Design and Optimization of a Wearable Under-Actuated Mechanism for Spinal Posture Measurement

This paper proposes a novel wearable device that can monitor the spinal posture. The proposed device adopts an underactuated mechanism design which allows it to adapt to the multiple-degrees-of-freedom spinal posture with minimum weight and complexity. To ensure the validity of measurement and comfort of wearing, the mechanism parameters are determined by an optimization algorithm so that uniform contact forces for selected spinal postures can be achieved. Experiments demonstrate that the device can automatically maintain contact with the wearer’s back and produce real-time spinal posture data for medical diagnosis and treatment.