The designers at Ottobock have the pleasure of receiving an award: On the occasion of the 50th award ceremony last evening, Roland Weinert, Head of the Presidential Section of the Austrian Federal Ministry of Labour and Economic Affairs, presented the prestigious 2024 National Design Prize to the medical technology company for its innovative Skeo Up Daily Assist functional aid.

Innovative “off the shelve” orthopaedic technology solution

The Skeo Up Daily Assist is a passive, waterproof everyday aid device for people with a forearm amputation. The medical device was developed with the aim of offering a practical and immediate solution. Especially in war zones and crisis zones, there is an enormous need for a solution that is quick and easy to handle.

The Skeo Up Daily Assist combines the applicability of a liner and the passive holding function of a hand prosthesis. The waterproof functional aid has an exchangeable clamp adapter in the palm. It can hold objects up to 4 cm in circumference, such as razors, toothbrushes or sponges.

“In everything we do, people always come first. This is also reflected in the design of our products,” says Reinold Durstberger, Industrial Designer at Otto Bock Healthcare Products GmbH. “In line with our guiding principle 'we empower people’, the Skeo Up Daily Assist focuses on usability and comfort without losing sight of the essentials.”

During the development, the designers did not aspire to replicate the human hand. Rather, they wanted to offer users a functional expansion of their remaining arm residual limb.

David Raß, Research Engineer at Otto Bock Healthcare Products GmbH, adds: “This is particularly evident in the fact that it’s easy to put on and take off the Skeo Up Daily Assist with a single movement. It is made from a single cast silicone, is highly flexible and adapts to the user’s residual arm.”

* The Skeo Up Daily Assist made its world premiere this week at OTWorld 2024, the leading international trade show for orthopaedic technology. The functional aid is expected to be available from August this year.