Phase II year
2011
(last award dollars: 2012)
Postural deformity is common among wheelchair users due to the tendency of the spine to flex under the influence of gravity. For individuals with paralysis of the trunk muscles, these postural deformities can occur quickly after injury and can reduce function and lead to painful fixed deformities. To delay the onset of these deformities, it is imperative that wheelchair seating be designed and prescribed which provides the necessary support to counteract gravity, but does not overly-restrict the users' ability to move their trunk so they can accomplish their daily activities. While sophisticated seating and position products for electric power wheelchair are on the market, advances for manual wheelchairs seating have focused on pressure relieving cushions. Rigid backrests are being marketed which replace the traditional sling designs are being marketed, and users' report an increased comfort over sling systems, but they have drawbacks which have limited their market penetration. The three primary drawbacks are (1) the increased weight of the rigid backrests over the sling systems, (2) discomfort when the user wants to perform non-mobility tasks, like dressing or relaxing (leaning back) , and (3) the inability to use the rigid shells on a folding-frame wheelchair. If these design shortcomings were mitigated, market penetration would increase substantially. We developed a Light-weight, Durable, Adjustable backrest (LWDAC) which addresses shortcomings (1) &(2) and was very well received by focus groups subjects. In this Phase II project, we will refine the LWDAC based on subjects' feedback, and introduce a quick-release mechanism to address shortcoming (3), which has already been developed for our other backrest system.
Public Health Relevance: Despite the increased comfort and postural support that rigid wheelchair backrests provide, some users reject them because they restrict function during non-mobility tasks, like dressing or relaxing. To address these shortcomings, we have developed a Lightweight, Durable, Adjustable, Composite backrest system which allows the user to independently and easily adjust their backrest for all tasks.
Thesaurus Terms: Activities Of Daily Living;Activities Of Everyday Life;Address;Anatomic Abnormality;Anatomical Abnormality;Appearance;Back;Communities;Congenital Or Acquired Anatomic Abnormality;Congenital Or Acquired Anatomical Abnormality;Deformity;Development;Dimensions;Documentation;Dorsum;Dressing;Electric Wheelchair;Ensure;Environment;Esthetics;Evaluation;Feedback;Fitting Or Adjustment Of Wheelchair;Focus Groups;Force Of Gravity;Goals;Gravities;Home;Home Environment;Hour;Individual;Injury;Lead;Life Cycle;Life Cycle Stages;Light;Manual Wheelchair;Marketing;Modeling;Muscle;Muscle Tissue;Nonpowered Wheelchairs;Pain;Painful;Palsy;Paralysed;Pb Element;Penetration;Performance;Phase;Photoradiation;Plegia;Position;Positioning Attribute;Powered Wheelchair;Preparedness;Pressure;Pressure- Physical Agent;Production;Readiness;Reporting;Research;Simulate;Spinal Column;Spine;Sterile Coverings;System;System, Loinc Axis 4;Time;Universities;Vertebral Column;Weight Gain;Weight Increase;Wheel Chairs;Wheelchair Adjustment;Wheelchair Fitting;Wheelchairs;Wheelchairs, Mechanical;Backbone;Base;Body Weight Gain;Body Weight Increase;Community;Community Living;Daily Living Functionality;Design;Designing;Evaluation /Testing;Evaluation/Testing;Experience;Functional Ability;Functional Capacity;Gravity;Heavy Metal Pb;Heavy Metal Lead;Human Subject;Life Course;Light (Weight);Meetings;Mobile Assistance Device;Mobile Assistance System;Mobile Assistive Device;Mobile Assistive System;Model;Paralysis;Paralytic;Pressure;Prototype;Time Use;University;Week Trial;Wt Gain