Ancer is a bedsore preventing wheelchair. By helping wheelchair users shift their body, it will help relief the pain in their hips from sitting in the same position for too long. Through sensors and reminders, as well as built in airbags, bedsores can be prevented as well as an improvement in user's experience. ANCER offers high quality solutions for extended use of wheelchair and is one of the few products that uses dynamic seat cushions with focus on wheelchair users with more complex demands.

Inspiration:

The story of how ANCER came to be, started with my grandmother who is a wheelchair user. When she sits in the same position on the wheelchair for an extended period of time, she requires help from someone to change her posture every once in a while. Failure to do so would cause pressure ulcers, especially in the hip area. However it is a huge burden on my family, physically and mentally. It led me to start thinking about designing a wheelchair with focus on reducing bedsores so that wheelchair users with weaker limbs are able to change their body posture by themselves easily and prevent bedsores from growing.

Technology:

Ancer's reminder system consists of two sensors and a timer. All devices are integrated into the seat cushion. The sensors are able to detect the temperature and position of the hip. Paired together with timer, it is able to analyse the current condition of the wheelchair user. As soon as any potential risk of hip damage is detected, the motor built into the cushion will start to vibrate.

The user selects different modes, and then the electronic airbag in the cushion will show different shapes. A motor embedded in the center of the rear wheel drives the rotation of the armrest. The electronic switch of airbag and Turning armrest is on the surface of handle.

Operating:

As soon as the wheelchair user starts to slide down from their seat or when they have been sitting in the same position for more than one and a half hours, the cushion will vibrate to remind the user that their hip is at risk of bedsores. After the vibrating reminder, the user can select whichever mode that suits them best.

Should the user's body be shifting in a downwards position, they should press the up button. The handles will turn backwards and then airbags underneath the hip will tilt backwards, helping them sit properly. When the user wants their hips to relax, they can press the down button. The handles will turn forward and the cushion will inflate, creating a slope which helps disperse the pressure on the hip.

value:

The aging of the social population is seriously threatening the health and quality of life of the elderly all over the world.Bedsore are one of the common senile syndromes. How to effectively prevent the multiple effects of bedsore, to maintain the functional status of the elderly as much as possible, and to improve their quality of life is a major problem facing society.