Wheelchair Posture Research Articles

Wheelchair posture correction equipment

Abstract This paper presents an equipment for the detection and correction of the vicious posture of the wheelchair users, as well as of people who spend more time in a sitting position and need to correct their posture. Its second action is to prevent / early detect of bedsores in the sitting area. Based on the structure and components of the equipment, its functionality is emphasized and the developed prototype is presented. Some potential applications of the proposed equipment are described, for five different wheelchair vicious postures and our initial results are given.

Research on Intelligent Wheelchair Attitude-Based Adjustment Method Based on Action Intention Recognition.

At present, research on intelligent wheelchairs mostly focuses on motion control, while research on attitude-based adjustment is relatively insufficient. The existing methods for adjusting wheelchair posture generally lack collaborative control and good human-machine collaboration. This article proposes an intelligent wheelchair posture-adjustment method based on action intention recognition by studying the relationship between the force changes on the contact surface between the human body and the wheelchair and the action intention. This method is applied to a multi-part adjustable electric wheelchair, which is equipped with multiple force sensors to collect pressure information from various parts of the passenger's body. The upper level of the system converts the pressure data into the form of a pressure distribution map, extracts the shape features using the VIT deep learning model, identifies and classifies them, and ultimately identifies the action intentions of the passengers. Based on different action intentions, the electric actuator is controlled to adjust the wheelchair posture. After testing, this method can effectively collect the body pressure data of passengers, with an accuracy of over 95% for the three common intentions of lying down, sitting up, and standing up. The wheelchair can adjust its posture based on the recognition results. By adjusting the wheelchair posture through this method, users do not need to wear additional equipment and are less affected by the external environment. The target function can be achieved with simple learning, which has good human-machine collaboration and can solve the problem of some people having difficulty adjusting the wheelchair posture independently during wheelchair use.

Bionic design and analysis of a multi-posture wheelchair

Abstract. Posture transformation is an essential function for multi-posture wheelchairs. To improve the natural motion in posture transformation that is a popular problem in the design of multi-posture wheelchairs because the current wheelchair's posture transformation mechanism cannot remain consistent between the rotation center of the wheelchair and the rotation center of the human body joints. This paper proposes a sitting–standing–lying three-posture bionic transformation mechanism for a smart wheelchair. A human–wheelchair coupling model is described and analyzed according to the biomechanical characteristics of the posture transformation of human beings and their functional requirements. The configuration of the transformation mechanism is chosen by comparing the trails of the wheelchair rotation centers and the corresponding human joint rotation centers. The kinematics of the optimized configuration are discussed in detail to obtain the most bionic motion performance using the multivariable nonlinear constraint optimization algorithm. Finally, the mechanism is designed, and its posture transformation performance is simulated and verified using Adams (Automatic Dynamic Analysis of Mechanical Systems) software.

Detecting destabilizing wheelchair conditions for maintaining seated posture

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to detect and classify potentially destabilizing conditions encountered by manual wheelchair users with spinal cord injuries (SCI) to dynamically increase stability and prevent falls.Methods: A volunteer with motor complete T11 paraplegia repeatedly propelled his manual wheelchair over level ground and simulated destabilizing conditions including sudden stops, bumps and rough terrain. Wireless inertial measurement units attached to the wheelchair frame and his sternum recorded associated accelerations and angular velocities. Algorithms based on mean, standard deviation and minimum Mahalanobis distance between conditions were constructed and applied to the data off-line to discriminate between events. Classification accuracy was computed to assess effects of sensor position and potential for automatically selecting a dynamic intervention to best stabilize the wheelchair user.Results: The decision algorithm based on acceleration signals successfully differentiated destabilizing conditions and level over-ground propulsion with classification accuracies of 95.8, 58.3 and 91.7% for the chest, wheelchair and both sensors, respectively.Conclusion: Mahalanobis distance classification based on trunk accelerations is a feasible method for detecting destabilizing events encountered by wheelchair users and may serve as an effective trigger for protective interventions. Incorporating data from wheelchair-mounted sensors decreases the false negative rate.Implications for RehabilitationSCI has a significant impact on quality of life, compromising the ability to participate in social or leisure activities, and complete other activities of daily living for an independent lifestyle.Using inertial measurement units to build an event classifier for control the actions of a neuroprosthetic device for maintaining seated posture in wheelchair users.Varying muscle activation increases user stability reducing the risk of injury.

