Search

A novel energy storage system based on a SMES cooled by cryogenic fuel is being developed at the Dept. of Electrical Engineering of the University of Bologna. The system represents an alternative solution with respect to nowadays battery packs for the storage of electrical energy with large specific power. The device may find suitable application on board of road vehicles fed by liquid hydrogen with hybrid power-train (internal combustion engine and electric motor/generation), where a cryogenic tank is already present and no additional cryogenic costs are needed. The housing of the SMES inside the tank used for fuel storage, allows the exploitation of the thermal power required for the continuous evaporation of fuel for feeding the engine to remove the AC losses from the magnet, thus avoiding the need of externally supplied cooling power. In this paper both the design of the magnet and its operation in combination with electronic converter and electric motor/generator during charge/discharge cycles are discussed. Moreover the ongoing activity for the development of a laboratory-scale prototype using MgB2 superconductor is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A superconducting magnet with 200 Id stored energy and 75 kW output/input power has been designed and manufactured. The device, which is aimed to power quality enhancement in electric grid, consists of two coaxial coils, counter-series connected in order to keep the stray field below the limit of 0.5 mT. The SC wire is a copper stabilized Nb-Ti strand. Several copper slabs are placed within the coils in order to permit heat removal deep inside the coil, thus allowing cryogen-free cooling and operation at high AC losses regime. Several tests with different ramp rate have been carried out at the liquid helium temperature. Design and manufacturing characteristics as well as test results are discussed in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent progress in material processing has enabled the fabrication of large single grain YBCO hulks having the potential to trap a magnetic field much stronger than that of conventional permanent magnets, thus opening the way to new applications in the field of power electric machinery. However, for YBCO bulks to find a broad use, a suitable magnetization process must be developed. In fact, the value of the trapped field as well as the stability with respect to the time and the shape of the profile strongly depend on the parameters of the magnetization process, i.e. the peak value and the waveform of the applied field and the operating temperature of the bulk. In this paper such a dependence is numerically investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to investigate the reciprocal interaction between a SFCL and the Power System an equivalent circuit of the device needs to be introduced in a power system simulator. In this paper the equivalent circuit of a magnetic shield type SFCL, consisting of two coupled electric and thermal networks, is obtained starting from the integral formulation of the coupled electromagnetic-thermal problem inside the device. The numeric waveforms of current and voltage across an SFCL during a fault are calculated and compared with the experimental ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The modeling of current distribution and ac losses in multistrand superconducting cables is strictly related to the evaluation of the cable electric parameters. A perfect knowledge of these parameters is however impossible due to the complicated manufacturing process. Strand deviations from the nominal geometry and interstrand conductance changes occur in the cable compaction process. Statistical approaches can however be applied to deal with these issues. This paper reports a sensitivity analysis aimed to determine the effects of strand deviations from the nominal geometry. The deviations, however, are not directly imposed on the mutual inductances matrix, as this approach can lead to misleading results if the final matrices do not correspond to physically possible configurations. The statistical deviations are imposed on the strands geometry, keeping the strands in physically possible locations by means of geometric constraints. A code for the electromagnetic analysis of superconducting cables is then applied to the calculation of current distribution and ac losses in the different configurations, evaluating the relevance of the main parameters variation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Describes the calculation of hysteretic losses on high temperature superconducting coils made of BSCCO silver tapes. Direct current measurements of voltage-current characteristics; Dependence of critical current of the tape from amplitude orientation of the magnetic field; Sinusoidal time dependence of the transport current.

