Scoliosis is a common type of bone condition that affects about three percent of the general population. Spine deformity is usually diagnosed in people as early as 10 to 15 years old. Today, one of the most popular scoliosis treatments in children is the rectification of the backbone by using a brace.
Back Brace Treatment fo Scoliosis
Back brace treatment is already established as a practical solution against scoliosis. However, customizing the device for a specific individual is time-consuming and complex. Wearing a back brace can sometimes be difficult, and there are trial and error phases involved in equipping it, which could bring discomfort to patients.
Polypropylene was utilized by experts in a new study to develop a more convenient back brace. They use a lightweight recyclable plastic combined with carbon nanotubes to form the entire scoliosis device.
The physicians and engineering experts from the United States and the United Kingdom worked together in the research study. Their goal was to construct a modern back brace that produces cellular materials and detects the amount of stress and strain during administration.
The "smart brace" balances the stress it applies to the patient through reading the pressure it relays, resulting in better fine-tuning and more relaxing treatment than the traditional ones.
The study detailed how the researchers used carbon nanotubes to embed into a polypropylene random copolymer, and how the system was able to rely on a network of electric conductivity from across the device.
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3D-Printed Back Brace with Strain Detection for Accurate Spinal Diagnosis and Treatment
They used 3D printing to form the grid-like structure of the back brace. They tested it under cyclic and static examination to quantify and record how much of the electrical resistance can withhold during strain.
According to a report by AZO Materials, the measurement of the material's piezoresistance changes over time. It could contribute to the further development of a more advanced smart brace in the future by letting the doctors know which parts of the body generate the most pressure on the brace.
Shanmugan Kumar of the James Watt School of Engineering at the University of Glasgow and co-author of the study said in the report that there is still a lot of room for improvement.
3D printing makes customization easy and will help scoliosis patients get the brace that suits their unique condition. After a few weeks, they have to revisit their doctor for the readout from the piezoresistive strain sensing brace, so the device will be adjusted to keep it more effective. It works without the trial-and-error process that most doctors rely on at the moment.
The new back brace system study was made in part by the scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Texas A&M University, and the Massachusetts General Hospital.
The study titled "Synthesis and Characterization of Carbon Nanotube-Doped Thermoplastic Nanocomposites for the Additive Manufacturing of Self-Sensing Piezoresistive Materials" was published in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces.
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