Motor Neurone Disease (MND) is a rapidly progressive neurodegenerative disease and individuals with the condition can develop muscle wasting, leading to pain and restricted movement. Many people with MND develop neck muscle weakness that can lead to head drop. 

The Head Up project team at the Lab4Living used practice based design research methods to build an understanding of optimal requirements for a supportive neck collar with flexibility to allow functional head movement. Through an iterative prototyping process and multi-centre clinical evaluation, a new type of orthotic was developed. Results show that the product meets user requirements, indicate an increase in the number of hours the collars are used compared to existing neck support products, and has been reported as positively impacting Quality of Life. 

The Head Up Collar design progressed to be a patented and is class one medical device. Working closely with Talarmade Orthotics Ltd, a local Orthotics & prosthetics service in Chesterfield, the Head Up collar has been rolled out across the NHS and at least 25 trusts across the UK with in excess of 4000 units being sold across Europe, including all of Scandinavia, Germany, Ireland, France, Spain, and the Netherlands. Markets have recently been developed in USA, Canada and Australia. 

In June 2023 the Head Up collar was one of 44 worldwide nominations, was awarded the Jury Special Award category at the ‘Made with Patients’ Awards. The awards celebrate those who are driving patient engagement forward in medicines development, MedTech development, and digital health. 

Partners: 
University of Sheffield SITraN (Sheffield Institute for Translational Neuroscience) 
NIHR Devices for Dignity 
Motor Neurone Disease Association 
Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 
Barnsley NHS Foundation Trust 
TalarMade 

Head-Up – Lab4Living | Design for Health & Wellbeing | Sheffield Hallam University