Introduction: Until the last update in February 2022, the Cochrane Rehabilitation COVID-19 Evidence-based Response (REH-COVER) action identified an increasing volume of evidence for the rehabilitation management of COVID-19. Therefore, our aim was to identify the best available evidence on the effectiveness of interventions for rehabilitation for COVID-19-related limitations of functioning of rehabilitation interest in adults with COVID-19 or post COVID-19 condition (PCC)., Evidence Acquisition: We ran the searches on February 17 th , 2023, in the following databases: PubMed, EMBASE, CENTRAL, CINHAL, and the Cochrane COVID-19 Study Register, applying a publication date restriction to retrieve only papers published in 2022. To retrieve papers published before 2022, we screened the reference lists of previous publications included in the REH-COVER action, covering papers from early 2020 to the end of 2022. This current review includes only randomised controlled trials and concludes the rapid living systematic reviews of the Cochrane Rehabilitation REH-COVER action. The risk of bias and certainty of evidence were evaluated in all studies using the Cochrane Risk of Bias tool and GRADE, respectively. We conducted a narrative synthesis of the evidence. PROSPERO registration number: CRD42022374244., Evidence Synthesis: After duplicate removal, we identified 18,950 individual records and 53 RCTs met the inclusion criteria. Our findings suggest that the effect of breathing and strengthening exercise programs on dyspnea and physical exercise capacity compared to no treatment in non-severe COVID-19 patients is uncertain. Multicomponent telerehabilitation may slightly increase physical exercise capacity compared to educational intervention in adults with PCC. There is, however, uncertainty about its effect on lung function and physical exercise capacity when compared to no treatment. Finally, the effect of inspiratory muscle training on maximal inspiratory pressure compared to no treatment in adults with PCC is uncertain., Conclusions: Interventions that are part of comprehensive pulmonary rehabilitation approaches may benefit dyspnea and exercise tolerance in adults with COVID-19 and PCC. The available evidence has several methodological limitations that limit the certainty of evidence and the clinical relevance of findings. Therefore, we cannot provide robust suggestions for practice. While high-quality RCTs are being conducted, clinicians should consider using high-quality evidence from other pulmonary conditions to rehabilitate patients with COVID-19 or PCC using context-specific interventions.

Introduction: COVID-19 infection significantly increased mortality risk and the burden of disability in most survivors, regardless of symptom severity at onset. The rehabilitation needs of people infected are receiving growing attention, as evidenced by the increasing number of publications, including those addressing the chronic consequences of infection. This rapid living systematic review reports the evidence published in November and December 2020 and summarises the entire body of literature on rehabilitation in COVID-19 patients published in 2020., Evidence Acquisition: This update was performed using the methodology reported by the second edition conducted by Cochrane Rehabilitation REH-COVER Action. We searched PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, Scopus, Web of Science, and Pedro databases. Papers related to COVID-19 and rehabilitation were retrieved and summarised descriptively., Evidence Synthesis: The search retrieved 4441 studies. After the removal of duplicates and the screening for title and abstract, we retained 105 studies. Of these, we included 54 in the qualitative synthesis of this update. According to OCEBM 2011 levels of evidence table, most studies (64.8%) fall within the category of level 4 evidence. Up to 40.7% of papers included COVID-19 patients in the postacute phase. In 2020, our rapid living systematic review included 230 studies; most of these (73.9%) were level 4 studies, 25.7% were level 3, and only one study was level 2. The evidence level improved over time. While most studies (44.8%) included patients with acute COVID-19, we observed a gradual increase in the number of reports about chronic symptoms and the long-term consequences of the infection., Conclusions: The update of the rapid living systematic review by Cochrane Rehabilitation Field demonstrates an increase in the level of evidence of studies addressing the rehabilitation needs associated with COVID-19 infection. Although most studies are still case reports/series, there is a trend towards conducting prospective investigations of the early natural history of the disease (first months post onset). High-quality-level studies on the efficacy of rehabilitation, and long-term monitoring of the disease and its sequelae are yet to emerge.

Introduction: This living systematic review presents the monthly update of the second edition of the rapid living systematic review 2020 conducted by Cochrane Rehabilitation REH-COVER Action Steering Committee. The aim of this study was to update the monthly COVID-19 and rehabilitation literature research up to October 31 st , 2020., Evidence Acquisition: Methodology described in the second edition of the rapid living systematic review 2020 conducted by Cochrane Rehabilitation REH-COVER action was applied. PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, Scopus, Web of Science, and PEDro databases were searched, and papers related to COVID-19 and rehabilitation were retrieved and summarized descriptively., Evidence Synthesis: The database search retrieved 2704 publications. Duplicates were removed, and 1185 unique records were screened for inclusion. After screening titles, abstracts and full-texts, 22 papers were included in the present review. According to OCEBM 2011 Levels of Evidence table, 17 studies (77%) fall within the level of evidence 4 category, while the remainder (23%) are categorized as level of evidence 3. Most studies (N.=19; 86%) provided epidemiological data about the disease natural history/determining factor or the clinical presentation of COVID-19 infection, while only two studies focused on health service organization and intervention efficacy., Conclusions: The most recent published COVID-19 research relevant to rehabilitation primarily provides data on the clinical course and the clinical presentation of the pathology, rather than on rehabilitation interventions or service delivery. Studies with high levels of evidence regarding the efficacy of interventions, long-term monitoring, or new health service organization models are lacking.

