Simulation of orthotic treatment in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis using a subject-specific finite element model

Abstract

Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) is a threedimensional deformity of the spine, often progressing rapidly during the growth spurt. Severe scoliosis can lead to significant degradation of quality of life and functional impairment; the aim of early orthotic treatment is to slow down curvature progression until skeletal maturity. Efficacy of bracing has often been questioned (Negrini et al., 2010; Weinstein et al., 2013), and often relies on the orthotist’s experience since objective methods to design and predict brace action are still in development (Cobetto et al., 2014). A clinically-relevant method for the evaluation of brace simulation in AIS was recently presented (Vergari et al., 2015) and applied to preliminarily validate a finite element model (FEM) of the trunk. The aim of this work was to improve the simulation of brace action on scoliotic trunks and to validate the model on a larger cohort