Smart seat cushion for wheelchair can prevent painful ulcers

Scientists have developed a smart seat cushion to prevent the painful ulcers caused by sitting for long periods of time in a wheelchair, using changes in air pressure to redistribute body weight.

The technology, developed by researchers from University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) in the US, can also be used to create prosthetic liners that adapt their shape to accommodate changes in body volume during the day and maintain a comfortable fit for the prosthesis.

Poor prosthetic fit can cause skin damage and create sores in the residual limb of the wearer.

"Pressure ulcers caused by long periods of sitting without relieving pressure at boney regions such as the tailbone, frequently occur in people who spend significant amount of time on wheelchairs. In the case of prosthesis users, poor fitting of the prosthesis leads to pressure injuries for amputees that can severely affect their daily life," said Muthu Wijesundara, chief research scientist at UTA's Research Institute.

"Our technology improves on existing solutions by including real-time pressure monitoring and automated pressure modulation capabilities to help combat the formation of pressure ulcers or sores," said Wijesundara.

When a person sits on the cushion, a network of sensors generates a pressure map and identifies vulnerable areas where pressure relief is needed.

Automated pressure modulation uses this data to reconfigure the seat cushion surface to offload and redistribute pressure from sensitive areas. Additionally, the seat cushion periodically changes the pressure profile to eliminate pressure buildup over time.

The researchers demonstrated the effectiveness of the technology using healthy volunteers with different weights who assumed different positions: leaning forward, backward, to the left or right.

In all cases, the seat cushion measured the pressure immediately and automatically performed an effective pressure redistribution to offload pressure from sensitive areas.