Who says CareCure is only a good site to learn about manual wheelchairs?
This is probably the most-complex powerchair I have ever done. It was configured for the needs of a veteran with high quadriplegia who was ventilator dependent, had no movement in his extremities, and had only limited ability to turn his head.
I started with an Invacare TDX SR powerbase equipped with a 3 22NF battery tray (the extra battery powers the vent). The TDX base was shipped to Motion Concepts for installation of an 18x19 UltraLow power seating system with the following features:
- 55 degrees tilt
- 174 degrees power recline
- Pivot Plus power elevating legrests
- Articulating Compact Vent Tray
- 18.5" Seat-To-Floor
- 18"H MaTRx Contour Back
- Ergonomic Arm Troughs with Multiaxis Mounting Hardware
- Swingaway Lateral Thigh Supports
- Stealth TWB Lateral Supports
Here is the chair when it arrived.
My initial objectives were to clean up the wiring, relocate the attendant control, install the alternative driving system, and make space for the vent "circuit" (tubing).
The chair is operated using an ASL109 Stealth Ultra Sip-N-Puff Head Array. With this system, the sip-n-puff straw is used to drive the chair forward or backward and proximity switches embedded in the lateral headrest pads are used to turn the chair left and right. The sip-n-puff mount was custom fabricated out of Loc-Line modular hose and relocated from the headrest to the backrest to allow the headrest to be removed and the sip-n-puff system swung out of the way for transfers.
To switch between driving profiles, access the power seating, or operate the infrared/mouse emulation features I fabricated a "double lip" switch using two roller lever switches to replace the single push button "lip switch" that ASL provides with the system.
I ordered the chair with Stealth's TWB laterals, but I have not had good success using them to achieve stable positioning without excess pressure. I ended up replacing them with fixed offset laterals from a MaTRx PB Elite back. Believe it or not, they could be bolted on using existing holes.
To keep the his arms from coming out of the arm troughs when tilting, I modified the Motion Concepts Ergonomic Arm Troughs with custom elbow stops made from aluminum strapping, ABS plastic and Roho Adaptor cells. They mount in the channels underneath the arm trough and will not interfere with flipping the armrests back. I don't understand why Motion Concepts or Otto Bock haven't came out with something similar themselves since it solves a common problem, is simple, and seems to be such an obvious solution.
I was pleased with how cleanly I was able re-reroute the electronics harnesses, but I didn't realize I would face almost as difficult a challenge routing the vent circuit. The amount of tubing is excessively long for a powerchair and can not be trimmed to length. I was especially concerned about it getting snagged on something in the surrounding environment or getting crushed in the power seating system. I fabricated the following system of hooks...
While I wish they made a shorter circuit with black tubing, but here is the end result...
These chairs take a lot of work, but it is rewarding when the end user is able to use it successfully and you know your efforts played a major role.
This is probably the most-complex powerchair I have ever done. It was configured for the needs of a veteran with high quadriplegia who was ventilator dependent, had no movement in his extremities, and had only limited ability to turn his head.
I started with an Invacare TDX SR powerbase equipped with a 3 22NF battery tray (the extra battery powers the vent). The TDX base was shipped to Motion Concepts for installation of an 18x19 UltraLow power seating system with the following features:
- 55 degrees tilt
- 174 degrees power recline
- Pivot Plus power elevating legrests
- Articulating Compact Vent Tray
- 18.5" Seat-To-Floor
- 18"H MaTRx Contour Back
- Ergonomic Arm Troughs with Multiaxis Mounting Hardware
- Swingaway Lateral Thigh Supports
- Stealth TWB Lateral Supports
Here is the chair when it arrived.
My initial objectives were to clean up the wiring, relocate the attendant control, install the alternative driving system, and make space for the vent "circuit" (tubing).
The chair is operated using an ASL109 Stealth Ultra Sip-N-Puff Head Array. With this system, the sip-n-puff straw is used to drive the chair forward or backward and proximity switches embedded in the lateral headrest pads are used to turn the chair left and right. The sip-n-puff mount was custom fabricated out of Loc-Line modular hose and relocated from the headrest to the backrest to allow the headrest to be removed and the sip-n-puff system swung out of the way for transfers.
To switch between driving profiles, access the power seating, or operate the infrared/mouse emulation features I fabricated a "double lip" switch using two roller lever switches to replace the single push button "lip switch" that ASL provides with the system.
I ordered the chair with Stealth's TWB laterals, but I have not had good success using them to achieve stable positioning without excess pressure. I ended up replacing them with fixed offset laterals from a MaTRx PB Elite back. Believe it or not, they could be bolted on using existing holes.
To keep the his arms from coming out of the arm troughs when tilting, I modified the Motion Concepts Ergonomic Arm Troughs with custom elbow stops made from aluminum strapping, ABS plastic and Roho Adaptor cells. They mount in the channels underneath the arm trough and will not interfere with flipping the armrests back. I don't understand why Motion Concepts or Otto Bock haven't came out with something similar themselves since it solves a common problem, is simple, and seems to be such an obvious solution.
I was pleased with how cleanly I was able re-reroute the electronics harnesses, but I didn't realize I would face almost as difficult a challenge routing the vent circuit. The amount of tubing is excessively long for a powerchair and can not be trimmed to length. I was especially concerned about it getting snagged on something in the surrounding environment or getting crushed in the power seating system. I fabricated the following system of hooks...
While I wish they made a shorter circuit with black tubing, but here is the end result...
These chairs take a lot of work, but it is rewarding when the end user is able to use it successfully and you know your efforts played a major role.
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