Lunar Splint Design Challenge

This project was given by Exploration Medical Group (XMIPT)

Executive Summary

The Lunar Splint Design Challenge is a high school engineering design project at the intersection of space medicine, biomechanics, and additive manufacturing. Students are tasked with designing a 3D-printable splint for use on a lunar base — a context that makes standard Earth splint designs inadequate. The core premise is that launching pre-made splints from Earth costs approximately $1M per kilogram and offers no flexibility in sizing or adaptation, whereas an on-site FDM or SLA printer stocked with PEEK or TPU filament can produce a custom-fitted splint within 4–8 hours of injury. Students select from five real injury scenarios — ranging from finger dislocation to Achilles partial tear — and must design a splint that accounts for lunar-specific constraints including 1/6 gravity, bone density loss of 1–2% per month, and long-term habitat wear. Each design must incorporate at least one lunar-specific innovation such as swelling-adaptive lattice geometry, or single-piece ratchet closures.

Problem Statement

Astronauts on a lunar base face a high and poorly understood risk of musculoskeletal injury — elevated fracture susceptibility from bone density loss during transit, falls in bulky EVA suits on rocky terrain, and repetitive loading from suit mechanics. When an injury occurs, Earth return takes days at minimum, meaning a splint must function as a long-term treatment device, not just emergency stabilization. Current Earth-based splints cannot be stockpiled on the Moon at $1M/kg launch cost, come in fixed sizes that fit poorly on bone-density-depleted limbs. There is no existing splint designed specifically for the lunar environment. A custom 3D-printable splint solution is needed that can be fabricated on-demand from a patient scan, fit any limb geometry, survive long-term habitat use, resist regolith contamination, and remain within a justifiable mass budget — all without requiring resupply from Earth.

Students must review the Power Point and the Student Brief. Videos and Links for resource purposes.