Projects

adjustable cuffs for crutches

Cuffs (which contain the upper arm) on crutches only come in two sizes- standard and bariatric . The standard cuff can be stretched to fit moderately large arms but what about large arms which do not require a bariatric fitting? My client was 20stone with an arm circumference of 48cms. The standard cuff was just tolerable when wearing a shirt but not possible when going outside with a coat on. A simple modification employing a narrow strip of aluminium allowed the cuff to be expanded for normal usage which could also be extended further for outdoor usage with coat wearing. Afterwards the cuff could be easily compressed back to its previous size. This helped his mobility and mental health issues (due to improved social interactions) .

Child’s Counterbalanced Arm Supports

How to enable a child with Nemaline Myopathy to use his arms so that he can use a tablet, play with toys etc.

crutch for shortened forearm

Our client had a (congenital) shortened left forearm (without hand) and required a walking aid for use with her left arm to relieve pain in her right hip whilst waiting for a joint replacement . After experimenting with fitting a “socket” to a rollator and then a gutter arm crutch, a modified elbow crutch was found to be best -improving her mobility and relieving the pressure on her right hip and consequently her pain. In due course this device would also be essential in her post-op rehabilitation when she would require the use of two crutches.

Modified Electric Toothbrush

The client has arthritis and could not press the button to switch on electric toothbrush, nor grip a manual toothbrush.

Oliver’s Car

Oliver’s is a young man who’s legs are paralysed from having spinabifada but he has good upper body use. A commercial ride-in electric car was modified with a hand throttle in place of the foot pedal.

Dementia activity board

The client is a retired engineer now living in a care home. He is suffering from Alzheimer’s and keeps trying to dismantle things in the home. The care staff wanted an activity board to keep him occupied. Some are commercially available but none of them seem to match his needs.

Drawing aid pen holder

The client is 20 months old and has arthrogryposis which causes him to have limited movement in his wrists, hands and fingers. His mum and OT wanted him to start holding a pen and drawing but this was not possible without help […]

Bracket for hydration bottle mouthpiece

A client with MS is unable to reach the mouthpiece of her hydration bottle. A simple chest-mounted support presents the mouthpiece at a convenient position.

Bed rail for profiling bed

Standard bed rails will not fit a profiling bed without interfering with the mechanism. A standard rail was adapted to allow it to be clamped directly to the mattress support frame while maintaining the bed’s functions..

Wheelchair comfy footrest

The client finds the hard plastic footrests of her Triton 2 specialist chair too hard for her bare feet. A padded foot rest was added to provide the necessary comfort.

Wheelchair shooting table

The client is a potential Para-olympic shooter and wheelchair bound. He needed an easily dis-mountable table attached to his chair which supports his elbows and the rifle. A table was designed which fitted to he chair side rails.

Head support

Our client suffered from MND and a support had been made to help lift her head, but she was finding it a little difficult to move her head sideways to look at her computerised vision driven voice box or her carer. 0

Personal location tracker

The parents of a 16 year old with Down Syndrome and autism would like to give him maximum independence while ensuring his safety when he leaves the home without his carers knowing. The usual locators are unsuitable because he cannot be relied on to take one with him. A small GPS tracker was attached to his glasses (which he will always use). It sets off an alarm when he leaves home and allows his carers to locate him quickly.

Paternoster storage system

An open front revolving storage system. This system allows access to storage baskets at wheel chair or other necessary heights without the user needing to lift or bend or reach. In this case it is designed to hold art and craft materials of various nature in different baskets. The user can then easily retrieve and replace required items in the appropriate basket before turning the handle to bring the next basket into an accessible position. Paternoster storage device.

Wheelchair Rocking Table

The West Midlands Panel of Remap was approached by a local academy that caters for many children who are wheelchair users and severely disabled. A member of staff who was an Occupational Therapist had identified a product made in the United States which was felt would be of benefit to the children at the school. The problems were the cost of the product, the shipping costs, and the fact that the product was not available in the U.K.

The product provided a rocking table on which a wheelchair could sit. Movements by the wheelchair use would then cause the table to rock back and forth in the same manner as a rocking horse.

Bunk Bed Extension

The client is an 18 year old who has cerebral palsy. He was sharing a room with his brother, sleeping in the bottom bunk with his brother sleeping on the top bunk. The client is now using a profiling bed but with the existing bunk bed still required for his brother the client cannot move around the room in his wheelchair. The request was to modify the existing bunk bed so that the profiling bed could fit under the top bunk.