PROJECT AID UP

 
 

Aid Up

Aid Up is a modular and controllable neck brace for people with limited neck mobility who have difficulty controlling their head position. It allows the user to control the tilt of the head independently, without straining the neck muscles. Vertical movement is controlled by a hand-held slider. The device is lightweight, intuitive and space-saving to ensure maximum autonomy for the user.

HackaHealth started the development of this neck brace in 2019 during its Hackathon at the request of Swan, who has Dropped Head Syndrome ("DHS"), to help support his head in activities of daily living.

The project is now led by a multidisciplinary team (HackaHealth members and health professionals) and has been funded by an NTN Innovation Booster grant from the FRH (Fondation pour la Recherche en faveur des personnes Handicapées). More recently, the team has been joined by Master students from EPFL who have finalised the design. A finished and functional design is now built and is being tested for regular use.

Use

This device allows the user to position the head at a desired height without straining the neck muscles. The vertical movement is controlled by a hand-operated slider. The device is light, intuitive and space-saving to ensure maximum autonomy for the user.

  1. Motorised neckbrace 

  2. User interface 

  3. Control unit

 

Team

Swan, Céline, François (HackaHealth), Philipp (Orthopédiste), Camille, Elodie, Hugo, Nathan (Etudiants de Master à l’EPFL), Ivo, Christine