Thoracic stabilizer

A thoracic stabilizer for limiting anterior chest wall collapse includes a platform supporting a patient and a pair of lateral supports contacting opposite sides of the patient's chest wall and applying force to limit collapse of the chest wall. The force applied by the lateral supports is varied depending on the force applied to the platform by the patient. The stabilizer includes a retractometer measuring the collapse of the chest wall. According to one embodiment, the stabilizer includes a controller that varies the force applied to the chest wall in closed-loop fashion based on the chest wall collapse measured by the retractometer using an algorithm of the controller. According to one embodiment, the stabilizer includes motors moving the lateral supports. According to another embodiment, the stabilizer includes a hydraulic system and the lateral supports include expandable fluid-filled members.