Wheelchair-Compatible Electronic Fluid Delivery System

Cerebral Palsy (CP) and other neuromuscular diseases can cause motor deficits and limit a patient’s ability to care for themselves, even with basic tasks such as drinking. Consequently, patients are often reliant on caregivers to maintain proper hydration levels, and if fluid intake is insufficient, they can become dehydrated, which can lead to physiological and cognitive complications. Assistive technologies that position drinks near the user’s mouth or include flow valves to allow the user to drink more easily can help by conferring greater autonomy. However, existing hydration solutions fail to meet user needs related to durability, ergonomics, and accessibility. Based on the input of a pediatric CP patient with spastic quadriplegia who relies on an electric wheelchair for mobility, as well as their feeding therapist and family, a partially-automated fluid delivery system has been constructed to provide better access to hydration. The wheelchair-compatible reservoir and movable straw design is housed in a backpack with its rigid straw support structure mounted to the architecture of the chair. It utilizes a motor to rotate the straw from a stowed-away position behind the wheelchair to a standby or active position near the user’s mouth. A water pump at the base of the reservoir primes the fluid to a point in the straw such that the user can draw it up for drinking with an appropriate amount of therapeutic resistance. The device successfully and consistently delivers fluid to the user in an appropriate amount of time to promote hydration throughout the day. It improves upon existing solutions with high strength-to-weight ratio materials to withstand hypertonic spasticity, mechanical actuation to allow easy access or retraction as needed, a radial straw profile to encourage proper posture while minimizing interference during rotation, and an electronic control system to promote user independence.