Conception d'une interface virtuelle de la région urogénitale de la femme en vue du développement de produits d'hygiène féminine

Abstract

The development of high performance feminine hygiene products that can meet the intrinsic needs associated with menstruation and incontinence requires anatomical tools that closely resemble the female reproductive anatomy. Thus, the present project proposes the creation of a complete, virtual woman, with detailed internai and external reproductive organs, as weil as related tools for feminine hygiene product development. This first, complete virtual mannequin, based on explicit reference pictures of a woman, proposes a body that closely resembles the average North-American consumer, with a body structure matching a body mass index (BMI) of 24, and the internai reproductive organs of a healthy nulliparous. The magnetic resonance imaging of the reproductive organs and urinary system was used to obtain medical images; these images were then used for the three dimensional (30) reconstruction of the bladder, the urethra, the vaginal canal, the uterus, the ovaries and the rectum using the SliceOmatic software. The Meshlab software was then used for smoothing of internai components. Results include the internai and external virtual 30 model of the human body, as weil as various functions, including the flattening of the pelvic area into a two-dimensional image for generating ideas on acetate, as weil as a true anatomical model created in rapid prototyping from digitalization of a human torso (from belly to mid-thigh), with the purpose of trying actual products on underwear. ldeally, this virtual anatomical model would not only enable product developers to improve existing products (to reduce failures and improve comfort) and create new concepts, but it would also be a very interesting educational tool for internai use in the proxy company, and also during discussion groups with consumers.

Date	19 Jan 2010
Original language	French
Awarding Institution	École de technologie supérieure
Supervisor	Nicola Hagemeister (Supervisor)