Clinically Assessment – Upper Body Strength
In general, a user who has limited volitional strength in the upper body and legs while attempting to ascend from the floor or descend to the floor from a seated position is forced to strain with their hands, wrists, arms, shoulders, neck muscles, and skeletal support regardless of the method or device employed for that purpose. The process necessarily requires gripping, leveraging, and flexing movements under essentially the entire user’s body weight, which puts the user’s arms/shoulders at a potentially dangerous point of tissue failure.A clinical concern from a Physical Therapist perspective is when a user places shoulders in a passively overly lengthened and potentially injurious position. Thus, the muscles are near their failure/maximum exertion points, and the combined active and passive tension increases the likelihood of failure at some point. To reduce the risk of shoulder injury, the ResQUp has been purposefully designed to be capable of keeping shoulders in a mid-range position. Specifically, the distances from the floor to the first levels (4 1/2 “, and from each subsequent level to the next level (4 1⁄2” each), as well as each level’s respective size and dimensions.
Minimizing Hyper-Extension of Shoulders
The ResQUp is intentionally designed so that shoulder muscle length is near the center of the point where greatest tension (strength) can be generated. This is a significant physiological design feature of the ResQUp which minimizes hyper-extension of the shoulders and excessive muscle lengthening. Otherwise less active tension (strength) is generated, and the shoulder joint is placed in an “end-range” position. This results in the muscles of the shoulder being in a mechanically disadvantaged position that may lead to the increased likelihood of rotator cuff strain or rotator cuff tear.Further, the user’s wrists can also be placed in an extreme extension position and become another area of the body that is stressed while ascending from the floor and descending to the floor. The ResQUp has additional capability that permits a user to use an “elbow-up” procedure with the ResQUp., which minimizes the use of the wrists. This procedure also makes use of the desired mid-range of active and passive tension.
Minimizing Shear Forces During Fall Recovery
design capability of the ResQUp addresses “shear” forces to the skin as a user negotiates from one level to another. Shear results in disruption or angulations of blood vessels and is a common occurrence when a patient moves up, down, or along any surface. The design of the ResQUp minimizes shear forces by virtue of rounded and contoured leading edges to lessen tissue stress on the ischial tuberosities, sacrum, and buttocks for individuals who have fallen and utilize various means to get up from the floor.
Clinical Safety and Effectiveness of the ResQUp
Observation, experimentation, trial, and error during the development of the ResQUp produced a device that is capable of providing a safer method for a person to ascend from the floor or descend to the floor when they otherwise couldn’t do so. Using the ResQUp is not only safer for the individual involved, but also safer for any caregiver/family member/therapist/assistant who helps a person get up from the floor.The design of the ResQUp puts a user in the position of utilizing mid-range musculature, where they are the strongest, thereby minimizing possible harm to themselves and their caregivers. The ResQUp is capable of delivering a safer and more effective means for patients or individuals to raise themselves up from the floor while minimizing strain on joints and tissue.ent Goes Here
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