Group Members: Weihang, Demir, Justin

The healthcare problem that we want to address is scoliosis. According to Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis, scoliosis is defined as “a complex three-dimensional deformity of the spine characterized by a lateral deviation of at least 10 degrees.” It can also be classified into three categories: congenital, neuromuscular, and idiopathic. We will focus on idiopathic scoliosis, which can be classified based on the age of the child at presentation. Early onset is when scoliosis presents itself from age 5-7 and late onset is if scoliosis presents itself from age 7 till maturity.

According to a New York Times article, there is evidence that wearing a back brace will slow the progression of the most common form of scoliosis in adolescents. Because we know that wearing a back brace slows progression of the most common form of scoliosis in adolescents, we can build further upon that conclusion. Back braces are usually clunky and extremely noticeable. We’re trying to make it less clunky and less noticeable, but have it function the same or even better than the current back braces now.

I think this innovation will function as well as current back braces. Commercially, I think this can do well. This product is always going to be in demand because, until there is a cure, people are always going to have scoliosis. Also, we can spend less money on supplies because this is going to be smaller than most back braces which will allow us to make more of a profit. Also, instead of purchasing different medical pills trying to alleviate the effect of scoliosis, people can now just use this innovation to treat this disease, saving lots of money and having a better outcome eventually. Therefore, commercially, we believe it will bring very positive impacts and feedback in the market. Our market is going to be heavily geared toward the medical profession. Doctors would take the measurements of patients’ and with those measurements, we should be able to build braces.  Additionally, the use of 3-D printed materials will allow us to be able to customize each model for each patient by adjusting the model in Tinkercad.