BME.11 – Mobility Assistive Device for a Young Man

• Rohith Erukulla
• Nikith Erukulla
• Annabelle Moore
• Haari Sureshkumar
• Katarina Surjancev

We are seeking to create a low-cost transfer device that can assist individual caretakers in the transfer of mobility-impaired individuals. Our sponsor is the sole caretaker of her adolescent son, who suffers from collagen VI myopathy, and desires to reduce her risk of injury when transferring her son to and from his powered wheelchair. Existing solutions are not easily moved around the home, may require two caretakers, or are too expensive. The ideal, low cost solution should adjust to multiple heights, move around the home, and reduce strain on the caretaker. Our proposed solution is a mobile chair with separated rotational seat halves to facilitate the transfer process of a patient to and from the device. The backrest of the chair rotates independently of the seat to allow transfer out of the back of the device into a wheelchair. Height is adjustable via an incorporated jack. Verification testing will be performed to ensure no more than 10 kg of the patient’s weight is supported by the caretaker during the device assisted-transfer process. A volunteer/caretaker will stand on an analog scale while loading and unloading a patient model. If there is less than a 10 kg change in mass, the hypothesis that the caretaker needs to bear less than 10 kg of mass while transferring the patient is supported. Patient weights of 15, 30, 45, and 60 kg will be simulated using sandbags, with 10 trials per weight condition. A t-test will be used in order to verify that the mean for each condition is lower than the acceptance value of 10 kg. Overall, this device seeks to improve accessibility options for mobility-impaired individuals while limiting risk of injury to their caretakers.