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Pressure Mapping
Pressure mapping can help to identify and monitor high-risk areas to ensure that seating is appropriately shaped to offer the best-seated position.
Consolor can use pressure mapping techniques to assist with seating elevations and to off-load pressures from bony prominences at risk and redistribute them to low-risk areas.
To provide an accurate and repeatable method of assessing seat pressure, we use Conformat pressure sensors, which are designed to stretch and therefore conform to the surface, allowing it to be measured without hammocking. This allows us to measure seat pressure both statically and dynamically, from seat, back or both simultaneously.
Pressure mapping has lots of helpful uses:
- Completing the shape of a custom contoured seat
- To sense what the client cannot feel
- To assess seating and postural abnormalities
- To assess Centre of Force position and dynamic paths
- To assess for pressures that could lead to sores and ulcers
- To gain real-time feedback of what pressures are being exerted and where
- To provide pictorial information for client education
The use of pressure mapping allows clinicians to make informed product choices when identifying the most appropriate and suitable standard cushions.
Our expertise in the manufacturing of custom-made seating can also be employed for clients for whom a standard off-the-shelf cushion is not suitable due to postural asymmetries, physical movements, or high pressures/sores at bony prominences.
Case Study
Guy Harris is a paraplegic full-time wheelchair user who contacted Consolor to enquire about our pressure mapping services. After a detailed discussion with Kieran, he visited our head office in Bournemouth to be pressure mapped on his existing cushion.
The pressure mapping session a few areas of high-pressure which could lead to problems in the future. The possibility of other off-the-shelf cushions were explored, with each one being pressure mapped however the high-pressure areas persisted on each cushion.
Finally the solution of a custom contoured cushion was discussed. Guy had a 3D scan using a beanbag to capture his shape and a cushion was carved out of breathable foam.
The solution of a custom contoured cushion meant that any bony prominences could be identified and accommodated within the cushion’s shape, ensuring correct pressure distribution and therefore helping to eliminate the risk of pressure sores and ulcers.
Guy has written about his experience in his own words on his website DisabledGear.com. To read about how he found the process click here.
Our pressure mapping services are available when purchasing our own products but our services are also available for independent evaluations.
