Development of a chair with motion assist function for people with disabilities

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 20K12767
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 90150:Medical assistive technology-related
• Research Institution: Sapporo Medical University
• Principal Investigator: Nakamura Yuji 札幌医科大学, 保健医療学部, 准教授 (80404789)
• Project Period (FY): 2020-04-01 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: 姿勢保持 / 椅子 / 福祉用具

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Adult cerebral palsy patients and the elderly are prone to effortful movements due to the difficulty of trunk and pelvic movements, which can lead to reduced reach distance and impaired operability. As an approach to this, we devised a chair that tilts forward and moves the seat forward without changing the relative positions of the trunk and pelvis. Furthermore, to semi-automate the chair's movement, we incorporated a microswitch equipped with an actuator and verified the mechanism by which the chair moves in response to the subject's slight physical movement. Finally, in this study, we were able to set the speed and maximum forward tilt angle of the electrically operated chair from the measurement of basic data.

Free Research Field

リハビリテーション

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究で作製したような構造をもつ椅子について、将来的にはリハビリテーションの訓練場面や対象者の生活場面での使用を想定している。体幹バランス機能の低下や下肢筋力の低下など様々な症状を持つ対象者に対する効果的な訓練椅子、生活椅子として使用できるよう、さらなる改良を加えていきたい。具体的には、角度変化や荷重データをリアルタイムに取り込める工夫や、姿勢保持に必要な装備を検討する必要があると考えている。