Link: http://www.sciencefriday.com/videos/watch/10388
Date: June 24, 2011
This is a video from Science Friday that describes a group of teenagers from Staten Island Technical High School. This team, known as "Team TechSmart", created a wheelchair prototype, for which they even won an award. This wheelchair surpasses previous wheelchairs in many criteria. The wheelchair is motorized and is controlled by a joystick. It utilizes four special wheels facing each direction that allow it to spin in place, and move easily in one direction at the same time. The seat itself has many functions. It features heating and cooling, as well as pressure control, where the inflation of the seat changes periodically. It also has, of course, a vibrating massage to create a more comfortable wheelchair experience. Even though this wheelchair possesses all these features, the cost for building the prototype is only around 500 dollars, while other wheelchair models retail for up to ten times that price. It truly beats all other competitors in every aspect.
This video connects to our general studies on homeostatic imbalance. Wheelchairs are a method to provide for homeostatic imbalances that impair the ability to walk. The loss of walking can come from homeostatic imbalances in many different body systems, such as the muscular, skeletal, or nervous systems. For the muscular system, this homeostatic imbalance could originate from some sort of degeneration of muscle tissue, which would prevent the movements needed to walk. A homeostatic imbalance impairing the ability to walk in the skeletal system could be an irreparable break of a bone. Damage in nervous tissue could lead to malfunctions in sending orders to the muscles that provide movement of the legs. Nevertheless, all of these homeostatic imbalances disrupt walking, and the wheelchair provides a solution to the problem.
What are some problems, or disadvantages of this highly specialized wheelchair? Are there any groups of people that may not be able to use this wheelchair to its full potential? Or maybe not be able to use it at all?
ReplyDeleteNo major problems are found as of this video, and I have not found any follow-up reports on this product. Nonetheless, from my observations, the product seems to be quite loud when moving. Also, the massage function is made just by vibration, so I am not certain that it feels as "good" as one of the inventor claims it to be (most massaging apparatuses have moving vibrating devices). As to the applicability of the product to different groups of people, I looked up if some people can or cannot use certain types of motorized wheelchairs. While these wheelchairs seem advantageous to everyone, health care companies will not prescribe powerchairs to people who have any sort of ability to walk inside the house.
DeleteMy question is kind of related to Hemma's. Wouldn't a MAJOR disadvantage of this chair be that it would need either a huge, bulky battery or very frequent recharges in order to work? With all of it's useful gadgets, like heating and cooling, I'd expect it lose charge pretty quickly.
ReplyDeleteAnd another question (I guess you don't have to answer both): Would the chair be less impressive if an extremely overweight person were to sit in the seat? I'd think that would end up destroying most of the heating/cooling equipment, because the person sits directly on top of them.
I do believe that the problem of battery life is one very important factor in motorized wheelchairs. Unfortunately, I have not found any follow-up articles or videos to this product and so I do not know as to whether they have given much thought to it. Even when looking at other generic power chairs, I have not found sources where they specifically say the length of battery life. My source listed below however, does say that the specific wheelchair can be driven up to 15 miles at full charge. I can infer though, that the problem should not be too worrying. Many regular power wheelchairs also have settings for temperature regulation. I have not noticed anything for the use of air pressure to reduce bedsores, though I don't think that would take much energy. The fact that other power chairs already have massages, temperature regulation, and other comforting factors can be used to deduced that battery life shouldn't be too much of a problem.
DeleteAs to your second question, the power chair in the link below states that it can support up to 300 lbs, and others I have found even can go up to 500 lbs. Nonetheless, this chair does not seem to have any temperature regulation, so it wouldn't have the same problems as the students' wheelchair. Whether it would work or not is something I believe the students themselves would have to test and develop, if they do decide to pursue this project further.
http://www.thescooterstoreonline.com/jazzy-select-elite.html