ASTRI’s biomimetic foam delivers 75% impact absorption whilst staying comfortable enough to wear all day
By 2030, 1.4 billion people worldwide will be aged 60 or above. Hip fractures from falls remain one of the most devastating injuries among seniors, yet traditional protective gear faces a persistent problem: make it thick enough to protect, and nobody wants to wear it. Make it comfortable, and protection suffers.
The Comfort-Protection Dilemma
Conventional foam, rubber, and gel protectors present an uncomfortable trade-off. Bulky padding restricts movement, traps heat, and feels intrusive—so many elderly users simply refuse to wear it. Thinner designs sacrifice safety. Worse still, most materials cannot withstand water, leaving high-risk environments like bathrooms unprotected.
The same challenge plagues industrial safety equipment and sports protection: how do you design gear that moves naturally yet absorbs serious impact?
Learning from Coral
ASTRI’s Smart Protection Materials (SPM)—showcased in the award-winning NuHip hip protector—takes inspiration from an unexpected source: coral’s bicontinuous interconnected structure. The research team developed a biomimetic metamaterial combining a rigid microscopic 3D skeleton with auxetic silicone foam, creating something genuinely new.
The result is 80% softer than traditional protective materials in everyday wear. It moulds comfortably to body contours, integrates seamlessly with fabrics, and lets users walk, sit, and sleep without discomfort—tackling the compliance problem that has long undermined elderly protection products.
Yet when sudden impact strikes, SPM’s internal structure activates. The 3D skeleton and auxetic silicone disperse and absorb kinetic energy rapidly. Testing shows NuHip reduces a high-risk impact force of 10,000 Newtons down to under 2,500 Newtons—a 75% absorption rate that significantly outperforms conventional foam’s 50%. The closed-cell silicone structure also delivers complete waterproofing, extending protection into wet environments where falls most frequently occur.
Universal Product, Individual Fit
Perhaps most ingenious is SPM’s customisation solution. Traditional protective equipment faces an economic bind: countless body shapes make bespoke moulding expensive whilst creating inventory nightmares.
SPM incorporates heat-triggered shape memory. By warming the material to 50–60°C, the internal skeleton temporarily softens, allowing reshaping to any contour. Once cooled, the customised form locks in place. One standardised product becomes infinitely adaptable—universal in supply, individual in application.
Beyond Hip Protection
Whilst NuHip has earned recognition—including the 2025 R&D 100 Award and 2026 Edison Awards—SPM’s potential reaches far beyond elderly care. The technology integrates with fabrics, rubber, and plastic substrates across multiple sectors, offering a broader range of market adoptions.
Industrial safety equipment could gain impact-protective gloves and buffer pads that maintain dexterity. Sports gear could become lighter yet more effective. Electronics, logistics, and medical devices stand to benefit from cushioning that’s lightweight, temperature-resistant, and cost-effective.
Protection People Will Actually Wear
Technology succeeds not through impressive laboratory results alone, but by solving real problems in adoptable ways. Elderly users’ reluctance to wear traditional hip protectors isn’t stubbornness—it’s a rational response to uncomfortable, impractical products.
By simultaneously addressing comfort, protection, adaptability, and waterproofing, SPM represents a fundamentally different approach: one that respects users’ lived experience whilst delivering measurably superior safety outcomes. As manufacturing matures and partnerships develop, this innovation has potential to redefine protection across the silver economy and beyond.
Enquiries: corporate@astri.org
