Development of an air seat cushion orthosis

In this study, a seat cushion orthosis was designed using the finite element human dummy and air cell models. The design of air cells in the orthosis was selected based on simulated strain distributions from four kinds of air cell based on different number of ribs. Also, the size of air cell was selected based on simulated interface pressure characteristics. Since the interface pressure characteristics are greatly affected by the individual buttock anatomy of the plegia and elderly, a fuzzy logic controlling air cell pressure was used to decrease the interface pressure gradient and maximize the even interface pressure distribution. The resulting good interface pressure characteristics from evaluating tests for five plegic patients showed that the developed orthosis would be useful to prevent pressure sore on the buttock.