About a year and a half ago, Jack had spinal surgery from T1 to L3, which straightened the curve to 11 degrees. After the surgery, Jack was put in a standard wheelchair seat with a flat back and lateral supports. The straight wheelchair back wasn’t providing the support necessary to maintain the spinal correction, and the supports under his arms were restricting his movements. Jack’s father decided it was time to try a custom contoured back. Like the OBSS Ortho-Shape custom contoured seating system, the OBSS Ortho-Shape back is a clinically based solution developed for individuals with high positioning needs. The lightweight back support incorporates body alignment, pressure distribution, and directional forces for comfortable postural control. “One of the things we noticed right away with the new back is ulcer on his gluteus maximus,” Jim says. “The seat has made a big improvement on that.” These improvements to his seating configuration may also help The improvements to his seating configuration may also help Jack to be more productive and expressive during his school and leisure activities. “He makes a smile for ‘yes’ and says ‘no’ by shaking his head or looking down,” said Jim Dunn that he’s using his arms a lot more,” Jim says. In addition to the OBSS Ortho-Shape wheelchair back support, Ottobock also fabricated an OBSS Tru-Shape custom-contoured wheelchair seat cushion for Jack. “Before we switched over to the custom-contoured wheelchair seat cushion, Jack was developing a pressure

ulcer on his gluteus maximus,” Jim says. “The seat has made a big improvement on that.” These improvements to his seating configuration may also help Jack to be more productive and expressive during his school and leisure activities. Jack attends school and travels to and from school in a wheelchair-adapted van. During his time at home, he enjoys watching videos and listening to music. Although he is not able to talk, he has developed some basic communication skills. “He makes a smile for ‘yes’ and says ‘no’ by shaking his head or looking down,” Jim says. Jack is also learning to use head switches to communicate via an iPad.

Soon, Jack will transition to an adult living program, which he will attend five days a week until he is 21 years old. After that, he may be able to join the state’s Employment First program, which provides full- and parttime employment services to individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.•

CUSTOM CONTOURED
WHEELCHAIR BACK SUPPORT

Ottobock Healthcare’s newly released OBSS™ Ortho-Shape back is designed for active wheelchair users and dependent wheelchair users with high positioning needs. Its lightweight custom back support incorporates body alignment, pressure distribution, and directional forces for comfortable postural control. A digital scan is all that is needed to start the process of creating the custom contoured back before the shape is reproduced using state-of-the-art CAD/CAM production processes and high-tech materials. Additionally, if the user’s body conditions change, the contours can be easily modified in the field to accommodate changes and ensure a better fit. The padding on the back and around the edges relieves pressure points and improves user comfort, and the Evolight material helps keep skin dry and cool and reduces skin breakdown. Finally, the intelligent ergonomic mounting system provides six inches of freedom allowing users or caregivers to make adjustments in all three planes — tip anterior/posterior, rotate left/right, and tilt left/right — for maximum balance and postural control. OBSS Ortho-Shape combines an orthotic approach to postural positioning with the ease of digital ordering. Your client’s shape is reproduced in ABS plastic, which is vacuum-formed to replicate the digital image you create with the cutting-edge Sense™ 3D Scanner. The end result is a lightweight, incredibly accurate custom-molded back support

1 Intelligent ergonomic mounting system provides 6˚of freedom to make adjustments in all three planes – tip anterior/posterior, rotate left/right, tilt left/right for maximum balance and postural control. Augmented padding on the back and around the edges relieves 

2 pressure points and aids in improving comfort. Removable liners to accommodate growth. Ability to modify contours after delivery to create an even better fit for your patient, making a big difference in positioning and comfort. 

3 Removable liners to accommodate growth.

4 Ability to modify contours after delivery to create an even better fit for your patient, making a big difference in positioning and comfort.