Hatta Tatsuo, Nishimura Shigeo, Inoue Kaoru, Yamanaka Masanori, Maki Makoto, Kobayashi Norikazu, Kishigami Hirotoshi, Sato Masahiko
Department of Health Sciences, Hokkaido University School of Medicine, Sapporo, Japan.
J Physiol Anthropol. 2007 Mar;26(2):217-24. doi: 10.2114/jpa2.26.217.
We are currently investigating the physiological polymorphism of wheelchair users with profound cerebral palsy and the properties of the Seating Buggy (developed by S. Nishimura, 1998) to clarify important and general elements of wheelchairs for widespread use. Cerebral palsy is a diagnostic term used to describe a group of motor syndromes resulting from disorders in early brain development. Recently, it has been shown that the Seating Buggy produces functional head-neck alignments and active control of sitting balance for people with profound cerebral palsy. The Seating Buggy is a wheelchair for the profoundly disabled and features a wide adjustment range from heights of 120 cm to 175 cm. Its seating support surface is comprised of a sling-seat. To examine the relationships between the postural adaptation of patients with profound cerebral palsy and the configuration of the Seating Buggy's seating, we assessed the postural alignment of the Seating Buggy's user and then measured the configuration of its resulting seating support surface with a three dimensional scanning system. Twenty-one subjects were used for the purposes of this investigation in their everyday environment. Postural adaptation and wheelchair fitting in the Seating Buggy were assessed from the viewpoint of the Active Balanced Seating by a seating expert. The subjects fell into two categories, as follows: 11 for appropriate or nearly appropriate fitting, and 10 for ill-fitting. The depth of thoracic support and the forward distance of lumbar support for those who claimed that it was ill-fitting were significantly reduced compared with that of those who claimed that the Seating Buggy offered an appropriate or nearly appropriate fitting. It was suggested that the properly adjusted depth of thoracic support and distance of the lumbar support were related to the resulting satisfactory head-neck alignment and sitting balance of the patients with profound cerebral palsy.
