Wearable Postural Device with Elastic Band Assemblies
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current wearable devices for postural and mobility enhancements are often hyper-specialized, complex, or unaffordable, lacking customizable options to effectively address individual postural and movement limitations.
Innovation Solution
A customizable orthotic device using elastic band assemblies strategically placed via anchors on a wearable exosuit, which can be easily donned and modified to provide manual cuing for postural changes and improved movement patterns.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If rigid and complicated exoskeleton devices are used to assist movement, then movement assistance effectiveness is improved, but device complexity and time to don the device increase
Solution Approach 1:
The device is divided into separate modular components including a waist belt, shoulder harness, limb straps, and elastic band assemblies that can be independently attached and adjusted. This segmentation allows the device to be donned in minutes rather than hours, while maintaining effectiveness through targeted elastic band placement at specific anatomical locations.
Solution Approach 2:
The elastic band assembly system serves multiple functions: providing mechanical assistance, delivering proprioceptive feedback, and enabling customizable positioning. The same basic component structure (waist belt, shoulder harness, limb straps) can be configured for different body parts and movement patterns, making the device universally applicable across various rehabilitation needs without requiring multiple specialized devices.
2Manufacturing precision
If hyper-specialized devices are used to address specific movement problems, then treatment precision is improved, but adaptability and customization options decrease
Solution Approach 1:
The device features adjustable and reconfigurable components that can be dynamically modified to suit different patients and conditions. Elastic bands can be repositioned along the limb straps and harness, anchors can be moved to different locations, and the configuration can be changed between sessions. This dynamic adaptability allows the same device to provide precise treatment for different conditions such as foot drop, Trendelenburg gait, or kyphotic posture.
Solution Approach 2:
The device applies localized assistance and feedback through strategically placed elastic bands at specific anatomical locations (ankles, knees, hips, shoulders). Each elastic band assembly targets a specific movement pattern or muscle group, providing precision treatment for local movement deviations while the overall system remains highly customizable through the modular component design.
3Ease of operation
If manual cuing methods like theraband and tape are used, then ease of application is improved, but effectiveness for gross imbalances decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The device combines the simplicity of manual cuing methods with the effectiveness of structured orthotic support by integrating elastic bands into a coordinated system of waist belt, shoulder harness, and limb straps. This merged approach maintains the ease of application (can be donned in minutes) while significantly improving effectiveness for gross imbalances through the mechanical assistance and proprioceptive feedback provided by the interconnected elastic band assemblies.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The device effectively strengthens and corrects movement and postural deviations, providing proprioceptive and neuromuscular feedback, and has been successfully used in various conditions such as foot drop, cerebral palsy, and Parkinson's Disease, among others.
Implementation Method 1
The device effectively strengthens and corrects movement and postural deviations, providing proprioceptive and neuromuscular feedback
Data Source
AI summary
A mobility assisting apparatus easily arranged in configurations using elastic band assemblies to assist or resist muscles, provide feedback to the neurological systems, stabilize balance and improve movement patterns of the wearer. The apparatus consists of a chest harness, a waist belt, limb strap assemblies, varying styles of anchoring loops for elastic band attachment, elastic bands of varying difficulty or tension, and shoe attachment assemblies. The apparatus is customized for each user based on their gait or muscle asymmetries and the causes of such asymmetries. Not all components are required for each user. The elastic cord assemblies assist weak muscles, correct range of motion deficits, and/or give neuromuscular feedback during use. The chest harness counteracts the downward pull of the elastic cord assemblies on the waist belt. In addition, the chest harness/waist belt assemblies encourage upright posture and neutral spine mechanics. The anchors attached to the waist belt, chest harness and limb assemblies allow the elastic band assemblies to be attached wherever needed allowing for possibilities of correction only limited by the imagination.