Investigation and design of an ergonomic Wheelchair Seat for Paraplegic

Abstract

The title of this project is Investigation and Design of an Ergonomic Wheelchair Seat for Paraplegic. The project has two main objectives, the first is to investigate the condition of the seating to be more ergonomic wheelchairs for paraplegic and the second is to design the seats for wheelchair paraplegic. Based on questionnaire and research done, most of paraplegic patients use wheelchairs to carry out daily activities. This causes them had to sit too long in a wheelchair and suffer discomfort. Wheelchair seats had no ergonomic value and are not give them comfort. Therefore, the design of the new seats should be improved to have a good ergonomic value. The method used in this project starts with identifying opportunities, analyzing data, product specifications, concept selection and testing of products. Three types of concepts have been developed based on the characteristics of the intended user. Various analysis have been carried out to select the final concept. One of the analysis is a scoring and screening. Anthropometric data also used to design the dimension for seat wheelchair. After the design have been finalize, the contact analysis have been apply to see the pressure distribution. Ergonomic analysis also have been performed on the wheelchair. The score for Rula assessment is 4 It means it below the Rula Score for existing product which is 5 paraplegic will face low risk of risk factor and musculoskeletal disorder but it still need further investigation and need to be change soon. For the Reba assessment, the score is 4. This score also below with Reba score for existing product which is 6. The ergonomic analysis for this product is success to reduce the risk from medium risk to low risk for paraplegic user. In conclusion, it can be said that this project is success to achieved the objective.