Abstract
Excessive compressive load induces pressure related soft tissue damage, i.e. pressure ulcer (PU), in buttock area in wheelchair users. In solving this problem, our previous study has introduced a concept of Off-Loading sitting, which partially removes the ischial support to reduce pressure under buttocks. However, the effect of this sitting concept has only been evaluated using the interface pressure and tissue perfusion measurements. The objective of this investigation was to evaluate the Off-Loading posture for its ability to reduce internal pressure and stress in deep buttock tissues. This evaluation was performed on a 3D finite element (FE) model which was established and validated in a sitting posture and has realistic material properties and boundary conditions. FE analysis in this study confirmed that the pressure relief provided by Off-Loading posture created profound effect in reducing the mechanical stress within deep tissues. It was concluded that Off-Loading posture may prove beneficial in preventing sitting related PU.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1079-1084 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Journal | Medical and Biological Engineering and Computing |
| Volume | 45 |
| Issue number | 11 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Nov 2007 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:Acknowledgments The project was supported in part by Falk Medical Research Trust. The authors wish to thank Dr. Kenneth Shull for sharing his knowledge and experience in soft material modeling.
Keywords
- Buttock thigh
- Finite element analysis
- Newsitting concept
- Pressure ulcer
- Wheelchair
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Biomedical Engineering
- Computer Science Applications