Designers: Stephanie Dudzinski, Kimi Rafie, and Reema Sil
Client Coordinator: Shelley Rhudy, PT
Supervising Professors: Kevin Caves and Richard Goldberg
Figure 1: The client has just transferred from his wheelchair to the Spidey Lift. He buckles the seat belts in preparation for lowering himself to the floor.
INTRODUCTION
Our client, Peter, is an elementary school child with an incomplete C5 spinal cord injury. He has significant strength and muscle control in his arms, which enables him to extend his elbows and control his hands and wrists. However, he has weak core strength and lacks muscle tone, causing him to fall forward without proper lateral and trunk support. He has typical visual, auditory, and cognitive function for his age and is very energetic, but he lacks inhibition, which causes him to move and act impulsively without proper limb and body placement.
Peter uses a lightweight manual wheelchair. When his classmates do activities on the floor, he wishes to join them on the floor. Currently, he transfers with assistance from a physical therapist, using a foam wedge to move from the chair to the wedge, and then to the floor. Although he can move from the wheelchair to the floor in less than a minute, moving back up to his chair with the foam wedge and assistance can take up to 30 minutes. Often, the physical therapist picks the client up to put him back in his chair. As Peter continues to grow and become heavier, the assistants will have an increasingly difficult time lifting him into his chair.
We developed a device that would allow Peter to easily move down from his wheelchair to the floor and back up in under three minutes and with minimal adult assistance. The device is portable, and can be stored in the classroom when not in use.
STATEMENT OF IMPACT
Our client was able to use our device with little assistance from his physical therapist. This is a huge improvement over his current situation, and will enable him to participate in classroom activities more quickly and more often. His physical therapist stated, “It (the device) absolutely gives him more independence.” Our client has mentioned wanting to take the device home since February, and likes to exclaim that he is “going up to the ceiling” when moving up.
TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION
Our design has four main components: a car jack, a plastic seat attached to the saddle of the jack, a polypropylene footrest, and an aluminum handle to operate the device. The client enters the device by performing a side transfer from his wheelchair to the device seat (figure 1). After buckling the seatbelts, the client simply pushes the handle to the side, which releases the valve on the jack, thus lowering the lift and seat to the floor. Then, the client is able to unbuckle the seatbelts and safely slide forward and across the footrest to the floor, with the help of handles on the side of the footrest (figure 2). To move back up to his wheelchair from the floor, our client slides back onto the seat, buckles the seatbelts, and cranks the lift by performing a rowing motion with the handle. Once at the top, he can unbuckle and side transfer back into his wheelchair.
Car Jack
The car jack is an aluminum Pittsburgh Automotive Racing Jack that can lift 1.5 tons. It provides a lifting range of 3 ¾ – 14 ¾ inches, which is well suited for the client to move between the device and his wheelchair or the floor. We installed a Delrin adaptor plate to interface between the jack and the seat. We installed kick-down doorstops and horizontal supports to the base of the jack to prevent tipping during use.
Plastic Seat
The plastic seat is a commercial shower seat and provides a smooth surface that is easy for side transfers. The seat has handles for the client to use while transferring to and from his wheelchair. We installed a universal 4-point seatbelt for safety. A strap was added onto one of the seat’s handles to attach the device to the wheelchair during side transfers.
Polypropylene Footrest
The footrest is attached by hinges to the Delrin adapter plate under the seat. Since Peter lacks sensation and movement in his legs, the footrest is important, as it provides the necessary support for his legs. The sides of the footrest have stainless steel grab bars to help the client slide between the chair and the floor.
Figure 2: The client has lowered the Spidey Lift and starts sliding forward to the floor. He reverses the process to get back into his wheelchair.
Device Handle
The device handle is made out of a continuous piece of aluminum as seen in Figure 4 and is bolted to the jack lever. This component enables our client to crank himself up by performing a repetitive rowing motion. This motion is intuitive and will develop his upper body and arm strength for the future. The handle rests on U-shaped guide that maintains an appropriate height of the handle for the client. To lower the device, the client simply swings this handle to his left, which releases the jack and initiates a controlled, dampened lowering of the jack.
The total cost of this device is $485.