Problem Background:

Patient transferring is a difficult process that results in many injuries for both the wheelchair user requiring the transfer and those who are assisting this wheelchair user with their transfer. Although there are some technologies available on the market that assist to help these primary and secondary users in transfers, they are lacking in many areas. When users are partaking in health/wellbeing and other recreational activities, they are subjected to unsafe working conditions, leading to a variety of musculoskeletal injuries. This is where TranquiLift would aid these primary and secondary users. The manual wheelchair user would be able to roll onto TranquiLift, and be safely lifted and reclined directly from their chair to undergo a safer, better user experience when completing these activities.

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Solution:

TranquiLift is a medical device designed to remove the need for a manual wheelchair user to transfer when partaking in health/wellbeing and recreational activities. These activities are areas of injury, stress, and even avoidance for the manual wheelchair using population. TranquiLift’s aim is to circumvent these problem areas by removing this need for transfer, helping both the wheelchair user and secondary user, the caregiver or professional transferring the wheelchair user, avoid injury. TranquiLift’s design allows for the wheelchair user to ride directly onto the device and subsequently be lifted and tilted in space as needed in order to complete the task required safely and effectively. The all manual device is aimed to be able lift and tilt in space a 250 pound user, or 300 pounds when figuring in the wheelchair and the user when they are seated upon the device, as well as raise them 2 feet and provide at least 20 degrees of tilt. 

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Project Tasks:

Project is currently in the prototyping/testing stage, but previous tasks included needs assessment, stakeholder analysis/competitor analysis, standards/regulatory framework, patent search/IP, concept development, specifications, CAD modeling, material selection, and design review.