New transfer patterns supporting autonomous mobility of SCI patients

Autonomous personal mobility and other related motor impairments like the ability to standing up are affected by a number of pathologies. These motor impairments are most often due to neurological, musculo-skeletal conditions. The aetiology is also diverse and includes spinal cord injury (SCI), brain palsy and other conditions. It has been shown that extending the ability to stand up on a daily basis has beneficial effects on a number of related digestive, urological, respiratory, musculo-skeletal and even social conditions. Assistance for standing up usually relies on care givers and posture is maintained by means of passive and static devices based on blocking and restraining the mobility of main limb and trunk articulations. Potential users of these technologies are most commonly users of wheelchairs. They are highly dependant for the process of standing up. This need has been the driving force of a set of new devices to solve the process of standing up autonomously. Amongst these devices it is worth mentioning cranes and motorized wheelchairs, even though the use of the latter is not common due to their high complexity. The work presented in this paper is patent pending. After a thorough discussion on the state of the art, we present a novel approach to solve the problem of autonomous standing up and mobility. The support to standing up is based on two electrically driven jointed links and a trunk harness. The mechanism used for standing up is analyzed against to other alternatives in terms of effectiveness and standing and positioning patterns, combining in an harmonic function lifting and approximation degrees. Special attention has been paid to ergonomics and comfort. Once the user is an upright position, the system allows his/her autonomous mobility. This is assisted y a joystick driven motorized platform. The system has been subject to in-depth testing. The results of this validation trials show and easy adaptation of all users which makes the system appropriate for a wide range of conditions. Safety and a high maneuverability has been achieved.