Introduction: A monthly systematic review update is carried out to maintain the currency of scientific literature on rehabilitation of patients with COVID-19 and/or describing consequences due to the disease and its treatment, as they relate to limitations in functioning of rehabilitation interest. The aim of this study was to provide an updated summary of the available evidence published in August 2020., Evidence Acquisition: An extensive search on the main medical literature databases from August 1 st , 2020 to August 31 st , 2020 was performed, according to the methodology described in the second edition of the Cochrane Rehabilitation 2020 rapid living systematic review., Evidence Synthesis: After removing duplicates, 1136 papers were identified, and 51 studies were finally included. According to OCEBM 2011 Levels of Evidence Table, they were Level 4 in most cases (76.5%) and Level 3 in the remaining (23.5%). Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were not found. Thirty-two studies (62.7%) included COVID-19 patients who were assessed in the acute (20/32) or postacute phases (12/32). The other studies reported data on the impact of COVID-19 infection (7/19) or on the effect of lockdown restrictions (12/19) on subjects with pre-existing health conditions., Conclusions: The scientific literature of August 2020 mainly focused on limitations in functioning of nervous system structure and related functions. Albeit the increased availability of data from analytical studies (both cohort and cross-sectional), there is still a lack of well-conducted Level 2 studies, to improve the knowledge on the effects of rehabilitation in COVID-19 patients.

Introduction: The COVID-19 outbreak response requires identifying and understanding the long-term consequences of this new pathology and how to manage these. This living systematic review presents the most current and seminal information coming from the scientific literature. It is the monthly update of the second edition of the rapid living systematic review 2020 conducted by Cochrane Rehabilitation REH-COVER Action Steering Committee. The aim of this review was to update the monthly COVID-19 and rehabilitation literature research up to September 30, 2020., Evidence Acquisition: Methodology described in the second edition of the rapid living systematic review 2020 conducted by Cochrane Rehabilitation REH-COVER action was applied. The most important medical databases were searched, and papers related to COVID-19 and rehabilitation were retrieved and summarized descriptively., Evidence Synthesis: The database search retrieved 2526 publications. Duplicates were removed, and 1150 unique records were screened for inclusion. After screening titles, abstracts and full-texts, 37 papers were included in the present review. According to OCEBM 2011 levels of evidence table, most studies (78.4%) fall within the level of evidence 4 category, while the remainder (22.6%) are categorized as level of evidence 3. Most studies described patients in acute (51.4%) or subacute (35.0%) phase, while no studies described the chronic consequences of COVID-19. Just one study dealt with rehabilitation interventions regarding COVID-19, and two discussed reorganization of rehabilitative services., Conclusions: The most recently published COVID-19 research focuses more on describing the clinical presentations and the natural history of the pathology, rather than rehabilitation interventions or service delivery. Studies with high levels of evidence regarding the efficacy of interventions, long-term monitoring, or new organization models remain lacking.

Introduction: This paper is the first update of the second edition of the rapid living systematic review on the latest scientific literature informing rehabilitation of patients with COVID-19 and/or describing consequences of the disease and its treatment, as they relate to limitations in functioning of rehabilitation interest. The aim of this study was to report data of a systematic search performed on papers published in July 2020., Evidence Acquisition: The methodology described in the second edition of the rapid living systematic review was applied to search eligible papers included in the databases between July 1, 2020 and July 31, 2020., Evidence Synthesis: Eight-hundred-ninety-two papers were identified through database searching (after removal of duplicates); of these, only 23 studies were included. According to OCEBM 2011 Levels of Evidence Table, they were level 3 in 30.5% cases and level 4 in 69.5%. No RCT was found. Nineteen papers studied COVID-19 patients, assessed in the acute (10 studies), post-acute (8 studies) and chronic phase (one study). Four studies reported data on the impact of COVID-19 on subjects with pre-existing health conditions., Conclusions: The current literature production still focuses more on describing all the possible aspects and complications of the pathology than on interventions or new organization models to deal with it. Albeit evidence on handling COVID-19 from a rehabilitative point of view is improving each month, further studies are still mandatory to report the role of rehabilitation in this scenario.

