Patent ID: 8551030

Claim:
A brace device for the spinal support of a wearer, the brace device comprising: a plurality of component parts, each component part being moveable relative to at least one other component part; movement sensing means, for monitoring the movement of at least one component part relative to at least one other component part with which it is moveable, the movement sensing means generating one or more output signals indicative of said movement or in response to a change in movement; movement resisting means, provided on one or more of said component parts and operable to prohibit, restrict and/or resist movement of at least one component part relative to at least one other component part; and control means in communication with the movement sensing means and the movement resisting means, the control means being programmed to interpret and/or analyze the said one or more output signals generated by said movement sensing means within predetermined parameters and/or criteria; wherein one or more of the movement resisting means are dynamically controlled in response to one or more signals being received from the control means when the control means determines a movement or change in movement requires partial or substantial immobilization of at least a portion of the spine of the wearer.