The human body is made up of various kinds of organ system. Out of which, the system which comprises of bones etc. is known as Skeletal System. This system is made up of Bones, Ligaments, Cartilages, Tissues etc. and forms the basic structure of the human body which provides the shape, size and rigidity to it. The skeleton can be classified into two, namely, Axial Skeleton and Appendicular Skeleton. The vertebral column, the rib cage, the skull and other associated bones are together called as Axial Skeleton. Similarly, the Shoulder girdle, the pelvic girdle and upper and lower limb bones are together called as Appendicular Skeleton.
The Vertebral Column or Backbone or Spine is one of the important parts of Axial Skeleton. The Spinal column is a strong but multi-functional structure. Its main aim is to protect the spinal cord which starts from brain, runs through the column and then branches out to all the parts of human body. The spinal column is made of 33 distinct bones named as Vertebrae which exists from Skull to Pelvis. The Vertebrae are stacked one over other and the distance gap between two consecutive vertebrae is known as inter-vertebral distance. The complete Vertebral column is divided into 5 different parts, namely, Cervical, Thoracic, Lumbar, Sacrum and Coccyx.
The normal curvature of spine when viewed from side has four curves, namely, Cervical Curve, Thoracic Curve, Lumbar Curve and Sacral Curve. For a healthy normal spine, the thoracic spine should have a natural Kyphosis angle of 20⁰-45⁰, whereas, the normal Lordosis angle should be around 39⁰-53⁰.
As referred to already publish papers, it is observed that most of the medical practitioner including doctors and physiotherapists decide their medication technique, especially related to the spine; on the basis of the spine curvatures. Hence, even a small deviation in the curvature measured from any instrument can lead to drastic changes and the whole medication can go wrong. Therefore, it was required to make a system which can give accurate results and also remain cheap so as to facilitate even an ordinary physiotherapist to afford. It has been seen that the measuring curvature of spine is the easiest among all the body parts, and hence number of instruments (not available in India), are available. But every instrument has its advantages and disadvantages, for example, inclinometer is cheap and affordable, but not accurate, whereas, photogrammetry is accurate but costly. Therefore, there is a need to develop something accurate and affordable.
The curvature of spine is very important part as the main strength to the spine and the body comes from the curvature. It is also seen that mostly the disfunctioning of the upper body part of the body is closely linked with the postural deformity. It is also observed that human spends most of the time sitting, and while sitting he distorts the most of the curvature, there by introducing more loads on the surrounding muscles and vertebrae, and hence there is a dire requirement of ergonomic chairs, cushions etc., to prevent this distortions from ruining the health of nation.
For most of the spine problems for the kids below 15 years of age, it has been deduced from some previous studies that they can be cured if the proper medication is provided before a stipulated amount of time. It is observed among the kids of age group between 10 to 16 year olds, 2 to 4% of them suffer from the Scoliosis defect of the spine. This deformity which is common in younger age, is very big issue and problematic once the kid is fully grown. Hence, for the early diagnosis of such defects among kids, a spine curvature measuring instrument is required which is accurate in measuring and affordable for every parent. The model of SCMM is made keeping in view all these factors, to serve the society in becoming a better and healthier one.
As we have seen in elders, as they grow older there is a fall in the upper back. Survey has determined that this fall of the upper back is recurrent every year. Also it has been hypothesized that due to this fall of the upper back the center of pressure gets displaced towards the limit of the stability and therefore affects the balance which makes elders get bedridden. The researchers have linked this fall of the upper back to the improper postural control by the individuals. Hence the study of the different spine curvature is necessary to determine the back shape or posture that causes the unbalance. So that the elders can be put through proper treatment with strengthening or balance exercises to improve balance and posture and hence reduce the risk of the fall of the back.
In the current generation, as the technologies have improved over the years the physical work of the people has reduced to a greater extent because of which the required work that has to be given to the spine to keep it away from any pain has been affected. As a result the number of people fighting with the back pain is increasing significantly. And also the back pains can be due many reasons like slouching while sitting, due to lifting heavy weights, twisting uncomfortably and overstretching. Surveys show that 5-10% of the sick cases are related the back problem and these stats show the economic expenses involved in this issue.
After considering the above reasons to study the spinal curvature, scholars worked out some sophisticated methods to study the spinal curvature. One such method is the radiographic assessment which is very expensive and highly skilled labor is required to operate the machine. But above that the major drawback of this machine is the radiation emitted from the machine which can cause other health issues to the individual under repeated study. So even though we are able to study the spine curvature but this can be only at some risk. So now we have to start developing a method which can get us the values as accurate as the values from the radiography assessment. So we need explore methods which can operated either manually or mechanically with the ease of usability and also should be easily accessible.