FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The field of the invention is orthotics.

BACKGROUND

The following description includes information that may be useful in understanding the present invention. It is not an admission that any of the information provided herein is prior art or relevant to the presently claimed invention, or that any publication specifically or implicitly referenced is prior art.

Scoliosis is a medical condition associated with an abnormally curved spine, often thought to be a progressive disease, at least until adulthood. Scoliosis can have severe adverse affects on a patient's life, both physically and physiologically. One possible method of treating or managing scoliosis is surgery. Unfortunately, scoliosis surgery can be very risky. Less invasive methods of treating or managing scoliosis has traditionally included physical therapy, chiropractic therapy, or bracing, among other things.

Some previous efforts have been made to provide improved comfort, support, or customizability to individual wearers. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,230,101 to Gold, U.S. Pat. No. 5,012,798 to Graf et al., International Patent Application Publication No. WO 2010/044796 to Ogilvie et al., International Patent Application Publication No. WO 2006.068459 to Van Loon et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,405,313 to Albin, and UK Patent Application GB 2467974 to Mills teach various scoliosis management devices.

All publications or other extrinsic evidence herein are incorporated by reference to the same extent as if each individual publication or patent application were specifically and individually indicated to be incorporated by reference. Where a definition or use of a term in an incorporated reference is inconsistent or contrary to the definition of that term provided herein, the definition of that term provided herein applies and the definition of that term in the reference does not apply.

Unfortunately, none of the above references teach a brace that provides both the desired level of comfort, support and modularity to a wearer. Thus, there is still a need for improved scoliosis braces.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The inventive subject matter provides apparatus, systems and methods in which a scoliosis brace is configured to provide adjustable support to a wearer. The brace preferably comprises a flexible belt configured to wrap around a mid-portion of a wearer, along with various components (e.g., struts, pads, adjustment mechanisms, etc.) configured to removably couple with the flexible belt and thereby provide customizable support to different portions of a wearer's body. A brace of the inventive subject matter can advantageously be configured to add a force or restrict a motion in the sagittal, transverse and coronal planes.

In one aspect of the inventive subject matter, a scoliosis brace comprises one or more vertical struts having an anchor pad (or base pad) coupled to a first strut, which is configured to removably attach to the interior side of the belt. It is contemplated that the anchor pad or the strut can removably attach to the belt in any commercially suitable manner, including for example, via a hook and loop fastener, snaps, buttons, magnets, and threading.

As used herein, a “vertical strut” is defined broadly to include a plurality of components (pads, struts, angle or height adjustment mechanisms, etc.) that are coupled with one another to create a single piece. As used herein, a “strut” is a single rod or bar forming a part of a framework. It can generally be preferred that a strut is made from either (1) a rigid material (e.g., a metal, a hard plastic, etc.) that requires more than an average person's force to bend, or (2) a material (e.g., aluminum, etc.) that is sized and dimensioned to be pliable when a strong force is applied, but sturdy when an ordinary force is applied.

A second strut can be coupled to the first strut and also be coupled with a thoracic pad configured to provide a pressure to a first side of the wearer below the underarm. It is contemplated that the first strut and the second strut can be movably coupled to one another such that one can rotate or pivot relative to the other.

It is also contemplated that the height of the thoracic pad relative to the central point of the anchor pad can be adjusted via any commercially suitable height adjustment mechanism, including for example, a rack and pinion mechanism, a biasing mechanism, a slidably coupled telescoped component, or any other commercially suitable component. Similar mechanisms can also be provided to adjust a horizontal position of the thoracic pad relative to the central point of the anchor pad.

A brace of the inventive subject matter can also comprise a first hip pad coupled to the first strut via a third strut, and configured to provide support to a hip area of a wearer. It is contemplated that the first strut and third strut can couple with one another to act as a height adjustment mechanism (e.g., to adjust a vertical position of the hip pad on the wearer relative to the central point of the anchor pad or an angle adjustment mechanism (e.g., to adjust a horizontal or vertical position of the hip pad on the wearer relative to the central point of the anchor pad).

In another aspect of the inventive subject matter, it is contemplated that the thoracic pad can be coupled to a curved arm configured to at least partially wrap around an upper chest portion of a wearer. The curved arm is preferably coupled to a de-rotation pad that is configured to put pressure on the upper chest wall on one side to cause a force intended to resist forward motion and rotation of that side of the chest when the brace is worn.

One or more straps can be provided and configured to couple with two or more components of the brace. For example, a first strap can be coupled to the belt (e.g., via hook and loop fastener, snaps, buttons, threading, zipper, or other commercially suitable fastener(s) or combinations thereof) and the thoracic pad (e.g., via a carabiner, a buckle, a button, a snap, or other commercially suitable fastener(s) or combinations thereof). A second strap can be configured to couple to at least two of the following, among other components: the de-rotation pad, the rounded arm, the first, second or third strut, the anchor pad, or the hip pad.

In some embodiments, a first vertical strut comprising the anchor pad, first strut, thoracic pad, de-rotation pad or hip pad can be coupled to the belt such that it provides support predominantly to a left or right side of the wearer. As used herein, the term “provides support predominantly to a left or right side” means that at least 80% of the components are located on a single side of the wearer. Thus, it is contemplated that a first vertical strut can be coupled to the belt such that it provides support predominantly to a left side of the wearer, even though 20% or less of the support is provided to the right side of the wearer. In some preferred embodiments, at least 90%, at least 95%, or even 100% of the support can be provided to a single side of the wearer via a first vertical strut. It is contemplated that additional components can be provided, if needed, via a second vertical strut to couple to the belt such that it provides support predominantly to the opposite side of the wearer.

The additional components can include a second anchor pad having a fourth strut and coupled to the belt, a second thoracic pad movably coupled to the second anchor pad via a fifth strut, a second de-rotation pad coupled to the second thoracic pad via a second rounded arm, a second hip pad, or any other suitable component(s).

Alternatively or additionally to being movably coupled to one another, each of the struts, straps, and pads can be removably coupled with, or attached to, another strut, pad, belt or other component of the inventive subject matter. Where a strut, pad or other component is moved from a first location to a second location, it is contemplated that the locations can be completely distinct or partially overlapping. For example, it is contemplated that a strut, pad or other component can be moved by as little as 5 cm, 2 cm, or even 1 cm or less, or can be moved by as much as 6 cm, 10 cm, or even 20 cm or even more.

Various objects, features, aspects and advantages of the inventive subject matter will become more apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments, along with the accompanying drawing figures in which like numerals represent like components.

