This thesis emphasises the need for cervical spine protection in winter sports and proposes a design which aims to fill in the current market gap. It was designed for SPINES, a company founded by Menno Streefland who himself suffered a spinal cord injury during skiing. He started SPINES as a way to help others do the sports they love protected by wearing a back protector. This includes skiing, snowboarding, horse riding and cycling.

Current winter sport back protectors are made for impact protection, but they do not protect the spine from the most common fall biomechanics such as compression, hyperextension, hyperflexion and lateral bending. Additionally, they do not protect the cervical spine, which is one of the most frequently injured sections of the spine and the area which leads to the most severe long-term consequences if injured. To address the problem, existing back protection equipment and cervical spine protection from other fields were analysed. Sketching and rapid prototyping were used for idea generation and concept proofing. Prototypes were then tested for comfort whilst skiing and for extreme movements with special test set-ups.

The outcome of this thesis is CERVI, a feasible product concept supported by a high-end prototype. CERVI restricts cervical compression and hyperextension without limiting the neck’s natural, comfortable range of motion. It can be worn independently or integrated with the SPINES winter sports back protector. CERVI addresses a critical gap in current winter sports protective gear and aims to raise awareness of the need for cervical spine protection in winter sports.