Seated postural in wheelchair in NMD

To study seated postural control in neuromuscular disorder. We conducted a retrospective observational cohort study of 130 neuromuscular adult patients having a positioning wheelchair consultation in Foundation of Garches. The assessment is done with the seated postural control measure for adults. Most of the patients had severe intensity illness, only10% were walking and 29% were with tracheostomial ventilation. The reasons of consultation where: positioning, choice or change of wheelchair, pain and prevention (rarely). The own wheelchair's patient was powered wheelchair with seat adapted to the person type 2 in only 91 cases. 109 patients (84%) experienced pain in their wheelchair. In Duchenne muscular dystrophy patients, 44 (88%) were painful in there wheelchair. The topography of pain is frequently ischiatic. 19 patients (14%) had a pressure ulcer. All the patients examined have deformities. In Duchenne muscular dystrophy, pelvic obliquity and trunc tilt are frequently observed; in FSHD pelvic anterior tilt is frequent, and in steinert myotonic posterior tilt is frequent. In order to improve the quality of life of this population, a study about the posture in wheelchair is therefore essential, most precociously.

Clinical validation of a novel postural support device for hospitalized sub-acute post-stroke wheelchair users

Purpose: We present a novel wheelchair posture support device (WPSD) and its clinical validation. The device was developed in order to assure correct sitting posture and to reduce the time spent by caregivers for re-positioning of hospitalized, wheelchair-bound, post-acute stroke patients. Method: The device was validated with 16 subjects during a period of 5 days in which use of the device was compared with regular care practice. Results: The device was used for the five consecutive days in 69% of patients, while for 6% it was not suitable; 25% did not complete the 5 days for reasons unrelated to the device. Caregivers needed to re-position the patients that used the device for the full 5 days (n = 11) on an average 52% less often when using the device, as compared to regular practice. Furthermore, the device was rated as usable and functional by the caregivers while significantly reducing perception of trunk and shoulder pain in patients during its use. Conclusions: The newly designed WPSD is a valuable system for the improvement of medical assistance to wheelchair-bound post-stroke patients by reducing pain and number of re-positioning manoeuvres. The WPSD might be applicable to any group of patients who need posture control in either wheelchair or common chair with arms support.IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATIONAdvanced supports and cushions that can be shaped to individual needs, may help assure correct sitting posture in wheelchair-bound post-acute stroke patients.Advanced supports and cushions that can be shaped to individual needs, may reduce the number of times a caregiver has to re-position a hospitalized wheelchair-bound post-acute stroke patient on overall average by 52%.Advanced personalized supports and cushions may improve sitting comfort and reduce pain complaints for post-acute hospitalized stroke patients using a wheelchair.

The consequences of increasing age and duration of injury upon the wheelchair posture of men with tetraplegia

It has been suggested that postural problems experienced by people with spinal cord injury may increase with greater age and duration of injury; however, there has been little documentation of the magnitude of changes and their time course. Our study was conducted to measure the wheelchair posture of 30 participants with long and short duration of tetraplegia due to spinal cord injury as compared to 30 age-matched able-bodied participants. Posture measurements were derived from the relationships of bony landmarks which were recorded by photography. Results suggest that increasing age and duration of spinal cord injury are associated with more extreme pelvic angle and forward head posture. Thoracic kyphosis, as indicated by chest angle, was the main postural distinction between participants with tetraplegia and able-bodied participants. The kyphosis was not significantly greater in those with longer duration injury. Proactive intervention to prevent late onset postural problems is recommended.

Wheelchair Posture and Pressure Sores

Wheelchair Posture and Pressure Sores