3D-printed back brace promises better treatment of scoliosis

Scoliosis is a form of spine deformity that affects around three per cent of the population, often between the ages of 10 and 15. It can be corrected in younger people by a back brace, which is worn until the child stops growing.

Back brace treatment is effective but can be uncomfortable and requires a time-consuming trial-and-error process to find the best fit for each patient.

Now, engineers and medics from the UK and the United States have combined polypropylene with carbon nanotubes to create a cellular material capable of sensing the amount of strain (and stress) it experiences while in use.

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The researchers said this material could be used to create a ‘smart’ brace that detects the pressures it applies on the human body, allowing better adjustment of the brace and making the process of treatment more comfortable.

In a paper published in ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, the Glasgow University led team describe how the carbon nanotubes, placed throughout polypropylene random copolymer, gave it the ability to form an electrically-conductive network across its structure.