Design Method to Structure Orthosis Design: Camptocormia Postural Brace Case Study

Abstract

The orthosis is considered a class 1 medical device which often originates from a nonstructured development process. As these devices are mainly developed by small- and medium-sized enterprises, with no standard research method, the result can be an unadapted device which may not respond to the user’s needs and which in the short term may be abandoned. One way to solve this problem is to define and apply standard rules and procedures throughout the development/design process. Although methodologies may solve the “empiricism” in orthosis design problems, these design strategies are not applied during orthosis development due to the particularities of this field and the difficulties in linking the required knowledge and the actors that may be present during the orthosis development. The objective of this work is to develop a methodology to structure the orthosis design process that takes into account both the device life cycle and the different stakeholders involved in the design process. A case study was used to validate the proposed methodology. It was applied to the development of an orthosis to treat a specific postural disorder called camptocormia, also known as bent spine syndrome. This disorder is characterized by the anteroflexion of the trunk and especially affects elderly people. Contrary to scoliosis, the characteristics of camptocormia are not permanent, which means that the patient is able to straighten his posture. A postural brace is used to treat this disorder which enables the patient to redress and maintain the correct upright posture of the trunk.

Relevance Method to Structure of Orthosis

“…The methodology was then applied to the development of a brace to treat a postural pathology named camptocormia. Also known as bent spine syndrome, it is characterized by the progressive anteroflexion of the trunk during walking and in the standing position [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16]. Contrary to other postural disorders, camptocormia is reversible, which means that the postural flexion is not permanent and same time patients are able to redress their posture [12][13][14][15][16].…”

“…Also known as bent spine syndrome, it is characterized by the progressive anteroflexion of the trunk during walking and in the standing position [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16]. Contrary to other postural disorders, camptocormia is reversible, which means that the postural flexion is not permanent and same time patients are able to redress their posture [12][13][14][15][16]. But etiologies of camptocormia are not completely understood [12][13][14][15][16].…”

“…Contrary to other postural disorders, camptocormia is reversible, which means that the postural flexion is not permanent and same time patients are able to redress their posture [12][13][14][15][16]. But etiologies of camptocormia are not completely understood [12][13][14][15][16]. Yet, as the camptocormia is a multicasual postural disease, these causalities should were considered during the orthosis design process [12][13][14][15][16].…”

“…But etiologies of camptocormia are not completely understood [12][13][14][15][16]. Yet, as the camptocormia is a multicasual postural disease, these causalities should were considered during the orthosis design process [12][13][14][15][16]. The specifications is very good, if witch correspond to the starting point of the methodology.…”

Design Methods for the Elderly in Web of Science, Scopus, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure Databases: A Scientometric Analysis in CiteSpace

“…Noguchi et al [13] discussed a case of using social robots, in which they were deployed as human mediators to communicate remotely between older adults and their family members or friends, and they proposed design guidelines for such socially mediating robots. Duarte et al [14] developed a method to construct the orthosis design process, considering the equipment lifecycle and the different stakeholders' involvement in the design process. Mincolelli et al [15] proposed an assessment of the principle of the integration between the limitations arising from the choice of technology used on a device and the human needs obtained from the analysis of the needs of the elderly in the field of designing wearable smart objects for self-sufficient and non-self-sufficient users.…”