Introduction: This paper improves the methodology of the first edition of the rapid living systematic review started in April 2020, with the aim to gather and present the current evidence informing rehabilitation of patients with COVID-19 and/or describing the consequences due to the disease and its treatment., Evidence Acquisition: The Cochrane methodology for a rapid living systematic review was applied. Primary research papers, published from 1 January to 30 June 2020, reporting patients' data, with no limits of study design were included. Studies were categorized for study design, research question, COVID-19 phase, limitations of functioning (disability) of rehabilitation interest and type of rehabilitation service involved. Methodological quality assessment was based on the Cochrane Risk of Bias tools, and the level of evidence table (OCEBM 2011) for all the other studies., Evidence Synthesis: Thirty-six, out of 3703 papers, were included. One paper was of level 2 (RCT), 7 were of level 3 (2 cohort studies, 2 cross-sectional studies and 3 case-control studies), and 28 papers of level 4 (descriptive studies); 61% of papers reported epidemiological data on clinical presentations, 5 investigated natural history/determining factors, 1 searched prevalence, 2 studies reported on intervention efficacy (though not on harms), and 5 studies looked at health service organization., Conclusions: Main issues emerging from the review: it is advised to test for COVID-19 people with neurological disorders presenting with symptom changes; dysphagia is a frequent complication after oro-tracheal intubation in COVID-19 patients admitted to the ICU; after discharge, COVID-19 survivors may report persistent restrictive ventilatory deficits regardless of disease severity; there is only sparse and low quality evidence concerning the efficacy of any rehabilitation intervention to promote functional recovery; a substantial increase in resource (staff and equipment) is needed for rehabilitation.

Introduction: This paper adds to the series of systematic rapid living reviews, started in April 2020, to provide the rehabilitation community with updates on the latest scientific literature on rehabilitation needs due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this study was to present the results of a systematic search performed on papers published from May 1 st to May 31 st , 2020., Evidence Acquisition: An extensive search on the main medical literature databases for articles published (including Epub), in English, from May 1 st to May 31 st , 2020 was performed, according to the methodology already described in the previous 2 rapid reviews, with 2 important improvements: first, we made the search string more comprehensive; second, we relied on accredited terminologies to describe the study designs and report the rehabilitation settings., Evidence Synthesis: Fifty-eight out of 618 articles were finally included for qualitative analysis. The number of primary studies has increased, with respect to the previous months, although still around 60% papers are just expert opinions. Six papers report on the prevalence and /or characteristics of emerging disability after COVID-19, 12 on rehabilitation approaches to COVID-19 patients, up to 25 on the organization of rehabilitation services after COVID-19, 13 papers on the impact of COVID-19 on health conditions of rehabilitative interest and only 2 on late complications due to COVID-19 that may be of rehabilitative interest., Conclusions: Nowadays, all patients with disability, regardless of COVID-19 infection, are suffering because of restrictions imposed to rehabilitation service delivery. Neurological involvement is often present during acute and postacute stage, conveying the risk of a long-lasting disability. Accordingly, careful neurological monitoring should be granted. Although new therapies are under development, the main gap in the available scientific literature is the lack of high-quality primary studies, so experimental studies on the effects of rehabilitation are still warranted.

With Motor imagery (MI), movements are mentally rehearsed without overt actions; this procedure has been adopted in motor rehabilitation, primarily in brain-damaged patients. Here we rather tested the clinical potentials of MI in purely orthopaedic patients who, by definition, should maximally benefit of mental exercises because of their intact brain. To this end we studied the recovery of gait after total knee arthroplasty and evaluated whether MI combined with physiotherapy could speed up the recovery of gait and even limit the occurrence of future falls. We studied 48 patients at the beginning and by the end of the post-surgery residential rehabilitation program: half of them completed a specific MI training supported by computerized visual stimulation (experimental group); the other half performed a non-motoric cognitive training (control group). All patients also had standard physiotherapy. By the end of the rehabilitation, the experimental group showed a better recovery of gait and active knee flexion-extension movements, and less pain. The number of falls or near falls after surgery was significantly lower in the experimental group. These results show that MI can improve gait abilities and limit future falls in orthopaedic patients, without collateral risks and with limited costs.

