatment at this life stage cures the problem of protrusion which in turn prevents complications such as breathing difficulties and chest pain from emerging.
The greatest impact however is outside of the physical and relates to perceptions of body image and self-confidence so critical in the teenage years.
Treatment can be up to 24 months and the device is designed to be returned, the fabric and padding, are easily removed for cleaning, replaced, and re-issued to a new patient.
Project: Female Brace
Designers: PDR
Manufacturer: R&D Surgical Ltd.
