FRIDAY HARBOR, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--D3O®, a unique shock-absorbing material that is soft and flexible in its natural state, but becomes instantly rigid when subjected to a sudden impact, was recently named one of MSN’s 10 Mind-Blowing Man-Made Substances. The first healthcare application of D3O in the United States, Fall-Safe® Hip Protectors from Medical Protection Technologies, leverages D3O’s “Intelligent Molecular Engineering” to help prevent hip fractures—a major healthcare crisis among the elderly in America and around the world.
According to D. Stephen Robins, M.D., CEO of Medical Protection Technologies, D3O-based Fall Safe Hip Protectors address a significant problem in the design of hip protectors. Early hip protector pads used hard plastic materials, but they suffered from poor patient compliance largely due to discomfort. Subsequently, softer pads were introduced to increase comfort, but this led to decreased effectiveness, and their bulkiness did little to improve wearing compliance.
“Fall-Safe Hip Protectors offer the best of both worlds—they are significantly more effective at absorbing impact and are so comfortable and of such low profile that people often forget they’re wearing them,” Robins said. “A recent independent study of leading hip protectors found that the D3O-based Fall-Safe Hip Protector provided up to 57 percent more impact protection than the comparative products under laboratory testing conditions. In addition, unlike most other hip protector pads, its impact protection capacity is largely unaffected by multiple impacts—a significant problem that has led other hip protector manufacturers to recommend their products be replaced after every fall. The economic implications of this greater durability are clear.”
D3O joins other innovative man-made materials on the MSN 10 Mind-Blowing Substances list, such as Bacillafilla, a genetically modified microbe that knits together cracks in concrete, Perfluorocarbons, which allow a person to breathe in liquid, and one-way ballistic glass.
D3O has been widely deployed in the sports, military, law enforcement, and consumer electronics industries based on its unique combination of superior impact protection, comfort, flexibility, low profile, and durability. What makes the patented D3O polymer “mind-blowing” is that it exhibits two distinct behaviors:
- At rest—D3O molecules are loosely positioned, allowing the material to be soft, highly pliable, and easily molded into anatomically compatible shapes.
- On sudden impact—The molecules instantly "lock" together to produce a highly efficient shock-absorption barrier that dramatically reduces impact transmission and its potentially harmful effect on underlying areas of the body.
- As soon as the impact is over and the energy fully dissipated, the molecules return to their previous loose bonding—until the next time they are subjected to sudden impact.
Click here to see D3O in action.
Hip fracture is one of the most devastating and costly health and lifestyle inhibiting issues impacting older adults. About 300,000 hospital admissions occur annually in the U.S. for hip fractures among people age 65 and older—a number that is expected to increase as the population ages. More than one in five hip fracture patients dies within one year of the injury and, of those who survive, many are left with long-term functional impairment and loss of independence—a major change in lifestyle that can impact not only them but also family members and other caregivers.
Medical Protection Technologies
Medical Protection Technologies, based in Friday Harbor, Wash., is the North American provider of medical device products made from the unique shock-absorbing material D3O®. Its initial product, the Fall-Safe® Hip Protector, offers the ideal combination of high impact protection, durability, affordability, and wearing comfort—even when sleeping—thereby enhancing compliance with current hip protection protocols. As a result, it offers significant fracture-prevention and cost-saving potential for both at-home and institutional use. Learn more at www.medprotech.com.
