Utilización del sistema V-Chair, una smart therapeutical surface, en el cuidado de dos pacientes de alta dependencia y movilidad limitada, con discapacidad intelectual en un centro sociosanitario / Use of the V-Chair system, a smart therapeutical surface in the care of two patients with intellectual disabilities with high dependence and limited mobility

Introducción: El cuidado de pacientes de alta dependencia y movilidad limitada, en la práctica representa que estos pasen largos períodos en la cama y surjan importantes retos para ellos mismos y para sus cuidadores en diferentes dimensiones relacionadas con su descanso, ya sea en cama ya sea en sedestación. El encamamiento puede producir problemas en tres grandes dimensiones: dinámica del paciente en la cama, impacto en los cuidadores que atienden a la persona afectada y complicaciones clínicas relacionadas con la estancia prolongada en la cama. Hoy en día existen en el mercado camas con prestaciones especiales (las smart care beds), que facilitan el cuidado de los pacientes encamados y ayudan a disminuir tanto problemas clínicos relacionados con la situación de inmovilidad como sus repercusiones en los cuidadores a la hora de movilizarlos. A lo largo del artículo veremos que la introducción de la robótica aplicada a los movimientos de las camas inteligentes conlleva a una evolución de estas: las smart therapeutical surfaces. Estas proveen de movimientos robóticos únicos, automatizados, programables y personalizables, lo que puede abrir una nueva dimensión en los cuidados a personas encamadas.Metodología:Se presentan 2 casos clínicos correspondientes a la utilización del sistema V-Chair®, una smart therapeutical surface (S.T. Surface®), con la doble funcionalidad de silla de ruedas eléctrica indoor y cama clínica articulada hospitalaria, con movimientos únicos y patentados no existentes en ninguna otra opción de mercado, que permiten incrementar la calidad de vida y la autonomía del paciente encamado de alta dependencia. Las múltiples opciones de movimientos que permite V-Chair® aparentemente facilitan la prevención y la reducción de problemas clínicos derivados del encamamiento...(AU)

Introduction: Caring for patients with high dependency and limited mobility represents in practice that these patients spend long periods of time in bed, arising important challenges for themselves and for their caregivers in different dimensions related to their rest, either in bed or sitting. Bed confinement can cause problems in three broad dimensions: patient dynamics in bed, impact on caregivers caring for the affected person, and clinical complications related to prolonged stay in bed. Today there are beds on the market with special features (smart care beds) which facilitate the care of bedridden patients and help to reduce both clinical problems related to the situation of immobility, as well as its repercussions on caregivers when mobilizing them, but we will see throughout the article that the introduction of robotics applied to the movements of smart beds leads to an evolution of the same: the smart therapeutical surfaces. These provide unique, automatized, programmable and personalized robotic movements, which can lead to a new dimension in the care of bedridden people.Methods:Two clinical cases are presented corresponding to the use of the V-Chair® system, a Smart Therapeutic Surface (S.T. Surface®) with the dual functionality of indoor electric wheelchair and a clinical hospital bed, with unique and patented movements non existing in any other option on the market. Due to nowadays results apparently increasing the quality of life and autonomy of the highly dependent bedridden patient. The multiple movements options provided by V-Chair® facilitates the prevention and reduction of clinical problems resulting from prolonged bed rest, the reduction of the number of nursing staff required during care and handling tasks, while reducing strain and poor posture on the side of the nursing staff...(AU)

Spinal segment ranges of motion, movement coordination, and three-dimensional kinematics during occupational activities in normal-weight and obese individuals.

Measurements of spinal segment ranges of motion (RoMs), movement coordination, and three-dimensional kinematics during occupational activities have implications in occupational/clinical biomechanics. Due to the large amount of adipose tissues, obese individuals may have different RoMs, lumbopelvic coordination, and kinematics than normal-weight ones. We aimed to measure/compare trunk, lumbar, and pelvis primary RoMs in all anatomical planes/directions, lumbopelvic ratios (lumbar to pelvis rotations at different trunk angles) in all anatomical planes/directions and three-dimensional spine kinematics during twelve symmetric/asymmetric statics load-handling activities in healthy normal-weight and obese individuals. Kinematics/motion data were collected from nine healthy young male normal-weight and nine age/height/sex matched obese individuals via a ten-camera Vicon motion capture system. Obese individuals had significantly smaller (p < 0.05) lumbar flexion (~9° in average) and larger pelvis right lateral bending (~5°) RoMs as well as smaller lumbopelvic ratios (~37%) in lateral bending and axial rotation movements as compared to normal-weight individuals. Moreover, the two groups had generally non-significant different segmental orientations (<20° and in most cases < 10°) in load-handling tasks that depended on the magnitude of load asymmetry angle (p < 0.05). Differences were larger for tasks performed near the floor, away from body, and at larger load asymmetry angles. Biomechanical models simulating pure lateral bending, axial rotation, or tasks involving large load asymmetry may therefore need subject-specific, rather than population-based, motion analysis due to the effects from body weight. In clinical applications, it should be noted that healthy obese individuals may have different RoMs and lumbopelvic rhythms than healthy normal-weight individuals in some anatomical planes/directions.

Marker-less versus marker-based driven musculoskeletal models of the spine during static load-handling activities.

Evaluation of workers' body posture in workstations is a prerequisite to estimate spinal loads and assess risk of injury for the subsequent design of preventive interventions. The Microsoft Kinect™ sensor is, in this regard, advantageous over the traditional skin-marker-based optical motion capture systems for being marker-less, portable, cost-effective, and easy-to-use in real workplaces. While several studies have demonstrated the validity/reliability of the Kinect for posture measurements especially during gait trials, its capability to adequately drive a detailed spine musculoskeletal model for injury risk assessments remains to be investigated. Lumbosacral (L5-S1) load predictions of a Kinect-driven and a gold-standard marker-based Vicon-driven musculoskeletal model were compared for various standing static load-handling activities at different heights/asymmetry angles/distances. Full body kinematics of eight individuals each performing eighteen activities were simultaneously recorded by a single-front-placed Kinect and a 10-camera Vicon motion capture system and input to AnyBody Modeling System. The predicted spinal loads by the two models were in average different by 17.8 and 25.9% for the L5-S1 disc compressive and shear forces, respectively, with smaller errors for the activities at higher load heights. Some activities performed near the floor could, however, not be recorded by a single-front-placed Kinect sensor due to the joint occlusion. The capability of the Kinect to adequately drive a spine musculoskeletal model depended on the complexity of the activity. While a single front-placed Kinect camera can be used to evaluate spinal loads in a wide range of static/quasi-static activities, cautious should be exercised when evaluating tasks performed near the floor.

The assessment of material handling strategies in dealing with sudden loading: the effects of load handling position on trunk biomechanics.

Back injury caused by sudden loading is a significant risk among workers that perform manual handling tasks. The present study investigated the effects of load handling position on trunk biomechanics (flexion angle, L5/S1 joint moment and compression force) during sudden loading. Eleven subjects were exposed to a 6.8 kg sudden loading while standing upright, facing forward and holding load at three different vertical heights in the sagittal plane or 45° left to the sagittal plane (created by arm rotation). Results showed that the increase of load holding height significantly elevated the peak L5/S1 joint compression force and reduced the magnitude of trunk flexion. Further, experiencing sudden loading from an asymmetric direction resulted in significantly smaller peak L5/S1 joint compression force, trunk flexion angle and L5/S1 joint moment than a symmetric posture. These findings suggest that handling loads in a lower position could work as a protective strategy during sudden loading.