Case Study: Cushion Comparison

The screen capture below is a comparison of two different cushion selections for a paraplegic patient at high risk. Figure 1 represents pressure measurement without a cushion on a standard wheel chair support surface. The high-pressure areas are easily identified as the red regions, and are locally identified by the small black box. The pressures associated with each small box are graphed in Figure 4. The red, green and magenta lines in the graph correspond to the maximum box pressures seen Figures 1, 2 and 3, respectively.

The image in Figure 2 represents the measurement of the same patient on a gel support. The gel support surface significantly decreased the local maximum pressure. Figure 3 portrays the same patient on an air cell cushion. The local pressure maximum areas are minimized, indicating that this would be optimal if other clinical indicators supported this selection.