Dose wheelchair with pelvic support improve the sitting posture of clients with Hemiplegia?

2015 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26560297
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Rehabilitation science/Welfare engineering
• Research Institution: Hokkaido University
• Principal Investigator: HATTA TATSUO 北海道大学, 保健科学研究院, 教授 (50189560)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): KISHIGAMI Hirotoshi 北海道大学, 大学院保健科学研究院, 助教 (30431315)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2016-03-31
• Keywords: 車いす / 片麻痺 / 呼吸代謝 / 姿勢

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The standard wheelchair (SW) frequently induces a forward-head posture (FHP) in users. We developed original wheelchairs with pelvic support (NW). Our studies indicated that these wheelchairs could prevent users from developing FHP .We then investigated the effects of NW on the seated posture and respiration metabolism of 22 healthy subjects and 12 aged post-stroke hemiplegic patients. Subjects sat on SW and NW. We analyzed seated postures using the Dartfish movement analysis system and the respiration metabolism(RM) using CPET（COSMED）.
The increased posterior inclination of the head and neck on NW indicated that it might prevent FHP. Coupled with that, the RM in healthy subject was improved. And there is a fair trade off between tidal volume and respiration frequency. However, RM in aged post-stroke hemiplegic patients was not improved. The difference of musculoskeletal function may effect on RM. Though, RM in the case of severe disability showed significant improvement on NW

Free Research Field

福祉工学