Current methods of stabilizing a patient's neck after a suspected spinal injury do not provide adequate safety and comfort for the patient.
Standard practice is to immobilize all trauma patients with suspected cervical spinal column injury at the scene of accident, during transport and in the hospital until a spinal injury can be excluded [1]. This practice has been adopted worldwide, and in the UK applies to around 440,000 trauma patients annually, the equivalent figure for the US is around 5 million patients [2]. Immobilization procedures usually involve fitting a disposable semi-rigid cervical collar, known as a neck brace.
There are many well-documented complications and problems associated with collars. These include increased intracranial pressure as a result of restriction to the jugular vein [3], skin ulceration [4] and compromise of the airway [5]. Furthermore, studies into how effective collars are...
