Smart Garment to Help Children Improve Posture

Author

Lou, E. ; Moreau, M.J. ; Hill, D.L. ; Raso, V.J. ; Mahood, J.K.

Author_Institution

Capital Health, Glenrose Rehabilitation Hosp., Edmonton, Alta.

fYear

2006

fDate

Aug. 30 2006-Sept. 3 2006

Firstpage

5374

Lastpage

5377

Abstract

Many of the aches and pains of adults are the result not of injuries, but of the long-term effects of distortions in posture or alignment. Postural kyphosis in adolescence may be one of the effects of poor standing and sitting habits. Kyphosis is an excessive rounding of the upper spine. A smart garment that can monitor and provide vibration feedback to children has been developed to investigate an alternative treatment possibility. Laboratory tests verified that the accuracy of the system was plusmn2deg within the full 180deg range. A clinical trial has been conducted and it showed that the system can aid subjects to improve by 20% the proportion of time in a more balanced posture. The long term effect is still under investigation

Keywords

biomechanics; clothing; feedback; intelligent sensors; mechanoception; medical computing; medical control systems; patient monitoring; vibrations; balanced posture; long-term effects; postural kyphosis; sitting habits; smart garment; standing habits; upper spine; vibration feedback; Back; Capacitive sensors; Cities and towns; Clothing; Diseases; Injuries; Medical treatment; Muscles; Pain; Pediatrics;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, 2006. EMBS '06. 28th Annual International Conference of the IEEE

Conference_Location

New York, NY

ISSN

1557-170X

Print_ISBN

1-4244-0032-5

Electronic_ISBN

1557-170X

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/IEMBS.2006.259585

Filename

4463018