PFI-RP: An Innovative Wheelchair Design that Shifts Body Pressures Automatically to Prevent Tissue Damage and Injury

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Partnerships for Innovation –Research Partnerships (PFI-RP) project is the availability of a new wheelchair system which automatically cycles users through different postures, preventing the formation of soft tissue pressure injuries by systematically off-loading pressure on high-risk body regions. Pressure injuries are deep, penetrating wounds found under the buttocks, on the sacrum, and shoulder blades.

This unique wheelchair design creates movement profiles that are not currently possible in existing, commercial wheelchairs. These movements can be linked to sensor feedback and can be tuned to provide personalized care. This new device, with its automatic movements, will be beneficial to those with brain injury, stroke, or spinal cord injury as well as the geriatric population, particularly those with cognitive impairments and the health care facilities who care for them.

Pressure injuries severely compromise the health of individuals, result in lengthy recovery times, and lead to enormous healthcare costs. Prevention of pressure injuries positively impacts the health and well-being of the user and will reduce the healthcare burden to society. This system also has the potential to facilitate new rehabilitation and therapeutic devices.

The proposed project will yield an innovative new wheelchair system that will prevent pressure injuries by automatically shifting the body position and pressures based on sensor feedback located at high risk regions for wound formation. The shifting of body positions and off-loading of pressure will be achieved through a novel, multi-segmented actuator-driven wheelchair system that is capable of new motions not possible with commercially available wheelchairs.

Adaptation to a mobile wheelchair with a footprint equivalent to existing wheelchairs will occur as part of this project. Additional work will include automation and an appropriate user interface developed with in-depth user testing. The integration of multi-sensor feedback with an articulating algorithm will enable automatic adjustment of the positions based on sensor output, thus creating an optimal personalized protocol for the user.

Off-loading pressure on high risk areas facilitates increased blood perfusion and decreased tissue stresses, directly addressing risk factors associated with pressure injury formation.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.