Saddle Wheelchair.
Saddle seated wheelchair
Saddle seated wheelchair – Motion and Performance Centre, University of Worcester
A modular saddle wheelchair, ‘Sapphire’ was developed by the Association for the Rehabilitation of Communication of Oral skills (ARCOS) Director, Kay Coombes.
The underlying theory behind the design of the ARCOS wheelchair is that it enables the user to maintain a more upright sitting position that is difficult to achieve in a standard wheelchair for a user without muscle control. Being more upright allows the user better interaction with their surroundings and reduced compression of the chest gives improvements in breathing and swallowing. The saddle chair incorporates a rigid saddle seat, on which is mounted a supporting adjustable back structure, adjustable footrests and table.
The Motion and Performance Centre used 3D motion capture and pressure mapping technology to investigate how this novel wheelchair design affects the posture of the user by conducting a case study utilising a cerebral palsy sufferer. The Sapphire wheelchair has been specifically designed for users with this severity of disability.
Retro-reflective skin markers were placed on key body landmarks to determine body segment locations and orientations and 3D postural data was collected using a 16 camera Vicon motion capture system. The distribution of the pressure between the user and the base and back of the chair was also assessed using a thin sensor map.
Analysis showed that the Sapphire wheelchair presents an improvement in posture for the individual in this case study. The forward rotation of the pelvis results in significant improvements in posture by impacting upon the hip angles and thorax position.
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