Columbia University School of Engineering and Applied Science researchers are developing dynamic scoliosis braces for children.
Here are seven notes:
1. Sunil Agrawal, professor of mechanical engineering and of rehabilitation and regenerative medicine at Columbia, N.Y., is heading the project.
2. David P. Roye, St. Giles Foundation professor of pediatrics orthopedic surgery at Columbia University Medical Center in New York, and Charles Kim, professor of mechanical engineering at Bucknell (Pa.) University are working with Mr. Agrawal on the project.
3. The three professors want to create a scoliosis brace void of rigidity, that moves flexibly with children.
4. The National Science Foundation's National Robotics Initiative awarded a $1 million grant for the project.
5. The team developed prototype wearable spine braces with rings that fit on the torso. Dynamically actuated by servomotors on adjacent rings, these rings control the pressure on the body. Motion data from the sensors is received by a computer, where physicians can adjust treatment.
6. A passive brace is also in the works, in which compliant components adjust stiffness in certain directions.
7. Mr. Agrawal and his team plan to test their different prototypes on children with scoliosis at CUMC.