A smart orthosis for the treatment of scoliosis.

The tightness of an orthosis for the treatment of scoliosis varies greatly during daily activities. To be effective the orthosis should be maintained at the prescribed tightness to optimize the active component of objective treatment. Subjective feeling is the most commonly used method to evaluate how patients tighten their orthoses. To provide an objective measure, a battery-powered microcomputer system was developed to monitor loads exerted by orthoses during daily living. The system not only records how well the orthosis has been used, but also helps patients wear the orthoses as prescribed. Four subjects have used the system for one month. The proportion of the time that the subject wore the orthosis at the prescribed level increased from 53±10% to 69±16%. The effectiveness of the smart orthosis is still under evaluation.