Arias-Guzman Sandra, Call Kasey, Laskin James J, Oberg Craig, Jellum Susan, Russon Marianne, Call Evan
EC-Service Inc, Centerville, UT, USA.
Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, USA.
Disabil Rehabil Assist Technol. 2025 Feb;20(2):468-475. doi: 10.1080/17483107.2024.2391976. Epub 2024 Aug 18.
The study examines the effects of the air-bladder offloading mode of a smart pressure redistribution wheelchair cushion on tissue oxygenation in the gluteal tissue of non-disabled participants. The hypothesis is that the cushion's offloading mode, which involves sequentially deflating its five air-bladders one at a time for a specific duration, would improve tissue oxygenation during sitting.
Two procedures were conducted. The first compared the cushion's offloads to a loaded control (LC) with the cushion on static mode, and the second compared the cushion's offloading mode to a standard manual offload performed by the participant. Three trials of each procedure were performed in randomized order. Tissue oxygenation was continuously monitored with three oxygenation parameters analysed: oxygen saturation (SO), oxygenated haemoglobin (OxyHb), and deoxygenated haemoglobin (DeoxyHb). Data recordings were segmented in each step of the offloading sequence for analysis. A paired t-test was performed for comparisons with significance considered at α = 0.05. Ten healthy adults participated in the study.
Results showed that as the air bladders deflated over time, the three evaluated parameters changed, affecting oxygenation even when other tissue areas were offloaded. The results indicated that the cushion's sacral offload had the greatest impact on improving tissue oxygenation among the five air-bladders in all ten subjects ( < 0.05). Furthermore, SO during the cushion's offload in the sacral region was similar to a manual offload. The study results suggest that the cushion could benefit tissue oxygenation, especially for individuals unable to change positions independently. Further research is needed to determine its effectiveness for wheelchair users.
本研究考察了智能压力再分布轮椅坐垫的气囊卸载模式对非残疾参与者臀部组织氧合的影响。假设是该坐垫的卸载模式，即依次逐个将其五个气囊放气特定时长，会在坐姿时改善组织氧合。
进行了两个步骤。第一步将坐垫在静态模式下的卸载与加载对照（LC）进行比较，第二步将坐垫的卸载模式与参与者进行的标准手动卸载进行比较。每个步骤进行三次试验，试验顺序随机。使用三个氧合参数持续监测组织氧合情况：氧饱和度（SO）、氧合血红蛋白（OxyHb）和脱氧血红蛋白（DeoxyHb）。在卸载序列的每个步骤中对数据记录进行分段分析。采用配对t检验进行比较，显著性水平设定为α = 0.05。十名健康成年人参与了本研究。
结果表明，随着气囊随时间放气，三个评估参数发生变化，即使在其他组织区域卸载时也会影响氧合。结果表明，在所有十名受试者中，坐垫的骶骨卸载对改善组织氧合的影响在五个气囊中最大（<0.05）。此外，坐垫在骶骨区域卸载期间的SO与手动卸载相似。研究结果表明，该坐垫可能有益于组织氧合，尤其是对于无法独立改变姿势的个体。需要进一步研究以确定其对轮椅使用者的有效性。
