A new motorized seat for a patient with juvenile polyarticular arthritis

Abstract

A 42-year-old patient with multiple joint involvement including bilateral hip replacement and no movement of the knees or ankles required a custom made chair to enable her to be seated from a standing position by only allowing flexion of both hips. A motorized chair was designed and made that had a moveable footrest and seat unit powered by a linear actuator that allowed the patient to stand on the footrests when this unit was vertical and the seat angled at 45°. On activating the actuator by a joystick mounted on the armrest the footrests rolled forward along the floor whilst the seat fell to the horizontal in the final seated position. Two moveable axilla supports allowed the patient to share the load du ring seating between the shoulders and feet and away from the hips and knees as well as providing assurance against falling forward during upward movement of the seat.

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