ProtoPatch
ProtoPatch was inspired by the African Lungfish’s ability to secrete a thick mucus to cover its entire body, protecting it from drying out during drought periods.
One of the mistakes I made during the creation and development of the prototype was developing something that I do not really know anything about. Let me clarify that - I do not have the knowledge necessary to make this design work. I would not know what materials to use or how to combine them. This makes this evaluation checklist much less accurate - becuase thre are many elements that I don’t know how to answer.
In terms of adapting and evolving, I don’t know if the design is locally attuned and responsive, because I see that as being dependant on how the gel can be manufactured. Ideally - it would be, but it would depend on the building blocks used to create the gel, and how the actual chemical make up of the lungfish’s mucus could be mimicked as accurately as possible.
ProtoPatch is not cyclical, and although not currently designed for dis-assembly and reuse, I can see that being a possibility. Currently, it does not respond to feedback from the body either, but maybe it could be developed to receive “signals” from the body and monitor the healing of the wound, so that the patch drops off once the wound is fully healed, a bit like a natural scab.
The design is indeed resilient - and can withstand disturbance whilst maintaining function. On the other hand - I don’t think that much “information” is decentralized or distributed. There are no opportunities for cross-pollination or mutation; or co-evolving either.
Optimization or maximising? I’d say optimising --- because the design allows for a single application of the product, instead of constantly replacing bandages and gauzes and plasters. However, it does not integrate multiple functions. ProtoPatch’s functions have minimal energy and material use though, as the body is the actual healer involved. The patch just acts as the protector, the barrier to pathogens.
Benign manufacturing, once again depends on the Biology side of things --- It would depend on what material would actually work in creating the ProtoPatch, and how accessible they were, and the energy needed to process them in the correct way. Ideally, these materials would be the same, easily accessed chemicals used by the African Lungfish, and processed under the same temperatures and conditions as in nature. Self assembly is another thing that I did not take into account, but what if it could self assemble? Further more, what if the gel patch could “breed”? This would lower manufacturing energies even more! Although it is not specifically built to shape, as it is a gel, it can be used to fit the wound shape, i.e. one wouldn’t need to use more gel than necessary.
The ProtoPatch gel does not really create a symbiotic and cooperative relationship with the human body, because it itself does not receive anything in return. But let’s hypothesise. Imagine IF the gel was “semi-alive” and reacted to heat. As the body works on fixing itself, the gel could improve its antibacterial properties by being “fueled” by the body’s heat. In it’s own way, the gel does create conditions conducive to life, only but protecting wounds that otherwise could become septic, and/or gangrenous - creating all kinds of problems that are definitely NOT conducive to life (or at least Happy Life!). ProtoPatch does, to a certain extent avoid competition expense by finding a new niche. Although in the medical field there are many ways of sealing a wound, there are few (none?) that can be applied in one go and left to do its own thing, without need for check ups and changing. ProtoPatch can also be applied “on the go”, on the soccer field during a match, on the battle field, in the playground.
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| This AWESOME image is one I'm definitely going to refer back to! |
There is so much that could be improved on the ProtoPatch design --- I’m almost embarrassed at how few of the “Checklist Ultimatums” that the design DID meet and how many (LOTS) that it didn’t meet... But I suppose that one has to start somewhere.
On the shortlist of To-Do’s (the most vital in my opinion) in terms on design improvement (to make the design more conducive to life and adaptable) are:
- LOCALLY TUNED AND RESPONSIVE
- Using free local energy
- Using simple, common building blocks
- Buildig from the bottom up
- INTEGRATES CYCLIC PROCESSES
- Adaptation to seasons
- Redesigning for disassembly and possible reuse
- Reusing/Recycling materials (possibly waste from other manufacturing processes) in the manufacturing of the gel
- Responding to feedback from the body
- RESILIENT
- Healing after disturbance
- Increasing rate of adaption
- OPTIMISING RATHER THAN MAXIMISING
- Integrate multiple functions
- BENIGN MANUFACTURING
- Life-friendly material usage
- Self assembly
- Done at room temperature
- LEVERAGING INTERDEPENDENCE
- Foster symbiotic and cooperative relationships
- Co-evolving to increase adaption rate
- Self organizing
Phew! That’s a long to do list, but very necessary to make a product more in tune with nature.
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