Objective: To determine the influence of cognitive functioning on gait recovery after total hip arthroplasty., Design: Prospective cohort study., Setting: Rehabilitation hospital., Participants: Patients (N=40) who underwent a total hip arthroplasty, with normal cognitive functioning and without any other relevant medical condition, were recruited and studied before surgery and at the beginning and the end of the rehabilitation program., Main Outcome Measures: Gait speed (10-Meter Walk Test [10MWT]) and gait functional mobility (Timed Up and Go [TUG] test), measured at the time of discharge from the rehabilitation unit, were the primary outcomes. The candidate predictors were the cognitive and psychological variables collected in the presurgery phase, together with other potentially informative measures such as age, education, perceived pain, body mass index, presurgical gait speed and functional mobility., Results: Our results suggest the existence of a direct relationship between cognitive functioning, with specific reference to high-level frontal executive functions, and the postoperative gait progress: the better the cognitive functioning in the preoperative phase, the better the course of recovery in terms of gait speed and functional mobility. In particular, the performance of the Frontal Assessment Battery test, together with age, perceived pain. Presurgical gait speed and functional mobility, was the best predictor of recovery of walking measured by 10MWT and TUG., Conclusions: The present study highlights the importance of cognitive functioning, together with clinical and demographic features, in the postsurgical recovery of walking, even in the absence of cognitive decline. In particular, these data show the crucial role of higher-order cognitive processes, such as executive functions, involved in the formulation of motor plans and their integration with proprioceptive and visual cues., (Copyright © 2020 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Fast-track knee arthroplasty is a multidisciplinary perioperative approach resulting in decreased convalescence, better patient satisfaction, and reduced hospital costs. However, considerable room for improvement had been recently identified in the postoperative portion of care. Which prognostic factors, in that phase, can improve the outcomes of rehabilitation, in terms of functional recovery and patient satisfaction, how, and for whom? Surgeons, physiatrists and physiotherapists from our high-volume hospital identified five postoperative issues as significantly prognostic to rehabilitation. An electronic research was performed to look for the associate keywords. 30 papers were included in the synthesis. Clinical, social, psychological and logistical prognostic factors are fundamental to improve patient education and compliance. Intensive and early physiotherapy when possible; standard exercise programs based on patient cluster of characteristics; discharge planning according to functional, psychological and social criteria; patient motivation; use of psychopharmacological treatment; substantial connection between institutions; are postoperative prognostic factors which play a major impact on the effectiveness of rehabilitation after fast-track TKA. Future research should identify recovery curves to predict, track and understand specific outcomes to specific cohorts of patients, in order to refer them to the most suitable rehabilitative modality and setting.

Background and Purpose: Innovations able to maintain patient safety while reducing the amount of transfusion add value to orthopedic procedures. Opportunities for improvement arise especially in elective procedures, as long as room for planning is available. Although many strategies have been proposed, there is no consensus about the most successful combination. The purpose of this investigation is to identify information to support blood management strategies in fast-track total joint arthroplasty (TJA) pathway, to (i) support clinical decision making according to current evidence and best practices, and (ii) identify critical issues which need further research., Methods and Materials: We identified conventional blood management strategies in elective orthopedic procedures. We performed an electronic search about blood management strategies in fast-track TJA. We designed tables to match every step of the former with the latter. We submitted the findings to clinicians who operate using fast-track surgery protocols in TJA at our research hospital., Results: Preoperative anemia detection and treatment, blood anticoagulants/aggregants consumption, transfusion trigger, anesthetic technique, local infiltration analgesia, drainage clamping and removals, and postoperative multimodal thromboprophylaxis are the factors which can add best value to a fast-track pathway, since they provide significant room for planning and prediction., Conclusion: The difference between conventional and fast-track pathways does not lie in the contents of blood management, which are related to surgeons/surgeries, materials used and patients, but in the way these contents are integrated into each other, since elective orthopedic procedures offer significant room for planning. Further studies are needed to identify optimal regimens.

The correct expression of circadian rhythmicity, together with a good sleep behavior, are key factors for the body homeostasis. Rest-activity circadian rhythms (RARs) are involved in the control of the sleep-wake cycle and altered RARs could lead to a compromised health status. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the existence of RAR and to study actigraphy-based sleep behavior in a 14-year-old male patient affected by severe idiopathic scoliosis and treated with a rigid brace 23 hours per day. RAR and sleep parameters were studied through actigraphy for seven consecutive days in July 2018. The mean cosinor analysis revealed the presence of a significant RAR (p < 0.001), specifically: the percentage of rhythm was 23.4%, the mean MESOR was 84.6 Activity Count (AC), the amplitude registered a mean value of 74.4 AC's, and the acrophase occurred at 17:56 h. The subject reached a good sleep quantity: 507.9 ± 30.2 minutes of Time in Bed with a mean Total Sleep Time of 450.7 ± 20.1 minutes; Similarly, Sleep Efficiency was equal to 83.3 ± 7.2% and the Fragmentation Index was 27.3 ± 12.8%. We observed that both RAR and sleep behavior had normal trends in a 14-year-old patient treated with a rigid brace for a severe adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS). Improved assessment of sleep in routine clinical practice can help to identify and manage health-related problems that could potentially affect some clinical outcomes, such as pain, mood state, and recovery process.

