Patent ID: 7322950

Claim:
A method for making a spinal orthosis, the method comprising the steps of: providing a first laminate material comprising a flexible foam material and a substantially rigid plastic sheet material sandwiched between a pair of soft flexible sheet materials and bonded together to yield a unitary and substantially rigid first laminate material; forming an anterior support from the first laminate material, the anterior support being formed by heating the first laminate material under conditions of pressure to soften the first laminate to a pliable state, cutting the first laminate to a desired shape to yield a first pattern corresponding to a desired shape of the anterior support, providing a first form corresponding to a desired configuration of the anterior support and positioning the first pattern on the first form in a pliable state, applying a negative pressure to conform the first pattern to the first form, and cooling the conformed first pattern to yield the anterior support; providing a second laminate material comprising a flexible foam material and a substantially rigid plastic sheet material sandwiched between a pair of soft flexible sheet materials and bonded together to yield a unitary and substantially rigid second laminate material; forming an posterior support from the second laminate material, the posterior support being formed by heating the second laminate material under conditions of pressure to soften the second laminate to a pliable state, cutting the second laminate to a desired shape to yield a second pattern corresponding to a desired shape of the posterior support, providing a second form corresponding to a desired configuration of the posterior support and positioning the second pattern on the second form in a pliable state, applying a negative pressure to conform the second pattern to the second form, and cooling the conformed second pattern to yield the posterior support.