The Boston brace, a type of thoraco-lumbo-sacral-orthosis (TLSO), is a

back brace A back brace is a device designed to limit the motion of the spine in cases of bone fracture or in post-operative spinal fusiona, as well as a preventative measure against some progressive conditions or to correct a patient's posture. Common bac ...

used primarily for the treatment of

idiopathic An idiopathic disease is any disease with an unknown cause or mechanism of apparent spontaneous origin. For some medical conditions, one or more causes are somewhat understood, but in a certain percentage of people with the condition, the cause ...

scoliosis Scoliosis (: scolioses) is a condition in which a person's Vertebral column, spine has an irregular curve in the coronal plane. The curve is usually S- or C-shaped over three dimensions. In some, the degree of curve is stable, while in others ...

in children. It was developed in 1972 by M.E "Bill" Miller and John Hall at the

Boston Children's Hospital Boston Children's Hospital (formerly known as Children's Hospital Boston until 2013) is the main pediatric training and research hospital of Harvard Medical School, Harvard University. It is a nationally ranked, freestanding acute care children ...

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

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Information

Since it lacks the metal superstructure of the Milwaukee brace, which was the most commonly worn brace until the development of the Boston brace, the brace is typically not noticeable under clothing. The Boston brace is prescribed for correcting curves in the

lumbar In tetrapod anatomy, lumbar is an adjective that means of or pertaining to the abdominal segment of the torso, between the diaphragm (anatomy), diaphragm and the sacrum. Naming and location The lumbar region is sometimes referred to as the lowe ...

or thoracolumbar part of the spine. It is designed to keep the lumbar area of the body in a flexed position by pushing the

abdomen The abdomen (colloquially called the gut, belly, tummy, midriff, tucky, or stomach) is the front part of the torso between the thorax (chest) and pelvis in humans and in other vertebrates. The area occupied by the abdomen is called the abdominal ...

in and flattening the posterior lumbar contour. Pads are placed at the apex of the curves to provide pressure, and areas of relief from pressure are positioned opposite the curves. The brace is normally used with growing adolescents to hold a 20° to 45° advancing curve. The brace is made of high density

polypropylene Polypropylene (PP), also known as polypropene, is a thermoplastic polymer used in a wide variety of applications. It is produced via chain-growth polymerization from the monomer Propene, propylene. Polypropylene belongs to the group of polyolefin ...

lined with

polyethylene Polyethylene or polythene (abbreviated PE; IUPAC name polyethene or poly(methylene)) is the most commonly produced plastic. It is a polymer, primarily used for packaging (plastic bags, plastic films, geomembranes and containers including bott ...

foam that is customized to the individual patient, and it opens in the back via a series of

Velcro Velcro IP Holdings LLC, trading as Velcro Companies and commonly referred to as Velcro (pronounced ), is a British privately held company, founded by Swiss electrical engineer George de Mestral in the 1950s. It is the original manufacturer of ho ...

straps. Daily use of the brace ranges from 16 to 23 hours a day. The brace is intended to minimize the progression to an acceptable level, not to correct the curvature.

History

M.E. "Bill" Miller patented the Boston brace in 1975.

References

Orthopedic braces 1972 introductions {{medical-equipment-stub