Objective: The primary aim was to ascertain whether unilateral shoulder pain is implicated in strength reduction both on the ipsilateral and contralateral side. Secondarily, we aimed to determine whether strength was affected by sonographic tendon abnormalities., Design: A total of 122 subjects were evaluated. Sixty-six female subjects with unilateral shoulder pain in the dominant arm were recruited. Abduction strength was measured in both the dominant and nondominant arm. High-resolution ultrasonography was also conducted on both shoulders. A match-paired control group (n = 66) composed of healthy volunteers underwent the same strength and sonography tests. Subjects with any radiographic anomaly were excluded from the control group. A mixed analysis of variance was performed to test the effect of unilateral shoulder pain on abduction strength. The effect of tendinopathy on shoulder strength was investigated using a mixed 2 × 2 analysis of variance., Results: Analysis of variance showed that patients with dominant shoulder pain had lower shoulder strength (11.65 ± 4.05 kg) when compared with controls (14.37 ± 4.00 kg; F = 10.454, P = 0.002). No statistically significant effects were found when comparing subjects with and without tendinopathy among the study group., Conclusions: In patients with unilateral shoulder pain, abduction strength was found to be lower both on the ipsilateral and contralateral side. The presence of tendinopathy did not affect the reduction in strength. Future research is needed to substantiate these findings.

Background Context: It is a broad consensus today that scoliosis curves cannot be improved through bracing, and the Scoliosis Research Society (SRS) methodological criteria for bracing have the avoidance of progression as their only objective. Consequently, in curves more than 45°, fusion is considered as basically the only possible treatment., Purpose: The purpose of the study was to verify in a series of patients who utterly refused surgery if it was possible to achieve improvements of scoliosis of more than 45° through a complete conservative treatment (bracing and exercises)., Study Design/setting: Retrospective cohort from a prospective database., Patient Sample: Out of 1,148 idiopathic scoliosis (IS) patients at the end of treatment, the sample comprised 28 subjects older than 10 years, still growing, with at least one curve above 45°, who had continually refused fusion. The group comprised 24 females and four males, including 14 in which previous brace treatments had failed; at the start of treatment, the age was 14.2±1.8 years and Cobb degrees in the curve were 49.4° (range, 45°-58°). Subgroups considered were gender, bone age, type of scoliosis, treatment used, and previous failed treatment., Outcome Measures: Self-report measurement: SRS-22; physiological measures: Cobb degrees, Bunnell angle of trunk rotation (ATR), aesthetic index (AI), and sagittal plumb line distances., Methods: The methods comprised full-time treatment (23 or 24 hours per day) for 1 year with Risser cast, Lyon, or Sforzesco brace; weaning of 1 to 2 hours every 6 months; with strategies to maximize compliance through the Society on Scoliosis Orthopaedic and Rehabilitation Treatment (SOSORT) management criteria applied and specific scientific exercises approach to scoliosis exercises (SEAS) performed., Results: Reported compliance in the 4.10±1.2 treatment years was 94%, with satisfaction regarding treatment and excellent results at the SRS-22. Two patients (7%) remained above 50° Cobb but six patients (21%) finished between 30° and 35° Cobb and 12 patients (43%) finished between 36° and 40° Cobb. Improvements have been found in 71% of patients and a 5° Cobb progression in one patient. Statistically, we found highly significant reductions of the main (-9.25°), average (-6.6°), thoracic (-7.8°), and lumbar (-15.9°) curves. Statistically significant improvements have been found for the AI and ATR, with a general decrease in plumb line distances., Conclusions: Bracing can be successfully used in patients who do not want to undergo operations for IS with curves ranging between 45° and 60° Cobb, given sufficient clinical expertise to apply good braces and achieve great compliance. Future studies could demonstrate the percentages at which this result can be achieved., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)