Non-invasive procedure for acquisition of mechanical properties of the torso

Abstract

Computational methods promise benefits for the design of braces to manage adolescent idiopathic scoliosis. However, computational methods for the design of scoliosis braces suffer an important challenge: they require a personalized model of the patient’s torso biomechanics. The biggest difficulty in building a personalized model of the torso is defining its mechanical parametrization. In this work, we present a non-invasive procedure to obtain simultaneously force and deformation that characterize the mechanical response of the torso. We have tested the method on ten scoliotic patients, and we demonstrate its sensitivity by quantifying the range of forces and Cobb angles during the procedure.