JULY 2019 // CHARLOTTE 63
henever Dr. Matt
Chapman prescribes
a brace for teenaged
scoliosis patients, the
OrthoCarolina spine surgeon holds his
breath and crosses his ngers in the hope
that they’ll actually wear it. The brace is
a thick, ugly, plastic apparatus that cov-
ers most of the body’s upper half, and
Chapman knows what young people
think as soon as they see it.
“It’s not breathable, and it’s hot and
it’s sticky and you’ve got to wear things
under it and over it,” Chapman says. “And
it’s just not comfortable. Kids don’t like it.
It’s got a lot of stigma associated with it.”
So Chapman was intrigued and encour-
aged when, about a year ago, he heard
that a San Francisco-based company named UNYQ
(pronounced “unique”) had opened an East Coast
oce in Charlotte and used 3D printing to cre-
ate lightweight, wearable medical devices, includ-
ing prosthetics and back braces. Not long aer, he
learned UNYQ was launching its digital factory in
Charlotte, too, in newly opened Hygge Cowork-
ing in west Charlotte. Chapman began to oer the
3D-printed brace as an alternative to the “Boston
brace,” a device that dates back to the early 1970s
and the traditional method for scoliosis treatment.
Omarian Riley was the rst patient Chapman put
in a UNYQ brace, and the 16-year-old boy’s mother,
at least, loves it. Omarian? Maybe not quite as much.
The brace is still made of a durable, inexible plas-
tic, but the design resembles lace, with tiny holes
throughout. The brace is sturdy enough to prevent
Omarian from bending his upper spine, but so light-
weight that it’s barely noticeable beneath a T-shirt.
“It’s OK,” says the Myers Park High School student,
and he shrugs.The brace is sturdy
enough to prevent
Omarian from bending
his upper spine, but
so lightweight that it’s
barely noticeable
beneath a T-shirt.
Dr. Matt Chapman
and patient Omarian
Riley discuss UNYQ’s
Spine Wears brace
at OrthoCarolina’s
Spine Center.RUSTY WILLIAMS