Page 25 - Mobility Management, October 2018

“When it’s time to grow, the client has a seat that grows forward, with the femur, versus growing back into it and eventually getting to that [optimal] center of gravity.”
Growing the chair in the traditional backward direction “definitely sets him or her up for compounded issues in those joints for much longer than is necessary,” Merring said. “It’s not necessarily that they can’t learn a [new way of pushing] or that the biomechanics can’t be over- come. It’s more a matter of if you get [the positioning] right the first time, that amount of repetitive stress that goes onto the joints is reduced from a way earlier time.”
And more efficient propulsion is crucial, Merring added, to the developing child.
“Center of gravity relative to that center of mass is good for activities, performance and participation,” he noted. “Play is one of the most important aspects of any child’s life, and when [kids in wheelchairs] are playing with others, they need to be able to keep up. When you design a chair that’s more responsive to a child’s propul- sion efforts, they’re more able to interact with their peers. They’re doing more activities, which better facilitates more normal cognitive and social development.”
In contrast, if a child reaches the optimal seating position only after growing — so the child is not optimally positioned for efficient propulsion from the start — the child’s activity level can drop. “For the first year with their new chair, while they’re not all the way back into the seat, fully accessing the wheels, that leads to compensatory strategies that make the child work more than they should and could lead to learned helplessness,” Merring said. “But if you introduce a chair that’s responsive from the time it’s delivered, they’ll integrate into play and development a lot quicker, decreasing the amount of work that is neces- sary for them to be functional and then decreasing the likelihood of developing a learned helplessness.”
Adjustments take less than a typical clinic visit to make, he added. “We can make this adjustment in less than one session. By creating a system that’s easy to adjust, we’re hopeful that we’ll have increased compliance with making these necessary adjustments because now it’s no longer a chore, but can be done in 15 minutes or less.”
Options for Today’s Superkids
The Pilot retains functional adjustability, Garven said: “We still have the ability to adjust the center of gravity. Rather than moving the wheel on the frame, we move our whole seat forward or back. We’re still allowing for that CG adjustment if [the child’s] skill set changes and they want a more active, tippier type of wheelchair.”
The Pilot also has its own footplate design, Garven noted: “It rotates around a pivot point and has the ability to be anywhere in space, height or depth, wherever the clinician wants it to be. Our footplate needs to move
The Pilot provides optimal positioning and a new growth process to ensure your littlest superheroes propel most efficiently from the start.
relative to the seat because the seat’s growing forward. We had to have a way to keep that footrest in the same relative position for the kid as he or she grows.”
Wheel locks are in a kid-friendly position near where kids grab the handrims; as arms grow, the locks can be moved to a more traditional location. Anti-tips and push handles are available, with more options on the way.
Aesthetically, the Pilot has a super-streamlined, mini- malist design. “Our dark carbon composite side frame, panels and seat tend to disappear, and you focus more on the colored sections of the chair,” Garven said.
Merring said kids can choose from 16 color options at no upcharge. Choosing the right combination can give the Pilot some serious — and very intentional — swagger.
“Maybe,” Merring said, “they feel like they have a superhero wheelchair. They’re going faster, they’re improving their ability to keep up with their friends, and it
It’s a smarter way to grow a chair, because it allows the kid to be in a good position from the beginning — Doug Garven
looks cool at the same time.”
Garven said a big design goal was “to make every-
thing look clean aesthetically. When you start seeing the hardware and adjustment holes in the frame, it starts to look busy and complicated. It begins to look like a clunky medical device instead of a fun mobility device.”
Instead, the Pilot looks like something a superhero would use — while also being functionally heroic to clini- cians and functionally convenient for parents (Garven said the Pilot’s light weight during transport will probably be what parents appreciate most).
“Every kid I’ve seen — they get into the Pilot and just take off,” Garven said. “They’re liberated to have the proper positioning. [It] helps them to gain independence and have fun. That’s what’s being a kid’s all about.” m
—Laurie Watanabe
MobilityMgmt.com
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