Desenvolvimento de uma cadeira postural automatizada em auxílio à fisioterapia de crianças com tetraplegia

Abstract

People with spinal cord injury (paraplegia or quadriplegia) need to perform daily exercises of physiotherapy, to receive stimuli in the body to prevent bed sores, muscle shortening and joint stiffness. This work presents the development of a prototype of an automated postural chair to help children with cerebral palsy and quadriplegia performing daily exercises. The structure of the chair is designed in PVC pipes to provide low cost and light weight, and integrated with wood sheets which constitute the seat frame and seat backs. To automate the system we used an integrated 24V electric linear actuator with a current sensor and a drive plate, controlled by the microcontroller Arduino Uno. For the user interface, we developed a control with buttons to easily access the system functions. To check the functionality of the chair, it was used by an institution that serves children with various disabilities, which can be tested with their students. Through the test results, it was found that the chair provides greater efficiency in exercises performed and also the work of professionals, which can be confirmed in a survey conducted with them.