title: An advanced compliance monitor for patients undergoing brace treatment for idiopathic scoliosis.
abstract: Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis is a spinal deformity affecting 2-3% of adolescents. Brace treatment, the most common non-surgical treatment, uses a hard plastic orthotic shell to prevent progression of the deformity. Previous studies have found association between treatment outcome and patients' compliance with the prescribed brace-wear regimen. However, the exact relationship between compliance and treatment outcome has yet to be elucidated. Current compliance monitoring techniques may not be providing enough information about patients' brace-wear habits. Building on previous work, we present a new compliance monitor which records both temperature and force applied to the patient's body. The combination of temperature and force readings shows both how often and how tightly the brace is worn. The new monitor is designed for minimal size and power consumption, measuring 5.2 cm × 2.5 cm × 0.8 cm, with a battery life of approximately one year. Seven patients wore the monitor in this pilot study. The temperature-based compliance estimate differed significantly from the force-based estimate in four out of seven cases. This suggests that some patients may wear their braces very loosely, and that existing temperature-only or force-only compliance monitors may not be giving a complete picture of brace-wear habits.
authors.affiliation: Electrical & Computer Engineering Department, University of Alberta, 9107-116 St, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2V4, Canada. Electronic address: dchalmer@ualberta.ca.
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Chalmers
authors.affiliation: Electrical & Computer Engineering Department, University of Alberta, 9107-116 St, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2V4, Canada; Department of Surgery, University of Alberta, 2D Walter Mackenzie Health Sciences Centre, 8440-112 St, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2B7, Canada.
authors.forename: Edmond
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lou
authors.affiliation: Alberta Health Services, Research & Technology Department, 10105-112 Ave, Edmonton, Alberta T5G 0H1, Canada.
authors.forename: Doug
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hill
authors.affiliation: Electrical & Computer Engineering Department, University of Alberta, 9107-116 St, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2V4, Canada.
authors.forename: H Vicky
authors.initials: HV
authors.lastname: Zhao
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001915:Braces; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D055595:Mechanical Phenomena; D008991:Monitoring, Physiologic / Q000295:instrumentation*; D010349:Patient Compliance; D012600:Scoliosis / Q000628:therapy*; D013696:Temperature; D016896:Treatment Outcome
keywords: Biomedical monitoring; Medical devices; Rehabilitation engineering; Scoliosis