An Active Abdominal Compression Binder for Orthostatic Intolerance: Design and Clinical Evaluation

Abstract

Orthostatic intolerance is a category of disorders characterized by inadequate adjustment to hemodynamic changes upon standing. leading to increased risk of fainting, elevated heart rate, and other morbidities. These symptoms lead to increased fall risk, which is a significant source of morbidity and mortality in elderly populations. This thesis proposes the development of a portable, active abdominal compression binder to alleviate the severity of orthostatic intolerance. We designed and fabricated a novel active binder that applies motor-driven abdominal compression upon the detection of standing to restore hemodynamics and reduce symptoms. Twenty healthy volunteers (ages 18–50 years) completed three randomized supine-to-standing trials: no binder, a commercial passive binder, and the novel active binder. Throughout each trial, compression pressure, heart rate, and respiration were continuously monitored and comfort was assessed via post-trial survey. The results demonstrated that the active binder achieved a higher mean compression pressure (≈ 11 mmHg) with significantly lower intersubject variability (standard deviation (SD) ≈ 1 mmHg) than the passive binder (mean ≈ 8 mmHg; SD ≈ 3 mmHg). Active compression reduced the standing heart rate by 4.4 bpm compared to control (p.05), versus a 1 bpm reduction with the passive binder (p>0.05). These findings suggest that active abdominal compression may serve as a more efficacious, consistent, and user-friendly alternative treatment for mitigating orthostatic intolerance.