Part of a more ambitious project of multifactorial dimensions including scientific areas such as Art, Design, medicine, materials and technology, psychology and sociology, Biofiligree seeks to share knowledge of the ancient filigree art combined with medical devices that can be converted to jewels. This innovative perspective opens a new path for the use of filigree that can add its share to the sustainable development of the “filigree” regions.

In this way, the goal is to foster the revitalization of the craft of filigree and promote the awareness of stakeholders and political power in the defense of cultural heritage, fostering regional cooperation, in an era of globalization that threatens the cultural identity of communities. The main objective of the project is to make a proof-of-concept to design bone fracture plates in filigree materials and patterns and test these plates mechanically to verify if they are suitable to be applied in an in vivo surgery context.

The research plan includes three main tasks: 1) Project management and dissemination; 2) Design of filigree geometry patterns; and 3) Prototyping filigree bone plates & mechanical testing. Tasks 2 and 3 are interconnected and will be articulated in a reverse Design methodology, since project decisions depend on the output results to be obtained within each task. To develop the project, a multidisciplinary team (surgeons, material engineers, biomechanics and designers) of researchers with complementary experience and skills necessary for the good development of the project was gathered.

José Simões

Relations — Studies

Relations — Research Projects